03/27/2014 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB293 | |
| SB116 | |
| HB216 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 293 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 270 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 116 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 216 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 27, 2014
8:11 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bob Lynn, Chair
Representative Wes Keller, Vice Chair
Representative Lynn Gattis
Representative Shelley Hughes
Representative Doug Isaacson
Representative Charisse Millett (via teleconference)
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 293
"An Act relating to motor vehicle registration plates; and
providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSHB 293(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 116(STA)
"An Act relating to service of citations; amending Rule 3(f),
Alaska Rules of Minor Offense Procedure; repealing Rule 3(g),
Alaska Rules of Minor Offense Procedure; and providing for an
effective date."
- MOVED CSSB 116(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 216
"An Act adding the Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan
Yup'ik, Alutiiq, Unangax, Dena'ina, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk,
Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich'in, Tanana, Upper Tanana,
Tanacross, Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian
languages as official languages of the state."
- HEARD & HELD
HOUSE BILL NO. 270
"An Act relating to service of citations; amending Rule 3(f),
Alaska Rules of Minor Offense Procedure; repealing Rule 3(g),
Alaska Rules of Minor Offense Procedure; and providing for an
effective date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 293
SHORT TITLE: BEAR LICENSE PLATES
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) P.WILSON
02/03/14 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/03/14 (H) STA, FIN
03/27/14 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
BILL: SB 116
SHORT TITLE: SERVICE OF CITATIONS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) EGAN
01/22/14 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/17/14
01/22/14 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/22/14 (S) STA
03/13/14 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/13/14 (S) Moved CSSB 116(STA) Out of Committee
03/13/14 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/14/14 (S) STA RPT CS 3DP SAME TITLE
03/14/14 (S) DP: DYSON, COGHILL, GIESSEL
03/21/14 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
03/21/14 (S) VERSION: CSSB 116(STA)
03/24/14 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/24/14 (H) STA, JUD
03/27/14 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 216
SHORT TITLE: OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF THE STATE
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) KREISS-TOMKINS, MILLETT, EDGMON,
NAGEAK, HERRON
01/21/14 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/10/14
01/21/14 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/14 (H) CRA, STA
02/18/14 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124
02/18/14 (H) Moved Out of Committee
02/18/14 (H) MINUTE(CRA)
02/19/14 (H) CRA RPT 5DP
02/19/14 (H) DP: FOSTER, HERRON, DRUMMOND, LEDOUX,
NAGEAK
03/27/14 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, introduced her staff to
present HB 293.
CHERE KLEIN, Staff
Representative Peggy Wilson
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 293 on behalf of
Representative P. Wilson, prime sponsor.
AMY ERICKSON, Director
Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
Department of Administration (DOA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions during the hearing
on HB 293.
JERRY CEGELSKE
Ketchikan, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the hearing on HB 293.
JEFF TUCKER
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of Conceptual
Amendment 1, during the hearing on HB 293.
SENATOR DENNIS EGAN
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, introduced SB 116.
JESSE KIEHL, Staff
Senator Dennis Egan
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on SB 116 on behalf of
Senator Egan, prime sponsor.
SCOTT BLOOM, City Attorney
City of Kenai
Kenai, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 116.
HILARY MARTIN, Attorney at Law
Legislative Legal and Research Services
Legislative Affairs Agency
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB
216.
LIBBY BAKALAR, Assistant Attorney General
Labor and State Affairs Section
Civil Division (Juneau)
Department of Law (DOL)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB
216.
REPRESENTATIVE BENJAMIN NAGEAK
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As joint prime sponsor, testified during
the hearing of HB 216.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:11:02 AM
CHAIR BOB LYNN called the House State Affairs Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:11 a.m. Representatives Keller, Isaacson,
Gattis, Hughes, Kreiss-Tomkins, and Lynn were present at the
call to order. Representative Millett arrived (via
teleconference) as the meeting was in progress.
HB 293-BEAR LICENSE PLATES
8:11:32 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 293, "An Act relating to motor vehicle registration
plates; and providing for an effective date."
8:12:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the proposed committee
substitute (CS) for HB 293, Version 28-LS1304\N, Strasbaugh,
3/17/14, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version N
was before the committee.
8:12:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, introduced her staff to present HB 293.
8:12:58 AM
CHERE KLEIN, Staff, Representative Peggy Wilson, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HB 293 on behalf of Representative P.
Wilson, prime sponsor. She stated that the proposed legislation
would "add an option to our primary license plate." She said a
constituent told Representative P. Wilson about how many
compliments he used to receive on his bicentennial license
plate, which depicted a bear, when he drove in the Lower 48 back
in the '70s and '80s. She said a recent poll at
carinsurance.com shows that Alaska's plain yellow license plate
is one of the least favorite of all the 50 states' plates. She
relayed that a former commissioner of the Department of Public
Safety (DPS) said the main reason the bear was put on the Alaska
license plate in 1976 was that the bear is something that all of
Alaska has in common.
MS. KLEIN said another constituent asked Representative P.
Wilson why she was wasting time on an insignificant license
plate when there are important issues, such as education, a gas
pipeline, and state funds, to address. She said the comment
made Representative P. Wilson wonder why the legislature needs
to be involved in what could be day-to-day operations of the
Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and question whether the
legislature should spend its time drafting and carrying a bill
every time a constituent wants a specialty plate, when there are
more important matters to consider. Ms. Klein noted that [a
request for new license plate design] had been brought before
the legislature about every two years.
8:15:15 AM
MS. KLEIN stated that under HB 293, all specialty license plates
would be approved within the DMV. The [division] would develop
a standard procedure that all constituents could follow when
requesting a specialty license plate, as well as develop a fee
schedule that would cover the cost of all new specialty plates.
Additionally, the DMV would change current language regarding
specialty plates for fire fighters and [emergency medical
service providers] from "former" to "retired".
8:16:13 AM
CHAIR LYNN, regarding Ms. Klein's comment about perceived
unimportant legislation, stated that the consideration of issues
such as education, the gas pipe line, and the budget are not
delayed by consideration of other legislation. He explained
that he wants to assure the public that the legislature attends
to multiple issues quite well, with "a sensitive priority."
8:17:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS relayed that she has constituents who were
involved in specialty license plates related to the National
Rifle Association, and she indicated that the sale of those
license plates funded "shooting groups." She asked how the
turning over of license plate management to the DMV, under HB
293, would affect "the future fundraisers coming forward."
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON indicated that nothing about the DMV's
regulations would be changed under the proposed legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS clarified that she wanted to know if,
under HB 293, groups that want license plates for fundraising
purposes would not be able to come to the legislature to ask for
them.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON deferred to the director of the DMV.
8:19:45 AM
AMY ERICKSON, Director, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV),
Department of Administration (DOA), said she thinks
Representative Gattis has a point that "these specialty plates
that are tied to an appropriation would need to be handled by
the legislature." She continued as follows:
So, while we could take care of the specialty plates,
and the ordering of them, and setting up the design,
if you're going to dedicate it to a certain fund, I
think you would have to touch it after we did.
MS. ERICKSON, in response to a question, said she did not think
it would matter whether the legislature addressed those license
plates before or after the DMV did.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS expressed concern that those fundraising
plates would not be thwarted.
8:21:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON noted that he had been planning to
propose a broad amendment to delete Section 4; however, after
discussing the issue, he indicated he was considering instead
just deleting the words "active" and "retired" - the latter of
which would replace "former" under Version N - in Section 4,
beginning on page 2, line 18, through page 3, line 9. He asked
what the effect of such an amendment would be on [the division].
8:22:23 AM
MS. ERICKSON answered that "it could go two ways." First, the
DMV could "turn that into a specialty plate," which anyone could
choose; second, there could be standards for which people could
qualify, which would require the DMV to set up some regulations
to establish what the standards are.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON asked if adopting a conceptual amendment
so special request license plates for firefighters and EMS
providers would be available for those who had served five
years, whether retired or not, would provide the necessary
direction to [the DMV].
MS. ERICKSON answered that she thought it would.
8:23:22 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER directed attention to Section 5 of Version
N, [on page 3, lines 10-30, regarding special request specialty
organization license plates]. He expressed concern that the
language in Section 5 would put the division in the position of
having to choose between political concepts, and he opined that
it does not seem right to place that task on the administrative
branch. He expressed appreciation for specialty plates, and he
said they are a matter of state pride. Nevertheless, he said
the idea of [the DMV] having to decide whether someone is pro-
gun or anti-gun, for example, makes him squirm. He said, "It
seems to me like we have avoided that well in the legislature; I
think it needs to be continued to be avoided." He asked Ms.
Erickson to correct him if he was presuming things he should not
be presuming, but said he would like Section 5 deleted from the
proposed legislation.
8:25:00 AM
MS. ERICKSON responded, "It wouldn't necessarily be me, but it
would be the ... Department of Administration."
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he understood. He said the DMV's
regulations specify processes, but under the proposed
legislation, the politicized process would be removed from the
legislature and given to the administration.
MS. ERICKSON responded that she thought Representative Keller
was right.
8:25:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES said she had been asked to sponsor a bill
for a specialty license plate, but had not done so, because her
understanding was that many such bills did not get adopted
because of the cost involved in setting up a mold for the
design. She asked what the cost was to make a specialty license
plate. Regarding the bear design, she noted that the fiscal
note is for the design, but does not address the cost of setting
up the equipment to create the licenses.
MS. ERICKSON answered that the DMV works with whatever
organization wants the plate and gives them specifications for
the size of the plate and the type of file in which the design
needs to be made. The design then needs to be approved by the
commissioner of DOA. The cost to set up the license with DMV's
vendor is $250, which is stated in the fiscal note.
8:27:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON indicated that she supported the
conceptual amendment suggested by Representative Isaacson. She
said currently DOA handles the design of the license plates; the
legislature merely tells the department what it wants.
8:28:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 1,
labeled 28-LS0905\U.1, Martin, 3/14/14, on page 2, line 18,
through page 3, line 9, to delete references to "active" and
"retired", and on page 3, lines 6 and 9, to change "10" to
"five".
8:28:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER objected for purposes of discussion. He
asked for the reason for changing the 10 years to five.
8:29:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON said one reason is because "more people
would be interested in the plates." She remarked that people in
Alaska move around a lot. She said many fire fighters and EMS
providers in Alaska work as volunteers, and without them many
lives would be lost. Representative P. Wilson opined that
because of that, it is "only fair that they be able to purchase
these license plates also."
8:29:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON said he spoke to two fire chiefs and one
police chief. He said the fire chiefs explained that they want
the specialized plates made available to both retired and active
fire fighters, but not to someone who has only been with them
for six months; therefore, a five-year requirement would be
good. He relayed that the police chief instructs his
departments to view the license plates as a badge of service,
not a license to speed.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER removed his objection to the motion to
adopt Conceptual Amendment 1. There being no further objection,
it was so ordered.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER acknowledged he may have put the bill
sponsor on the spot with his previous suggestion to delete
Section 5 of the bill; however, he said he still had concerns.
He asked the sponsor what she thought about his suggestion.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON responded that she thought it would be
good to keep the language of Section 5 in the bill; however, she
stated that if it was not the will of the committee to do so,
"that wasn't the main purpose of the bill to begin with."
8:32:28 AM
JERRY CEGELSKE stated that he is the one who originally
contacted Representative P. Wilson. He confirmed that he
acquired the bear license plate in 1978, and it drew positive
attention when he drove in the Lower 48. He opined that the
license plate is free advertising that can help with the state's
tourism economy. He mentioned Kansas may be thought of as the
first of the rectangle states, while Alaska is known as the Last
Frontier. He said currently his friends are driving through
about 20 states, which is an opportunity to advertise the state
amongst a broad section of the general public. He said that is
the main driving factor for his having requested that
Representative P. Wilson sponsor the proposed legislation.
8:34:46 AM
JEFF TUCKER stated that he was a fire service professional of
Alaska testifying on behalf of himself. He stated support of
Conceptual Amendment 1, because he thinks that would allow fire
fighters and "any of us professionals around the state" to take
advantage of the special license plate that would reflect the
pride of being an active or retired fire fighter in the state.
8:35:59 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that no one else wished to
testify, closed public testimony.
8:36:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 2, to
delete Section 5, on page 3, lines 10-30.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON objected for the purpose of discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER explained that he sees Section 5 as being
a problem for DOA if the department would have to decide between
nonprofit organizations. He said, "Even if we have equal time
in the regulations, so that all sides can have their say, it
just seems like it's something that the legislature is here to
represent the state." He echoed the idea that an attractive
license plate can serve as a positive influence on state
tourism. He indicated that if the legislature were to
politicize the issue, at least it would do so "on the basis of
constituents, and in this case in the House, 15,000 each that
... are represented."
8:37:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS asked for clarification from
Representative Keller.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he thinks switching which entity does
the approval of special license plate designs from the
legislature to the DMV would burden the DMV with "a dangerous
situation." He remarked upon the passion behind issues, and
expressed concern that there may be endless requests to the DMV
from 501(c)(3) organizations wanting to use license plates as a
means to promote their interests.
8:39:25 AM
CHAIR LYNN responded, "So, in other words, you're saying that it
would put the DMV in the political process rather than [the
decision being made through] the legislative political process."
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said, "Precisely."
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS offered her understanding that [the intent
of the proposed Conceptual Amendment 2] was to keep the
legislature in the decision-making "loop," rather than being
taken out of it as the bill sponsor had recommended [in Section
5].
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER responded, "That's right."
8:39:57 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked if, under current law, DOA is
obligated to accept any license design that is brought to them.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER answered that the department currently has
"broad powers to break regulations," and it can choose "yes or
no." He said it seems like putting that process out of the
reach of the legislature is a potential problem. He said if a
person in the department chooses "to approve something that is
politically caustic," then the consequences to the department or
division could be huge. He remarked that the legislature is
used to making those kinds of decisions all the time.
CHAIR LYNN pointed out that legislators get elected, but state
workers do not.
8:43:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON said he appreciates the sponsor wanting
to streamline that process, but would like to hear from Ms.
Erickson how many times the DMV receives requests for specialty
license plates and how she would direct regulation, because he
said, "To one person, what is caustic might be to another person
the purpose for existence."
8:43:45 AM
MS. ERICKSON responded that currently the DMV does not get any
requests, because they are handled through the legislature;
however, the commissioner of DOA has said that he would not
object to the responsibility. She said she understood
Representative Keller's point that under Section 5, it would be
the commissioner's responsibility to establish regulations, but
she said she does not know how that would be done.
8:44:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON said that [without deleting Section 5],
the legislature would be imitating Congress by allowing agencies
to do its work rather than doing its own due diligence. He
stated his support of Conceptual Amendment 5.
8:45:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS highlighted statistics [shown on a handout
in the committee packet entitled, "Specialty license plates"].
She noted that there was a "Breast Cancer Awareness" license
plate that had zero purchased within a five-year period;
"Military unit designation" had 3,705 sold in five years; and
"Support our Troops" had 1,182 sold in five years. She said she
can see Representative Keller's point of view and would support
Conceptual Amendment 2.
8:45:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES said she thinks there may be an increased
[workload] for the department with [Section 5] left in the
proposed legislation, because the legislative process of getting
a license plate approved is more complex than the process would
be through the department. She expressed appreciation for the
sponsor's attempts for streamlining, but said in this case
streamlining concerned her.
8:46:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON removed his objection to the motion to
adopt Conceptual Amendment 2. There being no further objection,
it was so ordered.
8:46:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON observed that because Conceptual
Amendment 1 had been adopted, now the committee needed to
address the language in Section 6, which lists fees for
specialty license plates, by removing the words "active" and
"retired", as well as deciding on one fee rather than the two
listed.
8:47:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON offered her understanding that the bill
drafter would go through the bill and automatically remove [all
references to "active" and "retired", because of Conceptual
Amendment 1.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON offered his understanding that because
he had been specific in Conceptual Amendment 1, by listing page
numbers and lines, he would need to propose the change in
Section 6 in a new conceptual amendment. He asked the sponsor
if she had a preference over whether the specialty license plate
for the fire fighters and EMS providers would cost $30 or $50.
[REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON and MS. ERICKSON spoke amongst
themselves inaudibly.]
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON offered her understanding that Ms.
Erickson had said the decision about fees would be up to the
legislature.
8:49:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS suggested that the fee be the same for all
specialty license plates.
CHAIR LYNN responded that then there would be no preferential
treatment.
8:49:43 AM
MS. ERICKSON said she does not know the cost of some of the
plates, but said she thinks some of them are as much as $100.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS questioned whether some of the specialty
license plates are sold in an effort to raise funds for a
nonprofit organization. She indicated that she would like the
plates sold as fundraisers to be treated separate from those
that are sold "plate only." She said she could not determine
the difference by looking at the aforementioned list. She asked
the bill sponsor about her intent: "Was it to be a fundraiser
or just the actual plate?"
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON answered, "Just the actual plate."
8:50:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 3,
on page 4, Section 6, to delete references to "active" and
"retired", and to set the fee equivalent to that of the
veteran's license plate.
8:51:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS objected for the purpose of discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON stated his understanding that the
veteran's plate is not a fundraising plate.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS removed her objection to the motion to
adopt Conceptual Amendment 3, under the condition that the
intent is clear for the record that the veteran's plate is not a
fundraising plate, but rather a flat fee.
MS. ERICKSON stated that the fee for the non-fundraising plate
is $30.
8:52:36 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS restated that she had removed her
objection.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON moved an amendment to Conceptual
Amendment 3, to reflect that the specialty plate for fire
fighters and EMT providers be $30. There being no objection,
the amendment to Conceptual Amendment 3 was adopted.
8:53:12 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked if there was any objection to the motion to
adopt Conceptual Amendment 3, as amended. There being none,
Conceptual Amendment 3, as amended, was adopted.
8:53:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report hte proposed committee
substitute (CS) for HB 293, Version 28-LS1304\N, Strasbaugh,
3/17/14, as amended, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being
no objection, CSHB 293(STA) was reported out of the House State
Affairs Standing Committee.
8:53:46 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:54 a.m. to 8:55 a.m.
8:55:34 AM
SB 116-SERVICE OF CITATIONS
8:55:35 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the next order of business was CS FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 116(STA), "An Act relating to service of
citations; amending Rule 3(f), Alaska Rules of Minor Offense
Procedure; repealing Rule 3(g), Alaska Rules of Minor Offense
Procedure; and providing for an effective date."
8:55:52 AM
SENATOR DENNIS EGAN, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor,
introduced SB 116. He stated that the proposed legislation
would correct the unintended consequence of a good bill passed
in 2010, which stopped law enforcement from leaving a ticket
under the windshield wiper of a vehicle. He stated, "To keep
enforcing local laws, many municipalities went to civil
violations for just a minor offense, and that has its own
problems - it wasn't available to state law enforcement at all."
Under SB 116, law enforcement could leave a parking ticket under
a person's windshield wiper, thereby no longer having to write a
citation with the person receiving the citation present. In
response to Chair Lynn, he clarified that currently, the police
officer has to issue the citation directly to the person. He
said, for example, that if someone was parking in a loading
zone, the police would have to stay there and issue the
violation in person.
CHAIR LYNN commented, "Meanwhile an assault is going on
someplace and they're waiting for a parking ticket."
SENATOR EGAN said that's correct.
8:57:42 AM
JESSE KIEHL, Staff, Senator Dennis Egan, Alaska State
Legislature, stated that many municipalities took their minor
offenses out of the realm of the lowest possible criminal
offense and made them civil violations, which allowed police to
leave a ticket under the windshield wiper of a car. However, he
explained the effect of that was that if a citizen believes it
was an unjust ticket, he/she does not get to see a judge or
magistrate, but instead must "fight city hall." He said many
Alaskans are concerned about the civil violation process, which
is more costly for municipalities and difficult for them to
enforce when someone occasionally just throws out the ticket.
He said the civil violation route is not available to Alaska
State Troopers, so they do not write many parking tickets, but
do write several tickets at the Palmer state fair when people
block access lanes, driveways, or fire zones, for example. He
said, "And that becomes a very difficult thing under the law as
it reads today, because the legislature has never delegated to
the Department of Public Safety any authority to make offenses
civil violations, and probably appropriately so." The proposed
legislation would fix that problem and allow an Alaska State
Trooper to leave a ticket under the windshield wiper.
CHAIR LYNN asked what happens when a ticket blows off a vehicle
in a strong wind and is lost.
MR. KIEHL answered that under SB 116, the ticket would then go
into a default process after the time in which to contest the
ticket had passed and the ticket had not been paid. He said the
state court clerk would send a default letter to the owner of
the registered vehicle, and the person with the violation would
be given a certain amount of time to pay the ticket, after which
if the ticket was still not paid, then the state would garnish
that money from the person's permanent fund dividend (PFD).
9:00:39 AM
SCOTT BLOOM, City Attorney, City of Kenai, testified in support
of SB 116. He listed three reasons that the issues addressed
under SB 116 would be important to the City of Kenai. The first
reason was public safety. He explained that on peak days in
July, the city commonly has 10,000-12,000 visitors; on its
busiest day last year there were an estimated 15,000 visitors to
the community. The local and residential streets are inundated.
He said as word gets out that the city cannot issue parking
citations, people tend to ignore restrictions and block fire
lanes, driveways, and emergency access. He said being able to
force driving regulations without requiring personal service
would alleviate a large portion of the problem.
MR. BLOOM stated that second reason he was asking for support of
SB 116 was because the enforcement of parking under current law
strains the City of Kenai's municipal resources greatly.
Without the ability to leave parking tickets, the city's limited
police force must try either to track down drivers, boot the
vehicle, or tow them, all of which takes time and manpower. He
relayed that in 2013, during the month of July, the City of
Kenai issued approximately 106 citations; in 2014, since the
current law was in place, the city issued only 12. As a
relatively small municipality, it is difficult to set up an
alternative administrative system to issue citations. Unlike
Anchorage or Fairbanks, which have the economics to support a
separate parking authority, this is not a practical solution for
the City of Kenai.
MR. BLOOM said the third reason he was asking the committee to
support SB 116, was that he believed it would reduce the cost to
both the city and the public. He explained that if the city
must provide an administrative process, it would cost the city
time and money, and that cost would be passed on to the public
through increased citation amounts. Further, he said the
alternative of immobilizing vehicles or towing them is
exponentially more expensive and burdensome on all parties. Mr.
Bloom offered to answer questions.
9:04:22 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony.
9:04:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report CSSB 116(STA) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSSB 116(STA) was
reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
9:05:00 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 9:05 a.m. to 9:07 a.m.
9:07:15 AM
HB 216-OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF THE STATE
9:07:16 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the final order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 216, "An Act adding the Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik,
Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Alutiiq, Unangax, Dena'ina, Deg Xinag,
Holikachuk, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich'in, Tanana, Upper
Tanana, Tanacross, Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and
Tsimshian languages as official languages of the state."
9:07:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS, as joint-prime sponsor,
introduced HB 216. He noted the other joint-prime sponsors were
Representatives Millett, Edgmon, Nageak, and Herron. He stated
that HB 216 would acknowledge Alaska Native languages as
Alaska's languages. The proposed legislation would amend a part
of statute that was created with the 1998 U.S. English Voter
Initiative, which did two things: Created English as the
official language of Alaska in a ceremonial sense, and in a
legal and binding sense stated in statute that English had to be
used by the State of Alaska government. He said the latter has
been litigated and "some of it's still in the books today." He
clarified, "This bill does not touch that at all; it just
relates to the first part of the statute that was created by
that voter initiative, which created sort of a ceremonial
official language of Alaska - that language being English." He
said HB 216 would acknowledge the Alaska Native languages that
have existed long before his own ancestors existed.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS characterized HB 216 as a
grassroots bill, and he ventured there were hundreds of people
listening to the meeting. He said the testimony heard on HB 216
in the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee a
couple weeks prior was some of the most inspirational he has
experienced as a legislator. He said there are people
dedicating their lives trying to prevent the extinction of these
languages. In 2008, the last fluent speaker of the Eyak
Language, Chief Marie Smith Jones, died. He said there are a
number of other languages currently with only a handful of
speakers alive. He noted that just before the current hearing,
he learned from a woman present in the room that she had moved
from the Yukon Territory to Juneau in order to take classes from
the University of Southeast, Juneau, in the Tlingit language.
He said that is representative of what hundreds of people in
Alaska are doing to try to "turn the tide of language loss." He
said the proposed legislation would acknowledge those efforts.
9:10:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS offered his understanding that
there was an amendment available.
9:11:02 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked if every current Alaska Native language would
be included under HB 216.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that the list was
obtained from the linguists from the University of Alaska
Fairbanks and is inclusive of all Alaska Native languages today.
9:11:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 28-
LS0905\U.1, Martin, 3/14/14, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
Page 1, following line 5:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of
Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read:
LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the
legislature that the amendment to AS 44.12.310 adding
20 languages as official languages of the state is
symbolic and is not intended to require the government
to provide additional services in those 20 additional
languages."
Page 1, line 6:
Delete "Section 1"
Insert "Sec. 2"
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS objected for the purpose of discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS explained that the proposed
Amendment 1 would clarify that HB 216 would neither amend the
part of statute that relates to day to day government functions
nor force government [documents] to be printed in 20 languages.
He indicated that Amendment 1 was in line with the legal
perspective, which the committee would hear about later, and the
zero fiscal note, included in the committee packet.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON stated an objection to Amendment 1. He
indicated that he wanted to hear from someone at Legislative
Legal and Research Services.
9:13:03 AM
HILARY MARTIN, Attorney at Law, Legislative Legal and Research
Services, Legislative Affairs Agency, Alaska State Legislature,
echoed Representative Kreiss-Tomkins' statement that Amendment 1
solidifies the intent of making the recognition of the state's
Native languages a symbolic one that would not require the
government to provide services in these languages.
9:14:08 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER questioned the concept of taking a law
that has litigation attached to it and calling it symbolic.
MS. MARTIN indicated that the language of Amendment 1 was intent
language in uncodified law. She said she was not certain if
calling a law symbolic had been done before. She said there has
been a court case about the official language statutes, which
she offered to discuss. She stated that intent language in
uncodified law lessens the impact, because the language would
not go into statute.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER asked what the ramifications would be for
naming the languages "official".
MS. MARTIN answered, "The statute doesn't define official
language aside from declaring what the official language is."
She continued as follows:
The [Alaska] Supreme Court has said that part of the
... official language statute is unconstitutional ....
Right now, the statute says English language has to be
used in the preparations of all official documents and
records, but the [Alaska] Supreme Court has said that
that means it has to be done in English. That does
not prevent using another language, and that statute
is not being amended in this bill. So, beyond that it
is not entirely clear what the effect is of declaring
something is an official language. There's ...
nothing else, really, that forces the use of the other
languages that I'm aware of.
9:17:45 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON asked what the effect of uncodified law
is in a legal proceeding.
MS. MARTIN answered that although uncodified law is not entered
into statute, if a statute is ambiguous, a court can look to
intent language to determine how the statute should be
interpreted.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON referenced AS 44.12.320 and questioned
whether, without a clear statement of intent, there may be an
unintended consequence of that statute being mandated.
MS. MARTIN reiterated that AS 44.12.320 would not be amended
under HB 216, and she stated her belief that it would not
"mandate the ... use of all of the official languages to prepare
documents and records." She reiterated that currently the
government could choose, but is not required, to prepare
documents in the other languages. She clarified, "I don't think
that ... this bill would change that circumstance."
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON expressed his desire to hear from the
Department of Law.
9:20:06 AM
The committee took a brief at-ease due to technical
difficulties.
9:21:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT, participating on the committee via
teleconference, said she is a joint-prime sponsor of HB 216.
She relayed that the proposed legislation is personal, because
she is one-quarter Inupiaq and grew up not knowing her language.
She said her grandmother was born in White Mountain and at a
young age taken to Oregon, where she was taught English and told
not to speak in her Native language. When she returned to
Alaska years later, she did not pass on her Native tongue to her
daughter or granddaughter, and Representative Millett expressed
feeling the loss of an opportunity to learn.
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT said HB 216 is symbolic and would not
require any change to statute or have any legal standing. She
indicated that her intent in testifying is to ensure that "we
still have English as our first and only language in Alaska."
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT talked about Native youth in Alaska
trying to cope, and she said, "We are number one for domestic
violence; we are number one in suicide." She said the intent of
the proposed legislation is to create an environment where
Alaska Native youths can take pride in their ancestry and,
through learning their languages and hearing their stories told,
know that they are not the outsiders, but rather are "the people
that we should be learning from."
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT asked that care be taken with the
proposed legislation, such that any amendments to it would not
result in future litigation. In response to Chair Lynn, she
said she did not oppose the proposed Amendment 1.
9:25:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON stated that several years ago, a bill
passed that allowed Alaska to preserve its Native languages. He
stated his belief that HB 216 would open a door to an unintended
consequence. He said, "This is something that has already been
through the courts and has a huge history." He asked for DOL's
feedback as to the effect of uncodified law on legal
proceedings.
9:26:40 AM
LIBBY BAKALAR, Assistant Attorney General, Labor and State
Affairs Section, Civil Division (Juneau), Department of Law
(DOL), said she essentially agreed with the answer provided by
Ms. Martin that [uncodified law] is viewed as legislative
intent. She said that in interpreting the statute, the court
would first look to the constitution, then to statute, and
finally to regulations or legislative intent language. She said
she did not think [intent language] would have any legal impact,
but would weigh in the court's determination in a disputed issue
over the statute.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON reiterated his concern that HB 216 would
create an unintended consequence, because people would not see
the intent language, which may result in the legislature or DOL
in the future thinking it should "align this section" with the
aforementioned statute to mandate that all official documents
include all the official languages.
MS. BAKALAR responded, "I think that would be a separate bill
entirely; this bill, standing alone, in my view, even without
the intent language, does not impose any additional requirements
on the government to produce documents in the listed languages."
She said the phrase "official language" does not appear anywhere
else in Alaska statute. Further, she said the bill would not
change any of the other requirements in the Official Language
initiative that expressly provide for government documents and
publications in English. She said the case that Ms. Martin
mentioned held that a statute that is reduced to a statement
that English is the official language of the state could not be
given legal affect, because it would only be a statement of
policy. She continued:
Based on that, the amendment to the statute that adds
all these languages is really what ... the sponsors
both mentioned - a policy statement without legal
impact - so, even regardless of intent language, I
think the statute standing alone doesn't impose any
additional obligations on the state to produce
government documents in these listed languages.
9:29:32 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked Ms. Bakalar if the proposed Amendment 1 would
be detrimental to HB 216 in any way.
MS. BAKALAR answered that she did not think it would affect the
bill itself, because the statutory language was clear. She
offered her understanding that the purpose of Amendment 1 was to
reiterate what was already true in statute and in the
constitution, as interpreted by the [Alaska] Supreme Court, that
"it is largely symbolic."
9:30:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER asked what the proposed legislation, with
or without Amendment 1, would change, within the context of the
law, in terms of Alaska's official language.
MS. BAKALAR answered, "I don't believe we have changed anything
in terms of what that phrase means, because that phrase is not
actually defined anywhere in the statutes."
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER sought clarification that the term is not
used in other statutes. He then asked, "Will it not be ...
looked at in law or in court cases, maybe, in the future ...,
here ... along with the other places it might be used?"
MS. BAKALAR answered, "I don't believe it is used anywhere else
in the statute."
9:32:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE BENJAMIN NAGEAK, Alaska State Legislature, as
joint-prime sponsor, asked permission to make a statement in his
Native language of Inupiaq. In response to Chair Lynn, he said
he would follow that statement with a translation. He then gave
his testimony in Inupiaq.
9:34:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK said he initially came in anger to testify
on HB 216, but then he realized the emotion was not anger, but
passion to keep "our language" alive. He emphasized the
importance of this issue. He stated that as recent as 1969, "we
were second-class people." Representative Nageak told of a time
when he and his cousin were walking along a street at night, in
Fairbanks, Alaska, when two large men attacked them. He said
police were around but "nothing happened."
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK stated disagreement with the labeling of
the proposed bill as symbolic. He opined that it is a
recognition that the people who have lived in Alaska since time
immemorial spoke other languages. He relayed that Barter Island
got its name, because it was the place where the Gwich'in and
Inupiat people met to trade. He said people did not always get
along, but recognized they needed each other to trade.
Representative Nageak said today people need each other. He
talked about the unintended consequences of diseases that were
brought to Alaska by non-Natives and killed many Native people
who had no immunity to them. He said there are unintended
consequences for everything. He said he does not think the bill
would change anything, but is a recognition of those who are
speaking the languages of their ancestors and trying to keep
those languages alive. He added, "Just like you. You want
English to be alive. And so, we have the same passion you do in
protecting what you ... know." He said that is human nature.
He reiterated that the bill is not symbolic, but is a
recognition that there were people here before the Russians
came.
9:38:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he had spent time on the North Slope,
and he wished he knew more than some words in Inupiaq. He
concurred with Representative Nageak that the issue is not
symbolic; it is about the desire to preserve languages that are
in danger of becoming extinct, which in turn would protect the
cultures that use those languages. He commented on how many
words for different types of snow there are in Inupiaq. He
questioned why the issue is being addressed in "this format,"
when there are so many other things that could be done. For
example, he said there could be a designated day to honor all
the languages of Alaska. He said he would co-sponsor such
legislation.
CHAIR LYNN interjected that he also would co-sponsor such
legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER suggested that the state could provide
funds to ensure that Native languages do not get lost. He
stated, "I'm passionately with you, and I appreciate your
language ... but I'm really struggling with this format."
CHAIR LYNN asked Representative Keller to clarify if he was
struggling with the format of Amendment 1 or the format of HB
216.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER answered the format of the proposed bill.
He mentioned a "voter bill" that was passed, in which he
indicated the word "official" was used, which "politicized it to
a point that it seems like it might work against us; it actually
might ... deepen the wedge that we don't need."
9:42:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK indicated that the format used for HB 216
was the same as was used to make English the official language,
and both are recognitions. He stated, "It's a recognition that
language is used officially in a lot of things." He spoke of
the period of time when he was growing up and was told not to
speak his language, but people did speak it to keep it alive.
He said his generation was the last to speak, read, and write
his language. He said his children are struggling. He talked
about language being emotional.
9:46:08 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER reiterated that he shares [Representative
Nageak's] passion, and would support the efforts to honor and
preserve Native languages, but he struggles with the vehicle
being used. He shared a word that he said meant "white guy,"
and he indicated that he was described as such when he was [on
the North Slope].
9:46:24 AM
CHAIR LYNN reminded the committee that Amendment 1 was before
it.
9:46:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS said her parents came from Russia, but she
does not speak Russian, because her parents learned English to
assimilate, since the English language is "what the United
States speaks and reads." She observed that the proposed
legislation would do nothing to keep the Native languages alive,
but it also would not hinder [efforts to do so]. She concurred
with Representative Keller that a different vehicle could be
used to keep the languages alive and utilize them in an
educational setting. She indicated that even though she
appreciated the comments from Representative Nageak, the
proposed legislation is of a symbolic nature; therefore,
"there's a little bit of separation there."
CHAIR LYNN remarked, "It's almost like two separate bills."
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS concurred.
CHAIR LYNN recognized Representative Isaacson to speak and asked
him if he would be speaking to the proposed amendment or bill.
9:48:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON noted that the committee had been
speaking to both, and offered to remove his objection to the
motion to move Amendment 1, but noted that he had some questions
about Amendment 1. He stated that he and Representative Nageak
were "brothers - heart and soul," but said that on this issue,
he had "heartburn." He indicated that he had supported a bill
to preserve Alaska's languages that passed through the
legislature. He related that he was a linguist who held a
Bachelor of Arts and Linguistics, and he said he was published
with a Ph.D. candidate in a peer-reviewed article in a Salish
Indian dialect. He said he grew up in a family where his
grandfather on his father's side did not allow his children to
speak Norwegian, because they were in America. He said although
he could not speak Norwegian, he had studied, formally and
informally, about 10-12 languages, was in Alaska as a Russian
linguist, and was in a Spanish singing group; therefore, he
understood language as emotional and from the heart.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON said preserving languages takes more
than declaring it is official. He said, "We have never declared
any language in America official - not Cherokee, not English,
not German, not Spanish - and yet we've accepted English as the
language of trade, and now Spanish is coming on board." He
noted that when Teddy Roosevelt was President, he warned that
the country could become "a boarding house of polyglot
residents," where people would be unable to communicate at all.
Representative Isaacson indicated there may be an unintended
burden of making something official when trying to establish
culture and pride and trying to be "one people recognizing the
multifaceted diversity of our culture." He noted that Amendment
1 used the word "symbolic," and he offered his understanding
that Representative Nageak was saying "it is a recognition - a
symbolic recognition." He questioned whether "this vehicle"
would "really accomplish what you and the sponsor are trying to
do."
9:51:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON asked if [the people who traded on]
Barter Island really had one language of trade.
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK said he thought they did, but the language
was not perpetuated.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON said many cultures throughout history
have adopted a trade language. He asked Representative Nageak
if he would speak against Amendment 1, because of the use of the
word "symbolic."
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK reiterated that "it's a recognition; it's
not symbolic." He emphasized that those who spoke Native
languages were in what is now Alaska much longer than those who
came along after. He asked Representative Isaacson not to
"parse words" with him.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON responded that when the legislature is
speaking about law, it must parse words. He indicated that
[Amendment 1] is an attempt to establish intent, and he
emphasized the importance of ensuring that intent follows the
law, so that future legislatures are not encumbered with, for
example, "having to provide everything in 20 different
languages." He said, "The next step is progression. Somebody
will do something more, and someone will try to infer an intent
that is not in this intent, because intent doesn't follow the
codified law; it won't be in the books." He asked
Representative Nageak to help him understand.
9:55:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK answered, "Let me remind you: We're using
the same format that was used to place English as a recognized
language."
9:55:49 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT stated that she does not understand the
pushback from recognizing the first people that were in Alaska
before it became part of the U.S. She indicated that the
legislature passed other symbolic bills, such as making the
malamute Alaska's official dog, without nearly as much
discussion. She emphasized that HB 216 would be a beginning
step towards restoring pride in Alaska Natives by righting a
wrong that was done years ago. She continued as follows:
I'm very passionate about this bill. I'm so upset
that I don't know Inupiaq, that I don't know the
language. I wish that my grandma wasn't beaten and
told not to speak the Native language. I wish my
mother wasn't ashamed of being Native and not wanting
to learn her indigenous language. I want to right
that wrong.
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT said she has heard many stories from
elders about Natives being beaten for speaking their language.
She ventured that others may not understand without having
walked "in some of those shoes." She asked people to "look in
their hearts" and consider that "we're not doing anything with
force of law": no statutes would be changed under HB 216;
"English is our language"; and learning a Native language would
not be mandatory. She emphasized that the proposed legislation
is "a symbolic gesture to just pass on to the youth of our ...
state" to encourage pride, the learning of Native languages, and
a knowledge of personal history.
9:59:06 AM
CHAIR LYNN indicated that what he saw happening was not a push-
back, but a committee process. He opined that the proposed bill
and amendment are important and worthy of committee discussion.
He suggested that if the proposed legislation was not that
important, perhaps the committee would not be spending so much
time vetting it.
10:00:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS reviewed that Alaska already has a
symbolic official language, which is English. That was passed
in the aforementioned 1998 voter initiative. That initiative
excluded the 20 Native languages of Alaska. He said the intent
of HB 216 is to recognize the people who are dedicating their
lives to learning the languages, by recognizing that the
languages - in the official and ceremonial sense - are to the
State of Alaska equally important and just as much Alaska's
languages [as English]. He concluded, "That's the significance
of this bill."
CHAIR LYNN asked the committee to focus again on the proposed
Amendment 1.
10:01:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS [maintained] her objection to the motion
to adopt Amendment 1.
10:01:51 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that HB 216 was held over.
[The motion to adopt Amendment 1 was left pending, with an
objection.]
10:02:27 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 10:02
a.m.