Legislature(1995 - 1996)
04/03/1996 02:22 PM House TRA
| Audio | Topic |
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
April 3, 1996
2:22 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Gary Davis, Chairman
Representative Jeanette James
Representative Tom Brice
Representative Jerry Sanders
Representative Bill Williams
Representative Don Long
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Beverly Masek, Vice Chair
OTHER HOUSE MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Norman Rokeberg
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 543
"An Act establishing a preference when entering into state airport
land leases."
- MOVED CSHB 543 (TRA) FROM COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 518
"An Act exempting certain persons engaged in selling or servicing
certain vehicles from overtime wage requirements."
- MOVED HB 518 FROM COMMITTEE
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 274(TRA) am
"An Act relating to the noise levels of airports and sport shooting
facilities."
- MOVED HCS CSSB 274 (TRA) FROM COMMITTEE
*HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 65
Relating to proposed Federal Aviation Administration regulations
establishing crew member flight time limitations.
- MOVED FROM COMMITTEE
*HOUSE BILL NO. 136
"An Act mandating the sale of the Alaska Railroad; and providing
for an effective date."
- HEARD AND HELD
(* First public hearing)
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 543
SHORT TITLE: STATE AIRPORT LAND LEASE PREFERENCE
SPONSOR(S): TRANSPORTATION
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
03/14/96 3149 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
03/14/96 3149 (H) TRANSPORTATION
03/20/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
03/20/96 (H) MINUTE(TRA)
03/27/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
04/03/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
BILL: HB 518
SHORT TITLE: OVERTIME COMP FOR VEHICLE SALES PEOPLE
SPONSOR(S): LABOR & COMMERCE
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
02/15/96 2776 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
02/15/96 2776 (H) TRANSPORTATION, LABOR & COMMERCE
02/28/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
02/28/96 (H) MINUTE(TRA)
03/20/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
04/03/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
BILL: SB 274
SHORT TITLE: NOISE AT AIRPORTS & SPORT SHOOTING RANGES
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) HALFORD,Sharp,Green
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
02/09/96 2347 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
02/09/96 2347 (S) TRANSPORTATION
02/27/96 (S) TRA AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
02/27/96 (S) MINUTE(TRA)
02/28/96 2566 (S) TRA RPT CS 1DP 2NR SAME TITLE
02/28/96 2566 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTES (LAW, DOT)
03/06/96 (S) RLS AT 12:45 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203
03/06/96 (S) MINUTE(RLS)
03/12/96 2710 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 3/12/96
03/12/96 2715 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
03/12/96 2715 (S) TRA CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT
03/12/96 2715 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UNAN CONSENT
03/12/96 2715 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 274(TRA)
03/12/96 2716 (S) PASSED Y17 N1 E2
03/12/96 2716 (S) DUNCAN NOTICE OF RECONSIDERATION
03/14/96 2747 (S) RECON TAKEN UP - IN THIRD READING
03/14/96 2747 (S) RETURN TO SECOND FOR AM 1 UNAN CONSENT
03/14/96 2747 (S) AM NO 1 ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT
03/14/96 2747 (S) AUTOMATICALLY IN THIRD READING
03/14/96 2748 (S) PASSED ON RECONSIDERATION Y15 N3 E2
03/14/96 2749 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
03/18/96 3171 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
03/18/96 3171 (H) TRANSPORTATION, FINANCE
04/03/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
BILL: HJR 65
SHORT TITLE: OPPOSING PROPOSED FAA REGULATIONS
SPONSOR(S): TRANSPORTATION
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
04/02/96 3558 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
04/02/96 3559 (H) TRANSPORTATION
04/03/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
BILL: HB 136
SHORT TITLE: MANDATE SALE OF ALASKA RAILROAD
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) MARTIN
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/30/95 174 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/30/95 174 (H) TRA, STA, FIN
04/03/96 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 17
WITNESS REGISTER
KURT PARKAN, Deputy Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
3132 Channel Drive
Juneau, Alaska 99801-7898
Telephone: (907) 465-6977
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on CSHB 543
KELLY HUBER, Legislative Aide
for Senator Halford
Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol, Room 508
Juneau, AK 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-4958
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on CSSB 274 (TRA) am
TOM ANDERSON, Legislative Aide
for Representative Martin
Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol, Room 502
Juneau, AK 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-3783
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 136
FRANK DILLON, Executive Director
Alaska Trucking Association
3443 Minnesota Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
Telephone: (907) 276-1149
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 136
BOB HATFIELD, Chief Executive Officer
Alaska Railroad Corporation
P.O. Box 107500
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-7500
Telephone: (907) 265-2403
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 136
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-15, SIDE A
Number 000
The House Transportation Standing Committee was called to order by
Chairman Gary Davis at 2:22 p.m. Members present at the call to
order were Representatives G. Davis, James, Brice, Long, and
Williams. This meeting was teleconferenced to Anchorage, Fairbanks
and Seward. A quorum was present.
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS announced that the agenda was HB 543, HB 518,
CSSB 274 (TRA) am, HJR 65 and HB 136.
HB 543 - STATE AIRPORT LAND LEASE PREFERENCE
Number 0045
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS announced the first item on the agenda was HB
543, an act establishing a preference when entering into state
airport land leases and referred to the new committee substitute.
REPRESENTATIVE JEANETTE JAMES made a motion to adopt CSHB 543
(TRA), version 9-LS1769\F, dated April 3, 1996. Hearing no
objections CSHB 543 (TRA) was now before the House Standing
Committee on Transportation.
Number 0095
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said CSHB 543 (TRA) was a draft put together in
conjunction with involved parties and the Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT/PF). He said the
language in the title has been narrowly defined so that it
addresses specific concerns and will not leave itself open to
revisions. He said the findings section has been left into CSHB
543 (TRA) to protect it from any constitutional question regarding
preferential rights on land leases.
Number 0192
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said the changes in Section 2 address concerns
by involved parties. He said the changes in Section 3 involve the
elimination of terms which might have a legal basis, with the
insertion of simple language. He said the language now reads,
"right and option to make the first offer on a new lease for an
extended term within a reasonable period of time". He said there
was lengthy discussion to make sure the time frames within that
process were delineated and Section 3 (d) does this, "under (c) of
this section, the department shall make the offer not less than 180
days before the expiration of the existing lease, and the holder of
the existing lease shall respond to the department's offer not less
than 90 days before the expiration of the existing lease." In this
subsection, lease does not include a holdover lease. He said a
holdover lease will probably not have 180 or even 90 days left in
the lease. He said the provisions apply in a holdover lease but
the timing does not. Holdover leases are available for the lessee
to have the right and option to make the first offer on a new lease
for that same land.
Number 0346
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said Section 3 (e) addresses the improvements
made to the land and said there might be some discussion on this
section. He said (e) addresses the situation where someone is
interested in financing a facility on the land, and said DOT/PF can
address this situation by regulation.
Number 0389
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said the key thing, in CSHB 342 (TRA), is to
make its application constitutional and to make sure that DOT/PF is
in agreement to prevent the bill from being vetoed.
Number 0426
KURT PARKAN, Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner,
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, said the DOT/PF
supports legislation that will give existing tenants the right and
opportunity to get a new lease without going through the anxiety of
entering a competitive situation. He said DOT/PF was directed by
the Governor to work with the legislature to address this issue and
said CSHB 342 (TRA) does a good job in meeting that common goal.
He said the DOT/PF has a problem with Section 3 (e), the discussion
on the disposition of improvements. He said the DOT/PF cannot say
that they support that language and said they have provided some
suggested language the DOT/PF could support if the committee feels
there needs to be some reference to the improvements in the bill.
He said the problem with the current language, in CSHB 543 (TRA),
is that it removes flexibility for the state to manage the public
land and the DOT/PF feel that it would "tie the hands" of the state
in looking at the needs of the community, the needs of the airport
users and the need of the state as a whole.
Number 0594
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said the submitted language was located in the
committee packet.
Number 0641
REPRESENTATIVE NORMAN ROKEBERG, "what the provisions of subsection
(e) provide for is the disposition of revisionary interests in the
leaseholds. There's been a lot of difficulties I understand that
in the past about this because they have either been omitted or
there hasn't been arms length bargaining in the past about this
reversionary interests. So, this section, which I approve of in
part, is that it does provide that the disposition of these
improvements at the expiration or termination of a lease would
remain with the leaseholder except for the limited circumstances
found in lines 27 through 30. However, one thing I think that has
been omitted, although we have had some testimony in past meetings
on this is that if there is a clear, bargained for situation
between the state as lessor and the tenants as lessees, that
expressly provides for the reversionary interest of the improvement
to vest back into the state of Alaska. I don't think we should
frustrate that statutorily and hopefully that would overcome any
problems that the department would have with this clause."
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG proposed an amendment to Section 3 (e),
language on page three, line 27, after "lessee" adding, "except
when expressly bargained for by agreement." "So, the sentence in
essence, by paraphrasing read, that the ownerships of the
improvements would be retained by the tenant except or by when they
constructed them by successor and interest or other assignees,
except when they are expressly bargained for by agreement. You
could actually bargain for by agreement. As a matter of
construction you can even put it also down, however in limited
circumstances clearly defined by regulations, you could add it down
there too because these are exceptions that speak to the state's
interest."
Number 0800
MR. PARKAN said he did not see how that language would change
things for the state as it doesn't provide the state with the
flexibility in determining the disposition of improvements at the
end of a lease. He questioned what the language, "acquire
ownership by financing improvements" meant. He said DOT/PF does
not really finance improvements.
Number 0832
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES asked for clarification on the problem with
Section 3 (e).
Number 0844
MR. PARKAN said existing regulations, that have been in place for
many years, have three options for disposition of improvements at
the end of the lease term including the reversion of improvements
to the state, improvements may be removed or the improvements may
be sold to the subsequent lessee. He said the language, under
Section 3 (e), would change that and make it nearly impossible for
the improvements to revert to the state.
Number 0895
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG said his proposed amendment would give the
state the ability to bargain for that right in the lease. He said
the use of bargaining means something, and said there is not the
right to bargain at the airports because of their semi-monopoly
status.
Number 0941
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said the language suggested by the DOT/PF
clearly states the intent more clearly than his proposed amendment.
Number 0952
REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG said the suggested language by the DOT/PF
is similar to other language that was included in other drafts of
CSHB 543 (TRA) which he had devised. "That language is really
duplicative of language I had provided when I had a construct which
provided for the reversionary interest in existing leases and then
said future leases had to speak to a disposition and that is all
that clause does. That clause merely states that any future leases
would have a clause or provision for the disposition of any
improvements, that is all it means."
Number 0990
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she understood that, but it seemed to her
that the disposition of the improvements at the end of the lease is
the issue. Currently, according to regulation, the state has all
the options and if the state is to have options it should clearly
state what those options are. She said the proposed language
offered by the department would provide that information.
Number 1025
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said there was some ambiguity in the language
provided, "may acquire ownership by financing improvements."
Number 1038
REPRESENTATIVE DON LONG said one of the suggested language reads
that we need provisions for disposition of improvements and the
other suggested language already has provisions lined in the lease.
Number 1068
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said in the CSHB 543 (TRA) it is more detailed
with the amendment proposed by Representative Rokeberg which adds
some of the language by the departments. He said this is currently
the only section of contention in CSHB 543 (TRA). He said he
wanted to move this bill out today and felt it would have a better
position on the floor if the department's suggested language was
incorporated into CSHB 543 (TRA).
Number 1108
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES made a motion to delete the existing Section
3 (e), lines 24 through 30, and insert the language provided by the
DOT/PF as reads, "All leases must include a provision that provides
for the disposition of any improvements made to the land, at the
expiration, termination or cancellation of the lease." Hearing no
objection, Amendment 1 was adopted to CSHB 543 (TRA) by the House
Standing Committee on Transportation.
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said there would most likely be additional
"tweaks" to CSHB 543 (TRA) before it went to the floor with the
assistance and cooperation of the DOT/PF.
Number 1204
REPRESENTATIVE BILL WILLIAMS made a motion to move CSHB 543 (TRA),
as amended, with zero fiscal note, and individual recommendations.
Hearing no objections CSHB 543 (TRA) was moved from the House
Standing Committee on Transportation.
HB 518 - OVERTIME COMP FOR VEHICLE SALES PEOPLE
Number 1291
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS announced the next item on the agenda was HB
518, an act exempting certain persons engaged in selling or
servicing certain vehicles from overtime wage requirements. He
said this bill was heard last week and said, in discussions with
the Department of Labor and the prime sponsor, that since the prime
sponsor is the next committee of referral, concerns could be
addressed there.
Number 1291
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS made a motion to move HB 518 with zero
fiscal note and individual recommendations. Hearing no objection
HB 518 was moved from the House Standing Committee on
Transportation.
SB 274 - NOISE AT AIRPORTS & SPORT SHOOTING RANGES
Number 1524
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS announced that the next item on the agenda was
CSSB 274(TRA) am an act relating to the noise levels of airports
and sport shooting facilities.
KELLY HUBER, Legislative Aide for Senator Halford, said that CSSB
274 (TRA) am is a straightforward piece of legislation which was
introduced to provide private airports and sport shooting ranges
protection from lawsuits if the legal action arises out of the
noise level from normal operations. She said CSSB 274 (TRA) am
addresses situations which have occurred in the lower 48 states
where new homes were built outside of town, near an airport or a
sport shooting range, and then people who moved into their homes
didn't care for the noise level and filed lawsuits regarding the
noise level. She said CSSB 274 (TRA) am protects sport shooting
ranges and private airports from noise related lawsuits.
Number 1385
MS. HUBER said CSSB 274 (TRA) is endorsed by the National Rifle
Association (NRA), Alaska Air Carrier's Association, the Outdoor
Council and the Airmen's Association.
Number 1400
MS. HUBER referred to Amendment 1 which the sponsor has asked the
committee to consider. She said this amendment is a clean-up
amendment. She said, on the floor of the Senate, the word
"private" was defined. She said after this action, Legislative
Legal came back and said the language should be cleaned up and put
in their "legalize." She said now it would read, "private means an
airport privately owned or operated" with the deletion of, "by a
private individual." She said the amendment takes out "home rule"
and deleting, "or unincorporated city or borough" which is not an
appropriate way to place this in a definition. She repeated that
the language in the proposed amendment was strictly clean-up
language.
Representative Sanders joined the committee meeting at 2:45 p.m.
Number 1475
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES made a motion to adopt Amendment 1 to CSSB 274
(TRA) am. Hearing no objections, Amendment 1 was incorporated into
CSSB 274 (TRA) am by the House Standing Committee on
Transportation.
Number 1497
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES made a motion to move CSSB 274 (TRA) am, as
amended, with attached fiscal notes and individual recommendations.
Hearing no objections HCS CSSB 274 (TRA) was moved from the House
Standing Committee on Transportation.
HJR 65 - OPPOSING PROPOSED FAA REGULATIONS
Number 1524
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS announced that the next item on the agenda was
HJR 65, relating to proposed Federal Aviation Administration
regulations establishing crew member flight time limitations. He
said this issue was brought to his attention by several people and
read the sponsor statement into the record, "The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) is proposing to implement regulations which
would limit the number of hours air taxi pilots would be allowed to
fly in a month.
Research indicates that most air taxi operators in Alaska utilize
their pilots in excess of this proposed limit on a regular basis.
As can be seen in the whereas clauses of the resolution, these
regulations will have a drastic impact on air taxi operations in
Alaska.
These businesses are operating safely and this requirement would be
over restrictive and costly. In essence, these regulations will be
detrimental to the livelihood of Alaska pilots and air taxi
business owners alike."
Number 1573
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said the proposed regulations are included in
the committee packet and the amount of hours would be restricted to
100 hours in a calendar month. He said currently pilots are flying
in excess of this amount, with some pilots flying 180 to 200 hours
a month. He said this limitation is being proposed as a safety
measure, but other places in the nation do not have the same summer
season with the long daylight hours and the excess volume of
seasonal business.
Number 1626
REPRESENTATIVE TOM BRICE asked if there was a current limitation on
how many hours someone can fly. A discussion ensued about this
question.
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said pilots, currently, were acting within the
law. He said this issue is being fought at the national level by
Senator Stevens who is trying to make an exception with the state
of Alaska.
Number 1754
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE asked if it was appropriate to name specific
private, non-profit associations within HJR 65. He said he would
not hold up this resolution to get that addressed as it can be
addressed before the floor.
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said upon checking with the legal department,
the did not have a problem with the inclusion of those specific
organizations. He said he would verify that question again before
it came up to the floor.
Number 1831
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE said he might want to add language which would
depict the uniqueness of Alaskan geography. He made a motion to
move HJR 65 with individual recommendations. Hearing no objections
HJR was moved from the House Standing Committee on Transportation.
HB 136 - MANDATE SALE OF ALASKA RAILROAD
Number 1853
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS announced the next item on the agenda, HB 136,
an act mandating the sale of the Alaska Railroad; and providing for
an effective date.
TOM ANDERSON, Legislative Aide for Representative Martin, referred
to a work draft which changes the proposed dates within the
legislation. He said HB 136 attempts to privatize the Alaska
Railroad by asking the Governor to request proposals to purchase
the Alaska Railroad and its assets, asks the Governor to evaluate
the proposals over a certain amount of time, and then asks the
Governor to contract for an appraisal and the amounts of the
appraisals shall be presented to the legislature. He said HB 136
requests that the progress be updated, and upon completion of sale
of the railroad, it asks the Governor to dissolve the Alaska
Railroad Corporation.
Number 1929
MR. ANDERSON referred to fiscal notes located in the committee
packet. He said the affected departments have not give any
indication of a cost and failed to provide a fiscal note.
Number 1963
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS requested a copy of the committee substitute
which changes the dates, included in CSHB 136, one year forward.
Number 2097
FRANK DILLON, Executive Director, Alaska Trucking Association, was
next to testify. He said he supported CSHB 136 and that the
trucking industry would like to see the Alaska Railroad privatized.
He said the trucking industry does not often, directly, compete
with the railroad. He said the trucking industry is the third
largest user, or customer, of the railroad services. He said there
is a lot of freight in Alaska and that makes sense to transport by
railroad.
Number 2137
MR. DILLON said there are occasions when it is impossible or
awkward for the trucking industry to use the railroad because it is
a quasi-public entity. He cited an example where the Alaska
railroad trucks are going around the municipality of Anchorage and
pulling trailers, which belong to private vendors, with state
exempt license plates. He said that although this is a small
example and the railroad does not have a lot of tractors in their
fleet, this appears to be an example where the Alaska Railroad
works "both sides of the street."
Number 2155
MR. DILLON said, if the component from real estate is taken out of
the Alaska Railroad, his organization is not sure that there is
much of value to sell. He said the transportation features that
the Alaska Railroad provides is bulk hauling of fuel and coal
hauling. He said there are questions about what will happen with
the fuel haul and the efficacy of the coal haul. He said, other
than that, the general freight, with the exception of a few heavy
items, could be picked up by less than 200 more trucks. He
encouraged information on whether or not the Alaska Railroad is
sellable and questioned that if it is too expensive to sell there
might not be any value in doing so. He said, in conclusion, he
supported CSHB 136.
Number 2201
BOB HATFIELD, Chief Executive Officer, Alaska Railroad Corporation,
said he was available for questions, but had no prepared testimony
to give.
Number 2207
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS asked if the state had a legal obligation to
offer the Alaska Railroad up for sale.
Number 2221
MR. HATFIELD said he was not aware that there was a legal
obligation to offer the Alaska Railroad up for sale. He said the
statute contemplates the sale of the railroad, but there is no
longer a requirement that the state or the railroad offer itself up
for sale.
Number 2249
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS clarified that CSHB 136 has the legislature
asking the Governor to attempt to sell the Alaska Railroad in a
time specific manner. He asked what the criteria was to determine
whether the offer was being made by a viable company and whether
the offer was of an adequate amount.
Number 2282
MR. ANDERSON said Representative Martin's intention was to have the
Governor direct this determination to either the Department of
Administration or the Department of Commerce and Economic
Development to establish the criteria. He said Representative
Martin felt that it would be premature to establish the criteria at
this point without departmental input.
Number 2301
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS referred to page one, line ten, and read, "by
January 1, 1999, the Governor shall enter into an agreement to sell
the Alaska Railroad to the most responsive offer."
Number 2308
MR. ANDERSON said this statement was with the assumption that a
viable offer comes in and added that this language could be
changed.
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said this would be an area that he would
question and said there are two other committees of referral.
Number 2322
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she supported a sale of the Alaska
Railroad, but expressed concern as to how this sale is
accomplished. She referred to testimony by Montana Rail Link heard
in the Joint Senate and House Transportation Committee meeting in
March of 1996. She said Montana Rail Link was a viable purchaser
for the Alaska Railroad and was interested in buying the Alaska
Railroad, but said they might not be interested with the limited
amount of track.
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she sympathized with the concerns of Mr.
Dillon. She said to have a successful railroad operating in this
state it must be private. She said, for the areas where the Alaska
Railroad operates, it could provide a big tax base if it was
privatized. She said her biggest concern is that whoever buys the
railroad should really want to run the railroad and not just sell
it off. She questioned whether having a mandate that the railroad
be sold by a certain time was something that should be changed.
Number 2392
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said the employees of the Alaska Railroad
might be prospective buyers and cited their merits. She said the
Alaska Railroad has been doing quite well despite the restrictions
they were given such as a broken rails and ties, fixed amount of
money to use for operations with a limited ability to receive
funding to improve the trains such as buying lighter cars to haul
more coal. She said, despite all these issues, the Alaska Railroad
has done quite well and yet she felt the state has been waiting for
an opportune time to sell the railroad.
Number 2449
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said she believes that the Alaska Railroad can
access the resources throughout the state.
TAPE 96-15, SIDE B
Number 0000
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said with a railroad you don't have to worry
about conflicts, providing emergency services, having services
along the road for people or police protection. She said the
railroad, in this state, has great potential. She said the buyer
of the Alaska Railroad needs to be someone who is interested in
making the railroad more than what it is today. She said Montana
Rail Link is interested in connecting railroads around the nation
and are interested in connecting Alaska's rail to Canada. She said
Montana Rail Link indicated that if they were given any indication
that they could buy the Alaska Railroad, they would come up with
their own appraisal and determination as to whether or not this was
a good investment. She indicated that she is not convinced that
the state needs to spend the money to do an appraisal.
Number 0060
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said whatever is put into statute needs to be
thought about very carefully and the Governor must be told that
there is an obligation of what needs to be done. She said the
reason why no one responded to Montana Rail Link was that the
Governor is not interested in selling the railroad. She said it is
the Governor's responsibility to put that railroad system into
private ownership if at all possible and any inquiries ought to be
seriously considered.
Number 0102
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said Montana Rail Link is a company that is
allowing people in the areas that they serve to have cheaper
transportation. She said they are a company operating all over the
lower 48 states and in other countries. She concluded that she is
not pleased with CSHB 136 and said she was not willing to move this
bill out of committee until she had an opportunity to change things
in this bill.
Number 0126
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said he agreed with most things that she said.
He said he was surprised that Representative Martin, in his
legislation, gives the Governor complete control to sell the Alaska
Railroad without legislative oversight. He said if someone is
interested in buying the railroad, then they will do the appraisal
of the lands. He said if an offer is given, the company should
know that their offer will be given the greatest amount of
consideration and said CSHB 136 can be strengthened in this regard.
He said this is an issue currently under debate because of Montana
Rail Link and said he agreed with Representative James as to what
the procedure was in existence if a company wants to make an offer
to buy the railroad.
Number 0192
MR. ANDERSON said Representative Martin is willing to work with
anyone to change CSHB 136. He said CSHB 136 is a chance to push
this issue forward. He said, upon talking with the Federal
Railroad Administration, the present trend is for Class A or Class
1 Railroads, which would have a revenue of over $100 million, to
purchase smaller railroads. He said there are 12 of these types of
Class A railroads, but added that Montana Rail Link is not one of
those. He said that now is the time to sell the Alaska Railroad
and said that perhaps the Administration is not the entity to
dictate or put the parameters around this sale.
Number 0224
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES said, in her support of rail as a means of
future surface transportation, that trucking and rail
transportation are not in an adverse competition with each other.
She said the more rail activity, the more truck activity you have.
She expressed concern for the future when you put more trucks on
the highway system as it becomes dangerous and expensive.
Number 0286
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE said there is language in CSHB 136 which says
that the buyers of the Alaska Railroad will continue to operate,
but there is nothing in CSHB 136 to prevent the buyers from pulling
rail or taking the rolling stock out of the state and this is of
concern to him. He said nothing is specified where the state will
receive the amount of money it has spent in connection with the
railroad and asked when the "state" is defined whether it included
the Railroad Corporation or whether it was state general funds. He
asked that the state get a fair market price for the railroad as
well as protecting employees of the Alaska Railroad.
Number 0354
MR. ANDERSON said, "that is in statute, Mr. Chairman." The statute
says that the Governor may provide for the sale or lease and that
it can be assured that the railroad will continue to operate after
the sale or lease and that under the terms of the sale or lease a
proper amount of money will be received in connection for the whole
railroad.
CHAIRMAN GARY DAVIS said the committee will work as a whole to
bring about changes in the language of CSHB 136, rather than
putting this issue into a subcommittee.
ADJOURNMENT
As there was no further business to come before the House
Transportation Standing Committee, Chairman Gary Davis adjourned
the meeting at 3:20 p.m.
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