Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
04/17/2007 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB118 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 102 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 118 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
April 17, 2007
1:35 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Johnny Ellis, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Bettye Davis
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Con Bunde
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 102
"An Act relating to mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers, mortgage
originators, state agents who collect program administration
fees, and other persons who engage in activities relating to
mortgage lending; relating to mortgage loan activities; relating
to an originator fund; relating to fees for mortgage loan
transactions; and providing for an effective date."
SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 118(RLS)
"An Act relating to underage possession of alcoholic beverages
in a dwelling."
HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 118
SHORT TITLE: PROHIBIT ALLOWING MINORS TO HAVE ALCOHOL
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) MEYER
02/05/07 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/05/07 (H) L&C, JUD
02/16/07 (H) L&C AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 17
02/16/07 (H) <Bill Hearing Canceled>
02/21/07 (H) L&C AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 17
02/21/07 (H) Moved Out of Committee
02/21/07 (H) MINUTE(L&C)
02/22/07 (H) L&C RPT 4DP 2NR
02/22/07 (H) DP: GARDNER, RAMRAS, GATTO, OLSON
02/22/07 (H) NR: LEDOUX, NEUMAN
03/12/07 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/12/07 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/12/07 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/14/07 (H) JUD RPT 2DP 4NR 1AM
03/14/07 (H) DP: LYNN, RAMRAS
03/14/07 (H) NR: COGHILL, DAHLSTROM, SAMUELS, HOLMES
03/14/07 (H) AM: GRUENBERG
04/02/07 (H) RLS AT 5:00 PM CAPITOL 106
04/02/07 (H) Moved CSHB 118(RLS) Out of Committee
04/02/07 (H) MINUTE(RLS)
04/03/07 (H) RLS RPT CS(RLS) 4DP 3NR
04/03/07 (H) DP: FAIRCLOUGH, KERTTULA, HARRIS,
JOHNSON
04/03/07 (H) NR: SAMUELS, GUTTENBERG, COGHILL
04/03/07 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/03/07 (H) VERSION: CSHB 118(RLS)
04/04/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/04/07 (S) L&C, JUD
04/17/07 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
MIKE PALOWSKI
Staff to Representative Meyer
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 118 for the sponsor.
LIEUTENANT RODNEY DIAL
Alaska State Troopers
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Ketchikan AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 118.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR JOHNNY ELLIS called the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:35:46 PM. Present at the call to
order were Senators Davis, Bunde and Ellis. Senator Ellis
announced that SB 102 would not be heard today and was
rescheduled to next Thursday.
CSHB 118(RLS)-PROHIBIT ALLOWING MINORS TO HAVE ALCOHOL
1:36:50 PM
CHAIR ELLIS announced the first public hearing on CSHB 118(RLS).
MIKE PALOWSKI, staff to Representative Meyer, sponsor of HB 118,
said he introduced HB 118 after talking to his constituents
concerning some of the larger neighborhood parties that tend to
happen in Anchorage. He found there was a bit of a gap in
statute in that while it is illegal to rent a hotel room to
throw parties with minors, nothing specific covers being the
host for a party at a house. What often happens is the police
show up at a party where there are several minors drinking and
if the person that is hosting the party is over the age of 21,
it can often be difficult to prove that they have furnished
alcohol to minors. HB 118 attempts to create a non-criminal
violation for a person hosting a party where minors are in
possession of alcohol.
MR. PALOWSKI explained that a non-criminal violation is up to a
$500 fine that does not show up on someone's criminal record. So
you go outside the regular judicial system and allow the police
to have a tool and a deterrent to these types of parties.
The changes that happened in the House were primarily in the
Rules Committee and they narrowed down the criteria. First the
person is in physical possession and exercising dominion or
control over the dwelling, the key for the sponsor being that an
absent parent or landlord would not be the one who was liable.
The person actually throwing the party would take
responsibility. So, if the child was throwing a party while his
parents were gone it would be his responsibility, not the
parents.
1:38:56 PM
CHAIR ELLIS asked him to review the support and opposition.
MR. PALOWSKI responded that the most recent support came from
The Red Ribbon Coalition, a new community group that is working
on getting out the message that hosting parties for underage
people isn't appropriate. That letter is signed by Carol
Cuomeau, the Superintendent of Schools; Harvey Goering, U.S.
Drug Enforcement Agency, and Colonel Audie Holloway, Alaska
State Troopers.
1:40:11 PM
He said they also found some power point presentations - one
that is particularly compelling is from Alaska Federation of
Natives Elders and Youth Conference - in which young people are
asked how they get alcohol. It was found that most children get
alcohol from their house or a friend's house. That led to the
push behind this bill.
MR. PALOWSKI said he hadn't heard any opposition, but there were
some questions about what "recklessly" means and what scenarios
this works under.
1:40:23 PM
SENATOR HOFFMAN joined the committee.
CHAIR ELLIS noted that the bill does have an additional referral
to the Judiciary Committee.
1:40:42 PM
LIEUTENANT RODNEY DIAL, Alaska State Troopers, said the
Department of Public Safety supports this bill and he thought
all the other law enforcement agencies in Alaska did as well.
"It helps to address a quality of life issue that we face in our
neighborhoods every single week."
He said the Troopers go to the same party houses over and over
again. The best they can hope for in many cases is to contain
the party and prevent young people from driving away
intoxicated.
CHAIR ELLIS asked if he thought this would have the hoped for
deterrent effect.
LIEUTENANT DIAL replied that he thought so. It allows them to
give a small fine to the person who is in most control of the
home and probably transfer the parties to the gravel pits and
the beaches where it is easier for enforcement to control those
situations. They see no downside to this bill at all.
CHAIR ELLIS asked him to describe a typical scene.
LIEUTENANT DIAL came back with a Friday night scenario where
generally neighbors complain about noise and cars going up and
down the road. Normally the neighbors have dealt with the
problem many times. The Troopers will go out and if they are
lucky more than one will show up on the scene. Their main goal
is to make sure they don't go in the front door while a dozen
kids go out the backdoor, hop in cars and drive down the road
intoxicated. He repeated that their first goal is to insure the
safety of the children. They will try to identify who the owner
is and determine if they are aware that minors are drinking in
their home. They will try to get the party to disperse so they
can eliminate the complaints in the neighborhood. It's a very
time consuming process and can be dangerous if there is only one
officer and multiple individuals.
CHAIR ELLIS asked how often a parent is hosting this kind of
thing on the theory that kids are going to drink anyway and it's
safer for them to be drinking at a private residence. How often
is it a non-parent person over the age of 18 and how often is it
just bunch of under agers consuming alcohol illegally?
1:45:46 PM
LIEUTENANT DIAL replied that it's rare that a parent is hosting
one of these parties. He has heard parents over the years make
the comments that if the kids are going to drink, they would
prefer they do it at home. However, he appreciates in most of
those cases the parents keep things from getting too far out of
control. Generally, it is somebody who is a young adult who
either has access to their own home or apartment or has access
to their parent's home and the parents are away.
CHAIR ELLIS said the Labor and Commerce Committee's concern
would be the source of the alcohol and if businesses are
providing it. The sponsor's staff talked about the supply coming
from the parents' homes. He asked what his perspective was on
the source of alcohol for these kinds of parties.
LIEUTENANT DIAL replied that in his community generally a legal
young adult, not much older than the minors they are providing
alcohol to, is purchasing it. He also believed there are homes
where alcohol is readily available - generally without the
parents' knowledge.
CHAIR ELLIS asked if he found these situations were
entrepreneurial where someone makes money off of getting the
alcohol.
LIEUTENANT DIAL replied that there are some cases like that
where a fee is charged to get in the door. He didn't get a lot
of feedback from most of the people who attend these parties.
Most of the time it is people just sharing the expense of the
alcohol.
1:50:05 PM
SENATOR BUNDE noted that all the things he's talking about
already violate the law and he wanted to know if this is
lowering that standard.
1:50:49 PM
LIEUTENANT DIAL replied they can currently charge minor
consuming or contributing to the delinquency or providing
alcohol to minors. But he asked them to keep in mind if Troopers
go to the house and issue a citation to one minor, 10 more take
off in a car and drive down the road. This bill allows them to
shut down the party homes and assist the unintended victims, the
neighbors. The person of legal age in the home who is hosting
the party really faces no penalties now unless it can be proven
that he is providing alcohol to minors. A lot of times they
don't really seem to care much if one or two people from their
party happen to get a minor consuming charge. The penalty in
this bill is focused on that individual.
1:52:38 PM
MR. PALOWSKI wrapped up saying he could ask Annie Carpeneti from
the Department of Law to testify on some of the enforcement
issues that led to the questions Senator Bunde was asking about
why this bill is necessary.
SENATOR BUNDE said he would appreciate that.
1:53:39 PM
SENATOR STEVENS joined the committee.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Ellis adjourned the meeting at 1:53:54 PM.
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