Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/31/1998 01:36 PM Senate L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE
March 31, 1998
1:36 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Loren Leman, Chairman
Senator Tim Kelly
Senator Mike Miller
Senator Lyman Hoffman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Jerry Mackie, Vice-Chairman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 178
"An Act relating to letters of credit under the Uniform Commercial
Code; and providing for an effective date."
- PASSED HB 178 OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 232
"An Act relating to electronic signatures, electronic records,
requirements for records, and the reproduction of public records."
- PASSED SB 232 OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 231(FIN)
"An Act relating to regulation of snowmobiles."
- PASSED SCSCSHB 231(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
HB 178 - See Labor and Commerce Committee minutes dated 3/26/98.
SB 232 - No previous action to record.
HB 231 - See Transportation minutes dated 3/19/98.
WITNESS REGISTER
Mr. Rich Vitale, Aide
Senator Sean Parnell
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 232 for sponsor.
Mr. Andy Kline, Special Assistant
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
P.O. Box 110015
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-0015
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 232.
Mr. Mark Boyer, Commissioner
Department of Administration
P.O. Box 110200
Juneau, AK 99811-0200
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions on SB 232.
Ms. Juanita Hensley, Chief
Driver Services
Division of Motor Vehicles
Department of Administration
P.O. Box 10200
Juneau, AK 99811-0200
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 232.
Mr. Charles McKee
P.O. Box 243053
Anchorage, AK 99524
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on his own issues.
Mr. Michael Eastham
Snomads Snowmachine Club
P.O. Box 3646
Homer, AK 99603
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 232.
Mr. Bill Eastham, President
Mat-Su Snowmushers
HC03Box 8286
Palmer, AK 99645
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 232.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 98-18, SIDE A
Number 001
HB 178 - UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE:LETTERS OF CREDIT
CHAIRMAN LEMAN called the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee
meeting to order at 1:36 p.m. and announced HB 178 to be up for
consideration.
SENATOR KELLY moved to pass HB 178 from Committee with individual
recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
SB 232 - ELECTRONIC RECORDS; RECORD REQUIREMENTS
CHAIRMAN LEMAN announced SB 232 to be up for consideration.
MR. RICH VITALE, Aide to Senator Sean Parnell, sponsor, said
Senator Parnell introduced this legislation at the request of the
Lieutenant Governor who is the Chairman of the Telecommunications
Information Counsel, which Senator Parnell serves on. Currently,
two states, Washington and Utah, have adopted statutes to
standardize the practice of electronic signatures. The legislation
is pending in most other states. SB 232 will help continue
Alaska's intrastate, interstate, and global economic growth by
providing a legal framework for use of electronic signature
commerce.
Specifically, SB 232 establishes electronic signatures as a legal
practice with the same standing as a standard signature. This act
allows the Lieutenant Governor's office or other state agencies to
develop regulations for using electronic signatures by private or
public entities and establishes criteria for electronic signature
regulations. Lastly, this act repeals some state agencies'
notarization requirements to better utilize the efficiencies of
electronic signatures. SB 232 is an important component to keeping
Alaska competitive and efficient in both public and private
business practices.
MR. VITALE said on page 1, line 8, there is reference to penalty of
unsworn falsification and that is a reference to AS 11.56.210.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked if there was a definition of electronic
signature.
MR. VITALE said he thought that would be part of the state
regulation. There was an example in the back of their packet.
MR. ANDY KLINE, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, added that there
is a definition within the bill that, as specifically as they
intend to, defines what an electronic signature means. In a
statute that deals with technology, it's best to leave as much of
the specific definitions out of the statute, leaving it to
regulations which can change and try to keep pace with the speed
with which technology changes. It's on page 4, line 3 of the bill.
COMMISSIONER BOYER, Department of Administration, said he was
available to answer questions.
SENATOR KELLY asked Ms. Juanita Hensley, Chief, Drivers Services,
Division of Motor Vehicles, how this would affect the Division of
Motor Vehicles.
MS. HENSLEY answered that they feel this bill has a great potential
to follow up with all the efficiencies the Division of Motor
Vehicles is trying to do to make DMV a more customer-friendly
agency. Faxing is one method of electronic signature; issuing a
PIN number is another. Having the capability of issuing a digital
driver's license and a digital image driver's license will allow
them to replace lost licenses, for instance, within minutes instead
of days eliminating the need to send paperwork through the mail.
SENATOR KELLY asked if lines at DMV were getting shorter.
MS. HENSLEY replied that it's going to take time to make all the
changes they want to make to shorten the lines. "We have an
increased population and everything they do is basically keeping up
with them moving in. There are lots of things we can do like
opening up express offices."
SENATOR KELLY said he heard recently that while Alaska is having a
population growth, we are also experiencing an outmigration. More
children are being born here.
MS. HENSLEY added in 1996, there were 629,000 registered vehicles
and in 1997 there were 658,000. Residents are buying more cars.
Number 160
MR. CHARLES MCKEE commented on SB 232.
SENATOR KELLY moved to pass SB 232 from Committee with individual
recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
HB 231 - REGULATION OF SNOWMOBILES
CHAIRMAN LEMAN announced HB 231 to be up for consideration.
MR. ED GRASSER, Staff to Representative Beverly Masek, sponsor,
said she worked in conjunction with the State Snowmachine
Association and several other snowmobile clubs as well as a diverse
group of businesses and organizations. The requirement to register
snowmachines has been on the books since 1968. This bill allows
registration at the point of sale of snowmachines, rather than
buying a snowmachine and waiting in line at DMV to register it as
required now.
HB 231 will also provide a better accounting of how many
snowmachines there are in the State through the registration
process which is used by the National Recreational Trails Fund as
a way to count machines for making grants to various states for
trail funds. Law enforcement officials support this bill, because
they feel having snowmachines registered will allow them a better
opportunity to track and find a stolen machine.
He said Representative Masek thought that this would also be a good
first step towards developing winter tourism potential in Alaska
because of the trails money that would come to the State through
the National Recreational Trails Fund.
MR. GRASSER said HB 231 does not require dealers to undertake this
program, but if they do, they have to do the registration process
when they sell a snowmachine. Over 51 organizations and
businesses, including banks, support this bill.
SENATOR KELLY looked at the fiscal note and asked if it was true
that it didn't pay for itself.
MR. GRASSER said that it's just the opposite; the receipts are
$300,000 in the fourth or fifth year and cost is only $60,000 or
so.
SENATOR MILLER said he had the same concern until he looked closer
at the wording which was not proper.
MS. HENSLEY explained the fiscal note asked for operating expenses
in the first year of $76.5 and $49.0 for FY'00. Then it goes up to
$60.1 and $69.7 in FY'03. There should be revenues coming in of
$100,000 for the first two years, the reason being that they are
estimating having 10,000 snowmobiles registered for each of the
first two years, and then the third year, they would have 10,000
new ones and renewals because they will issue bi-annual
registrations ($200,000). It goes up from there. The Division is
asking for one Motor Vehicle Rep III to be used basically for the
negotiations and the third party relationships with training the
dealers and auditing their work, travel, the contractual forms and
tabs ($3,000 for the first year), computer programing ($15,000),
and one computer workstation. The contractual figure over the other
years is $18,000 (which is $15,000 and $3,000 added together). The
following year it drops down to $3,000 just for the cost of the
forms and then it goes up to $14,000 which is for all the forms and
tabs as the registrations increase.
Number 299
SENATOR HOFFMAN said many people who own snowmachines probably
don't have proof of ownership if it's five or six years old. He
asked how people could comply if they can't show ownership.
MS. HENSLEY said this is not a vehicle that is subject to the
titling. They would be able to register snowmachines on the bills
of sale. They are talking about new and used at the point of sale,
plus any others people own. They are required to register their
snowmachines now, but not many people have.
SENATOR KELLY asked if it was mandatory that all new dealer sales
have to be registered.
MS. HENSLEY said that is correct.
SENATOR KELLY asked what incentive we are giving to dealers to be
the agent for DMV.
MS. HENSLEY answered that DMV would not compensate the dealers for
registering the vehicles for them. They are choosing to do this
now as a service for their customers. It allows the Division of
Parks to apply for all the federal trail monies that they are
eligible for by showing the number of registered snowmachines in
the State.
SENATOR HOFFMAN asked what the penalties were for not registering
a snowmachine.
MS. HENSLEY answered that it is a class B misdemeanor. Anything in
Title 28 is a misdemeanor unless it is specified otherwise.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN said they should switch it to a violation so there
could be mail-in-bail.
MS. HENSLEY said she would have no objection to that as long as
they could keep regular passenger cars with the same penalty.
SENATOR MILLER asked if there had been any prosecutions.
MS. HENSLEY answered that she hadn't seen any.
SENATOR KELLY asked if there had ever been a ticket.
MS. HENSLEY answered yes, the Division of Parks' park rangers issue
citations for failure to register snowmachines. However, the
person gets the opportunity to get it registered. If a snowmachine
is operated on parks land or in a contest, they automatically have
to be registered.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked if someone wants to register to come into
compliance with the law, should they say the Department "may"
require proof of ownership, because there may be times when there
are other ways to get at it.
MS. HENSLEY said she didn't have a problem with that.
SENATOR KELLY asked what kind of federal money we are talking about
if we increase our registrations.
MR. GRASSER answered that we currently get about $165,000 in trail
funds from the National Recreational Trail Fund which is derived
from an 8 percent tax on gasoline. According to his calculations,
we could get an additional $30,000 - $50,000 per year for trails if
the machines were registered. The feds use registrations rather
than bills of sale or sales records for determining the numbers of
machines in the State.
MS. HENSLEY said it is estimated there are approximately 70,000
snowmachines in the State and only 14,000 are registered.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN considered changing nonregistration to a violation
and having an amnesty period so people could get them registered
and bring in funds.
SENATOR KELLY said he thought that might not be a bad idea and
suggested no-cost for a 90-day period.
MR. GRASSER said that was considered among the dealers who mostly
support this legislation. However, he thought the real reason most
people opted not to register their snowmachines was because the
line at DMV was two-hours long. He thought the improvements DMV is
doing with customer service and registering new machines as they
are sold would eventually lead to having most of them registered.
SENATOR MILLER said he thought there was the intent to register the
old machines, too. Changing the violation to a $300 fine, would be
an incentive to have a registration.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN thought enforcement would be easier if the penalty
were changed to a violation with a mail-in fine.
MR. GRASSER said he didn't have any problem with that.
MR. MICHAEL EASTHAM, Snomads Snowmachine Club, said it's a $50 fine
if you fail to register your snowmachine if you're caught driving
it on public lands. In 1996 it was estimated that 6,000 to 8,000
snowmachines were sold annually which would indicate the State is
losing quite a few dollars. His club feels this is a very positive
bill.
Number 485
MR. BILL EASTHAM, President, Mat-Su Motormushers, supported SB 232
and he agreed with all the testimony.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked why they wanted to give the Department
permission to issue registration to a snowmobile owned by the
United States without the payment of a fee.
MR. GRASSER answered that it was determined in House Judiciary that
the United States Government could not be charged for a
registration.
SENATOR KELLY wanted to know what the Division thought of Senator
Halford's amendment which says, "A snowmobile may be registered for
two, four, or six years."
MS. HENSLEY replied they have no objections to that.
SENATOR KELLY moved to adopt the amendment. There were no
objections and it was so ordered.
SENATOR KELLY asked how a buyer would register a vehicle if they
bought their machine through the mail.
MS. HENSLEY answered that the dealer could register it on behalf of
the new owner. Some car dealers do this as well as titling cars.
SENATOR KELLY said the vendors for fishing and hunting licenses get
a couple of dollars for each license and asked if they thought
about trying to do that as a dealer incentive.
MS. HENSLEY answered that they hadn't had problems with dealers
being willing to negotiate with them. The problem they have is
finding a feasible way to do it. The Department of
Administration's Information Technology Group just negotiated a
contract with an Internet provider to allow dealers with an e-mail
address the capability of hooking up with her. Most of them
already have Internet access.
She noted that the penalties under Title 28 are under AS 28.40.050
and say anything in Title 28 is a misdemeanor unless it's specified
as an infraction or felony. The penalty is $500 or imprisonment of
not more than 90 days or both. The $50 Michael Eastham mentioned
is the bail the court has set for failure to register a vehicle.
SENATOR KELLY asked if it was the same penalty if you fail to
register your auto.
MS. HENSLEY answered, "Yes."
CHAIRMAN LEMAN said he viewed this a little differently. He
thought a penalty of $50 would be incentive for someone to
register, but he didn't know about it being a misdemeanor.
SENATOR HOFFMAN asked what the Department would do if this becomes
law to inform the public about registering vehicles.
MS. HENSLEY said she didn't put anything in the fiscal note to do
a full-blown public education campaign which can be quite
expensive. They hoped the snowmobile dealers and the Division of
Parks would assist them in getting information out to the public.
SENATOR KELLY asked if ATVs had the same registration requirements.
MS. HENSLEY answered, "No."
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked what the reason was for that.
MS. HENSLEY answered that she didn't know.
MR. GRASSER added that a law was passed in 1968, under Title 5,
dealing strictly with snow vehicles. In 1968 there weren't a lot
of four-wheelers running around. He didn't know who promulgated
registering snowmobiles in 1968.
SENATOR KELLY asked if these are known as snowmobiles or
snowmachines.
MS. HENSLEY answered that she had heard them called both.
MR. GRASSER said all the literature they have from the clubs,
associations, and dealers call them snowmobiles.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN moved on page 2, line 12 to delete "shall" and
insert "may." There were no objections and it was so ordered.
TAPE 98-18, SIDE B
CHAIRMAN LEMAN said they would hold the bill for a new fiscal note
and clarified that he wanted nonregistration of snowmobiles to
become a violation, a penalty up to $300. He also thought more
people could write citations than could write misdemeanors.
MS. HENSLEY said it required a peace officer to issue citations.
She said it would be simple to add under Section 1, lines 5 - 8
something like the penalty is subject to AS 28.40.050(c). That way
it won't affect the other chapters dealing with registrations of
regular automobiles.
SENATOR HOFFMAN moved that as a conceptual amendment. There were no
objections and it was so ordered.
SENATOR KELLY moved to pass SCSHB 231(L&C) from Committee with
individual recommendations. There were no objections and it was so
ordered.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN adjourned the meeting at 2:25 p.m.
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