Legislature(1995 - 1996)
02/21/1995 03:37 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
February 21, 1995
3:37 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bert Sharp, Chairman
Senator Randy Phillips, Vice-Chairman
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Jim Duncan
Senator Dave Donley
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Alaska
relating to certain public corporations.
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 4
Relating to an amendment to the Constitution of the United States
setting out the authority of the United States Congress and of
state legislatures to enact laws relating to limits on election
campaign expenditures.
SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 4
"An Act allowing a person under age 21 to be arrested by a peace
officer without a warrant for illegal possession, consumption, or
control of alcohol; classifying certain offenses related to driving
while intoxicated or failure to submit to a chemical test as
felonies; and providing for an effective date."
SSTA - 2/21/95
SB 54 (ELECTRIC UTIL & SOLID WASTE REMOVAL) was scheduled but not
taken up at this date.
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SJR 14 - No previous senate committee action.
SJR 4 - No previous senate committee action.
SB 4 - See State Affairs minutes dated 2/9/95.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Rick Halford
State Capitol, Juneau, Alaska, 99801-1182¶465-4958
POSITION STATEMENT: prime sponsor of SJR 14
Senator Dave Donley
State Capitol, Juneau, Alaska, 99801-1182¶465-3892
POSITION STATEMENT: prime sponsor of SJR 4
Ron Otte, Commissioner
Department of Public Safety
P.O. Box 111200, Juneau, AK 99811-1200¶465-4322
POSITION STATEMENT: testified on SB 4
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 95-6, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN SHARP calls the Senate State Affairs Committee to order at
3:37 p.m. and brings up SJR 14 as the first order of business
before the committee. The chairman calls the first witness.
SSTA - 2/21/95
SJR 14 CONFIRMATION OF MEMBERS OF PUBLIC CORP
Number 015
SENATOR HALFORD, prime sponsor of SJR 14, states the topic of the
resolution has been considered numerous times by the legislature.
It has been considered in relation to the Alaska Railroad
corporation, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, and Alaska
Housing Finance Corporation, among others. Senator Halford thinks
if the framers of the constitution had envisioned that these public
corporations would be in charge of the resources and assets of the
State of Alaska, they would have made legislative confirmation part
of the confirmation process of the boards of these corporations.
SENATOR HALFORD states that during the Hammond administration an
attorney general's opinion was issued which essentially said,
without a constitutional amendment the legislature cannot require
confirmation of members of public corporations. He thinks any
commission or entity which manages any state assets should have
members confirmed by the legislature. There is a $2,200 fiscal
note, which is the cost of putting the question on the ballot.
Number 060
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS supports SJR 14, but asks why the resolution
did not receive a referral to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
SENATOR HALFORD does not know why the resolution did not receive a
referral to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Number 070
SENATOR LEMAN asks Mr. Halford if he could get a copy of the list
of public corporations which would be affected by SJR 14.
SENATOR HALFORD responds he will get Senator Leman a copy of the
list.
Number 095
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS makes a motion to discharge SJR 14 from the
Senate State Affairs Committee with individual recommendations.
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, orders SJR 14 released from
committee with individual recommendations.
SSTA - 2/21/95
SJR 4 FED CONST AM RE: CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES
Number 100
SENATOR SHARP brings up SJR 4 as the next order of business before
the Senate State Affairs Committee and calls the first witness.
Number 105
SENATOR DONLEY, prime sponsor of SJR 4, relays information
contained in his sponsor statement. Senator Donley states there is
a proposed committee substitute to SJR 4 which contains one new
section that would provide empowerment to local governments in
setting reasonable campaign expenditure limits. The proposed
committee substitute is identical to the legislation before the
U.S. Congress.
Number 170
SENATOR DONLEY states one suggested solution to campaign financing
problems is public financing of campaigns. However, he does not
think the public supports public financing of campaigns. He thinks
a constitutional amendment would be the best way to limit campaign
spending.
Number 190
SENATOR LEMAN asks Senator Donley what he thinks would be a
reasonable spending limit for campaigns for Alaska State
Legislative races.
Number 195
SENATOR DONLEY suggests basing a figure on the average cost of
previous races. The figure might be affected by geographical
considerations. For instance, candidates in rural areas have high
travel expenses, while candidates in urban areas have high media
expenses. He cannot give an exact figure, but of course the beauty
of a limit is that all candidates would have to adhere to it.
There would be no spiraling of expenditures.
Number 230
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS states he supports SJR 4. Senator Phillips
asks Senator Donley what he thinks about putting a limit on state-
wide proposition ballot measures.
Number 233
SENATOR DONLEY states there was a distinction drawn in some of the
case law between limiting spending on campaigns, versus limiting
spending on propositions. Ballot propositions were seen to be more
closely related to the free speech issue than were candidates.
Number 265
SENATOR DONLEY urges the committee to stay with the proposal before
the senate at this time. He thinks it would be much more difficult
to get states to ratify a proposal other than the one contained in
SJR 4.
SENATOR DONLEY makes a motion to adopt the State Affairs committee
substitute for SJR 4.
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objections, states the committee
substitute has been adopted.
Number 275
SENATOR LEMAN asks Senator Donley if SJR 4 would distinguish
between a campaign cost and a donated cost.
SENATOR DONLEY responds there is an accurate body of law making the
distinction about when something is an in-kind contribution and
when something is not. When services are contributed which a
person normally does for pay, that is considered a contribution.
Number 315
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS makes a motion to discharge SJR 4 from the
Senate State Affairs Committee with individual recommendations.
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, orders SJR 4 released from
committee with individual recommendations.
SB 4 DWI LAWS
SENATOR SHARP brings up SB 4 as the next order of business before
the Senate State Affairs Committee and calls the first witness.
Number 340
RON OTTE, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, states that
though the administration has not yet identified a position on SB
4, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) supports SB 4.
Commissioner Otte thinks most law enforcement agencies in Alaska
are supportive of any legislation or approach which would target
chronic impaired drivers. People who reach the category of driver
outlined in SB 4 are a serious threat. There are about 400 persons
per year who would fall into this category. Commissioner Otte
states again that the administration has not come forward yet with
a position on SB 4, he believes because of the fiscal implications,
but that it would be very hard for DPS not to speak in support of
the bill.
Number 356
SENATOR LEMAN asks, since he thinks of Commissioner Otte as "the
administration", to whom he is referring when he says "the
administration"?
COMMISSIONER OTTE responds the governor has not yet come forward
with a position on SB 4.
SENATOR LEMAN asks Commissioner Otte if he will be advising the
governor on SB 4.
COMMISSIONER OTTE replies he has shared his opinion with the
governor's staff on SB 4. However, he cannot speak for the
Department of Corrections or the Department of Law.
Number 375
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asks Commissioner Otte what the process is
for determining position on issues. It is Senator Phillips
impression that Commissioner Otte is "out of the loop".
COMMISSIONER OTTE responds that the process is for all departments
affected to present a bill analysis to the governor. The OMB
director, the chief of staff, the legislative liaison, and the
governor take those into consideration when determining positions.
Regardless of the position taken by the governor in terms of the
fiscal implications of SB 4, the Department of Public Safety likes
increasing penalties for third-time offenders.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS asks if the governor's office has timelines
for determining positions.
COMMISSIONER OTTE is not aware of whether or not the governor's
office has timelines.
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS thinks the governor's office should pick up
the pace on issuing formal positions. He asks Commissioner Otte
what his personal feeling is on SB 4.
CHAIRMAN SHARP commented Commissioner Otte has already given his
personal opinion.
COMMISSIONER OTTE states if he did not have a personal opinion, he
would not be at the hearing.
Number 400
SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS makes a motion to discharge SB 4 from the
Senate State Affairs Committee with individual recommendations.
Number 405
CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, orders SB 4 released from
committee with individual recommendations.
CHAIRMAN SHARP adjourns the Senate State Affairs Committee hearing
at 4:12 p.m.
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