02/12/2008 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB201 | |
| SB257 | |
| HB101 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 185 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 201 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 257 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 101 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 12, 2008
9:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lesil McGuire, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Hollis French
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Con Bunde
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 185
"An Act relating to sex offenders and child kidnappers."
SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
SENATE BILL NO. 201
"An Act relating to the establishment and maintenance of an
Internet website providing public finance information; and
identifying the information to be available on the Internet
website."
MOVED CSSB 201(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 257
"An Act relating to distribution of the Alaska Administrative
Code and Alaska Administrative Register; and providing for an
effective date."
MOVED SB 257 OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 101
"An Act relating to uniform traffic laws."
HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 201
SHORT TITLE: PUBLIC FINANCE WEBSITE
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) WIELECHOWSKI
01/16/08 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/4/08
01/16/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/08 (S) STA, FIN
01/31/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
01/31/08 (S) Heard & Held
01/31/08 (S) MINUTE(STA)
02/12/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
BILL: SB 257
SHORT TITLE: ADMINISTRATIVE CODE/REGISTER DISTRIBUTION
SPONSOR(S): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
01/30/08 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/30/08 (S) STA
02/12/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
BILL: HB 101
SHORT TITLE: UNIFORM TRAFFIC LAWS
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) GATTO
01/16/07 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/07 (H) CRA
02/15/07 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
02/15/07 (H) Heard & Held
02/15/07 (H) MINUTE(CRA)
03/15/07 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124
03/15/07 (H) Moved CSHB 101(CRA) Out of Committee
03/15/07 (H) MINUTE(CRA)
03/16/07 (H) CRA RPT CS(CRA) NT 4DP 1AM
03/16/07 (H) DP: NEUMAN, OLSON, LEDOUX, FAIRCLOUGH
03/16/07 (H) AM: CISSNA
05/10/07 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
05/10/07 (H) VERSION: CSHB 101(CRA)
05/10/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
05/10/07 (S) STA
01/24/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
01/24/08 (S) <Bill Hearing Postponed>
02/12/08 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR BILL WIELECHOWSKI
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 201.
JASON HOOLEY
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 257.
RICK VANDERKOLK, Staff
to Representative Carl Gatto
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 101.
RODNEY DIAL, Lieutenant
Division of State Troopers
Department of Public Safety
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of HB 101.
GERALD LUCKHAUPT, Legislative Counsel
Legal and Research Services Division
Legislative Affairs Agency
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding HB 101.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR LESIL MCGUIRE called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:02:05 AM. Senators McGuire,
Stevens, Bunde, and French were present at the call to order.
Senator Green arrived later.
SB 201-PUBLIC FINANCE WEBSITE
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 201.
SENATOR STEVENS moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) to
SB 201, labeled 25-LS1135\K, as a working document. Hearing no
objection, Version K was before the committee.
9:02:59 AM
SENATOR BILL WIELECHOWSKI, Alaska State Legislature, said the CS
tries to address a number of concerns that were expressed in
this committee last time. There are four changes. The website
will be updated monthly rather than quarterly.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked if it changed the fiscal note.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he was told there would be no
difference. The data is already on the computer. He agreed with
the committee's concern that $10,000 was too high of a number
for the minimum amount posted, so it was changed to $1,000. The
CS adds a section dealing with aggregated confidential
information, so no one person will be named -- just a total.
9:05:33 AM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said the next change refers to individual
payments to state employees. The CS added the word "individual"
to allow the aggregate totals to be made public without naming
individual payments. The governor has decided to have a
governance council to review what is in the database. He said he
supports that. The reporting is not necessary because of this
council. The legislature can request reports from the council.
Regarding state employees, the state does not have the ability
to list that information, so it is left out for now, but it can
be revisited by the governance council.
9:07:35 AM
SENATOR BUNDE said he noted that the administration is already
doing something similar.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said SB 201 will put the public website in
law. The governor can change things unless this bill is passed.
Also, it gives the legislature a role in the debate for adding
or removing items from the website.
9:09:00 AM
SENATOR BUNDE noted a review, but wondered about a sunset so
that the legislature will automatically review it at that time.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he hadn't thought of a sunset.
SENATOR STEVENS said if this is good for the state, perhaps the
school districts and municipalities should do it.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he looked into that, and it is a good
idea, but fiscally it will be very expensive.
9:10:12 AM
SENATOR FRENCH moved the committee substitute (CS) to SB 201,
labeled 25-LS1135\K from committee with individual
recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There being no
objection, CSSB 201 (STA) passed from committee.
The committee took an at-ease from 9:11:17 AM until 9:11:34 AM.
SB 257-ADMINISTRATIVE CODE/REGISTER DISTRIBUTION
9:11:52 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 257.
JASON HOOLEY, Office of Lieutenant Governor, said his office
distributes paper copies of the Alaska Administrative Code and
its quarterly supplements to all 158 local government units in
Alaska, and over the last few years there has been feedback that
the municipalities do not want the paper copies. The bill simply
allows the municipalities to opt out. The office spends over
$22,000 per year distributing copies. The state may pursue a
contract amendment to save the state some money at a future
time.
9:13:42 AM
SENATOR STEVENS moved SB 257 from committee with individual
recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There being no
objection, SB 257 moved out of committee.
HB 101-UNIFORM TRAFFIC LAWS
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of HB 101. [Before the
committee was CSHB 101(CRA).]
9:15:10 AM
RICK VANDERKOLK, Staff to Representative Carl Gatto, said the
ignition interlock law was enacted in 2004 to prevent drunk
drivers from repeat offenses. The technology is getting
sophisticated. Rolling tests are done as the offender breathes
into the breathalyzer in order to continue driving.
Representative Gatto learned that one municipality had
difficulty enforcing the law. HB 101 was drafted to clear up
confusion for municipalities. The first provision in the current
version of the bill is that municipalities may not enact or
enforce an ordinance inconsistent with Alaska's Uniform Traffic
Law Act. The second provision clarifies sentencing procedures in
cases where interlocks are required.
9:17:24 AM
RODNEY DIAL, Lieutenant, Department of Public Safety, said his
department supports this bill. It will help ensure that the
ignition interlocks are used when appropriate and thus will keep
our roads safer.
SENATOR BUNDE spoke of a young fellow he was just speaking with
who had a checkered past and was trying to straighten his life
out. The man was strongly supportive of the interlock system
that will allow him to drive to work.
9:19:17 AM
MR. VANDERKOLK said there is letter from Mayor Mark Begich, "and
it's a response, after several attempts to get a response from
the municipality. They provided two suggestions and we've
incorporated those in the latest version." Version K was
provided to Anchorage in March of 2007 for further comments, and
he has not heard back. He assumes Anchorage is fine with it.
SENATOR FRENCH said the letter from the mayor referenced two
statutory fixes, but Senator French doesn't see them and would
like an explanation.
SENATOR BUNDE asked if state law is preeminent over city law.
SENATOR FRENCH said to the extent that there is a conflict.
9:21:46 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said the best example is in the closure of bars.
The state laws allow bars to close at 5 a.m., she noted, and so
there is always a little bit of conflict.
9:22:12 AM
GERALD LUCKHAUPT, Legislative Council, Division of Legal and
Research Services, said he tried to incorporate Mayor Begich's
recommendations in Section 2 with the court determination.
SENATOR FRENCH said the bill envisions that at sentencing the
judge will determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether
the person's chemical test was either 0.16 or 0.24 percent
alcohol, and then impose the interlock period accordingly. What
happens if the judge lets that go by and there is no finding?
Will the municipal prosecutors protest?
MR. LUCKHAUPT said the prosecutors and court must comply. If the
court fails to, the sentence will be illegal. Anchorage's
failure to comply with this law raises those questions, and the
Department of Law doesn't want to go in and start filing old
writs of mandamus or prohibition, which don't really exist
anymore. Something "in the nature of that" still does exist.
This became an easier way to address the issue of Anchorage
failing to comply with the state law. Under state law it has to
[comply]. It is reflected in the earlier letters, where Mr.
McConnaughy [Municipality of Anchorage] said he was aware of
this law but he didn't like it and he never presented it to the
Anchorage assembly. This is a way to address that.
9:26:00 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked if there might still be a loophole for the
judge in the sentencing procedure. The double jeopardy clause
bars resentencing. There is no "shall" or command to a judge.
The defendant could say the judge didn't make the finding. The
court should be required to determine if the defendant was above
or below the stated alcohol levels.
9:27:05 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said she agrees.
MR. LUCKHAUPT said, "In our Title 28 sections we don't use 'the
court shall make various determinations.' We just say if this is
found, then this has to happen." It is assumed that the court
will do the right thing and obey the law. He said he could come
up with language saying "the court may not proceed with
sentencing until the court makes this determination." He hasn't
chosen to do it in Title 28. "I defaulted in the normal method …
assuming the court would comply."
CHAIR MCGUIRE said, "When you look at the letter from the
mayor's office, I recognize that putting the language that folks
recommend into statute doesn't always work." Page 1, under the
title, the language does say "shall, shall, shall." It is clear,
and the basis is the alcohol level. If it reaches that level,
the court shall impose the ignition interlock. Senator French is
saying that by adding "the court determining by a preponderance
of the evidence", which is fairly low, a person can wiggle out
of that "shall" part. Looking at municipality recommendations,
which is ironic because they are the people who are not
complying, they seem to give the "shall".
9:29:26 AM
MR. LUCKHAUPT said they have chosen to take out a portion of the
whole law and rewrite in a disjointed manner to express their
opinion. "What they have written is not something that will be
sufficient to adequately address that. So, it's going to be a
bit more complicated. I can't just … create that two sentences
and still address the entire issue in the whole range of things
that can occur." He said he rewrote it in a method that has been
done before in Title 28. "I can rewrite it as a mandatory … if
that is what the committee wants. I can rewrite it to put in
'shalls', but it won't look exactly like they've written that."
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked what it will look like. "Would it simply say
'at sentencing, the court shall'?"
MR. LUCKHAUPT said it will have to refer to whether a person is
convicted under (a) of this section and say "the court shall
make a determination". He said he can work with the two
alternatives for blood alcohol levels.
9:31:08 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said if Anchorage is not complying, "we want to be
as strong as we can in the language."
SENATOR FRENCH concurred. A little wordsmithing can make it nice
and tight.
SENATOR GREEN said it looks like it is backward. She asked what
the person is being accused of. Is the alcohol level the crime?
SENATOR FRENCH said the crime is being over 0.08 [blood alcohol
concentration (BAC)]. All DWI defendants who have been convicted
of being over 0.08 will come before the judge for sentencing.
The judge will then have to determine how high their BAC was.
This is for sentencing, not for making charges.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said some jurisdictions consider any impairment.
9:32:50 AM
MR. LUCKHAUPT said under Alaska law, an impaired driver can be
less than 0.08 [BAC].
SENATOR GREEN asked if someone can be impaired with no alcohol.
MR. LUCKHAUPT said people can be impaired due to other things.
9:33:46 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said she will set HB 101 aside so the changes can
be made.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair McGuire adjourned the meeting at 9:34:23 AM.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
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