Legislature(1995 - 1996)
04/26/1996 03:51 PM Senate TRA
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SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
April 26, 1996
3:51 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Steve Rieger, Chairman
Senator Robin Taylor, Vice Chair
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Al Adams
Senator Georgianna Lincoln
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 517(TRA)(title am)
"An Act relating to motor vehicle records and hearings of the
Department of Public Safety; increasing the period under which a
person may drive a motor vehicle under a temporary permit; relating
to ownership of certain abandoned motor vehicles; relating to
suspension or revocation of a motor vehicle registration or special
permit; relating to renewal of a driver's license by mail; relating
to procedures applicable to administrative revocation of a driver's
license; relating to commercial driver training schools; increasing
the property damage amounts for proof of financial responsibility
and proof of motor vehicle eligibility in order to lawfully operate
a motor vehicle in the state; amending the definition of
`commercial motor vehicle'; relating to prohibited operation of a
commercial motor vehicle and to disqualification from driving a
commercial motor vehicle; relating to certain notifications in
accidents involving property damage; relating to motor vehicle
registration procedures; and providing for an effective date."
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 65
Relating to proposed Federal Aviation Administration regulations
establishing crew member flight time limitations.
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 526(FIN) am
"An Act relating to the financing authority, programs, operations,
and projects of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export
Authority; providing an exemption from the procurement code for
certain projects of the authority; and providing for an effective
date."
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
HB 517 - No previous action to record.
HJR 65 - No previous action to record.
HB 526 - See Senate Transportation minutes dated 4/16/96, 4/23/96.
WITNESS REGISTER
Juanita Hensley, Chief of Driver Services
Division of Motor Vehicles
Department of Public Safety
P.O. Box 20020
Juneau, AK 99811-0020
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSHB 517(TRA)
Representative Gary Davis, Chair
House Transportation Committee
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HJR 65
Keith Laufer, Assistant Attorney General
Governmental Affairs Section
Department of Law
1031 W. 4th Ave., Suite 200
Anchorage, AK 99501-1994
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSHB 526(FIN) am
Randy Simmons
Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority
480 W. Tudor Road
Anchorage, AK 99503-6690
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSHB 526(FIN) am
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-19, SIDE A
Number 001
CSHB 517(TRA)(title am) MOTOR VEHICLES: REGULATION & INSURANCE
CHAIRMAN RIEGER called the Senate Transportation Committee meeting
to order at 3:51 p.m., and brought CSHB 517(TRA)(title am) before
the committee as the first order of business.
Number 008
JUANITA HENSLEY, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Department of
Public Safety, said most Alaskans need a driver's license in order
to carry on their daily routine and they have stood in line waiting
to take care of business that requires them to physically visit
DMV. HB 517 will make it easier for the Department of Public
Safety to serve the public by simplifying procedures for obtaining
a driver's license by removing exceptions to the renewal by mail-in
program. Also, current law requires a person involved in an
accident resulting in $500 or more in damage to property to report
the accident to local police or the Alaska State Troopers for
investigation. This amount was set in 1977 and present value of
the slightest scrape can cost that much to repair; this bill raises
that amount to $1,500.
The legislation also provides for administrative hearings to be
held by telephone in most instances to avoid costly travel. It
allows the Department of Public Safety to keep its records
electronically and provides that certified copies of those
electronically stored records are admissible in courts and
administrative proceedings. It also allows a temporary permit to
be issued by a car dealer to be valid for 60 days rather than 30
days to give the dealer and the Department of Public Safety more
time to take care of the necessary paper work.
HB 517 also provides for compliance of the Code of Federal
Regulations, Title 49, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act Program
grant requirements, and item 22 of the Commercial Vehicle Safety
Act 49 CFR parts 383, 390 and 391 dealing with disqualifying a
commercial driver for an out-of-service violation. It makes house
keeping changes for compliance purposes. Failure to adopt the
provisions of 49 CFR may result in a 5 percent sanction of federal
highway monies and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Assistance
Program Grant (MCSAP) funding.
Concluding her overview, Ms. Hensley noted she had provided the
committee with a sectional analysis and she would respond to
questions.
Number 048
SENATOR ADAMS asked Ms. Hensley to address the repeal of two
statutes having to do with the staggering of vehicle registration.
MS. HENSLEY explained that in 1978 the department went from all the
vehicles having to be registered in January of the year to
staggering registration for all vehicles, except for commercial
vehicles. This will repeal the fact that the department would have
to register commercial vehicles every January and allow them to
stagger those registrations as they do now with other vehicles.
Number 071
SENATOR RIEGER referred to Section 5, relating to claim of
ownership by private property owner, and asked what the law is now
in the absence of this section as far as when an abandoned vehicle
reverts to the owner of the real estate. MS. HENSLEY responded
that before an individual could obtain a title to get a vehicle
removed from the property, he would have to go through a bonding
situation or obtain a lien against the vehicle for like a storage
lien, as well as go through a bonding provision even though the car
has been abandoned on their property for a lengthy period of time.
SENATOR RIEGER asked the reason for the three-year provision in the
section, which, he added seems awfully long. MS. HENSLEY explained
that amendment was made at the request of Senator Torgerson, and
the department did not object to it.
Number 140
There being no further testimony on CSHB 517(TRA)(title am),
SENATOR RIEGER asked for the pleasure of the committee.
SENATOR GREEN moved CSHB 517(TRA)(title am) be passed out of
committee with individual recommendations. Hearing no objection,
it was so ordered.
Number 151
HJR 65 FAA REGULATIONS ON CREW FLIGHT TIME
CHAIRMAN RIEGER brought HJR 65, sponsored by the House
Transportation Committee, before the committee as the next order of
business.
REPRESENTATIVE GARY DAVIS, Chairman of the House Transportation
Committee, explained the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has
proposed regulations which are going to severely limit air taxi
operators' flight time. The proposed regulations would limit the
amount of weekly and monthly hours that a pilot can fly by limiting
them to only 32 hours of flight time in any seven consecutive
calendar days or 100 hours in any calendar month. This issue is
causing great concern, not only at the state level, but at the
federal level as well where Alaska's congressional delegation is
attempting to exempt Alaska from these regulations. There has been
testimony to indicate that almost all air taxi operators in the
state fly in excess of these hours, so this severely limits the
existing operations in the state. HJR 65 requests that Alaska be
exempt from the proposed regulations.
Number 190
SENATOR GREEN commented that 100 hours in a calendar month is
extraordinarily short, and she asked if there has been any
testimony relating to the number of hours an individual can safely
fly an aircraft. REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS replied that there hasn't
been any testimony or research on that issue, but the resolution
indicates that the committee feels the current operations are
operating safely, and whatever restrictions they currently have are
adequate.
Number 209
There being no further questions or testimony on HJR 65, CHAIRMAN
RIEGER asked for the pleasure of the committee.
SENATOR GREEN moved HJR 65 pass out of committee with individual
recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.
Number 213
CSHB 526(FIN) am AIDEA OPERATIONS/PROJECTS/LOANS
CHAIRMAN RIEGER brought CSHB 526(FIN) am before the committee. He
advised that since the last meeting on the bill the Alaska
Industrial Development & Export Authority (AIDEA) has provided
language, which are two different approaches to address the concern
about the $10 million authorization.
Number 227
SENATOR GREEN inquired which version of the bill the suggested
languages applied to. KEITH LAUFER, Assistant Attorney General
Governmental Affairs Section, Department of Law, clarified he
drafted them off of the version that came over from the House, CSHB
526(FIN) am.
Mr. Laufer explained that in response to some of the concerns
raised by the chairman, they have provided for a sunset of ADIEA's
bonding authorization similar to the sunset that went into effect
on July 1, 1995. Both versions of the suggested language before
the committee accomplish that.
The second issue the chairman was concerned about had to do with a
limitation on ADIEA's ability to bond for its loan participation
program. The version which reads "bonding authorization amendment"
provides for a limitation on AIDEA's ability to issue bonds in
order to fund participation loans under its participation program,
if those bonds would exceed $10 million.
Number 254
RANDY SIMMONS of the Alaska Industrial Development & Export
Authority, added that under the bonding authorization, the
suggested language that does not have the $10 million limitation
for loan participation bonds, there still is in AIDEA statutes a
limitation for loan participation, so they could not do a loan
participation over $10 million without coming to the legislature
for authorization. It further states that they couldn't do a bond
over $10 million. As an example, he said if they had two loan
participations in one year that were $8 million a piece, normally
what they would do to save money was issue one bond. They would
group those together and issue one bond for $16 million. Under the
bonding authorization, they could do that. Under the bonding
authorization amendments, they could not; they would have to issue
two $8 million bonds.
Number 280
CHAIRMAN RIEGER commented that on that issue he is more comfortable
with the existing language, with the exception of adding a sunset
provision. He said another issue that was raised was on the
interest rate on loan participations, and he asked for an
explanation of suggested draft language provided by AIDEA.
KEITH LAUFER explained that elsewhere in statute and being amended
in the bill are the two provisions that provide for interest rates
on loan participations when AIDEA issues both taxable, in one case,
or tax exempt bonds in the other case. At the last committee
meeting some questions were raised about the interest rate that
AIDEA would charge on loans that are not funded with newly issued
bonds, but, instead, funded out of AIDEA's own funds or equity
without issuing bonds. The amendment provides the methodology that
AIDEA uses to set its interest rates on loan participations funded
out of equity. First, a determination is made whether tax exempt
or taxable bonds could be used for the issue. In other words,
certain types of loans can be funded with tax exempt bonds and, in
that case, they would set the interest rate using the cost of funds
based on the rate that would be available to AIDEA if they were to
sell tax exempt bonds. In the other case, they use the taxable
bond rights.
Number 309
CHAIRMAN RIEGER suggested modifying that language when it's in
final draft to say that the interest rate shall be determined by
regulation, but not lower than what Mr. Laufer had described. MR.
LAUFER and MR. SIMMONS responded that they would not have a problem
with his suggested modification.
Number 315
CHAIRMAN RIEGER then directed attention to language he had drafted,
which is a shortened version of the conditions on the Delong
Mountain Transportation System (Red Dog project), to accommodate
some of the concerns of Senator Adams. It deletes from an earlier
draft of the bill the requirement for a 6.5 percent floor on the
rate of return. It also edits the language in b(2) to make it
clear that the original return on the original investment is one
deal, and the additional return on the additional investment is a
different deal as far as making sure that the return is
commensurate with the risk. He said number 3 is something that may
still be an issue; however, it no longer reads that the toll-
schedule may be periodically adjusted, but it is permissive that
the original toll schedule could be crafted in any way that the
parties negotiate.
RANDY SIMMONS and SENATOR ADAMS stated they had no problem with the
change in number 3.
Number 350
CHAIRMAN RIEGER noted the Senate State Affairs version did not
provide for the guarantee of interest to apply on the Small
Business Guarantee Program, and he asked if the committee thought
that should be added back in or whether that program should have a
sunset.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked why the provision was deleted in Senate State
Affairs. RANDY SIMMONS responded there wasn't a lot of debate on
the issue, and he could not speak as to what the concerns might
have been of the senators at that time. However, he thought it
might be a concern of why AIDEA would want to guarantee interest
once there was a default. He added it is something that is
generally in most loan programs, and, if a loan were to go into
default, they would give a period of 90 days to guarantee the
interest on their portion until that loan can be basically sold by
the bank. AIDEA doesn't consider it a real problem from their
standpoint because the interest is going to be fairly insignificant
if it happens, and, even though their program hasn't been used that
much so far, they've only had one default on any of the $3 million
worth of loans issued so far.
Number 397
SENATOR LINCOLN commented that it says it is for the time and in
the manner established by the authority by regulation, so it
doesn't seem to be a paragraph that would be detrimental.
Number 430
After further discussion, CHAIRMAN REIGER stated the consensus of
the committee was to add back in language limiting the interest
guarantee to no more than 90 days.
Number 434
SENATOR TAYLOR suggested modifying existing language that is
already within the bill that updates what the current cost would be
of the Bradfield Road project. This is just to provide the
opportunity that if in fact it can be developed, that there already
is legislative authorization in place to go forward with it.
CHAIRMAN RIEGER asked if AIDEA has a position on this project and
if this would work. RANDY SIMMONS answered that they have not
looked at this and he really could not speak to it without looking
at it first. He did point out that original authorization for the
project was in the Department of Transportation; however, if it is
a feasible project, AIDEA will be happy to look at it. If the
project were to happen within the next couple of years they would
not need this because they have a two-year statute of limitation.
If it were left out of the bill and in that two-year period it
became a viable project, it could either be done by conduit
financing or specific statutory legislation or authorization could
be provided under their program. If it is revenue bonds, AIDEA
would not need the authority, but if it's under their development
finance, it's a different type of bonding and ADIEA would need the
authority.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked if AIDEA could make a deal without this
amendment. RANDY SIMMONS answered they could if the project were
going to be financed by conduit financing.
SENATOR TAYLOR said he wants AIDEA to have the greatest authority
possible so that when someone comes to them with a project that is
feasible, they can move forward with some dispatch at that point.
RANDY SIMMONS said he didn't want to speak against the Bradfield
project because AIDEA just doesn't know anything about it. Their
normal process is to work with a developer beforehand to see if a
project is fairly viable just from the start, without having to go
through the full feasibility study. Then AIDEA would ask for
authorization just as they have done with Red Dog, etc.
Number 546
SENATOR TAYLOR said part of the concern is that there is a minimum
of probably a two-year EIS, there is a national concern in that it
will require an international crossing, which takes a considerable
period of time, and if there isn't the authorization to move
forward on the project upfront, it just further slows everything
down.
Number 570
CHAIRMAN RIEGER asked if there have been any further developments
in the proposal regarding the bulk unloading facility that was
testified to at the last hearing. REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE said he
spoke to Representative Kott's staff who informed him that the
representative's position has not changed with respect to the
amendment, although Representative Kott informed him he was leaving
it up to the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Number 580
CHAIRMAN RIEGER stated it was his intention to have a committee
substitute drafted for consideration at the next meeting so that
final action can be taken on the proposed amendments and the bill
can be moved out of committee. He feels the committee is fairly
close on all the issues with the exception of the additional bond
authorization project.
There being no further business to come before the committee, the
meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
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