SB 61 - 2011 REVISOR'S BILL 1:43:16 PM CHAIR GATTO announced that the next order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 61(STA), "An Act making corrective amendments to the Alaska Statutes as recommended by the revisor of statutes; and providing for an effective date." 1:43:35 PM KATHRYN KURTZ, Assistant Revisor of Statutes, Legislative Legal Counsel, Legislative Legal and Research Services, Legislative Affairs Agency (LAA), explained that revisor's bills are prepared annually to correct or remove deficiencies, obsolete provisions, and conflicts in statute; and that members' packets contain a sectional analysis of SB 61. [Sections 6-8, 14, 23- 35, 39-40, and 44 would amend various provisions in Titles 9, 18, 22, 24, 33, 36, 39-40, and 44] to create uniformity among the statutory references to the administrative director of the Alaska Court System (ACS). [Sections 1 and 36-37 would change references in AS 03.22.050 and AS 38.07] to the United States Soil Conservation Service, to references to the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, to reflect a 1994 renaming of that service. Sections 42 and 45 would amend references to federal laws [in AS 42.06.430(7)(A) and AS 45.68.120(a)] to reflect renumbering changes in those referenced federal laws. [Sections 10-12 would remove references in AS 14.40.809(b) and AS 14.42.015(a) and (d)] to Sheldon Jackson College because that institution no longer exists. MS. KURTZ explained that Sections 15, 18-19, and 41 would delete obsolete, and therefore unnecessary, date references in [provisions of AS 29, and in AS 42.04.080(b)]. Section 2 would add a definition of the term, "department" in AS 08.02 to clarify that as used in that chapter, that term means the Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED). Section 9 would make a conforming change in AS 14.07.020(a)(16)(B) by replacing the term, "math" with the term, "mathematics", which is the term used elsewhere in Alaska's statutes. MS. KURTZ, in response to a question, clarified that for purposes of avoiding the use of a split infinitive in AS 14.40.809(b)(5), [Section 10] is also proposing to replace the phrase, "to annually report on", with the phrase, "to report annually on". In response to further questions, she reiterated that [Sections 10-12] are proposing to delete the obsolete references to Sheldon Jackson College, and explained that although the legislature could choose to remove [Sections 10-12 of the bill - thereby leaving existing AS 14.40.809(b) and AS 14.42.015(a) and (d) as is] - retaining the references to Sheldon Jackson College could put [the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska and the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education] in the difficult position of being statutorily required to treat with, and include individuals from, a nonexistent entity. Should another private college come to the legislature's attention at some point, then the legislature could decide at that time whether to add the appropriate statutory references via a substantive bill. CHAIR GATTO indicated favor with the bill's proposal to delete the obsolete references to Sheldon Jackson College; retaining such references would only serve to mislead people, he predicted. In response to a question, he pointed out that even if the legislature was already considering other private colleges, it couldn't insert statutory references to any of them via SB 61 because SB 61 is a revisor's bill and as such is precluded from proposing substantive changes. MS. KURTZ, in response to comments, ventured that perhaps researching legislative history could provide insight into the reasoning behind the initial inclusion of references to Sheldon Jackson College in AS 14.40.809(b) and AS 14.42.015(a) and (d). 2:00:06 PM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report CSSB 61(STA) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSSB 61(STA) was reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee.