HB 262-MILITARY SPOUSE COURTESY LICENSE  4:44:23 PM CHAIR KITO announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 262, "An Act relating to temporary courtesy licenses for certain nonresident professionals; and relating to the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development." 4:44:29 PM REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT KAWASAKI, Alaska State Legislature, reintroduced HB 262 as prime sponsor. He gave numbers of military and veteran populations in the state. He stated the University of Alaska, the Fairbanks School District, the State, and small businesses offer discounts and aid to military. He said military spouse licensing would align with those efforts to support military families. CHAIR KITO asked whether there are laws prohibiting someone from using a non-Alaska license if they are in the state on a temporary basis. REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI answered there are different regulations for different states so sometimes there are differences in occupational licenses between states. He said there is work towards a compact so that licenses between states. 4:48:24 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH shared his concerns regarding occupational licensing. 4:49:38 PM WILLAM JODWALIS, Representative Scott Kawasaki, Alaska Legislature, answered questions in the hearing on HB 262. He said there was already a law passed in 2011 House Bill 28- regarding courtesy licenses and HB 262 wouldn't touch or alter that. He said the proposed bill would set forth a reporting mechanism for the department to issue a report for statistical data on occupational licenses issued to military spouses. 4:50:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked about the breadth of scope and latitude for military spouse licensing. 4:51:49 PM SARA CHAMBERS, Deputy Director, Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED), answered questions in the hearing on HB 262. She said currently military spouses can obtain a 180-day temporary license which can be extended for another 180 days to give them time to comply with state licensure requirements. She said the department was looking at licensure by credential or endorsement. She said this works for professionals who take a national examination. She stated that for those who do not have to take an examination, or for those which require Alaska-specific knowledge, the department has worked to produce a report providing data. She said the bill would codify that report. She indicated it is a small percentage of the overall licenses issued. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL spoke to the number of military spouses that utilize the program. He asked whether some may simply be using the normal channels for licensure. MS. CHAMBERS answered it's possible some are using normal channels. She said there is a military licensure webpage for the information which is linked to all state licensure webpages. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked whether the department has a "military spouse" box to click on its website. MS. CHAMBERS answered it does not. 5:01:23 PM REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD mentioned she has worked in various hospitals. She said military members who came for jobs often got priority. She asked about the need to create new legislation. MS. CHAMBERS shared her understanding that supporters of the bill would like to have a more codified reporting system. She said the information could be provided on the department website. She said the department is happy to produce the information when asked. REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD asked whether it could be done without the legislation. MS. CHAMBERS answered the department does what the legislation is requiring already, with the exception of the mandate that the information be delivered to the legislature on a certain date. CHAIR KITO pointed to subsection g which he said seems to ask the department to provide informational materials for the purpose of improving the board's knowledge of licensees. He asked whether that is part of the fiscal note (FN). 5:03:51 PM MS. CHAMBERS said the element that produced a change to the FN was the change from producing a report at the fiscal year (FY) rather than the calendar year. She said that prior to the amendment to the bill, there was a zero FN. 5:04:34 PM The committee took an at-ease from 5:04 p.m. to 5:05 p.m. 5:05:02 PM CHAIR KITO closed public testimony. 5:05:18 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL moved Amendment 1. Page 1, line 7: Delete "calendar" Insert "fiscal" MR. JODWALIS indicated the bill sponsor had no objection to the proposed amendment6. 5:06:01 PM CHAIR KITO removed his objection to Amendment 1. There being no other objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 5:06:12 PM REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON moved to report HB 262 out of committee as amended with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, it was so ordered.