HB 68-ELECTRONIC DISTRIB. OF REPORTS  8:28:19 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the final order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 68, "An Act relating to the preparation, electronic distribution, and posting of reports by state agencies." 8:28:31 AM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS, as prime sponsor, introduced HB 68 and said the proposed legislation sought to save the state money and create a more efficient process of distribution and dissemination of [state-mandated reports]. He said similar legislation was introduced during the Twenty-Eighth Legislative Session that contained some controversial provisions. He said HB 68 focuses on simple electronic distribution language. He indicated that recent discussions with Representative Keller brought him to consider changes to the proposed legislation; however, he expressed his hope that today's hearing could serve as an opportunity to introduce the legislation, and a committee substitute could be introduced another day. CHAIR LYNN requested a brief overview of HB 68. REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said when the legislature creates state agencies, task forces, commissions, and other entities, it often mandates that those entities produce reports. For example, he explained, reports are generated to all legislative offices, the Office of the Governor, and the Alaska State Library, and often hundreds of those reports end up in the trash or the recycling bin. He noted the cost of each report is sometimes in excess of $10 to $20. 8:31:12 AM CHAIR LYNN pointed out there may be small communities that cannot access electronically produced reports, and asked whether that was a concern of the sponsor. REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS responded there is a provision in the proposed legislation allowing such communities to opt to receive hard copies of reports. REPRESENTATIVE KELLER opined that HB 68 was a great idea, and he thanked the sponsor for bring it forward and for considering incorporating some new ideas into a committee substitute. REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS, in response to Chair Lynn, said he would be working with Representative Keller on a committee substitute that would be available soon. In response to a follow-up question, he said one change that could be anticipated in the committee substitute would be to have a requirement for notification regarding any subsequent changes made to reports. He explained that would prevent reports from being changed on line without any record or documentation of those changes. He said he would be consulting with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor on the matter. He related the second proposed change in the upcoming committee substitute would be a provision to ensure anyone needing a hard copy of a report would not be "whacked with a fifty dollar bill" from the State Library system for printing it out. Further, he said the committee substitute would propose a fair means of ensuring that people could access whatever documents they wanted from the Alaska State Library. 8:34:45 AM CHAIR LYNN asked whether the committee substitute would be ready soon. REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that he thought so. He said he first needed to converse with representatives from the Alaska State Library regarding printed copy requests, as well as work with Representative Keller on the aforementioned revisions. CHAIR LYNN announced he would keep public testimony open. CHAIR LYNN announced that HB 68 was held over.