SENATE BILL NO. 68 "An Act relating to the examinations, board, loans, records, and lobbying contracts of the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank; and providing for an effective date." 9:19:12 AM RYNNIEVA MOSS, STAFF, SENATOR JOHN COGHILL, stated that Senator Coghill sent his apologies for his absence and that the Senator was attending meetings for the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, of which he was a member. JORDAN SHILLING, INTERN, SENATOR JOHN COGHILL, introduced SB 68 and stated that when the Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank (CFAB) was established in 1980, they had received seed money from the state; the money was a loan to be paid back to the general fund with interest. As a result of the loan, certain restrictions such as specific board member requirements, limits on loans, limits on eligibility for loans, and the ability to lobby were placed on banks. Although CFAB had repaid the seed money, the statutes restricting their operations remained in effect; SB 68 lifted those restrictions and would allow CFAB to compete in the loan market in the same capacity as other private lending institutions. 9:20:46 AM Co-Chair Stedman discussed a fiscal note from the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development reflecting $5,800 in travel costs for the Banking and Securities Division to conduct an examination every three years; the note also showed an increase in revenue every three years in the amount of $22,000. Senator Olson asked if other lending institutions had voiced a position on the bill. Ms. Moss replied that CFAB had been in correspondence with all the major lenders in the state and that there had been no objections raised. Senator Olson queried if CFAB had been in contact with other lending institutions besides banks. Ms. Moss responded in the affirmative and furthered that it was her understanding that other types of lending institutions had been contacted. 9:22:00 AM Senator Ellis MOVED to report SB 68 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. 9:22:16 AM SB 68 was REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with a new fiscal impact note from the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. Co-Chair Stedman discussed the committee's agenda for the next several weeks. He stated that they would begin reviewing some of the major capital projects and agency overviews the following week, rather than the week after the annual National Energy Council meetings. He observed that the schedule would give them a "clearer calendar" to deal with the oil legislation. He stated that the oil legislation would mostly likely be ready after the Energy Council meetings; if it was not ready by this point, the committee would continue with the capital budget and integrate the oil legislation later on in the process. He noted that the preliminary overview hearings with PFC Energy had been "tentatively" scheduled for the end of the following week and that the hearings would not focus on legislation; they were concept specific presentations on how Alaska fit in globally to petroleum market place and how Alaska's basin fit in with British Petroleum (BP), ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil. He observed that the integration of the oil discussion with the capital budget would probably require the committee to meet twice a day.