SB 158-REAL ESTATE SALES LICENSEES  2:41:37 PM CHAIR EGAN announced SB 158 to be up for consideration. DANA OWEN, staff to the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, sponsor of SB 158, said industry professionals wanted to achieve three things with this bill. First, there are provisions in statute for appointing a temporary overseer of a real estate license in the event that a person can't oversee the business, but there is one glaring exception. That is if the person is being punished through the legal system for some misconduct. No provisions exist for appointing someone to take over the business and manage it or close it down. The bill would put in that provision. Second, they wanted to address a provision for assigning assistants to a licensee. At the time it was inserted it was understood that the assistant would be assigned to the licensee. People have taken that to mean that the assistant has a license that can go to anybody; in other words that person can work for multiple agents. The intent of the law as he understands it is to limit it to that one licensee. This bill would restore that idea. Third, currently brokers are not allowed to donate a portion or all of their commission to a charity, and they want the ability to do that. This bill would also address that. CHAIR EGAN objected for discussion. SENATOR MENARD asked if they would play by the same IRS rules. MR. OWEN answered yes. 2:44:47 PM ERROL CHAMPION, President, Southeast Board of Realtors and Director for the Alaska Association of Realtors, thanked the chair for introducing SB 158. He said it resolves three areas identified by members of the Alaska Realtors Association. It clarifies statute providing the ability for the Alaska Real Estate Commission (ARAC) to designate a licensee to administer closing down a real estate brokerage for medical reasons or for violation of the law if one is not available up to the task. State law presently does not allow the ARAC the flexibility to assign this important task to the appropriate active licensee. He said this is important for the Bush because often no one else is in the office except the licensee. Currently, ARAC has to remove all the transactions and the control of the trust account perhaps to another city, which is awkward for everyone. The second issue the bill clarifies is the intent that all licensed assistants have to be working for the brokerage where they are being compensated. You don't want compensation to go to a licensed assistant and then have them work for another broker because of violation of confidentiality; it's not a good business practice. Third, this bill will allow a licensee to share a portion of their commission with a charity. Technically, only the broker can disburse funds out of the trust account. He summarized that these three changes will help clarify the intent of the law and promote charitable giving. CHAIR EGAN thanked Mr. Champion for his testimony and said SB 158 would be held for a future meeting.