ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE  March 15, 2012 8:04 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Bob Lynn, Chair Representative Wes Keller, Vice Chair Representative Paul Seaton Representative Max Gruenberg Representative Pete Petersen Representative Kyle Johansen MEMBERS ABSENT  Representative Peggy Wilson COMMITTEE CALENDAR  HOUSE BILL NO. 333 "An Act relating to public office expense term accounts and public office expense term account reserves." - MOVED CSHB 333(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE HOUSE BILL NO. 219 "An Act exempting certain emergency medical and fire department services from regulation as insurance." - HEARD & HELD SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 18 Establishing August 4, 2012, as Raoul Wallenberg Remembrance Day. - MOVED SCR 18 OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: HB 333 SHORT TITLE: CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS/POET ACCTS SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) HAWKER 02/20/12 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 02/20/12 (H) STA 03/15/12 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106 BILL: HB 219 SHORT TITLE: FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) FEIGE 03/31/11 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 03/31/11 (H) CRA, STA 02/16/12 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124 02/16/12 (H) Heard & Held 02/16/12 (H) MINUTE(CRA) 03/01/12 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124 03/01/12 (H) Moved Out of Committee 03/01/12 (H) MINUTE(CRA) 03/02/12 (H) CRA RPT 3DP 3NR 03/02/12 (H) DP: AUSTERMAN, DICK, FOSTER 03/02/12 (H) NR: SADDLER, GARDNER, MUNOZ 03/15/12 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106 BILL: SCR 18 SHORT TITLE: RAOUL WALLENBERG REMEMBRANCE DAY SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) DYSON 01/18/12 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 01/18/12 (S) STA 02/09/12 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205 02/09/12 (S) Moved SCR 18 Out of Committee 02/09/12 (S) MINUTE(STA) 02/10/12 (S) STA RPT 4DP 02/10/12 (S) DP: WIELECHOWSKI, KOOKESH, PASKVAN, GIESSEL 02/22/12 (S) BEFORE THE SENATE ON FINAL PASSAGE 02/22/12 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) 02/22/12 (S) VERSION: SCR 18 02/24/12 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 02/24/12 (H) STA 03/15/12 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106 WITNESS REGISTER REPRESENTATIVE MIKE HAWKER Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: As sponsor, presented HB 333. JULIE LUCKY, Staff Representative Mike Hawker Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information during the hearing on HB 33 on behalf of Representative Hawker, sponsor. PAUL DAUPHINAIS, Executive Director Alaska Public Offices Commission Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the hearing on HB 333. MICHAEL PASCHELL, Staff Representative Eric Feige Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 219 on behalf of Representative Feige, sponsor. LINDA HALL, Director Division of Insurance Department of Commerce, Community, & Economic Development Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during the hearing on HB 219. SENATOR FRED DYSON Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: As sponsor, presented SCR 18. ACTION NARRATIVE 8:04:57 AM CHAIR BOB LYNN called the House State Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Representatives Keller, Seaton, Johansen, Petersen, and Lynn were present at the call to order. Representative Gruenberg arrived as the meeting was in progress. HB 333-CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS/POET ACCTS  8:05:37 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 333, "An Act relating to public office expense term accounts and public office expense term account reserves." 8:05:59 AM REPRESENTATIVE MIKE HAWKER, Alaska State Legislature, as sponsor, presented HB 333. In response to the chair, he noted that the one change in the proposed committee substitute (CS), Version 27-LS1289\B, Bullard, 2/24/12, is in subparagraph (E), [in Section 1], on page 3, [lines 14-17], which read as follows: (E) unused campaign contribution  transferred under this paragraph must be disposed of  as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this subsection at  the end of the term of office immediately following  the campaign for which the contributions were  received; and  REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER said the difference is the word "at", between "subsection" and "the end of the term"; he said the original bill read, "by the end of the term". 8:06:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS), Version 27-LS1289\B, Bullard, 2/24/12, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version B was before the committee. 8:07:13 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked for confirmation that the change to "at" would not prevent anyone from disposing of a public office expense term (POET) account in the approved manner before the certain date on which the term of office ended. 8:07:55 AM JULIE LUCKY, Staff, Representative Mike Hawker, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Hawker, sponsor, referred to a memorandum from the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC), included in the committee packet, which confirmed for the sponsor that [the use of the word "at", in Version B], would allow the disposal of POET funds to be handled under the same regulations and guidelines as the disposal of POET reserve funds. 8:09:12 AM PAUL DAUPHINAIS, Executive Director, Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC), in response to Representative Seaton, explained that APOC wanted the phrase "at the end of the term of  office" used, because the commission does not want people to dispose of the funds during their term of office. He said one appropriate method of dispersal is through a political party. He stated, "There does exist the opportunity for the money to go to a political party and then back to the candidate. While we do not believe anyone would do that purposefully, we wanted to make sure that even the perception of something like that happening wouldn't be here." He said [the proposed language in Version B] "deals with that appropriately by not allowing the political party time to get it back during the campaign period." REPRESENTATIVE SEATON expressed concern regarding the interpretation of the language. 8:11:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER said the incorporation of the word "at" in Version B would make the wording the same as in current statute. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he realizes it does that, but the purpose of the bill is to clarify what is done with POET funds. REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER said the idea of having the transfer occur at the end of term of office is to prevent the potential rolling over of POET funds from candidate to political party and back to candidate. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he wants APOC on record as saying that is the intent of this. 8:13:35 AM MS. LUCKY stated her assumption that the proposed language means any time after the election but before the swearing in date of the new legislature. 8:14:05 AM MR. DAUPHINAIS concurred with what both Representative Hawker and Ms. Lucky articulated. 8:14:29 AM REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER reviewed the purpose of a POET account. He said he does not think anyone really understands why the POET reserve account exists; therefore, it could be eliminated. 8:17:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG echoed that he does not think anyone knows why the reserve account is necessary. He mentioned that APOC is planning to update its legislative financial disclosure (LFD). In response to the sponsor, he explained that he was imparting information related to easing "our" burden without sacrificing financial disclosure. 8:20:46 AM CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who wished to testify, closed public testimony. 8:20:57 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to adopt Amendment 1, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Page 1, line 1, following "Act": Insert "relating to the disposition of certain  unused campaign contributions; and" Page 3, line 27: Delete "and" Insert "[AND]" Page 3, line 28, following "$5,000": Insert "; and  (E) unused campaign contributions  transferred under this paragraph must be disposed of  as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this subsection at  the end of the term of office immediately following  the campaign for which the contributions were  received" REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN objected for the purpose of discussion. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said there are municipal POET accounts, and Amendment 1 clarifies that municipal POET accounts would be covered under the same rules as legislative POET accounts. 8:22:04 AM REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER said he welcomes Amendment 1. 8:22:15 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said Mr. Dauphinais had recommended the amendment. CHAIR LYNN removed his objection. There being no further objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 8:22:43 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to report CSHB 333, Version 27- LS1289, Bullard, 2/24/12, as amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 333(STA) was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee. 8:23:09 AM The committee took an at-ease from 8:23 a.m. to 8:24 a.m. [During the at-ease, Chair Lynn passed the gavel to Vice Chair Keller.] HB 219-FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES  8:24:31 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER announced that the next order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 219, "An Act exempting certain emergency medical and fire department services from regulation as insurance." 8:24:35 AM MICHAEL PASCHELL, Staff, Representative Eric Feige, Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 219 on behalf of Representative Feige, sponsor. He disclosed that he is the assistant chief and a board member of the Rural Deltana Volunteer Fire Department and Representative Feige is the chief of Chickaloon Fire Service, and both organizations possibly could be impacted by HB 219. MR. PASCHELL talked about the difficulty that local fire and emergency medical agencies have in raising money. He said fundraising events are common and include fish fries, pancakes dinners, bake sales, and bingo, and those putting on the events are usually the same volunteers who provide the emergency services. He said donations are welcomed because they take less time and input from the volunteers. Mr. Paschell said a popular method of fundraising among fire and emergency medical service (EMS) organizations in some parts of the country is to offer those who give donations on an annual basis a "no charge policy" when responding to an emergency; however, he indicated that there are laws in Alaska that thwart that type of practice. One option that is in place is to form a health services corporation; however, that is considered insurance, and those doing so are subject to regulations, including a prohibitive one requiring a minimum $100,000 bond in order to provide services. Some fire departments - often called subscription fire departments - offer ambulance service, in which individuals pay voluntarily for the service. Mr. Paschell said problems can arise when the fire department responds to an emergency outside of the area in which the subscription service is offered, and the person who gets charged complains that one person is getting a benefit over another. 8:29:08 AM MR. PASCHELL said HB 219 would exempt "these types of organizations" from regulation under the Division of Insurance. He noted there was a committee substitute (CS) in the committee packet. 8:29:47 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS), Version 27-LS0638\I, Bailey, 3/8/12, as a work draft. VICE CHAIR KELLER objected for the purpose of discussion. MR. PASCHELL explained that the changes proposed in Version I would insert language to expand the provisions to allow an agreement to provide services and include "community-based" [in subsection (g)] to limit the provisions of the bill to only locally based organizations. 8:30:40 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if there are any large businesses that offer those air ambulance services that would fall under the nonprofit category, and "does that fall into this category, as well?" MR. PASCHELL answered that currently, "they" can operate as a large, non-profit health services organization, with a slightly different set of rules. He said the purpose of adding "community-based" [in Version I] is to ensure that HB 219 is not intended to include statewide or regional, large corporations. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked Mr. Paschell to confirm that the intent of the proposed legislation is to include community-based organizations that provide services within those communities. MR. PASCHELL answered that is correct. 8:32:35 AM MR. PASCHELL, in response to a question from Representative Johansen, offered information relating to Chickaloon Fire Service, which he said is in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, but not within a fire district, and which operates as a subscription-based department. He said he does not know how many subscribers the department has, but said the volunteers provide what they can for a remote community. He said the Rural Deltana Volunteer Fire Department, which serves the area outside Delta Junction and currently has 31 members, works with both the city fire department and the Fort Greely Fire Department. He relayed that the City of Delta Junction instigated HB 219, because they had offered a service based on the aforementioned up-front fee, and were told by the Division of Insurance that that is insurance. He said the Rural Deltana Volunteer Fire Department operates on a strictly volunteer-basis, so the proposed legislation could affect the department, but would not do so under its current operating plan. 8:35:22 AM MR. PASCHELL, in response to follow-up questions, said the 31 members of the Rural Deltana Volunteer Fire Department are made up of volunteer fire fighters, auxiliary members, and board members; a person is a member by joining and serving the department. He said the reason that the Chickaloon Fire Service may be affected by HB 219 is because the department's current operations are subscription-based. 8:38:06 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER offered his understanding that there has been no response to the proposed legislation from insurance companies. 8:38:17 AM LINDA HALL, Director, Division of Insurance, Department of Commerce, Community, & Economic Development, indicated that the division helped in the language of the bill, because it felt the original version would fall under the division's definition of transacting insurance. She stated, "The idea of a subscription service falls under the definition of insurance." She drew attention to a letter in the committee packet, [dated 9/9/08, from Sarah McNair-Grove, an actuary with the department], in response to a question [about the relation of fire protection subscription service and insurance]. She indicated that the answer provided is much of what has prompted HB 219, which would allow small, community-based organizations to collect subscription amounts of money in order to provide services to their communities. She offered her understanding that it is not the intent of the sponsor to exempt large, commercial organizations that provide medical transport services. She stated: It's a policy for this body to determine whether you want these to have regulation under the Division of Insurance. ... If you have consumer complaints, there is another branch that will see those: ... the Consumer Protection Section in the Department of Law. If it doesn't fall under our title, then that section does take consumer complaints and investigate them. So, it's not like they will just fall through the cracks. MS. HALL said the division's concern is, for example, that if someone pays for ambulance service, then that service will still be in business several years later. 8:41:28 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked if exempting these fire departments from Title 21 would have any potential unintended consequences. MS. HALL answered that she is not aware of any. She said she thinks Version I was intended to draw tighter lines around what is being exempted and to make it community-based. She reiterated that if these entities are not regulated under Title 21, there would still be a place for a harmed consumer to go to seek relief through the system. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said that is satisfactory, but asked that the division let the legislature know promptly if it becomes aware of any unintended consequences in the future. MS. HALL acquiesced. 8:44:42 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he thinks the bill has merit. He asked if there are any other entities that legislature should consider exempting? MS. HALL said she cannot think of any at this time. In response to Representative Gruenberg, she said the division has no bills before the legislature this session. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG thanked Ms. Hall for her service and noted that she is about to retire. 8:47:53 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON offered his understanding that "the prospective recipient of the services was within the community," but noted that the bill does not state that. He suggested adding "within the community" following "prospective recipient of the services". MS. HALL said she thinks the intent is there already; however, she said the language Representative Seaton suggested would clarify that intent. She indicated the word "local" was considered during early discussions of proposed bill language, but was not used. 8:50:25 AM MS. HALL, in response to a question from Representative Johansen regarding municipality size, said that while HB 219 does not specify that Anchorage would not be included, she thinks the intent of the bill is to benefit smaller communities. She ventured that the intent could be clarified in the language of the bill. In response to Vice Chair Keller, she confirmed that such clarification would be necessary only if the intent was to exclude large municipalities. 8:53:21 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER questioned why a large municipality should be restricted, because he pointed out that there may be a subset within a large municipality. 8:54:07 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG recollected that the City of Anchorage used to have a volunteer fire department, but does not have one currently. He said he would not like to "bring them back under the ... [Division] of Insurance" without finding out if "they would want or feel that they ought to be regulated." He said input from the City of Anchorage is needed, particularly regarding the effect on Eagle River. 8:56:11 AM MS. HALL said [the division] does not regulate fire departments or ambulances. She said HB 219 would regulate the selling of subscription services, which is an insurance product. The proposed legislation proposes exempting such a product for small communities that may run a medical transport service or a volunteer fire department that is not funded. She said she assumes the Anchorage Fire Department is funded "in somebody's budget." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG clarified that he is concerned about the Chugiak and Eagle River volunteer organizations, because they are not "as covered by the municipal fire department." He said he wants to know how the bill would affect them. He stated, "I agree with the vice chairman on this one." 8:58:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN noted that in the last committee of referral, Representative Berta Gardner had asked the sponsor if he would oppose language that would allow a fire department to require subscription service in communities where property owners were already paying property taxes. He said that brought to mind the borough of Ketchikan, within which there are two professional fire departments and two volunteer fire departments. He said "everybody" pays property taxes, and city residents pay city taxes. Representative Johansen related that when a fire is big enough, a city department will cross over city lines into the borough's jurisdiction to help out. He said he would like more time to figure out all the "moving parts" to the bill. 9:00:49 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he does not think anybody is talking about a mandatory agreement, and he suggested using the phrase "a solicitation or a voluntary agreement" in the language of HB 219. He asked Ms. Hall for her opinion. 9:02:23 AM MS. HALL said she has not thought about that possibility and is not certain she is the one to give that advice. Notwithstanding that, she ventured that if the committee wants to ensure the solicitations cannot turn into mandatory assessments, then "it probably should say so." 9:03:00 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER removed his objection to the motion to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS), Version 27-LS0638\I, Bailey, 3/8/12, as a work draft. There being no further objection, Version I was before the committee. 9:03:47 AM MR. PASCHELL, in response to Representative Johansen, said he has held discussions with numerous departments around the state about how the bill would impact them. He talked about a similar plan used in his home town in North Carolina. He offered his understanding that the Municipality of Anchorage has volunteer fire departments in Girdwood and Chugiak. He said the Fairbanks North Star Borough has a city-run municipal department that operates within the City of Fairbanks and nonprofit entities that operate throughout the borough, providing contractual services throughout the borough, with the exception of North Pole, which has municipality-provided services. He offered his understanding that the borough does the billing for services and pays the private non-profit entities a fee; therefore, it would be possible for the borough to set a policy such that "if you pay us $100, we won't bill you if we go out." MR. PASCHELL, regarding mutual aid, said, for example, most fire departments tend to respond to other agencies' needs. He said work is being done by the legislature to improve "that situation" statewide. He said the focus is on how to get base funding. He said that in the previous committee of referral's hearing of HB 219, Representative Berta Gardner had used the term, "double dipping." Mr. Paschell said that occurs in the City of Fairbanks, where the city funds the fire department, but charges when an EMS call is made. He offered an example. He concluded: We're not trying to address any of those types of things. It's only a way to say if you charge then we can provide money up front and it not be insurance. So, we're trying not to expand ... any services or change how any of the services are taking place. 9:09:01 AM MR. PASCHELL, in response to Representative Johansen, said he has not had direct communication with the Alaska Municipal League (AML) regarding HB 219. He said he does not see the proposed legislation as directly affecting AML. He related that he did speak to a fire chief who is also an AML member, and he said he could follow up with him. REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN indicated that he would be interested in hearing feedback from AML. He asked if any other volunteer fire department across the state, other than [the Rural Deltana Volunteer Fire Department and Chickaloon Fire Service], had offered feedback regarding HB 219. MR. PASCHELL said the impetus for the proposed legislation came from the City of Delta Junction. He surmised that some departments may not want to speak out because they don't want to broadcast that they are already using a system that could be perceived as violating insurance laws. He noted that he has spoken with the Salcha [Volunteer Fire Department], which is in support of [HB 219]. REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN said he is astonished by what he just heard, and he expects that if HB 219 does not pass, then the Division of Insurance will "figure out all of these people that are running under the radar." 9:13:13 AM MS. HALL, in response to Representative Gruenberg stated her understanding that if insurance is available, then the companies that sell the subscription plan bill the insurance, keep the proceeds, and will not bill the balance if there are inadequate limits of insurance. She added, "So, the insurance company's paying, as well as the subscriber." 9:14:17 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON suggested a conceptual amendment to add "within the community", following "recipient of the services", at the end of lines 8 and 12, on page 1 of Version I. VICE CHAIR KELLER asked Representative Seaton to hold off on making a motion to adopt that amendment in order to wait for the chair's return. 9:15:41 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he would also like to change "an agreement" to "a voluntary agreement", on page 1, lines 5 and 9. He said he would wait until the next hearing of HB 219 to move that amendment. 9:16:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN suggested asking Legislative Legal and Research Services to look at those two amendment suggestions and let the committee know whether the changes would produce the desired results. VICE CHAIR KELLER said the bill sponsor could take care of that. 9:16:58 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN emphasized that he wants the important issues put on the table before the committee hears the bill again. He said he thinks of insurance as something necessary to have in case something bad happens and it involves "big money and big risks." 9:18:05 AM MS. HALL said she was shocked at the previous bill hearing to hear testimony that subscription services were being sold. She described the awkwardness of having both herself and those offering fire services in the same room. She said the division does not regulate the services, but does have a definition of insurance that "brings the subscription pieces under our Title." She said there is one air ambulance service today that has an actual insurance program, because it found someone to write a backstop, which allows the entity to continue its subscription services. 9:20:17 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN expressed concern that in an unorganized area "that has a volunteer deal," if there is a law suit and no insurance, then the state would have to cover that. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked Representative Johansen if he is considering an amendment. REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN confirmed that he is. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked Representative Johansen to let him know if he decides to do that. He then asked the sponsor to "check if this is going to occur with Girdwood and Chugiak." 9:22:16 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON remarked that in the Kenai Peninsula Borough there are multiple cities and fire service areas, and he cautioned against excluding by area when smaller nonprofit service companies may be involved in the areas. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he would like the time to be able to discuss with his community the amendment that Representative Johansen may offer, before the amendment is offered before the committee. MR. PASCHELL stated that he does not think that these departments realized that charging subscriptions and offering the services violated the insurance laws. He said those departments at this point are trying to figure out what to do. 9:24:51 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER opined that there is too much regulation. He said he thinks the bill is good, and he recommended that it be kept as broad as possible. 9:25:12 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony. 9:25:30 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG announced that he would take it upon himself to check with Chugiak and Girdwood. [HB 219 was held over.] SCR 18-RAOUL WALLENBERG REMEMBRANCE DAY  9:25:52 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER announced that the final order of business was SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 18, Establishing August 4, 2012, as Raoul Wallenberg Remembrance Day. 9:26:01 AM SENATOR FRED DYSON, Alaska State Legislature, as sponsor, presented SCR 18. He stated that over much of the Western World, August 4, 2012, will be Raoul Wallenberg Remembrance Day. He stated that Raoul Wallenberg is listed in The Guinness World Book of Records as having saved more people than any known person in recorded history. Senator Dyson said the concurrent resolution would set aside just one day for this recognition. He opined that holding up heroes for all to emulate is a worthy effort. 9:27:13 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN said he did not know about this story until reading the information before the meeting. He said Raoul Wallenberg was an amazing person and he stated support for SCR 18, but said it cannot possibly encompass all that the man did. 9:28:14 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he is a co-sponsor of HCR 18, and he asked if there is something that could be done to get U.S. Congress to make this a national day. SENATOR DYSON offered his understanding that currently there are other efforts underway to do that very thing, and similar things are being done in other states. As a point of personal interest, he relayed that [the late former] U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos of California was one of the men rescued by Raoul Wallenberg. He said he thinks Representative Gruenberg's suggestion is a good one, and he said he would follow up on it. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said former U.S. Congressman Lantos may be the only Holocaust survivor to have served in Congress. SENATOR DYSON said he thinks that is true. He said he just received word that there is a resolution in Congress. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG suggested adding language in SCR 18 to urge Congress to proclaim this as a national day. SENATOR DYSON said he would prefer no changes be made to the language of the proposed concurrent resolution, because of timing. 9:30:17 AM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN said he appreciates the proposed legislation, and said he is willing to make a motion. 9:30:39 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN remarked that there would be no big heroes without great adversity, and this resolution is important for those generations that may not have experienced great adversity. 9:32:11 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he has read that Americans are not as concerned about Internet privacy, but Europeans who have "a more immediate reminder" are more concerned. 9:32:49 AM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN moved to report SCR 18 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, SCR 18 was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee. 9:33:30 AM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:33 a.m.