SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE April 7, 1995 1:39 p.m MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman Senator Lyda Green, Vice-Chairman Senator Mike Miller Senator Al Adams MEMBERS ABSENT Senator Johnny Ellis COMMITTEE CALENDAR SENATE BILL NO. 145 "An Act requiring the reporting of winners of prizes of $50 or more from a bingo or pull-tab game to the Department of Health and Social Services to ensure that recipients of services or assistance are reporting those winnings and are eligible for services or assistance; relating to the awarding of those prizes; prohibiting charitable gaming permittees, operators, and registered vendors from cashing state public assistance checks; and relating to penalties for violations of the charitable gaming laws." SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 102 "An Act relating to the use of the court records of minors that have been ordered sealed." CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 188(JUD) am "An Act creating the crime of indecent viewing or photography." CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 4(STA)(title am) "An Act allowing, for the purposes of permanent fund dividend eligibility, an individual to accompany, as the spouse or minor or disabled dependent, another eligible resident who is absent for vocational, professional, or other specific education for which a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state, for secondary or postsecondary education, for military service, for medical treatment, for service in the Congress or in the Peace Corps, or for other reasons that the commissioner of revenue may establish by regulation; requiring, for the purposes of permanent fund dividend eligibility, an individual who is not physically present in the state to maintain and demonstrate at all times an intent to return to the state to remain permanently; relating to the eligibility for 1992, 1993, and 1994 permanent fund dividends of certain spouses and dependents of eligible applicants; relating to appeal periods for certain 1994 permanent fund dividends; and providing for an effective date." SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14 - SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating to certain public corporations. PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION SB 145 - No previous Senate action. SSSB 102 - No previous Senate action. HB 188 See Judiciary minutes dated 3/27/95. HB 4 - See State Affairs minutes dated 3/21/95 and 3/28/95. See Judiciary minutes dated 4/5/95. SJR 14 - See State Affairs minutes dated 2/21/95. See Judiciary minutes dated 3/22/95. See Judiciary worksession dated 4/5/95. WITNESS REGISTER Portia Babcock Legislative Aide Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska 99811-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on SB 145 Dennis Pochard, Director Charitable Gaming Division Department of Revenue P.O. Box 110440 Juneau, AK 99811-0440 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on SB 145 Senator Judy Salo Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska 99811-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 102 Rod Mourant Legislative Aide Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska 99811-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified for sponsor of HB 4 Michael McGee Chief, PFD Operations Department of Revenue P.O. Box 110460 Juneau, Alaska 99811-0460 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 4 Margot Knuth Assistant Attorney General Department of Law P.O. Box 110300 Juneau, Alaska 99811-0300 POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HB 4 ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 95-18, SIDE A Number 001 SB 145 CHARIT.GAMING:PRIZES,REPORTS,PENALTY  CHAIRMAN ROBIN TAYLOR called the Judiciary Committee meeting to order at 1:39 p.m. The first order of business before the committee was SB 145. PORTIA BABCOCK, committee aide to the Senate HESS committee, stated the following. SB 145 makes reporting changes to bingo and pull tab operations, and prohibits operators from cashing public assistance checks. The bill creates a mechanism to log and track winners of cash prizes. Under current law, the winner must sign for the prize money, but is not required to show identification. SB 145 requires permittees, operators or vendors to verify prize recipients identification and report names and prize amounts to the Department of Health and Social Services. Number 057 SENATOR ADAMS asked if $1,000 bingo prize winners must provide their names and social security numbers to the permittee. MS. BABCOCK believed the prize recipient only has to sign for the prize. SENATOR ADAMS asked about the penalty provisions contained in SB 145. DENNIS POCHARD, director of the Division of Charitable Gaming, commented that $1,000 bingo prize winners must provide their names and social security numbers because the IRS requires any gaming activity, when a prize of over $600 is awarded, to be reported to the IRS. MS. BABCOCK stated a first violation would carry fine of up to $5,000, a second offense would be a class B misdemeanor which carries a fine of up to $10,000 and a prison term. SENATOR TAYLOR questioned why the current Alaska reporting standard for prize money is $1,000 if the IRS standard is $600. MR. POCHARD replied there are no provisions for reporting prize winners in statute. An operator conducting a gaming activity is required to keep records of winners, but is not required to report those names to the Department of Revenue. The operator is required to keep the records for three years for audit purposes. Number 125 SENATOR TAYLOR asked if the records include the actual pull tabs. MR. POCHARD stated the pull tabs are not kept as records. SENATOR TAYLOR asked if an operator would be required to report a prize award of $650 to the IRS. MR. POCHARD replied affirmatively. SENATOR TAYLOR commented the reporting requirement in SB 145 is not a new burden being placed on operators since they are already reporting larger prizes. He asked if the prize award will be treated as income. MR. POCHARD responded affirmatively. Number 141 SENATOR ADAMS moved the adoption of a proposed amendment allowing municipalities to limit the number of permittees and licensees within their boundaries. SENATOR TAYLOR objected to the motion for the purpose of discussion. SENATOR ADAMS explained the amendment also allows municipalities to limit the number of hours of operation of bingo and pull-tab games conducted each week. SENATOR TAYLOR expressed concern that by allowing municipalities to limit the number of permittees and licensees within their jurisdiction, a franchise on gambling will be created within the city, and businesses would become dependent on who they know on the city council. SENATOR ADAMS responded the current law allows for all or nothing; the amendment would allow the municipalities to decide which non-profits could operate. Number 174 SENATOR GREEN stated she agrees with the amendment in concept, but expressed concern that under such a system, as communities grow in size, they would need to be regulated by an entity that approves the relocation or addition of operators and licensees. SENATOR TAYLOR stated his concern is that creating the power to limit would be creating the power to kill. He added the amendment would allow a municipality to favor some operators, and restrict others, and create a limited entry type of system. He stated he is in favor of the right of municipalities to limit the number of sessions. SENATOR ADAMS commented the amendment provides for accountability of permittees. SENATOR GREEN stated the amendment says a municipality "may" do this by ordinance, it does not say "shall." SENATOR ADAMS noted an ordinance would have to be passed first, so the amendment merely creates an option for the municipality. Number 220 SENATOR TAYLOR stated he would not vote for the amendment unless lines 10-12 were deleted, and maintained his objection. A roll call vote was taken with the following result: Senators Miller, Adams, and Green voted "Yea," and Senator Taylor vote "Nay." The amendment was adopted. SENATOR ADAMS moved and asked unanimous consent that SB 145, as amended, pass out of committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, the motion carried. SB 102 RELEASE OF JUVENILE RECORDS SENATOR SALO, sponsor of SB 102, explained Superior Court judges have access to juvenile records, so that if an adult is convicted of a crime, the judge can open the juvenile file to review the person's past record. District Court judges do not have the same access to those records and are required to follow time consuming procedures to get access. SB 102 gives the District Court the same authority to review juvenile records and adds that either court could review records for the purpose of setting bail or sentencing. Number 272 SENATOR ADAMS asked for an explanation of the procedure a District Court judge must go through to review juvenile records. SENATOR SALO replied the District Court judge must be appointed as a Superior Court judge Pro tempore to get the authority to review the records. It is a cumbersome process that is alleviated in SB 102. SENATOR GREEN noted her support for the measure and moved SB 102 out of committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, the motion carried. HB 188 INDECENT PHOTOGRAPHY  SENATOR TAYLOR announced CSHB 188(JUD)am was previously heard by the committee but was delayed to give others a chance to review the measure. DAVE GRAY, legislative aide to Representative Mackey, was available to answer questions on the bill. SENATOR TAYLOR stated there was concern that the definitions included in the measure were too vague, as well as the description of the offense itself. MARGOT KNUTH, assistant attorney general, stated the definitions are not a concern of the Department of Law. SENATOR TAYLOR commented the Public Defender Agency shared some concerns about the definitions but were unable to offer alternative or additional language. He noted he is still concerned about the broadness of the definition, but does not have better language to offer. SENATOR ADAMS asked which definition Senator Taylor was concerned about. SENATOR TAYLOR replied the term "reasonably believed" on page 2, line 17, is unclear, because the intent of the person being photographed, and the intent to use that which is produced, both need to be reviewed. He added the committee also had a lengthy discussion about the age of the person who gives consent, and he did not want to lower the age below 13. He stated the bill, although not perfect, addresses a unique situation that has occurred. SENATOR ADAMS stated he thought the committee agreed to maintain the age of 13 in the bill. SENATOR TAYLOR agreed. SENATOR GREEN moved CSHB 188(JUD)am from committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, so moved. HB 4 PERMANENT FUND DIVIDEND ELIGIBILITY  ROD MOURANT, legislative aide to Representative Kott, stated the committee requested the following information: the dollar amounts required to pay people previously denied permanent fund dividends for the reasons covered in HB 4; and the number of late filers and cost involved in paying those people. The expenses are as follows: 1994 2,690 applicants @ $983.90 $2,646,691 1993 200 applicants @ 949.46 189,892 1992 25 applicants @ 915.84  22,896 $2,859,479 SENATOR TAYLOR asked if the fiscal impact on the general fund would remain at $600. MR. MOURANT answered affirmatively. Number 372 SENATOR ADAMS asked how many spouses are of residents of the military and how many are married to college students. MR. McGEE, stated that breakdown is not available, however those two categories comprise approximately 12,000 applicants which amount to over 50 percent of the out-of-state applicants. He clarified there will be no expense to the general fund from CSHB 4 (STA)am, the administrative cost of $600 will come from permanent fund dividend funds. SENATOR GREEN moved CSHB 4 (STA)am out of committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, the motion carried. SENATOR TAYLOR announced SJR 14 would be taken up at the next committee hearing. He adjourned the meeting at 2:07 p.m.