Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/01/1993 01:00 PM House CRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS
STANDING COMMITTEE
April 1, 1993
1:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Harley Olberg, Chairman
Representative Jerry Sanders, Vice-Chairman
Representative Con Bunde
Representative John Davies
Representative Cynthia Toohey
Representative Ed Willis
Representative Bill Williams
MEMBERS ABSENT
none
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
*HB 209: "An Act relating to community health aide grants."
NOT HEARD
HB 211: "An Act relating to the municipal tax exemption
for inventories intended for export."
PASSED FROM COMMITTEE WITH A DO PASS
RECOMMENDATION
*HB 242: "An Act relating to dangerous dogs and to
municipal classifications and limitations based on
the breed of a dog."
PASSED FROM COMMITTEE WITH INDIVIDUAL
RECOMMENDATIONS
HB 70: "An Act relating to state impact aid for
municipalities; and providing for an effective
date."
NOT HEARD
(* first public hearing)
WITNESS REGISTER
Representative Con Bunde
State Capitol, Room 112
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
Phone: 465-4843
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime Sponsor of HB 242
Jon Basler, Veterinarian
South Central Veterinary Medical Association
3211 Shuttle Circle
Anchorage, AK 99517
Phone: 274-5623
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 242
Bonnie Stratton
Alaska Dog Coalition
531 Bounty Drive
Anchorage, AK 99515
Phone: 276-1592
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 242
Debi Richmond
Alaska Dog Coalition
P.O. Box 211416
Anchorage, AK 99521
Phone: 786-1669
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 242
Leslie Batchelder, President
Kenai Kennel Club
P.O. Box 116
Kasilof, AK 99610
Phone: 262-6405
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 242
Laura Love, Certified Master Dog Trainer
HCO1 Box 735
Kenai, AK 99611
Phone: 776-8565
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 242
Susan Kohli Petersen, Chairperson
Alaska Dog Coalition
2716 E. 46th Avenue
Anchorage, Ak 99507
Phone: 562-6399
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 242
Gaile Haynes
Capital Kennel Club
3041 Glacierwood Drive
Juneau, AK 99801
Phone: 465-5950
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 242
Scott Hawkins, President
Anchorage Economic Development Corporation
550 West 7th Ave., Suite 1130
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 258-3700
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 211
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 209
SHORT TITLE: COMMUNITY HEALTH AIDE GRANTS
BILL VERSION:
SPONSOR(S): HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES
TITLE: "An Act relating to community health aide grants."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
03/10/93 590 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
03/10/93 590 (H) CRA, STATE AFFAIRS, HES,
FINANCE
04/01/93 (H) CRA AT 01:00 PM CAPITOL 124
BILL: HB 211
SHORT TITLE: MUNICIPAL INVENTORY TAX EXEMPTION:EXPORTS
BILL VERSION:
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) TOOHEY,Brown
TITLE: "An Act relating to the municipal tax exemption for
inventories intended for export."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
03/10/93 590 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
03/10/93 590 (H) CRA, JUDICIARY
03/12/93 629 (H) COSPONSOR(S): BROWN
03/25/93 (H) CRA AT 01:00 PM CAPITOL 124
04/01/93 (H) CRA AT 01:00 PM CAPITOL 124
BILL: HB 242
SHORT TITLE: VICIOUS DOGS: NO CLASSIFICATIONS BY BREED
BILL VERSION:
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) BUNDE
TITLE: "An Act relating to dangerous dogs and to municipal
classifications and limitations based on the breed of a
dog."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
03/19/93 709 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
03/19/93 709 (H) CRA, JUDICIARY
04/01/93 (H) CRA AT 01:00 PM CAPITOL 124
BILL: HB 70
SHORT TITLE: STATE IMPACT AID FOR MUNICIPALITIES
BILL VERSION:
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) MACLEAN
TITLE: "An Act relating to state impact aid for
municipalities; and providing for an effective date."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/18/93 101 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME/REFERRAL(S)
01/18/93 101 (H) CRA, JUDICIARY, FINANCE
03/25/93 (H) CRA AT 01:00 PM CAPITOL 124
04/01/93 (H) CRA AT 01:00 PM CAPITOL 124
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-20, SIDE A
Number 000
CHAIRMAN HARLEY OLBERG called the meeting to order at 2:43
p.m. He noted Representatives Toohey, Willis, Davies, Bunde
and Sanders were present. Representative Williams arrived
at 2:46 p.m.
HB 242: VICIOUS DOGS: NO CLASSIFICATIONS BY BREED
Number 020
REPRESENTATIVE CON BUNDE, PRIME SPONSOR OF HB 242, testified
by reading his sponsor statement into the record. (Copies
of this sponsor statement may be found in the House
Community and Regional Affairs Committee Room, Capitol Room
110, and after the adjournment of the second session of the
18th Alaska State Legislature, in the Legislative Reference
Library.)
Number 048
DR. JON BASLER, VETERINARIAN, SOUTH CENTRAL VETERINARY
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, testified in support of HB 242. (A
copy of this testimony may be found in the House Community
and Regional Affairs Committee Room, Capitol Room 110, and
after the adjournment of the second session of the 18th
Alaska State Legislature, in the Legislative Reference
Library.)
BONNIE STRATTON, ALASKA DOG COALITION, testified via
teleconference in support of HB 242 saying, "Alaskans have
long embraced the rights of individuals. We believe HB 242
will promote nondiscriminatory laws that protect the rights
of individual responsible dog owners while punishing
irresponsible owners of vicious dogs. House Bill 242 will
ensure Alaskan communities will have laws that focus on
controlling all vicious dogs, rather than overly-narrow
ordinances that would only deal with a specific breed. When
HB 242 becomes a statute, it will not conflict with any
currently existing laws in Alaska."
MS. STRATTON continued, "Non-breed specific laws better
serve the public because they control all dangerous dogs,
not just those of a specific type. Breed specific laws have
been found to be unconstitutionally vague in other states.
They have also been an indication for court challenges and
expensive litigation..."
DEBI RICHMOND, ALASKA DOG COALITION, testified via
teleconference in support of HB 242. She said, "Identifying
dogs that have been deemed dangerous is very important for
children in all neighborhoods and the public in general.
Children at play go over fences, into yards, up to strange
dogs without thinking. Having a visual alert in the form of
a collar and signs on houses or fences may trigger a child
to stop and avoid becoming a victim..."
Number 184
LESLIE BATCHELDER, PRESIDENT, KENAI KENNEL CLUB, testified
similarly via teleconference in support of HB 242.
LAURA LOVE, CERTIFIED MASTER DOG TRAINER, testified from
Kenai in support of HB 242 saying, "We really like the idea
of having warning signs and collars which identify a
dangerous dog..."
Number 219
SUSAN KOHLI PETERSEN, CHAIRPERSON, ALASKA DOG COALITION,
testified in favor of HB 242. She said, "This bill is not
breed specific. It allows the identification of dog
behavior problems, eliminates breed identification problems,
encourages owner responsibility and will not conflict with
any existing laws in any of Alaska's communities. We
believe that any legislation dealing with dog behavior
problems should be based on that dog's behavior, not based
on the breed of the dog. A breed specific law will not
cover all instances of dangerous or vicious dogs, as this
bill does."
MS. PETERSEN continued, "Laws and regulations which attempt
to solve dog behavior problems based solely on branding a
specific breed as vicious, have earned the police and animal
control officers a difficult task of attempting to identify
these breeds. Many dogs are impossible to identify with any
degree of accuracy..."
GAILE HAYNES, CAPITAL KENNEL CLUB, testified in support of
HB 242 saying, "It (HB 242) gives full power to communities
to protect themselves against individual dangerous dogs and
their irresponsible owners without limiting the rights of
proper and responsible owners to keep animals without
unnecessary legislative interference..."
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE pointed out, "I have had more support
on this bill than any issue that's come before me this
session." He then demonstrated the "dangerous and vicious
dog" collar and signage pertaining to HB 242.
REPRESENTATIVE ED WILLIS asked, "How does this affect the
Anchorage muni (municipality)?
DR. BASLER said, "To my knowledge, at this point, it (HB
242) would not have any impact on the Municipality of
Anchorage... The mayor's advisory commission on animal
control, I believe, has written a letter in support of this
bill."
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIS asked, "Representative Bunde, have you
had any reaction from the mayor on this specific legislation
(HB 242) or the assembly?"
Number 336
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "No, I have not, only through
their counsel and advisors on dog (issues). I have a copy
of the current Anchorage Dangerous and Vicious Dog Ordinance
and it's not breed specific..."
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIS said, "To your knowledge then, this
would not in any way impede whatever ordinances they might
want to consider."
Number 347
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "They couldn't, under this
statute, then institute breed specific. It would have to be
similar to what Anchorage has done in that they are simply
dangerous or vicious dogs and you wouldn't (need to)
identify (the breed of dog)..."
DR. BASLER added, "I would note there are nine states around
the country which currently have prohibitions very similar
to this already on the books... A second thing is, the
National Animal Control Association, which is the trade
group representing people in animal control, is on record as
favoring nonbreed specific and opposing any breed
specific..."
Number 375
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN DAVIES said, "I appreciate the thrust of
this bill (HB 242)...however, the concern...that was
expressed on the other side of the issue is that there were
certain breeds...where the dog may have the characteristic
of having a particularly harmful bite. There are dog bites
and then there are dog bites. Some dogs...are reputed to,
when they bite, do a lot more damage than other dogs."
Number 390
DR. BASLER said, "I certainly have read the jaw per square
inch pressure pit bull studies and things along those lines.
I guess my own personal feeling as a veterinarian is that,
basically, it relates to the size of the dog. Anything
that's big can potentially cause as much damage as a pit
bull. Any other breed of dog...is going to create the same
type of rip and tearing. It's not inherent in any one
breed."
REPRESENTATIVE BILL WILLIAMS asked, "Are you telling the
municipality what to do and what not to do?"
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "That is correct, that they
cannot establish a breed specific..."
Number 409
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS said, "I have a difficult time with
that, Mr. Chairman, as far as telling a municipality what
they can do and what they can't do on an issue like this...
I'm already having problems with some of the rules and
regulations under Title 29..."
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "It's an attempt to have
consistency throughout the state... It's allowing you to
create the laws that you want. You just can't say, 'This
one kind of breed of dog is going to be classified vicious
automatically just because it's that breed...'"
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS said, "There are safeguards already
apparently in Title 29, or Anchorage would have an ordinance
in their books."
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "No that isn't the case. They
passed one (but) the mayor vetoed it."
Number 436
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS said, "That's what I mean..."
CHAIRMAN OLBERG intervened, "It's obvious we're all not
going to agree on this one, as is often the case..."
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE MOVED that HB 242 be PASSED out of
committee with individual recommendations.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES put forth another question. He asked,
"If this (HB 242) were to pass, would we be able to pass a
law that classified dogs by their physical characteristics?"
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "My understanding, Mr. Chairman,
is more by behavior. Just because a dog is large, doesn't
mean it's a vicious dog."
Number 460
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES clarified, "The concern that has been
expressed...is that certain dogs by their physical
characteristics have the potential to be much more damaging
than some smaller...and you may want to have laws applying
to a whole range of dog characteristics that might exhibit
the potential for damage."
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "No...you can't condemn a dog
until it has done some antisocial behavior. It's a question
of constitutionality."
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES said, "We have leash laws. That
sounds like a prior constraint."
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE said, "A leash law keeps the dog off
other people's property."
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES said, "I don't see any difference."
CHAIRMAN OLBERG referred to Representative Bunde's motion to
move HB 242 out of committee with individual
recommendations.
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES OBJECTED.
A role call vote was taken. Representatives Willis,
Williams, Davies, Bunde and Olberg voted YES.
Representatives Toohey and Sanders voted NO. THE MOTION
CARRIED
HB 211: MUNICIPAL INVENTORY TAX EXEMPTIONS: EXPORTS
Number 494
REPRESENTATIVE CYNTHIA TOOHEY, PRIME SPONSOR OF HB 211,
testified by reading her sponsor statement into the record.
(Copies of this sponsor statement may be found in the House
Community and Regional Affairs Committee Room, Capitol Room
110, and after the adjournment of the second session of the
18th Alaska State Legislature, in the Legislative Reference
Library.)
Number 520
SCOTT HAWKINS, PRESIDENT, ANCHORAGE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION, testified in support of HB 211 saying, "The
Anchorage Economic Development Corporation has been
marketing aggressively in recent years to attract
warehousing distribution business to Anchorage to capitalize
on the air cargo activity that came in in recent years. We
are making some headway. We are getting reasonably close
with some major entities in terms of working with them to
establish international warehousing centers in Anchorage.
Major manufacturers of high value products such as computer
equipment, semiconductors, that type of thing."
MR. HAWKINS continued, "This industry has tremendous long
term potential for Anchorage. Now that we have the FedEx
(Federal Express) and UPS (United Parcel Service) hubs, we
believe this type of thing would be the next job-creating
type of activity associated with our geographic location and
logistics potential. But I would point out that this bill
(HB 211) is not limited to air cargo, it is not limited to
high value manufacturing goods. It is not limited to
Anchorage. It is also a bill that would help communities
with other goals, such as coastal communities wanting to
build cold storage."
MR. HAWKINS added, "For those communities that have seafood
storage already, as it sits right now there's actually a
reverse incentive in the law because current law does not
allow inventories held for export to be treated any
differently than any other type of inventory. This
encourages businesses such as seafood companies to get their
inventory out of the state early, before January first,
before the tax men come around and count it. So it actually
exacerbates the already existing seasonality of some
industries..."
Number 551
Chairman Olberg asked, "Only the municipality can charge an
inventory tax at this point in time, is that correct?"
MR. HAWKINS replied, "My understanding is that only the
municipalities do at this point in time..."
CHAIRMAN OLBERG said, "That tax is charged according to the
inventory as it exists on a particular day basically, isn't
it?"
MR. HAWKINS replied in the affirmative.
CHAIRMAN OLBERG commented, "The Municipality of Anchorage is
in favor of this proposal based on the letter we have
received."
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES asked about some original language in
AS 29.45 regarding school districts.
REPRESENTATIVE TOOHEY explained, "I understand last year
when the bill went through that, that specific language was
put in there because there was a person of persuasion that
felt that the school districts should not be exempt."
MR. HAWKINS added, "A bill went through actually in 1989.
It hit the floor of the Senate in the last day or two of
session. Somebody had a feeling in their heart that school
districts should always be able to levy taxes on any
inventory whether it is held for export or otherwise and it
was pulled off the floor and forcibly amended and we had to
live with it until now. That is what we are going back and
trying to clean up."
Number 577
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES asked, "Am I correct, a municipality
that was a school district, if we passed this, would have
the option to either tax or to totally or partially exempt
exports from taxes?"
REPRESENTATIVE TOOHEY concurred.
REPRESENTATIVE WILLIS asked why the "repeal by the voters"
language currently in statute "shouldn't be continued."
MR. HAWKINS said, "I believe it was just viewed as
superfluous...the feeling was that any ordinance is subject
to repeal by the voters and the language really was
redundant and unnecessary."
Number 595
REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS MOVED to PASS HB 211 out of committee
with individual recommendations.
REPRESENTATIVE BUNDE OBJECTED then WITHDREW his OBJECTION,
and THE MOTION CARRIED.
ADJOURNMENT
CHAIRMAN OLBERG adjourned the meeting at 3:20.
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