Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/20/2001 04:03 PM Senate RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 111-CIVIL LIABILITY AND LIVESTOCK
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON announced HB 111 to be up for consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN COGHILL, sponsor, said the intent of HB 111 is
to encourage livestock activity and to provide limited civil
liability for some of the inherent risks involved in having
livestock. It references the wrongful death statute, exempting this
particular section, and defines the exemption for gross negligence
and intentional misconduct. The primary intent of the bill is to
give some relief to those who work around fairs and the like, who
do not want to get sued for negligence by someone who was bit while
petting their animal or some similar situation. He said this bill
was put together by some 4-H students in Fairbanks and was brought
to him as part of a 4-H project.
MS. KATIE SCHOLLENBERG, President, Trail Blazers 4-H Club, stated
support for the bill.
MS. DARCY DAVIES said she is involved in a therapeutic riding
program and is a coach for a Special Olympics equestrian program in
Fairbanks. She said this bill would eliminate liability if their
animals hurt someone. She said the Special Olympics program has a
lot of problems finding enough horses for participants and
sometimes has to turn people away. They would have enough horses if
this bill passed, because people would be willing to lend them out
if they were protected from liability. She related how her horse
accidentally broke the hand of a child who was petting it by
accidentally catching the child's hand in the halter.
MS. MELISSA LEVENSON, Kodiak resident, said she wants to start a
cow riding business during the summer and people would be more
willing to come out and ride with this assurance.
MS. ANGELA SHORT, Kodiak resident, stated support for HB 111.
MS. SARAH PENNINGTON said she strongly supports this bill. She said
the benefit [of horseback riding] to children who don't have the
use of their legs and can associate with animals is "so awesome." A
rider communicates with horses in a way the rider can't communicate
with people. This bill would encourage that relationship to happen
more frequently. She said she would like to give lessons, but can't
because the liability is too great and this bill would help that.
MS. KAREN CREELMAN, Kodiak 4-H Leader, stated support for HB 111.
She works with younger children and said they learn a lot of things
like public speaking, horse anatomy, contest judging and things
like that. She would feel a lot more secure if this bill passed.
MS. ROBYN DAVIES, Fairbanks 4-H Leader, said the model of 4-H is to
learn by doing and she has been involved in this project from the
start. She thought promoting this bill would be a good way for the
teams to learn about government. She stated, "It has been an
incredibly excellent experience for everyone involved." Ms. Davies
told members she had 27 public opinion messages in support of this
issue.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked for the names of the lawyers who wrote the
bill for them.
MS. DAVIES answered that Ralph Seekins first brought this up at a
meeting. He took language from an Oklahoma State statute and gave
it to a University of Alaska lawyer, Jano Parrish, to use as a
model.
Number 2000
MR. TONY TAKAZAWA said he is a 4-H leader and concerned parent. He
suggested adding "economic, educational and personal benefits" to
HB 111 on line 2. He told members, "The aspect of HB 111 I want to
bring to your attention is the 4-H rule of working by doing. Where
youth has been able to participate in hands-on land and natural
resource related educational activities, such as horse clubs, it
has been shown that students of all ability levels have improved
their performance and gained a better understanding and
appreciation for science. Further, these students have gained
increased knowledge and understanding of relevant concepts,
content, and processes."
He read an article to committee members about how diseases are
transmitted to people from animals and how soon the real world will
be learned only through books or films as people become afraid of
the liability of associating with animals. He thought HB 111 would
be a good way to fight this kind of fear.
SENATOR TAYLOR asked how many people had died in the article he
read.
MR. NAKAZAWA responded that 56 people were sick, but it didn't say
anyone had died. He stated, "This is just one example of the
restrictions that are coming on the industry even for a simple
educational petting zoo. It's ridiculous."
SENATOR TAYLOR asked if the article indicated whether any of the
people brought suit.
MR. NAKAZAWA said no.
CHAIRMAN TORGERSON thanked everyone for their testimony and said
they would hold the bills, since he didn't have a quorum. He
adjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m.
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