04/14/2011 01:00 PM House TRANSPORTATION

           HB 115-NAMING WALTER J. HICKEL EXPRESSWAY                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:15:39 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
VICE  CHAIR PRUITT  announced that  the first  order of  business                                                               
would be  HOUSE BILL NO.  115, "An  Act designating a  portion of                                                               
Minnesota Drive in Anchorage the Walter J. Hickel Expressway."                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:16:00 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MUNOZ  moved  to  adopt  the  proposed  committee                                                               
substitute (CS)  for HB 115, labeled  27-LS0345\M, Kane, 4/12/11,                                                               
as the  working document.   There being  no objection,  Version M                                                               
was before the committee.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:16:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ERIN  SHINE, Staff,  Representative Craig  Johnson, Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature, on behalf of the  prime sponsor of HB 115, explained                                                               
that the proposed  committee substitute (CS) for  HB 115, Version                                                               
M, would concurrently name a  7.5 mile portion of Minnesota Drive                                                               
and O'Malley Road in Anchorage  the "Water J. Hickel Expressway."                                                               
This  road segment  extends from  15th Avenue  to the  New Seward                                                               
Highway, she said.   She pointed out that  by concurrently naming                                                               
this road  segment, no establishment  or businesses will  have to                                                               
change their business name or address.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS.  SHINE related  that throughout  his  long and  distinguished                                                               
career, Walter J.  Hickel served as Governor of  Alaska twice and                                                               
as  the  U.S. Secretary  of  the  Interior under  U.S.  President                                                               
Richard Nixon.   He advocated for  the State of Alaska  (SOA) and                                                               
the circumpolar  Arctic region.   In his many elected  and public                                                               
roles, Wally  Hickel successfully pushed  to open Prudhoe  Bay to                                                               
oil  development  and  oversaw  the permitting  process  for  the                                                               
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System  (TAPS).  She said it  is fitting to                                                               
concurrently  naming a  portion of  Minnesota Drive  and O'Malley                                                               
Road in  Anchorage after Walter J.  Hickel since he was  a strong                                                               
advocate for public  roads and transportation.  In  his letter of                                                               
support for HB  115, Lieutenant Governor Mead  Treadwell said, "I                                                               
can think  of no better road  to bear Wally Hickel's  name.  This                                                               
road runs through  much of the Anchorage  life and infrastructure                                                               
that Wally  helped build: from  the neighborhoods  along Campbell                                                               
Lake, Spenard, and  Turnagain that he worked to  develop from the                                                               
1950s on,  to the Northern Lights  Center of 1959, which  was the                                                               
first modern  shopping center in  Alaska, and the  downtown Hotel                                                               
Captain Cook that he started in 1964."                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:17:29 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
VICE  CHAIR  PRUITT recalled  that  another  road was  previously                                                               
named after  Wally Hickel.  He  suggested that may be  one reason                                                               
why HB 115 proposes naming  the highway an expressway rather than                                                               
a road or highway.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MS.  SHINE responded  at one  point the  Dalton Highway  or "Haul                                                               
Road,"  was  informally  referred  to  as  the  "Hickel  Highway"                                                               
although  it  was  never  its   official  name.    The  Minnesota                                                               
Drive/O'Malley Road highway was  selected because Minnesota Drive                                                               
is located  in the largest city  in Alaska and is  often traveled                                                               
by Alaskans.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:18:40 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
VICE CHAIR PRUITT, after first  determining no one else wished to                                                               
testify, closed public testimony on HB 115.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:18:52 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MUNOZ  moved  to report  the  proposed  committee                                                               
substitute  (CS) for  HB 115,  Version M,  out of  committee with                                                               
individual  recommendations  and  the accompanying  fiscal  note.                                                               
There being  no objection,  the CSHB  115(TRA) was  reported from                                                               
the House Transportation Standing Committee.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:24:44 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
VICE CHAIR PRUITT  reiterated that the committee  reported out SB
 from committee with no objections.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ  moved to rescind the  committee's action to                                                               
report Version  M of  HB 115 from  committee since  the committee                                                               
had  taken  action without  a  quorum  present.   [Representative                                                               
Gruenberg had momentarily  left the room when the  motion to move                                                               
the bill  from committee  was made.]   There being  no objection,                                                               
the motion was adopted. [Version M was before the committee.]                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
1:25:32 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ then moved  to report the proposed committee                                                               
substitute  (CS) for  HB 115,  Version M,  out of  committee with                                                               
individual  recommendations  and  the accompanying  fiscal  note.                                                               
There being  no objection,  the CSHB  115(TRA) was  reported from                                                               
the House Transportation Standing Committee.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:26:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON joined the meeting.