04/15/2014 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY

          HB 140-REGULATIONS: NOTICE, REVIEW, COMMENT                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:40:23 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  COGHILL announced  the consideration  of HB  140. "An  Act                                                               
relating  to the  proposed adoption,  amendment, or  repeal of  a                                                               
regulation;  and   relating  to   contact  with   agencies  about                                                               
regulations." This  was the second  hearing and he noted  the new                                                               
committee substitute (CS).                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
2:41:24 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR DYSON moved to adopt  the work draft committee substitute                                                               
to HB 140, labeled 28-LS0478\K, as the working document.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  COGHILL objected.  He explained  that the  CS removes  the                                                               
Regulatory Commission  of Alaska  (RCA), the Board  of Fisheries,                                                               
the Board of  Game, the Alaska Public  Offices Commission (APOC),                                                               
and the Alaska  Oil and Gas Conservation  Commission (AOGCC) from                                                               
the requirements in the bill.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:42:11 PM                                                                                                                    
REPRESENTATIVE LORA  REINBOLD, Alaska State  Legislature, Juneau,                                                               
Alaska,  sponsor  of HB  140  expressed  concern that  Version  K                                                               
unnecessarily  excludes a  number  of agencies  and may  decrease                                                               
transparency.  She stated  her four  guiding  principle when  she                                                               
wrote the legislation:                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
   1. The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free                                                               
    market economy and a minimum of government regulations.                                                                     
   2. The government should be separated into three branches. She                                                               
     said that she wanted to ensure that the Department of Law                                                                  
     does not have any undue influence over the legislative                                                                     
     branch.                                                                                                                    
   3. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to                                                                      
     prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of                                                                    
     government.                                                                                                                
   4. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be                                                                       
     delegated  to government  and all  others being  retained by                                                               
     the people.  She said the  whole purpose of  the legislation                                                               
     was to  empower the people  and she wanted to  maintain that                                                               
     as much as possible.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL opened public testimony.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:46:15 PM                                                                                                                    
MARK ECK,  representing himself,  Fairbanks, Alaska,  stated that                                                               
passing  HB 140  would impose  unconstitutional and  overreaching                                                               
regulations  on  the  people  and  businesses  that  support  the                                                               
Alaskan  and  U.S.  economies.  He  mentioned  overregulation  by                                                               
agencies that  have little to no  check on the way  they operate,                                                               
regulations that have the unintended  consequence of hurting more                                                               
people than  they help, and  the financial impact  of regulations                                                               
on businesses that support Alaskan  families and bring revenue to                                                               
the  state. He  stated  support for  having  the governor  review                                                               
regulations  and  posting  notifications   to  the  public  about                                                               
regulations  that   would  help  the  people   comply  with  such                                                               
regulations.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:47:50 PM                                                                                                                    
JAMES  ARTHUR  SQUYRES,  representing  himself,  Delta  Junction,                                                               
Alaska, testified  in support of  HB 140.  He said that  the fact                                                               
that there  is an Administrative Regulation  Review Committee and                                                               
that Governor Parnell wrote Administrative  Order 266 support the                                                               
notion  that many  state regulations  overreach the  statutes. He                                                               
stressed the  importance of  checks and  balances to  ensure that                                                               
new regulations  are well written  and fully vetted to  avoid the                                                               
unnecessary burden of  changing or removing them  after the fact.                                                               
This  can be  very difficult  because departments  say they  need                                                               
every  one of  their regulations,  citing broad  statutory powers                                                               
that allow  their bureaucracies to  grow seemingly  unchecked. He                                                               
pointed out  that Alaska  has a looming  financial crisis  on the                                                               
horizon  which makes  it  more  important than  ever  to run  the                                                               
leanest most  efficient state  government possible.  He applauded                                                               
HB 140  as a new tool  to hold regulation writing  state agencies                                                               
accountable,  to encourage  dialog  between all  parties, and  to                                                               
protect the people of Alaska from overreaching regulations.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:51:07 PM                                                                                                                    
PAMELA  GOODE,  representing  herself,  Delta  Junction,  Alaska,                                                               
testified in support  of HB 140. She said she  used to think that                                                               
state government had  control over the state  bureaucrats and the                                                               
regulations  that they  write  but she  now  realizes that  isn't                                                               
necessarily   true.  She   discussed   the   problems  that   the                                                               
groundwater protection  and water well stakeholder  work group is                                                               
having because wellhead  protection is funded 100  percent by the                                                               
EPA and is a required element  for Alaska to maintain primacy for                                                               
Clean Water Act  regulations. The group came to  realize that the                                                               
conflict over  data and well  drillers logs were an  overreach of                                                               
statute  and  constitutionality.  She urged  the  legislature  to                                                               
regain its proper lawful authority.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL asked Mr. Pound  to comment on the Senate committee                                                               
substitute, Version K.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:55:01 PM                                                                                                                    
JIM  POUND,  Staff,  Representative   Wes  Keller,  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature,  Juneau,  Alaska, said  he  worked  on HB  140  with                                                               
Representative  Reinbold over  the  Interim and  he had  concerns                                                               
with Version  K. He agreed with  the sponsor that the  RCA should                                                               
not  be  exempt  because  their  decisions  directly  affect  the                                                               
public. If they  approve a pipeline tariff, gas prices  go up and                                                               
if they  approve a rate  increase for  a utility, light  bills or                                                               
telephone bills go up. He  declined to address the APOC exemption                                                               
without doing some homework.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL  said he  wanted to highlight  APOC because  he was                                                               
concerned  that it  was taking  over the  ethics statute,  but he                                                               
didn't necessarily mean to provide an exemption.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  MCGUIRE asked  Mr. Pound  his thoughts  on the  Board of                                                               
Fisheries and AOGCC.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MR. POUND said  the sponsor had no objection  to those exemptions                                                               
because their  processes are  more public  than other  boards and                                                               
commissions.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:59:16 PM}                                                                                                                   
CRYSTAL  KOENEMAN, Staff,  Representative  Lora Reinbold,  Alaska                                                               
State Legislature,  Juneau, Alaska, added that  there are certain                                                               
justifications for  potentially exempting the Board  of Fisheries                                                               
the Board  of Game,  and AOGCC  in the bill.  She cited  the cost                                                               
analysis of fish runs and the open public processes as reasons.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD  highlighted that those entities  need to                                                               
be excluded from certain but not all provisions.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
3:01:37 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR COGHILL  stated that  he was  maintaining his  objection to                                                               
Version K and would hold HB 140 for further consideration.