03/12/2014 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE

HOUSE BILL NO. 231                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act eliminating the Department of Revenue's duty                                                                       
     to register cattle brands."                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
9:39:18 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MIKE  CHENAULT, presented  HB 231.  He stated                                                                    
that the bill was fairly basic  and was a piece of repealing                                                                    
legislation.  He   reported  that   bill  would   remove  AS                                                                    
44.25.0203, which  required the Department of  Revenue (DOR)                                                                    
to  register  cattle  brands.  He  referenced  a  report  in                                                                    
members'  packets from  Legislative Research  Services (copy                                                                    
on file)  and reported that  prior to statehood,  all duties                                                                    
associated  with  the  registration  of  cattle  brands  had                                                                    
resided in the old  territorial Department of Finance; those                                                                    
duties  had been  since assumed  by DOR.  He noted  that the                                                                    
report from  legislative research indicated that  the duties                                                                    
of recording  cattle brands  were delegated  through statute                                                                    
to the Division  of Agriculture. He stated  that by removing                                                                    
the statute,  the bill helped  clarify that  cattle branding                                                                    
resided within the  Division of Agriculture and  not DOR. He                                                                    
added that DOR had not  been registering brands for a number                                                                    
of  years and  thought that  the  legislation was  a way  of                                                                    
cleaning up the state's statutes.  He noted that the statute                                                                    
was not currently  needed or used in Alaska and  that it was                                                                    
the legislators'  responsibilities to eliminate  statutes as                                                                    
new ones were added.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Meyer  agreed  that  it  was  nice  to  take  some                                                                    
statutes  off  the books  before  new  ones were  added;  he                                                                    
thought that  the state was  a little behind in  doing this,                                                                    
but that the legislation represented a good start.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
9:43:13 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Vice-Chair Fairclough  referenced the report  by Legislative                                                                    
Research Services and stated that  it appeared as though $42                                                                    
was  collected in  2013 through  fees; she  guessed that  it                                                                    
cost  more than  that amount  to  print the  book of  cattle                                                                    
brand  registrants. She  wondered if  the fees  should cover                                                                    
the cost of printing the book.                                                                                                  
TOM WRIGHT,  STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE MIKE  CHENAULT, responded                                                                    
that the sponsors  had looked at that aspect.  He noted that                                                                    
registering cattle brands had an  initial cost of $2 with an                                                                    
additional cost of $1 per  year after that. He reported that                                                                    
the book had a cost of a  little over $2 per copy to publish                                                                    
and that  in the end, it  was kind of a  losing proposition.                                                                    
He acknowledged that the money  was not a significant amount                                                                    
and that one  specific group of cattle owners  would like to                                                                    
see the fees go up; however,  the bill was simply a repealer                                                                    
and that issue  should be addressed through  the Division of                                                                    
Agriculture.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Vice-Chair Fairclough  wondered if it was  required that the                                                                    
book  of  cattle  brand  registrations  be  published  in  a                                                                    
printed format. She inquired if  the book could be digitized                                                                    
so that  the state  was not spending  money in  the negative                                                                    
for something that although was  valuable to a limited group                                                                    
of people,  was not being  paid for by  fees. Representative                                                                    
Chenault responded that it could be a consideration.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Senator  Bishop inquired  if there  had ever  been an  issue                                                                    
with  cattle  rustling  in Alaska.  Representative  Chenault                                                                    
replied  that to  his  knowledge, there  had  never been  an                                                                    
issue in the state with cattle rustling.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:46:32 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Senator Olson  noted that he  came from  an area that  had a                                                                    
fair  amount  of  marking   of  animals,  particularly  with                                                                    
Reindeer and  inquired if  the bill  would affect  any other                                                                    
species  besides cattle.  Mr. Wright  responded that  it did                                                                    
not  and added  that  there  were brands  in  the book  that                                                                    
coincided with reindeer branding;  however, all the bill did                                                                    
was  remove the  duty  to register  cattle  brands from  DOR                                                                    
statutes. If  the bill passed,  the Division  of Agriculture                                                                    
would still  retain authority  and jurisdiction  over brands                                                                    
on any animal.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Senator Olson further inquired if  there would be any change                                                                    
to  the Division  of Agriculture's  authority regarding  the                                                                    
branding of animals. Mr. Wright replied in the negative.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:47:30 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Meyer observed  that the  bill had  a zero  fiscal                                                                    
note.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Meyer CLOSED public testimony.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Meyer discussed the committee's upcoming agenda.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
HB 231 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further                                                                              
consideration.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:49:10 AM                                                                                                                    
AT EASE                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
9:49:18 AM                                                                                                                    
RECONVENED