Legislature(2015 - 2016)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/17/2015 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB45 | |
| SB43 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 43 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 45 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 43-IMMUNITY FOR FIRE DEPT. & MEMBERS
CHAIR BISHOP announced the consideration of SB 43.
3:45:56 PM
JORDAN SHILLING, Staff, Senator John Coghill, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, explained that SB 43 addresses a
priority issue that came to Senator Coghill's attention during
the interim from the Fairbanks North Star Borough. He specified
that SB 43 addresses an inequity in the statutes regarding
immunity. He said currently there is some immunity given to fire
departments and their members in statute; in particular, that
immunity applies to employees of municipal fire departments and
municipal departments themselves. He specified that providing
government immunity is fairly common and added that most, if not
all states, give immunity to the staff of fire departments as
well as the fire departments themselves because there are major
risks in running a fire department.
3:47:57 PM
MR. SHILLING said the bill addresses AS 09.65.070(c), the
section applies to staff immunity of municipally operated fire
departments. He specified that the concern pertains to the way
the statute was written where immunity does not apply to the
staff of the types of departments that Fairbanks has which are
contract departments. He explained that the statute came into
effect in 1975 as SB 257. He revealed that SB 257 was introduced
by the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department and patterned after a
Delaware statute. He stated that the problem with the statute is
attributed to the language that seems to leave out departments
that contract out with local governments. He noted that the
committee's intent in 1975 was hard to delineate. He
communicated that the bill's sponsor and the Fairbanks North
Star Borough feel strongly that the liability protections should
not be exclusive to employees of fire departments operated by
municipalities, but should also be extended to include the staff
of all fire departments that have a contractual relationship
with local government. He added that the bill also provides
immunity to contracted fire departments, the entity itself, not
just the staff, and it adds to the existing immunity that
municipal fire departments already have in subsection (d) of
this section of law.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked if there has been any litigation since the
statute came into effect in 1977.
MR. SHILLING answered that he is aware of one case that occurred
in Fairbanks.
3:51:06 PM
JILL DOLAN, Assistant Borough Attorney, Fairbanks North Star
Borough, Fairbanks, Alaska, confirmed that there was one case
that went to the Alaska Supreme Court that brought the issue to
the forefront. She specified that the case was different because
at the time, the fire chiefs of the involved fire department
were municipal employees and were extended immunity. She
revealed that due to the current situation where fire chiefs are
actually employees of the nonprofits that the North Star Borough
contracts with, the borough has a concern that the contracted
fire departments will lose their immunity under the current law
if they are no longer considered municipal employees. She noted
that the other issue in the Regner Case, [Regner v. North Star
Volunteer Fire Department], was whether or not the borough could
get things dismissed as a matter of law under immunity or
whether or not they became fact issues for the court. She
revealed that the Regner Case is actually still continuing and
has been in litigation that has spanned the course of several
years. She opined that immunity litigation is taxing to the
resources of the fire departments where costs gets passed along
to the tax payers and impacts insurance rates. She summarized
that the intent is to contain exposure and try to protect
contracted fire departments from liability.
SENATOR MACKINNON asked if the bill impacts a worker's
compensation claim if a firefighter is hurt.
MS. DOLAN answered that firefighters are covered under the
workers' compensation laws and the bill does not impact workers'
compensation claims. She specified that the bill pertains to
actions such as a fire department responding to a fire and a
homeowner complained that only one engine was sent rather than
two.
SENATOR MACKINNON addressed gross negligence and asked if there
is a higher standard that a homeowner could still lay a claim.
MS. DOLAN answered that as directed, the bill's version in front
of the committee would exclude gross negligence. She summarized
that no, a homeowner could not bring a claim under the
circumstance noted by Senator MacKinnon.
MR. SHILLING detailed that the bill establishes total immunity
for fire departments. He noted that Ms. Dolan and the borough
attorneys suggested that if the committee and the Legislature is
uncomfortable with complete immunity, there is language in the
911 Immunity Statutes were an exception can be made for
intentional misconduct and gross negligence, an extreme form of
negligence.
3:55:35 PM
MITCH FLYNN, Fire Chief, Steese Area Volunteer Fire Department,
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Fairbanks, Alaska, added that he
is also the CEO of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that
provides fire and emergency medical services (EMS) to the north
and west of Fairbanks; approximately 2,200 square miles for EMS
and 40 square miles for fire service areas. He said the Steese
Fire Department is concerned about liability and the issue
predates the Regner Case. He asserted that recruitment and
retention is always a concern due to questions pertaining to
liability. He said operating under possible exposure to
liability becomes quite detrimental to managing a department
where one worries about a lawsuit when responding to an
emergency each day. He opined that if an incident happened and a
lawsuit occurred in the course of the department doing its job,
outside of gross negligence and willful acts of misconduct,
70,000 residents could be adversely effected by higher insurance
premiums. He noted that the department's insurance broker has
indicated that SB 45's passage will reduce risk and lower
insurance premiums. He summarized that SB 45 will allow more tax
dollars to go towards firefighting activities and less towards
high insurance policy payouts.
3:58:33 PM
CHAIR BISHOP asked if a volunteer department trains to the same
standards as a municipal fire department.
CHIEF FLYNN answered yes. He stated that training probably takes
on more of an emphasis because the department trains every day,
every shift trains.
He noted that the staffing procedures at the Steese Area
Volunteer Fire Department has improved the fire insurance
premiums for homeowners, representing a 40 percent savings. He
said total savings on an insurance premium for an average home
ends up being about 2 to 1, so for every dollar paid in fire
taxes, the department puts $2 back into homeowner's pockets.
4:00:35 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON revealed that her two sons are volunteer
firefighters and declared a potential conflict.
She noted that the Legislature's legal department has actually
rewritten and reenacted AS 09.65.070. She inquired how the legal
department went about the rewrite and the possible effects on
the definition section. She noted that the definitions remain
the same in later portions of section (d) and addressed her
concern for consistency throughout the statute.
MR. SHILLING answered that he believes that all of the
substantive elements of AS 09.65.070(c), as written now, are
contained in the bill. He asserted that the only change brings
the contract departments under the statute. He concurred with
Senator MacKinnon that the statute was repealed and rewritten.
He surmised that the action was done to fit current drafting
conventions. He asked that Suzy Shutts, the drafter, to address
the changes.
SENATOR MACKINNON asked for comment from Ms. Shutts to address
whether the rewrite was a drafting conformity or whether there
is any possible ramifications that might be unknown from adding
the contract departments. She asked if something is going to
happen to the existing municipalities or village fire
departments that are currently included under different language
currently in section (c).
4:03:12 PM
SUSIE SHUTTS, Attorney, Legislative Legal Services, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, explained that the appeal and
reenactment was done to fit current drafting conformity. She
specified that the two definitions in subsection (e),
"municipality" and "village" are defined; that language is still
used in (c) and the meaning would not be changed as far as the
definitions are applied.
4:04:17 PM
ROBERT GROVE, Chairman of the Board, Ester Volunteer Fire
Service Area Commission, Fairbanks North Star Borough,
Fairbanks, Alaska, noted that the liability issues for fire
departments goes back for over 25 years. He stated that SB 43 is
very appropriate and timely by addressing an issue of knowing
whether or not a department is covered for liability. He
recommends that the committee pass SB 43.
4:07:27 PM
CHAIR BISHOP noted that Senator MacKinnon stated a potential
conflict due to her two sons being volunteer firefighters. He
declared that Senator MacKinnon has no conflict.
SENATOR EGAN announced that he still is a trustee and a former
volunteer for the Juneau Fire Department.
CHAIR BISHOP called attention to Chief Flynn's comment that the
realized savings from passing SB 43 could mean more assets going
towards fighting fires and training, perhaps less requests
coming to the Legislature as well.
SENATOR EGAN asked what did Juneau do in 1975 and inquired if
the legislation addressed Juneau's service districts prior to
unification.
MR. SHILLING answered that he did not know.
CHAIR BISHOP closed public comment.
CHAIR BISHOP declared that SB 43 will be held in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB43 Ver W.PDF |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB45 Bill Version A.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 45 |
| SB45 Parks and Rec Service Area Boundaries vsn A.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 45 |
| SB45 Support Letter MOA 2-12-15.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 45 |
| SB43 Fiscal Note DOTPF.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB43 Fiscal Note DPS.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB43 Fiscal Note DOTPF.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB 43 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB45 Fiscal Note.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 45 |
| SB 45 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SCRA 2/17/2015 3:30:00 PM |
SB 45 |