Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
02/08/2007 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB59 | |
| SB68 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 68 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 59 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 59-BROADCASTING PROMOTING CHARITABLE GAMING
CHAIR ELLIS announced SB 59 to be up for consideration.
STUART WHITE, KFMJ Radio, Ketchikan, supported SB 59 and said it
will not allow more gambling in Alaska. It fixes problems with
AS 05.15.640(a) that should have been fixed long ago by enabling
over-the-air broadcasters to advertise activities that are
already legal. Newspapers are not banned from this activity, but
it may deny broadcasters equal protection under federal and
state constitutions as well as just being confusing to the
potential advertisers who are not aware of this discrepancy.
1:34:55 PM
SENATOR HOFFMAN joined the committee.
1:36:30 PM
SENATOR BUNDE stated that Mr. White said this bill would not
expand gambling, but he also said advertising on the radio would
increase the number of customers who know about a lottery by
three or four times. Therefore, he reasoned, it may not increase
new kinds of gambling, but it would encourage more people to be
involved in gambling.
MR. WHITE countered that non-profit organizations already have
the legal right to present these games and, "The fact that they
would either survive or go away is kind of the important crux of
it there."
He told them that increased ticket sales for groups that
contribute to the community would be a positive result and that
new types of gambling, like riverboats and Bali's, wouldn't
happen here.
1:39:21 PM
BOB KERN, President, TLP Communications, Ketchikan, said TLP
owns and operates KFMJ Radio and publishes the local newspaper.
He supported Mr. White's comments and expanded specifically on
the huge confusion among broadcasters between what the state and
federal governments allow. He thought this legislation would
prevent station owners from being fined or having their licenses
threatened by the actions of employees or others who are
misunderstanding the conflicting regulations they have to deal
with. What is legal to broadcast in 48 of the United States is
not legal in Alaska.
Another issue he clarified is that gaming spots could be allowed
to be broadcast as free public service announcements (PSAs). In
fact, though, most of the day air-time is sold out and any free
PSAs get relegated to the midnight to 5 a.m. time period, which
would do the non-profits very little good. Newspapers don't give
away their space and he didn't think radio stations should have
to either.
MR. KERN also added that passing this legislation would clarify
how to advertise self-conducted lotteries and that the
definition of "broadcasting" should include the Internet. He
said that just putting up a web page that anyone can click on is
broadcasting and that audio is now getting streamed regularly.
He suggested deleting the broadcasting definition section in SB
68 because he didn't know of anybody in television or radio who
transmitted by 2,500 megahertz. He also didn't know of anybody
who broadcasts on microwave video since it is a point to point
communication system; and slow-scan television has not been used
for years by anyone except maybe amateur operators. He
suggested deleting "programming by way of satellite, cable
teletype", which nobody uses anymore, and "or facsimile
transmission and distribution methods". He suggested inserting
"digital distribution methods", since so many stations are
transmitting in the digital mode now, which is not exactly in
the traditional definition of broadcasting.
He also suggested that the state and federal regulations should
be more aligned with each other. As an example, he related that
a Ketchikan station was reported to the FCC for broadcasting
lottery information and promoting it quite heavily last year.
The FCC ruled:
Although 18 USC 13.04 prohibits the broadcast of
information concerning a lottery, 18 USC
13.07(a)(2)(a) states that the provision of 18 USC
13.04 shall not apply to an advertisement concerning a
lottery that is authorized or otherwise not prohibited
by the state in which it is conducted and which is
conducted by a not-for-profit organization. The
information before us indicates [the American Diabetes
Association (ADA)] is a not-for-profit organization
that has conducted the event and raffle as fund
raisers and that the State of Alaska had given the ADA
a charitable gaming permit for the period covered by
the event. Thus, [the FCC says] it appears that the
stations did not violate 18 USC 13.04 or the related
commission rule in as much as their provisions
specifically are not applicable to advertisements
about events which are conducted by the American
Diabetes Association. Therefore, we close this matter.
1:49:16 PM
JULIE SLANAKER, Rainy Day Quilter Guild and Ketchikan Little
League Baseball, said she has been a fund-raising officer for
both of these non-profit organizations for the last three years
and she has noticed it's more difficult than ever to raise funds
for both groups' expenses. The Quilt Guild that has two raffles
every year would do significantly better if she were able to
advertise on the radio.
She said that one thing parents and kids can still participate
in is selling raffle tickets. In Ketchikan, every charitable
organization has raffle tickets at different times of the year
and the more people who know about a raffle, the more tickets
can be sold. It costs a lot to advertise in the paper - a single
ad for one day runs about $80 with a nonprofit rate. For that
same $80 she could advertise with KFMJ and receive a week's
worth of advertising that would promote one of her raffles in a
much more efficient manner.
1:53:58 PM
CHAIR ELLIS thanked her for her comments and closed the public
hearing. He set SB 59 aside, but said he would take it up later
in the meeting.
SB 59-BROADCASTING PROMOTING CHARITABLE GAMING
CHAIR ELLIS announced SB 59 to be back before the committee and
asked if there was any committee discussion. There was none.
2:24:32 PM
SENATOR STEVENS moved to pass SB 59 with the attached fiscal and
individual recommendations. There were no objections and SB 59
moved out of committee.
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