02/15/2022 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

           SB 181-IDENTIFICATION OF CONTRACTOR IN ADS                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:31:53 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR HUGHES announced  the consideration of SENATE  BILL NO. 181                                                               
"An   Act    relating   to   identification    requirements   for                                                               
contractors."                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
She stated that this was the  first hearing and the intention was                                                               
to  hear the  introduction  and sectional  analysis, take  public                                                               
testimony and hold the bill in committee.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:32:49 PM                                                                                                                    
Daniel  Phelps,  Staff,  Senator  Shelley  Hughes,  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,  introduced SB 181 on  behalf of the                                                               
committee.  He  spoke  to  the sponsor  statement  that  read  as                                                               
follows:                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     Since   1968   when   AS   08.18.051   became   statue,                                                                    
     contractors in  the State of Alaska  have been required                                                                    
     to  list their  name, mailing  address, address  of the                                                                    
     contractor's   principal   place   of   business,   and                                                                    
     contractor  registration  number  in  all  advertising.                                                                    
     Although  simple,  this  requirement  can  incur  great                                                                    
     expense for contractors,  particularly those looking to                                                                    
     advertise  in print,  radio, or  television where  each                                                                    
     additional   word   or   line   increases   the   cost.                                                                    
     Furthermore,  many contractors  in  our state  maintain                                                                    
     several  business  licenses  specific to  each  service                                                                    
     they  provide. This  requires  the  contractor to  list                                                                    
     multiple   registration   numbers   within   the   same                                                                    
     advertisement.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Senate Bill 181 amends the  current statute by adding a                                                                    
     section   which  allows   contractors  to   provide  an                                                                    
     internet  website or  landing  page  that contains  the                                                                    
     identification     requirements      for     contractor                                                                    
     advertisements  in place  of  those same  requirements.                                                                    
     Additionally,   this  bill   requires  contractors   to                                                                    
     specify  that  the  internet website  or  landing  page                                                                    
     provided  contains   the  information   required  under                                                                    
     statute.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     This  section is  added to  spare costs  to contractors                                                                    
     and streamline the advertisement process                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
3:33:56 PM                                                                                                                    
Senator Wilson joined the meeting.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MR.  PHELPS presented  the following  sectional  analysis for  SB
:                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     Section 1    AS 08.18.051 (b)   Page 1,  Line 3 through                                                                  
     Page 1, Line 15                                                                                                          
     Amends    AS    08.18.051   regarding    identification                                                                    
     requirements  for  contractors in  advertisements.  The                                                                    
     new  language specifies  that  a contractor's  internet                                                                    
     website  or  landing  page satisfies  the  contractor's                                                                    
     identification requirements  in advertisements  so long                                                                    
     as  it  contains  the  identifiers  required  under  AS                                                                    
     08.18.051  and   the  advertisement  states   that  the                                                                    
     required information  is contained on  the contractor's                                                                    
     Internet website or landing page.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR HUGHES asked if this was compulsory.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. PHELPS answered  no; SB 181 offers contractors  the choice to                                                               
continue  to list  the required  identifiers manually  or provide                                                               
that information on a website instead.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:35:26 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR HUGHES opened public testimony on SB 181.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
3:35:37 PM                                                                                                                    
HOLLY  BORGMANN,  Vice  President   of  Government  Affairs,  ADT                                                               
Security  Services, Boca  Raton, Florida,  stated support  for SB
 which  will modernize  the law and  help provide  more robust                                                               
consumer protection for customers  in Alaska. Similar legislation                                                               
has broad support  from a diverse range of  states. She described                                                               
the manual  process ADT consumers  go through to  find contractor                                                               
information  versus   the  simpler   process  of   accessing  the                                                               
information  at ADT.com.  She opined  that the  electronic option                                                               
was more consumer-friendly.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:37:05 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  HUGHES  closed  public  testimony   and  held  SB  181  in                                                               
committee.