04/27/1995 07:05 PM House L&C

 HB 260 - MARINE PILOTS                                                      
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN PETE KOTT  said the last time HB 260 was discussed in the            
 Labor & Commerce Committee, there was an amendment that was being             
 drafted.  Chairman Kott said he had opted to withdraw that                    
 amendment at this time.  He said the original bill will be replaced           
 with the CSHB 260(TRA), as amended.  Chairman Kott noted the bill             
 would become CSHB 260(L&C).                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE JERRY SANDERS made a motion to adopt CSHB 260(L&C).            
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN KOTT noted CSHB 260(L&C) consists of the same language as            
 CSHB 260(TRA) with the three amendments that were made to the bill.           
 He said there was a motion to adopt the new CSHB 260(L&C), which is           
 the amended version of the Transportation Committee Substitute.               
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE BRIAN PORTER said as he understood it, the new                 
 version did not include a maximum tariff, a fixed tariff, or a                
 resolution.                                                                   
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN KOTT stated that was correct.  There is no language that             
 addresses either/or any of those.                                             
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE KIM ELTON asked what version of the bill was being             
 discussed.                                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA said the amendments are not incorporated           
 yet.                                                                          
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN KOTT said the amendments would be incorporated into a                
 Labor & Commerce Committee Substitute.                                        
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA asked what the two amendments were that did             
 pass.                                                                         
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN KOTT responded there were three amendments offered.                  
 Maximum tariff which was amendment one and that was rejected.                 
 Amendment two took the bill back to the original state as it                  
 related to the number of members on the board.  He said we                    
 decreased that to its present state, as it currently stands.                  
 Amendment three which was adopted, addressed the reissuance or                
 renewal of a temporary license for emergency purposes to ensure               
 that the commissioner, after that one year, can extend the                    
 temporary license if that same condition exists.  Chairman Kott               
 said there was a motion before the committee to adopt the Labor &             
 Commerce Committee Substitute, as amended.  He asked if there was             
 any objection.  Hearing none, the motion passed.                              
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS made a motion to move CSHB 260(L&C) from               
 committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying                
 fiscal note.                                                                  
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER objected.  He stated he has gone back and               
 forth on this bill, and after hearing all the testimony he did not            
 feel that an equitable situation had been created between the                 
 pilots and the shippers.  He felt that without some provision to              
 guide the resolution of a wage dispute or to set a maximum tariff             
 or a tariff, that we're saying in effect by state law, "you must do           
 this, but we're going to put you at the mercy of those that we                
 require you to put on your ships."                                            
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE ELTON asked for clarification as to what was being             
 moved from Committee.  He thought he understood Chairman Kott to              
 say what they were going to move out...they were going to address             
 two of the amendments.  One to restore the board of its original              
 state.  His understanding was the motion is to move the bill that             
 does not restore the board to its original state.  He asked if that           
 was correct.                                                                  
 CHAIRMAN KOTT responded no, and directed Representative Elton's               
 attention to page 1, line 9 and said they added three, but now it             
 is back to two.  He emphasized it was amendment two that was                  
 adopted.  Amendment one was the maximum tariff.                               
                                                                               
 Number 133                                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA said he had tried to get all the groups                 
 together since last week to reach a consensus, and felt that he was           
 unable to do so.  He said since he was unsuccessful in getting a              
 consensus, he didn't want to put himself in the middle any longer             
 and he would support moving the bill and the motion.                          
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN KOTT stated there had been a lot of effort on a number of            
 people's behalf, and he agreed with Representative Kubina.  He said           
 members of the previous committee had expressed frustration because           
 this bill had been in their committee for over a month while they             
 were trying to address the issues, and they didn't reach agreement            
 either.                                                                       
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS said he had been on the other committee, and           
 he could verify Chairman Kott's comments.  He stressed that the               
 bill has gone through many changes, and it is a better bill now               
 than what it was.  He felt it was time to move the bill on.                   
                                                                               
 Number 169                                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE ELTON commented he would not object to moving the              
 bill out of committee, but stated, "we are the Labor & Commerce               
 Committee and maybe one of the reasons we can never come to                   
 resolution, is because we don't hold on to things long enough to              
 make the interested parties think we are serious about dealing with           
 it in the best way possible, and we have."  He has heard from a               
 number of different people regarding what the best way to do this             
 is.                                                                           
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE NORMAN ROKEBERG felt the committee has really tried            
 to work with this issue to find some clarity and certainty.  He               
 stated it was one of the most difficult problems he had encountered           
 in the legislature.  It is his belief that arms-length transactions           
 can be conducted and those contracts can be negotiated between                
 business entities, not between labor and management, but two                  
 different business entities.  He expressed uncertainty about his              
 vote on this issue and that uncertainty troubles him.                         
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN KOTT felt the troubling area with this issue is there was            
 no road; you either have one or the other and it's difficult to               
 grasp for something in the middle.                                            
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN KOTT said there was a motion to move the bill out of                 
 committee with individual recommendations and there is objection.             
 A roll call vote was taken.  Representatives Kott, Sanders, Elton,            
 Kubina, Rokeberg and Masek voted yes.  Representative Porter voted            
 no.  CSHB 260(L&C) passed out of the House Labor & Commerce                   
 Committee.