Legislature(2003 - 2004)
02/25/2004 03:25 PM House L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 430-EMPLOYEES UNDER 21 AT LICENSED PREMISES VICE CHAIR GATTO announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 430, "An Act relating to employees under 21 years of age in the premises of hotels, restaurants, and eating places that are licensed to sell, serve, deliver, or dispense alcoholic beverages." Number 1327 REPRESENTATIVE BETH KERTTULA, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, stated that her staff, Aurora Hauke, would introduce HB 430 on her behalf. Number 1348 AURORA HAUKE, Staff to Representative Beth Kerttula, Alaska State Legislature, testified: This bill deals with the employment of people under 21 in hotels and restaurants that are licensed to serve alcoholic beverages. Currently, 16-, 17-, and 18- year-olds can work in these establishments with permission of their parents. They need to get a work permit signed. 19 and 20-year-olds do not need parental permission. This bill would allow 18-year-olds to work without parental permission as well, since they have reached the age of majority. They would still not be able to deal with the alcohol, as nobody under 21 would be able to. This change would correct some of the deterrents that 18-year-olds have in finding gainful employment in restaurants. It has been pointed out, that it would increase the prospective labor pool as well for employers. REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG asked for clarification on page 1, lines 6-14. MS. HAUKE replied: The first page, line 6 through 14, used to say "between 16 and 19", meaning 16-, 17- and 18-year- olds. This is the section that requires them to get a work permit. On page 2, the section lines 2 through 6 is the portion where they don't need a work permit. What we've done is moved the 18-year-olds from the first paragraph to the second paragraph. Number 1517 Douglas B. GRIFFIN, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board ("ABC Board"), Department of Public Safety, testified: There's plenty of protection, we believe, for underage people. We are dealing with the 18-year-olds. The way that language -- I don't think bill drafters do that "between 16 and 19" anymore. That probably was an in-artful way of drafting that language. For the most part, I'm glad that's being removed. But we are looking at focusing on 16- and 17-year-olds: [they] would still be required to have written parental consent to get a work permit from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. We work with that department, and if paperwork is in order when we do inspections of licensed premises that do employ underage people, we do make sure that that paperwork is in order. This really does focus on just that very narrow segment of 18-year-olds. We have run across some instances and cases where 18-year-olds are out on their own. They really have no connection with parents, and to secure parental permission sometimes is difficult because they are out of state, their parents are in another state, or whatever. So, we do believe that they are basically adults for most things, except for purchasing tobacco and alcohol. But for a lot of other things in terms of being able to enter into contracts, and being treated as adults for purposes of being able to exercise their right to vote, and many other things, they are adults. We think that there are still plenty of protections. In light of the bill that the committee has just heard from Representative Meyer, there's still plenty of protection to prevent access to alcohol by underage persons. This bill does clean up a little anomaly that exists between our alcoholic beverage laws and the laws for the Department of Labor [& Workforce Development]. We think that this is a good fix, a good change, that it won't create any more opportunities for underage abuse of alcohol in these work situations. MR. GRIFFIN completed his testimony by giving background on the restaurant-like environment required for underage employment. VICE CHAIR GATTO asked if Mr. Griffin got complaints from people about the working or dining environments. MR. GRIFFIN replied: An area that's clearly a bar, where there really isn't much food, that's a no-brainer. You're always going to have a few, sort of, on the cusp. We do things like segregate where people can work, that the underage person can work in the dining room, in the kitchen, for example.... We do try to keep them out of that setting that would appear, to the most reasonable people, to be a bar. MR. GRIFFIN, in response to a question from Vice Chair Gatto, said his inspectors do work with owners and let them know what is needed to be in compliance. Number 1830 HERB FREER, Owner, The Broiler Restaurant, Juneau, testified in support of HB 430. He gave an example from his hiring experience of an 18-year-old who had come through the foster care system, no longer had a legal guardian, but could get no one to sign his work permit. He stated that the law needed to be changed. REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG asked Mr. Freer if he had a beverage or beer and wine license. MR. FREER replied he had a beer and wine license. REPRESENTATIVE LYNN commented that HB 430 made common sense. REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG commented that the statutes appeared to be "the government and the Department of Labor [& Workforce Development] protecting the workforce from itself, and I'm glad to see this bill come forward." Number 2004 REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG moved to report HB 430 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 430 was referred from the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.
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