Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 106
04/12/2011 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB93 | |
| HB216 | |
| HB182 | |
| HB190 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 93 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 182 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 216 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 190 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 77 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 93-SPECIALTY LICENSE PLATES
8:08:59 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was SENATE
BILL NO. 93, "An Act relating to special request specialty
organization registration plates; and providing for an effective
date."
8:10:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the proposed House
committee substitute (HCS) for SB 93, Version 27-LS0515\I,
Luckhaupt, 3/30/11, as a work draft.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected for the purpose of discussion.
8:10:34 AM
NANCY MANLY, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State
Legislature, explained the changes that were made in Version I
of SB 93. She stated that in addition to adopting the bill
sponsor's plan to give the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) the
authority to issue specialty license plates, Version D would
also create specialty license plates for the National Rifle
Association, breast cancer awareness, Lao veterans, and plates
depicting "In God We Trust" and "Choose Life."
8:11:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if, other than the addition of the
specific specialty license plates, there would be any changes
made to the original bill version.
CHAIR LYNN offered his understanding that there would be no
change within the original bill language.
8:12:18 AM
SENATOR BILL WIELECHOWSKI, Alaska State Legislature, presented
SB 93 on behalf of the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee,
sponsor, on which Senator Wielechowski is chair. He expressed
concern regarding the language in Version I proposing a
specialty plate for "choose life." He explained that courts
have traditionally upheld that when one viewpoint is supported,
the opposing viewpoint must also be supported. He said he has
been told there are some organizations that may file a law suit
if there is a "choose life" license plate without there also
being a specialty plate for Planned Parenthood. In regard to
Representative Seaton's previous question, he said it does not
look like any of the original language in the bill has been
altered.
8:14:22 AM
CHAIR LYNN stated his understanding that under SB 93, any group
that is not included could go to the division and request a
specialty license plate of their choosing.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI confirmed that is correct, but said there
are those who would maintain that [Version I] is
unconstitutional.
8:16:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG observed that if the committee chooses
to remove the language in the bill pertaining to "choose life,"
it would need to delete lines 7-14, on page 4, and lines 7-12,
on page 2.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI confirmed that is correct.
8:16:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON said she does not understand where the
complaint could be if everyone will be allowed to have a plate
of their choosing.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said there have been cases around the
country to this effect.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON reiterated that she does not understand
why a law suit would result when all along groups have had the
opportunity to request a specialty license plate through the
legislature and would, under SB 93, have the opportunity to do
so directly through the division.
8:18:22 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he has prepared an amendment, but
has not decided yet whether to offer it.
CHAIR LYNN said he does not want this bill hearing to turn into
a Planned Parenthood/right to life debate.
8:20:13 AM
KARLA HART, Staff, Representative Bill Wielechowski, Alaska
State Legislature, answered questions related to SB 93 on behalf
of the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor, of
which Senator Wielechowski is chair. In response to
Representative Seaton, regarding the application fee that the
organization would charge for the setup, she clarified that
under SB 93, that cost is revenue neutral; there would be a fee
set to cover those setup charges. Under the current process,
she continued, the DMV absorbs the cost of the setup and
development of the specialty license plates.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked for confirmation that that is the
only distinction.
MS. HART prefaced her answer by noting that she is not an
attorney. She pointed out one distinction is that legislatively
approved plates are considered a form of government speech,
whereas administratively approved plates appear to be a form of
private speech. She said she thinks there may be some
distinction there in terms of a court case. She further noted
that the courts have ruled differently in various states.
8:22:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG stated his understanding that other
plate designs would mean additional costs.
MS. HART clarified that the group supplying the design would
incur the cost.
8:23:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON directed attention to language on page 3,
line 10, which requires a group to "submit registration fees for
at least 50 motor vehicles before specialty registration plates
will be issued". He said he may offer an amendment to lower
that threshold, because there may be smaller groups that desire
specialty license plates.
8:24:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG directed attention to page 3, line 12,
which read as follows:
(D) may not be offensive in purpose, nature,
activity, or name;
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG expressed concern about the meaning of
offensive and whether this language may present constitutional
problems.
8:25:23 AM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI responded that there is a well-established
body of case law around the country to address this issue. In
response to a follow-up question, he confirmed that this
language is not unique to Alaska.
8:26:28 AM
MS. HART said Pennsylvania's model states that "the department
may refuse any combination of letters and numbers for cause and
shall adopt rules and regulations for the issuance of plates."
She said Pennsylvania's regulation addresses the issue of
offense and discriminatory content.
8:27:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he would be proposing a sunset clause
so that the proposed legislation could undergo a trial period.
8:29:23 AM
JEFFREY A. MITTMAN, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties
Union of Alaska (ACLU of Alaska), stated that the ACLU does not
take a position for or against the State of Alaska having a
specialty license plate program. Furthermore, he said the ACLU
does not take a position on whether or not certain individuals
or organizations should be entitled to create plates. The ACLU
looks solely at constitutional issues. He cited Arizona Life
Coalition Inc. v. Stanton, 515 F.3d 956, a 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals case in which the court protected the rights of the
"Choose Life" organization to obtain a plate under Arizona's
license plate system. He said the ACLU would have similarly
represented the "Choose Life" organization.
MR. MITTMAN said [Version I] discriminates both in the matter of
process and content. Under Version I, if one person wanted to
obtain a National Rifle Association (NRA) plate, for example,
and nine individuals wanted to obtain a Brady handgun control
plate, the one individual could go down to the DMV and get the
NRA plate, whereas the nine individuals would not be given the
opportunity to get the Brady handgun control plate. He said
that is not only process discrimination, but also viewpoint
discrimination.
CHAIR LYNN suggested that under the original bill, those people
could go to the DMV and apply for "one of these other license
plates expressing a different viewpoint."
MR. MITTMAN responded that they could apply, but "if they didn't
meet the differential requirements that the process establishes
they could not be successful." He explained that Version I sets
out certain viewpoints to be more privileged than others, which
could be viewed by the court as discrimination. First Amendment
rights are so important that the courts are protective of them.
MR. MITTMAN stated that SB 93, as originally written, was
"perfectly neutral"; it set up one system for the entire state.
He stated, "It is our recommendation ... that ... all
organizations who have had any sort of bill be approved, and
that the legislature put in language that allows for approval."
He noted that SB 16, which passed through the Senate, allowed
for "pro-family" and "pro-choice"; therefore, it would be "part
of the legislative record in revealing whether or not the
legislature has been neutral in both process and concept."
8:34:17 AM
MR. MITTMAN, in response to Representative Gruenberg's concern
regarding the interpretation and constitutionality of the word
"offensive", said potentially that language could be an
opportunity for a government agency to deny language. However,
he stated, "We see this as a light yellow flag; it is something
that we'd watch, but we would not anticipate that it would be a
problem."
8:35:20 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG removed his objection to the motion to
adopt the proposed House committee substitute (HCS) for SB 93,
Version 27-LS0515\I, Luckhaupt, 3/30/11, as a work draft. There
being no further objection, Version I was before the committee.
8:35:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to adopt Amendment 1, as follows:
Page 3, line 10:
Change "50" to "10".
There being no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
8:36:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 2, to
add a sunset clause on page 5 relating to subsection (gg) in
Section 1.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he is concerned about [specialty
license plates being used much like] a bumper sticker. In
response to a question from the chair, he explained that
[subsection (gg)] is language in Version I that was also in the
original bill version. He noted that the date of the sunset
clause that would be added under Conceptual Amendment 2 would be
June 1, 2014.
8:38:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON objected to Conceptual Amendment 2 for the
purpose of discussion. He said he does not see a problem which
necessitates an audit and sunset process.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER stated his intent is to be cautious.
8:42:04 AM
WHITNEY BREWSTER, Director, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV),
Department of Administration, stated that the DMV's regulations
have been helpful in determining how the division deals with
personalized license plates, and the division would use similar
language of that regulation in dealing with organizations
applying for a plate. She said if the proposed legislation
passes, her preference would be to receive feedback from the
legislature regarding the division's regulatory process. She
said she understands Representative Keller's concern that the
proposed legislation would give responsibility to the DMV to
determine which organizations are appropriate.
MS. BREWSTER said the DMV currently has an administrative
hearing process wherein someone who is denied a plate has the
opportunity to request an administrative hearing. If the person
does not agree with the hearing officer, he/she has the option
of appealing to the Alaska Superior Court. She ventured that
the process under SB 93 would be similar. She acknowledged that
these considerations do not address specifically Representative
Keller's concern that there might be "an Amway plate," for
example; however, she said the court has consistently stated
that the issue is one of free speech, and if specialty plates
were made available to 501c3 organizations, then the division
would have to seriously consider that issue when making a
determination.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER acknowledged that Ms. Brewster shares his
concerns, and he reiterated his support for Conceptual Amendment
2.
8:46:17 AM
MS. BREWSTER, in response to Representative Petersen, related
that the division uses software that will catch most of the
inappropriate language submitted before a plate is issued;
however, some inappropriate requests slip through that
screening. She said the division denies 6-7 inappropriate
license applications a week, but few of those denials result in
a challenge, because the reason for the denial is obvious. She
estimated that the division holds one specialty plate hearing
per quarter. She incidentally reported that the DMV offers
fraternal organization plates established through statute last
session, but no one has applied for one to date. She noted that
that legislation was the first to open the door to various
entities requesting a plate not through the legislative process.
REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN said it does not make sense that a
[501c3] organization would go to the trouble to make an indecent
license plate that would be turned down by the division.
MS. BREWSTER offered her understanding that Pennsylvania has
thus far had one plate that was questioned as being offensive;
however, she said she does not foresee this being a big issue in
Alaska. She reiterated that if the organization is denied a
plate, it has an avenue for appeal.
8:50:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, in response to Representative Gruenberg,
clarified that Conceptual Amendment 2 would place a sunset to
subsection (gg); it would not delete the section.
8:51:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN asked the bill sponsor what he thinks of
Conceptual Amendment 2.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI noted the short time period between the
effective date of the bill and the proposed date of the sunset.
8:52:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to amend Conceptual Amendment 2, to
change 2014 to 2015. There being no objection, the amendment to
Conceptual Amendment 2 was adopted.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI pointed out that the purpose of the bill is
to end the necessity for the legislature to address license
plate bills, and [Conceptual Amendment 2, as amended] will bring
the issue of license plates back before the legislature.
8:52:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON maintained his objection to Conceptual
Amendment 2, as amended. He said if the legislation proves to
be problematic, the legislature can always choose to bring the
issue back for further discussion.
8:53:31 AM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Johansen, P.
Wilson, Keller, and Lynn voted in favor of Conceptual Amendment
2, as amended. Representatives Seaton, Gruenberg, and Petersen
voted against it. Therefore, Conceptual Amendment 2, as
amended, was adopted by a vote of 4-3.
8:54:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked the bill sponsor what he thought
- following Mr. Mittman's testimony - about removing the
language in the proposed legislation referring to "Alaska Choose
Life".
8:56:08 AM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he would support such an amendment,
because he thinks it would resolve the constitutional issues
that have been presented.
8:56:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 3,
as follows:
Page 2, lines 7-12:
Delete language
Page 4, lines 7-14:
Delete language
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN objected.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he does not support Conceptual
Amendment 3. He said specialty license plates currently are
established in state law and [under SB 93] would be managed
administratively, which would result in the existence of
specialized plates from two systems. He stated, "I don't think
looking at one particular plate overcomes two systems."
8:57:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN explained that he objects to
Representative Gruenberg's singling out the "Choose Life" plate
as articulating one point of view, and he said he would like to
express his point of view regarding the meaning of "Choose
Life".
8:58:54 AM
The committee took a brief at 8:59 a.m.
8:59:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN said he does not know what particular
point of view Representative Gruenberg is referring to, because
"Choose Life" could mean don't commit suicide. He indicated his
objection was to the characterization of "that statement as
something in particular" and the singling out of it when "there
are other portions of this bill that ... could fall under this
umbrella."
REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN maintained his objection.
9:00:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he thinks there is merit in some
points that have been made, and he said he would like to know
whether the bill sponsor maintains his support of Conceptual
Amendment 3.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI responded that he finds it ironic that he
introduced the original version of SB 93 as a means to end all
the time spent by the legislature in considering individual
specialized license plates and Version I introduces several
individual plates for the legislature to consider. He said as
an attorney, one of the first rules is to protect the client
from being sued, and there has been testimony that leaving
"Choose Life" in Version I would lead to a law suit against the
state; therefore, he said he would like "Choose Life" taken out
of the bill.
9:01:59 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG stated that he would maintain his
motion to adopt Conceptual Amendment 3 out of respect for the
bill sponsor.
9:02:13 AM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Petersen and
Gruenberg voted in favor of Conceptual Amendment 3.
Representatives Johansen, P. Wilson, Seaton, Keller, and Lynn
voted against it. Therefore, Conceptual Amendment 3 failed by a
vote of 2-5.
9:03:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report the House committee
substitute (HCS) for SB 93, Version 27-LS0515\I, Luckhaupt,
3/30/11, as amended, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being
no objection, HCS SB 93(STA) was reported out of the House State
Affairs Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 01 HB0216A.pdf |
HJUD 1/30/2012 1:00:00 PM HSTA 4/12/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 216 |
| 02 Sponsor_HB216_Regulations.pdf |
HJUD 1/30/2012 1:00:00 PM HSTA 4/12/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 216 |
| --11 HB 182 - CS version I 4-11-11.pdf |
HSTA 4/12/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 182 |
| --12 HB 182 - CS change explanation version I.pdf |
HSTA 4/12/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 182 |
| 01 HB 77 (Version D).pdf |
HSTA 4/12/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 77 |
| 02 HB 77 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HSTA 4/12/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 77 |
| 03 HB 77 Sectional.pdf |
HSTA 4/12/2011 8:00:00 AM |
HB 77 |