Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/25/1994 04:30 PM Senate JUD
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
April 25, 1994
4:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman
Senator Rick Halford, Vice-Chairman
Senator George Jacko
Senator Dave Donley
Senator Suzanne Little
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 237
"An Act relating to offenses involving delivery of firearms to
minors and to offenses involving possession of dangerous
instruments, including firearms, by minors."
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 362(HES) am
"An Act relating to the statute of limitations for actions brought
upon a child support judgment; and establishing the crime of aiding
the nonpayment of child support."
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 410(STA)
"An Act relating to real estate appraisers and the Board of
Certified Real Estate Appraisers."
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 367(JUD) am
"An Act relating to limitations on outdoor advertising signs,
displays, and devices and penalties for violations related to
outdoor advertising."
CSHB 79(FIN) am (DAMAGE TO PROPERTY BY MINORS) was scheduled, but
not taken up this date.
SB 315 (EDUCATION FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN) was scheduled, but not
taken up this date.
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 237 - See State Affairs minutes dated 2/9/94, 2/11/94, 2/16/94,
and 2/23/94.
HB 362 - No previous action to record.
HB 410 - See Judiciary minutes dated 4/23/94.
HB 367 - See Judiciary minutes dated 4/23/94.
HB 79 - See Health, Education & Social Service minutes dated
2/2/94. See Judiciary minutes dated 4/18/94 & 4/23/94.
SB 315 - No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Loren Leman
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime Sponsor of SB 237
Kathy Tibbles
Division of Family & Youth Services
Department of Health & Social Services
P.O. Box 110630
Juneau, AK 99811-0630
POSITION STATEMENT: Stated concerns on SB 237
Juanita Hensley
Division of Motor Vehicles
Department of Public Safety
P.O. Box 20020
Juneau, AK 99811-0220
POSITION STATEMENT: Suggested changes to SB 237
Phil Petri, Chief Operations Officer
Child Support Enforcement Agency
Department of Revenue
550 W. 7th, Suite 312
Anchorage, AK 99501-3556
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on HB 362
Fred Ferrara
Alaska Appraisers Association
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposes HB 410
Commissioner Paul Fuhs
Department of Commerce & Economic Development
P.O. Box 110800
Juneau, AK 99811-0800
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information in support of HB 410
Karl Luck, Director
Division of Occupational Licensing
Department of Commerce & Economic Development
P.O. Box 110806
Juneau, AK 99811-0806
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports HB 410
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 94-40, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN ROBIN TAYLOR called the Judiciary Committee meeting to
order at 4:30 p.m. He introduced SB 237 (WEAPONS POSSESSION/SALE
BY/TO MINORS) as the first order of business and directed attention
to a draft Judiciary CS.
SENATOR HALFORD moved that CSSB 237(JUD) be adopted. Hearing no
objection, the motion carried.
SENATOR LOREN LEMAN, prime sponsor of SB 237, said he introduced
the legislation after it came to his attention that the Anchorage
Police Department could not arrest juveniles who had weapons and
were brandishing them until they otherwise used them in some way
and broke the law. SB 237 provides that juveniles have parental
permission to have those weapons, with certain exceptions such as
marksmanship and hunter safety classes. The legislation also
contains changes to the procedures regarding juveniles who commit
crimes with firearms.
Senator Leman said he believes these are important changes to
Alaska's juvenile weapons statutes, and he pointed out that the
states of Florida and Utah have recently passed similar
legislation.
Number 050
SENATOR TAYLOR referred to Section 5 which provides that a minor
will not be treated as a juveniles if a firearm is used and the
minor has been previously adjudicated as a delinquent. SENATOR
LEMAN clarified that would be the automatic waiver to be tried as
an adult.
SENATOR DONLEY referred to Section 5, which, he said, parallels SB
209, and one of the concerns he had with that legislation was with
the language "the minor is alleged to have used a firearm in
commission of the offense." He asked if this brings into the scope
the mere possession of a firearm, and does this move them into
adult jurisdiction. SENATOR LEMAN answered that would not be his
intent if the juvenile just had possession of the weapon. SENATOR
TAYLOR suggested the record should clearly reflect that the words
"used as a firearm in the commission of the offense" would not
encompass the mere possession which is already provided for.
Number 163
SENATOR DONLEY, using the example of juveniles bringing firearms to
school, said the first offense doesn't necessarily result in very
serious ramifications, because the juvenile isn't treated as an
adult for the first offense, and he suggested discussion on drawing
a harder line warning the juvenile that if he does it again, it
will trigger a serious penalty as an adult. The question should be
if the triggering offense include mere status crimes such as
possession of firearms and not utilization of firearms.
Number 280
KATHY TIBBLES, Division of Family & Youth Services, Department of
Health & Social Services, stated the division is opposed to
lowering an automatic waiver age down to the age of 14 years for
such offenses, because the division believes that at age 14
children still generally are amenable to treatment, and that those
who commit offenses of a serious enough nature can still be waived
under the current process that is available.
Ms. Tibbles said the division also has a technical concern with
language in the bill that refers to adjudication of delinquency in
another jurisdiction. She pointed out that there is currently no
national network that would make that kind of information available
to them, so there are a lot of instances where they wouldn't know
whether a juvenile has been adjudicated in another state.
Number 310
JUANITA HENSLEY, Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Public
Safety, directed attention to language on page 6 in Section 6,
which relates to revoking a driver's license for one year on the
first offense of these juveniles. If an individual is convicted of
a drunk driving offense, their license is only going to be revoked
for 90 days on the first offense. If they are driving drunk and
they kill someone and they are charged with manslaughter, etc., the
court is only required to revoke their license for a period of 30
days. She recommended on line 9 changing the one year to 90 days,
and on line 11 changing the two years to one year, which would be
consistent with the other areas of statute on license revocation
periods.
Number 390
SENATOR TAYLOR moved that on page 6, line 9, change "one year" to
"90 days" and on line 11 change "two years" to "one year." He also
modified the amendment on line 8, after the words "license for a
period of" to include the words "no less than." Hearing no
objection, the Chairman stated the amendment was adopted.
Number 415
SENATOR DONLEY said because the amendment reduces the minimum time
of suspension, he would like to see the requirement that they pay
the $100 fee for reinstatement of their license. He then proposed
the $100 reinstatement fee as a conceptual amendment. Hearing no
objection, the amendment was adopted.
Number 490
SENATOR HALFORD moved that CSSB 237(JUD) be passed out of committee
with individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was
ordered.
Number 500
SENATOR TAYLOR brought CSHB 362(HES) am (CHILD SUPPORT:
CRIMINAL/CIVIL REMEDIES) before the committee as the next order of
business.
PHIL PETRI, Chief Operations Officer, Child Support Enforcement
Agency, Department of Revenue, explained the legislation has two
purposes. The first part is a change to the statute of limitations
to extend them to a reasonable period of time so that they aren't
always going back into court to establish a judgement. Right now,
they would have to do that approximately twice in the lifetime of
a normal child assuming 18 because there is a 10-year statute of
limitations. The second part is to establish a new crime of aiding
and abetting and will deal with individuals that willfully and
intentionally change the official record or asset into someone
else's name, or they set up shell corporations, businesses to avoid
paying child support.
Number 560
SENATOR TAYLOR thought using the word "person on lines 19, 20 and
21 was rather vague language because sometimes it is referring to
the "donor" and sometimes it is referring to the "donee."
TAPE 94-40, SIDE B
SENATOR DONLEY commented that the problem is with the specific
intent necessary to trigger existence of a crime. It would be
better to resolve that question now rather than leave it up to a
court later.
Number 100
SENATOR DONLEY asked if the lack of the transferor's intent to
avoid paying support or the transferee's intent to assist the
transferor's attempt to avoid paying support could be a defense.
PHIL PETRI answered that if neither intended it to avoid the
payment of child support, the answer would be "No." They do not
want that to be a crime. He added that he would like to have the
bill worded in such a manner that it has the least amount of
challenges available.
Number 180
SENATOR LITTLE moved the following amendment:
Page 2, lines 7, 11, 14, 18 & 21: Change "person" to "obligor"
Page 2, line 19: Change "person's" to "obligor's"
Hearing no objection, the amendment was adopted.
Number 195
SENATOR DONLEY moved the following amendment to be inserted by the
bill drafter where appropriate: "The lack of the obligor's intent
to avoid paying support, or the transferee's intent to assist the
obligor in avoiding paying support, is not a defense. (The intent
of this amendment was approved prior to the restatement of the
amendment by Senator Donley.) Hearing no objection, the amendment
was adopted.
Number 240
SENATOR TAYLOR stated a committee substitute would be prepared and
the legislation would be back before the committee in the near
future for further action.
Number 250
SENATOR TAYLOR brought CSHB 367(JUD) am (PROHIBITED HIGHWAY
ADVERTISING) before the committee as the next order of business.
SENATOR TAYLOR noted that Senator Frank had requested that his
original version of the legislation be passed out of committee, but
because it did not have the provision relating to municipalities,
it was decided to wait for the House version.
In reviewing the previous hearing by the committee on HB 367,
SENATOR TAYLOR said he wanted to have as clean a bill as possible
under the federal law which would not involve municipal
interference on that question. Senator Little wanted the bill not
to apply to municipalities unless they chose to apply it to
themselves.
SENATOR LITTLE said the way the bill is written in Section 4 on
page 3, lines 16 - 20, is that the municipality's existing
ordinances would remain in effect after passage of this bill.
SENATOR TAYLOR agreed with her interpretation.
Number 305
SENATOR LITTLE proposed an amendment on page 2, line 26, to replace
"8 feet by 12 feet" with "4 feet by 8 feet." After brief
discussion on the amendment and there being no objection to the its
adoption, the Chairman stated the amendment was approved.
There being no motion to move HB 367 out of committee, the
committee went on to the next order of business.
Number 411
SENATOR TAYLOR brought CSHB 410(STA) (REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS)
before the committee as the final order of business.
FRED FERRARA, Alaska Appraisers Association, testifying from
Anchorage over the teleconference network in opposition to the
legislation, stated they had originally needed the authority to
change the statute so that the board can set hours of education
that would be consistent with the federal requirements so that the
new appraisers coming into the business would meet federal
requirements and would be certified to do work for all the banks,
credit unions, etc. However, the bill has been modified in the
House to the extent that it would reduce the present law and cause
them to drop some of the education requirements and cause them to
drop the experience requirements.
Mr. Ferrara said the FIREA law was put into effect to get a basic
starting law all over the United States so that there would be
consistency among the education and experience of appraisers. It
required two years of experience for commercial or residential
appraising.
In 1990, the State of Alaska passed legislation that conformed to
the federal requirements for education, and it even exceeded the
requirements for recertification education by doubling it to 40
hours for every two years, which results in the appraisers getting
better education and, as a result, they have ways of bringing
people into the field a lot easier with courses offered in the
State of Alaska instead of traveling outside.
Mr. Ferrara said HB 410 would effectively force the board to reduce
the recertification education to 20 hours every two years, as well
as forcing them to drop the experience requirements from the
present three years for residential and four years for commercial
down to two years for everybody. This would mean that new people
coming would have lesser experience than all of the appraisers that
are currently certified in the state, and he stated their total
objection to these changes.
Number 520
SENATOR LITTLE inquired why this legislation was perceived to be a
good idea.
Number 525
COMMISSIONER FUHS, Department of Commerce & Economic Development,
explained that the legislation came about at the suggestion of the
Legislative Budget & Audit Committee in order to make the standards
the same as federal law. He pointed out that only four other
states have different standards than the federal standards.
Commissioner Fuhs stressed the importance of passing the
legislation, because if these changes aren't made before June 30,
1994, there will no longer be any more federal housing loans in the
state.
Number 575
KARL LUCK, Director, Division of Occupational Licensing, Department
of Commerce & Economic Development, said the state can lose its
certification, and one of the provisions of losing the
certification is that if, in fact, this auditor board has a finding
that the state is not in compliance.
Number 592
SENATOR DONLEY asked that if the state is currently more stringent
than federal law, than why is the state out of compliance.
COMMISSIONER FUHS answered that Alaska is less stringent in
education, but more stringent in experience. He added that if the
House version passes, Alaska won't be able to more stringent in
experience which would open the door for more people to be
appraisers.
(SENATOR JACKO took over as Chair because SENATOR TAYLOR had
another commitment to meet.)
Number 630
FRED FERRARA pointed out that there is no shortage of appraisers in
the Sate of Alaska.
SENATOR LITTLE said she would to see a comparison showing what the
state has now and how this legislation changes that. COMMISSIONER
FUHS said one could be provided, but reiterated that the bill just
says that the state's requirements for appraisers would at least
have to meet the federal requirements, but could not exceed the
federal requirements.
SENATOR JACKO asked if the bill does anything beyond the federal
requirements. COMMISSIONER FUHS answered that it doesn't, and that
was done at the request of the banking community.
TAPE 94-41, SIDE A
Number 015
Because the committee had lost its quorum, there was no final
action taken on CSHB 367(STA) and the meeting was adjourned at 6:17
p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|