04/12/2010 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB287 | |
| HB355 | |
| SB46 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 46 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | HB 287 | ||
| = | HB 355 | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
April 12, 2010
1:35 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Vice Chair
Senator Dennis Egan
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator John Coghill
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Hollis French, Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 287(JUD)
"An Act relating to the adoption of the Uniform Disclaimer of
Property Interests Act, and to the disclaimer of property rights
under the Uniform Probate Code."
- MOVED CSHB 287(JUD) OUT OF COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 355(JUD)
"An Act relating to criminal fines for organizations."
- MOVED CSSB 355(JUD) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 46
"An Act relating to child support awards made by a court; and
repealing Rule 90.3, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure."
- HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 287
SHORT TITLE: UNIFORM ACT: PROPERTY INTEREST DISCLAIMER
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) RAMRAS, GRUENBERG
01/15/10 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/15/10
01/19/10 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/19/10 (H) L&C, JUD
03/01/10 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM BARNES 124
03/01/10 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/01/10 (H) MINUTE(L&C)
03/04/10 (H) L&C RPT 1DP 4NR
03/04/10 (H) DP: LYNN
03/04/10 (H) NR: BUCH, CHENAULT, T.WILSON, OLSON
03/11/10 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/11/10 (H) <Bill Hearing Canceled>
03/17/10 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/17/10 (H) Moved CSHB 287(JUD) Out of Committee
03/17/10 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/19/10 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) 7DP
03/19/10 (H) DP: LYNN, GRUENBERG, HERRON, DAHLSTROM,
HOLMES, GATTO, RAMRAS
03/23/10 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
03/23/10 (H) VERSION: CSHB 287(JUD)
03/24/10 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/24/10 (S) L&C, JUD
04/06/10 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/06/10 (S) Moved HB 287 Out of Committee
04/06/10 (S) MINUTE(L&C)
04/07/10 (S) L&C RPT 4DP
04/07/10 (S) DP: PASKVAN, BUNDE, THOMAS, MEYER
04/09/10 (S) JUD AT 8:30 AM BUTROVICH 205
04/09/10 (S) Heard & Held
04/09/10 (S) MINUTE(JUD)
BILL: HB 355
SHORT TITLE: CRIMINAL FINES FOR ORGANIZATIONS
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) GRUENBERG
02/19/10 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/19/10 (H) JUD, FIN
03/10/10 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/10/10 (H) Heard & Held
03/10/10 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/11/10 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/11/10 (H) Heard & Held
03/11/10 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/15/10 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/15/10 (H) Moved CSHB 355(JUD) Out of Committee
03/15/10 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/17/10 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) 6DP
03/17/10 (H) DP: LYNN, GRUENBERG, DAHLSTROM, HOLMES,
GATTO, RAMRAS
04/02/10 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM HOUSE FINANCE 519
04/02/10 (H) Moved CSHB 355(JUD) Out of Committee
04/02/10 (H) MINUTE(FIN)
04/05/10 (H) FIN RPT CS(JUD) 4DP 3NR
04/05/10 (H) DP: THOMAS, GARA, DOOGAN, N.FOSTER
04/05/10 (H) NR: KELLY, FAIRCLOUGH, STOLTZE
04/07/10 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/07/10 (H) VERSION: CSHB 355(JUD)
04/08/10 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/08/10 (S) JUD
04/09/10 (S) JUD AT 8:30 AM BUTROVICH 205
04/09/10 (S) Heard & Held
04/09/10 (S) MINUTE(JUD)
BILL: SB 46
SHORT TITLE: CHILD SUPPORT AWARDS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) KOOKESH
01/21/09 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/09
01/21/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/09 (S) HSS, JUD, FIN
03/01/10 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/01/10 (S) Heard & Held
03/01/10 (S) MINUTE(HSS)
03/10/10 (S) HSS AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/10/10 (S) Moved CSSB 46(HSS) Out of Committee
03/10/10 (S) MINUTE(HSS)
03/12/10 (S) HSS RPT CS 5DP NEW TITLE
03/12/10 (S) DP: DAVIS, THOMAS, ELLIS, PASKVAN,
DYSON
03/24/10 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/24/10 (S) Heard & Held
03/24/10 (S) MINUTE(JUD)
04/12/10 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
GRETCHEN STAFT, staff
to Representative Max Gruenberg
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Was available to respond to questions on HB
287 and HB 355.
DOROTHY SHOCKLEY, staff
to Senator Albert Kookesh
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the changes in the CS for SB 46.
ALLEN BAILEY, Attorney
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in opposition to SB 46.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:35:35 PM
VICE-CHAIR BILL WIELECHOWSKI called the Senate Judiciary
Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. Present at the
call to order were Senators Egan, Coghill and Wielechowski.
HB 287-UNIFORM ACT: PROPERTY INTEREST DISCLAIMER
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the consideration of HB 287.
It was heard previously. [CSHB 287(JUD) was before the
committee.]
1:36:10 PM
GRETCHEN STAFT, staff to Representative Max Gruenberg, offered
to answer questions related to HB 287.
SENATOR EGAN moved to report CSHB 287(JUD) from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, it was so ordered.
HB 355-CRIMINAL FINES FOR ORGANIZATIONS
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the consideration of HB 355.
[CSHB 355(JUD) was before the committee.]
1:37:24 PM
GRETCEHN STAFT, staff to Representative Max Gruenberg, offered
to answer questions related to HB 355.
SENATOR COGHILL asked how often the court had imposed the
maximum fine.
MS. STAFT replied the Department of Law (DOL) doesn't keep that
data, but Ms. Carpeneti provided several examples when the
statute was used. The first was a Green Peace case where the
charge was criminal trespass and the fine was $10,000. Another
case involved liquor importation by Ambler Air. That fine was
$85,000. The third case involved Strategica Import-Export.
1:39:41 PM
SENATOR COGHILL asked if the sentence in the Ambler Air case was
a class A misdemeanor.
MS. STAFT replied it was a misdemeanor, but she didn't know the
level.
SENATOR COGHILL said he didn't expect answers now, but before
the bill reached the floor he'd like: 1) examples when the fines
for B misdemeanor and A felony offenses that were close to the
maximum; 2) to know if anyone had looked at how this might
impact the charging mechanism; and 3) information on the
correlation between this and civil liability.
SENATOR MCGUIRE joined the committee.
MS. STAFT recalled that the Ambler Air offense was a class A
misdemeanor and said it's her understanding that the statute
isn't used very often because many of these cases are
negotiated. The main function of this bill would be to let
corporations know what the bottom line would be when they're
negotiating, she said.
1:43:20 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said he just wanted to know what affect this
will have on bargaining and the fallout in civil liability.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he would object to moving the
bill from committee.
SENATOR COGHILL said he didn't mind, but he wants clarification
before he casts his vote on the floor.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked Ms. Staft to facilitate the work
between the two offices and the Department of Law.
MS. STAFT agreed to do so.
1:45:00 PM
SENATOR EGAN moved to report CSHB 355(JUD) from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, CSHB 355(JUD) moved from the Senate
Judiciary Standing Committee.
SB 46-CHILD SUPPORT AWARDS
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the consideration of SB 46.
The bill was heard previously. [CSSB 46(HSS) was before the
committee.
1:45:20 PM
DOROTHY SHOCKLEY, staff to Senator Albert Kookesh, introduced
herself and noted there was a new committee substitute (CS) for
the committee to consider.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI said he'd take public testimony while
the CS was copied and distributed.
ALLEN BAILEY, Attorney, Anchorage, said he's been a family
attorney for about 26 years. He is chair of the child custody
committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) family law
section, and a former member of the ABA Commission on Domestic
Violence. He said he is representing himself as a family lawyer
whose practice consists primarily of child custody cases most of
which are related to violent relationships. He told the
committee that before getting Civil Rule 90.3, the practice of
family law frequently consisted of primary parents effectively
agreeing to receive lower child support in order to continue to
provide care for their children. At the same time, there were
parents who were willing to sell their time with their children
in exchange for lower amounts of child support. That is not good
public policy, he said.
1:48:58 PM
He related that his experience in 36 years of drafting
legislation is that some people for selfish purposes attempt to
modify state laws to benefit themselves and others like them in
a manner that is a disadvantage to others. The problem with
making a statute of what now embodies Alaska Civil Rule 90.3 is
that the rule would be subject to the vagaries of the political
process.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI assured him that that was not the
sponsor's intent.
SENATOR COGHILL asked him to tell the committee about the rule-
making process in the court.
MR. BAILY said his understanding is that the Alaska Supreme
Court justices appoint a committee to make recommendations as to
prospective changes in the court's rule. Most of the appointees
are attorneys who are expert in the area of child custody and
child support litigation. He said it's been his experience that
the change process in the Alaska Civil Rules is much more finely
tuned than the change process in some legislation.
1:53:56 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said he agrees that they are two very different
bodies that both make policy so there will always be a tension,
but the Constitution gives primary authority of making laws to
the Legislature. He appreciates that the court sees how the law
interacts at the practical level, but the court also has its own
internal politics.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked for a motion to adopt the new
committee substitute (CS).
1:55:49 PM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to adopt CS for SB 46, labeled 26-
LS0279\T, as the working document.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI objected for discussion purposes and
asked Ms. Shockley to explain the changes.
MS. SHOCKLEY said on page 6, lines 24-25 and again on line 27,
the phrase "and cash medical support" was deleted. On page 7,
line 20, the phrase "For purpose of establishing a monthly
support obligation for healthcare expenses," was inserted. The
rest of subsection (e) remains the same. On page 7, line [29],
"medical cost" was deleted and "health care expenses" was
inserted.
Page 8, line [4], following "oath" the phrase "accompanied by
documentation verifying the statement" was inserted; page 8,
line 6, following "This statement" the phrase "and
documentation" was inserted; and page 8, line 9, a period was
placed after the word "modify" and the phrase "and must be
accompanied by documentation verifying the income." was deleted.
1:58:25 PM
Page 9, line [2], "court" was deleted and "tribunal" was
inserted. Page 10, line 15, "tribunal." was deleted and "court."
was inserted. Page 10, line 13, following the word "all" the
word "court" was inserted.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked if these are technical changes.
MS. SHOCKLEY answered yes.
VICE-CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI closed public testimony and announced he
would hold SB 48 in committee.
2:02:24 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Vice-Chair Wielechowski adjourned the meeting at 2:02 p.m.
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