04/15/2009 05:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB152 | |
| SB68 | |
| HB49 | |
| HB170 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 68 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 152 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 49 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 170 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
April 15, 2009
6:15 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Hollis French, Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Vice Chair
Senator Lesil McGuire
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Gene Therriault
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 152(JUD)
"An Act making corrective amendments to the Alaska Statutes as
recommended by the revisor of statutes; providing for an
effective date by repealing the effective date of sec. 33, ch.
122, SLA 1977; and providing for an effective date."
MOVED CSHB 152(JUD) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 68
"An Act relating to the voting rights of felons."
MOVED SB 68 OUT OF COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 49(JUD) AM
"An Act relating to the prohibition of the exercise of the power
of eminent domain against a recreational structure for the
purposes of developing a recreational facility or project."
MOVED CSHB 49(JUD)am OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 170
"An Act repealing the authority for day fines."
MOVED HB 170 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 152
SHORT TITLE: 2009 REVISOR'S BILL
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
02/25/09 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/25/09 (H) JUD
03/16/09 (H) JUD AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 120
03/16/09 (H) Heard & Held
03/16/09 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/19/09 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/19/09 (H) Moved CSHB 152(JUD) Out of Committee
03/19/09 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/23/09 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) 2DP 4NR
03/23/09 (H) DP: COGHILL, RAMRAS
03/23/09 (H) NR: LYNN, DAHLSTROM, GATTO, HOLMES
03/27/09 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
03/27/09 (H) VERSION: CSHB 152(JUD)
03/30/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/30/09 (S) JUD
04/15/09 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
BILL: SB 68
SHORT TITLE: FELONS' RIGHT TO VOTE
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) DAVIS
01/21/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/09 (S) STA, JUD, FIN
03/31/09 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
03/31/09 (S) Moved SB 68 Out of Committee
03/31/09 (S) MINUTE(STA)
04/01/09 (S) STA RPT 3DP 1NR
04/01/09 (S) DP: MENARD, MEYER, PASKVAN
04/01/09 (S) NR: FRENCH
04/10/09 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
04/10/09 (S) Heard & Held
04/10/09 (S) MINUTE(JUD)
04/15/09 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
BILL: HB 49
SHORT TITLE: EMINENT DOMAIN: RECREATIONAL STRUCTURES
SPONSOR(s): JOHNSON
01/20/09 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/09
01/20/09 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/20/09 (H) JUD
02/09/09 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
02/09/09 (H) Moved CSHB 49(JUD) Out of Committee
02/09/09 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
02/11/09 (H) JUD RPT CS(JUD) 6DP
02/11/09 (H) DP: LYNN, GRUENBERG, COGHILL,
DAHLSTROM, GATTO, RAMRAS
03/02/09 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
03/02/09 (H) VERSION: CSHB 49(JUD) AM
03/09/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/09/09 (S) JUD
04/03/09 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
04/03/09 (S) -- MEETING CANCELED --
04/13/09 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
04/13/09 (S) Scheduled But Not Heard
04/15/09 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
BILL: HB 170
SHORT TITLE: REPEAL AUTHORITY FOR DAY FINES
SPONSOR(s): CHENAULT
03/09/09 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/09/09 (H) JUD
03/25/09 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
03/25/09 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/25/09 (H) MINUTE(JUD)
03/27/09 (H) JUD RPT 2DP 3NR
03/27/09 (H) DP: LYNN, RAMRAS
03/27/09 (H) NR: GRUENBERG, COGHILL, DAHLSTROM
04/02/09 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/02/09 (H) VERSION: HB 170
04/03/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/03/09 (S) STA, JUD
04/09/09 (S) STA RPT 5DP
04/09/09 (S) DP: MENARD, FRENCH, MEYER, KOOKESH,
PASKVAN
04/09/09 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
04/09/09 (S) Moved HB 170 Out of Committee
04/09/09 (S) MINUTE(STA)
04/15/09 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
KATHRYN KURTZ, Assistant Revisor of Statutes
Legislative Legal and Research Services Division
Legislative Affairs Agency
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 52.
REPRESENTATIVE CRAIG JOHNSON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 49.
ERROL CHAMPION, Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Race Realty
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stated support for HB 49.
TOM WRIGHT, Staff
to Representative Mike Chenault
Alaska Capitol Building
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 170 on behalf of the sponsor.
DOUG WOOLIVER, Administrative Attorney
Alaska Court System
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HB 170.
ACTION NARRATIVE
6:15:00 PM
CHAIR HOLLIS FRENCH called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Wielechowski, McGuire and French.
HB 152-2009 REVISOR'S BILL
6:15:21 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of CS for HB 152. [CSHB
152(JUD).]
KATHRYN KURTZ, Assistant Revisor of Statutes, Legislative Legal
and Research Services Division, Legislative Affairs Agency, said
the revisors are statutorily required every two years to review
Alaska statutes and prepare legislation to correct deficiencies,
remove obsolete provisions, and fix errors in the statutes. This
bill does that; it improves the statutes. The Department of Law
(DOL) has reviewed the changes and discussed the relevant
provisions with the different departments. A letter of support
from DOL should be included in the bill packet, she said.
CHAIR FRENCH acknowledged that the letter is in the packet.
MS. KURTZ said there is an explanation of each change in each
sectional summary.
CHAIR FRENCH said he usually reviews a revisor bill by stress-
testing it in a place or two. He targeted bill section 82 and
asked why this part of law requires so much revising.
MS. KURTZ replied that section is full of repealers. The
sectional summary has the text of each section that is being
repealed as well as the explanations.
6:17:04 PM
AS 08.362.46(a)(4)(B) is a reference to the specialty
examinations given by the Central Regional Examining Board, but
that board doesn't offer specialty examinations so it makes no
sense. The solution is to take it out.
AS 31.05.080(b) was impliedly repealed by the enactment of AS
22.10.020(d).
CHAIR FRENCH said this appears to have come to your attention in
the course of some litigation.
MS. KURTZ replied it did indeed. It is referred to in Allen v.
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. This makes express
that repeal so it's not in the statutes where it could cause
confusion.
6:18:04 PM
CHAIR FRENCH observed that this collection of repealers isn't
related to any particular part of the statutes. There is no
thematic link.
MS. KURTZ replied that's correct and there's a special
constitutional provision for that. The single subject rule
applies to everything but appropriation bills and bills revising
the statutes. That provision enables the revisors to solve a lot
of small technical issues at once.
CHAIR FRENCH expressed satisfaction and asked Senator McGuire if
she had any test questions on the revisor's bill.
SENATOR MCGUIRE said no, but the changes can be comical. For
example, bill section 9 corrects an apparent error by changing
"adopted parent" to "adoptive parent" because Alaska law does
not provide for the adoption of parents by children.
CHAIR FRENCH noted that bill section 39 replaces "newsboys" and
"salesman" to avoid the use of gender specific terms. That same
bill section deletes a grammatically incorrect use of the word
"some," which appeals to the grammarian in him. Similarly, bill
section 41 substitutes "that" for "which" and semi-colons for
commas to conform to the current drafting style. Senator French
said he will bring that to the attention of a staffer with whom
he has a long-standing running debate.
6:20:21 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE referenced bill section 1 and asked what a
generic reference to the division of agriculture would look
like.
MS. KURTZ explained that the generic reference would be to the
division that has responsibility for agriculture. Within a
department names can be changed administratively and things can
be rearranged such that a specific reference would be out of
style and wouldn't make sense in the statute. "We're
anticipating that in some places, and in some places things have
already been rearranged and we're playing catch up," she said.
CHAIR FRENCH found no further questions, no amendments and no
public testimony. He thanked Ms. Kurtz for doing this exacting
difficult work and added, "We could not do it without people
with rigorous minds." He asked for a motion.
SENATOR MCGUIRE moved to report CS for HB 152 from committee
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s).
There being no objection, CSHB 152(JUD) was reported from the
Senate Judiciary Standing Committee.
At ease at 6:22:34 pm.
SB 68-FELONS' RIGHT TO VOTE
6:23:18 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 68 and explained
that during the last hearing the ACLU suggested that there was a
technical issue they wanted to explore. His office subsequently
contacted the ACLU and was told that changes are not necessary.
Acknowledging that he goes back and forth on this policy call,
he said the bill is nevertheless ready to move to the next
committee.
6:24:04 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE moved to report SB 68 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, SB 68 was reported from the Senate Judiciary
Standing Committee.
At ease 6:24 pm.
HB 49-EMINENT DOMAIN: RECREATIONAL STRUCTURES
6:25:00 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of CSHB 49(JUD)am, and
stated that it is his great pleasure to welcome Representative
Craig Johnson to the committee. Representative Johnson has been
very patient and understanding of the difficulty the committee
has had in getting a quorum since the committee lost Senator
Elton, he said. Several times his bill has been scheduled and
not heard. Senator French apologized on behalf of the committee.
REPRESENTATIVE CRAIG JOHNSON, sponsor, said legislation similar
to HB 49 was brought forth last year and died in the Senate as a
result of an amendment that is not contained in this bill. He
recounted that the provision of Alaska statute prohibiting the
taking of someone's personal residence for recreational purposes
via the exercise of eminent domain came about as a result of a
case in Connecticut when a city determined it was okay to
condemn certain real estate for the purpose of increasing its
tax roles. [U.S. Supreme Court case, Kelo v. City of New
London].
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON stated his belief that taking someone's
home or recreational property for recreational purposes doesn't
rise to the level of being in the best public interest. That is
the essence of the bill. However, nothing in HB 49 would
preclude the exercise of eminent domain for "traditional"
purposes. The bill protects an individual's property that is
within 250 feet of their personal residence or recreational
structure. That translates into about 5 acres, he said. The
impetus for the bill comes from people in Juneau, Fairbanks,
Kenai, and Big Lake who are currently building recreational
homes that will become their primary residence when they retire.
6:28:37 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how many other states have similar
legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON offered his personal opinion that Alaska
is unique.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if this committee amended the previous bill.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON replied the bill was amended in the
Senate Finance Committee.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said his only concern with the bill is that
the public is continually losing access to fishing streams and
hunting areas. He highlighted the Kenai River as an example and
asked what can be done to ensure that Alaskans continue to have
access.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON explained that the bill does not restrict
access and the exclusion is limited to 250 feet from a property
owner's physical structure. If, for example, an individual were
to buy 1,000 feet along a river and build a house in the middle,
just the narrow strip in the center could not be taken.
Traditional access is not restricted just as it is not
restricted for a primary residence. "You can't restrict access
to waters because that's a constitutionally guaranteed right,"
he emphasized.
6:30:59 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI mentioned a series of lots and asked if the
intention is that a trail could come no closer than 250 feet on
either side of the structure.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON explained that the right-of-way could be
for bought or sold but the landowner could not go through a very
specific eminent domain process and sue to get the right-of-way
back. Also, if a landowner has a series of lots this only
applies to the lot upon which the structure is built.
6:31:59 PM
ERROL CHAMPION, Associate Broker, Coldwell Banker Race Realty,
and member of the Alaska Board of Realtors, stated support for
HB 49.
CHAIR FRENCH commented that he appreciates that the real estate
industry has been quite staunch in its support of these bills.
MR. CHAMPION described the bill as good protection for any
investor.
CHAIR FRENCH closed public testimony and asked the will of the
committee.
6:33:00 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE moved to report CS for HB 49 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, CSHB 49(JUD)am was reported from the Senate
Judiciary Standing Committee.
At ease 6:33 pm.
HB 170-REPEAL AUTHORITY FOR DAY FINES
6:37:59 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of HB 170.
TOM WRIGHT, staff to Representative Mike Chenault, said HB 170
repeals the authority for courts to impose day fines for certain
misdemeanor offenses. The original legislation, House Bill 119,
was passed in 1994 and required the Alaska Supreme Court to
create a committee to establish a fine schedule and implement
the day fine process. The committee found several problems in
adopting the day fine plan and recommended that the Legislature
solve the problem. Legislation was introduced in 1995 but it did
not pass so the court system could not implement the day fine
schedule. He explained that day fines were established to fine a
person based on their gross daily income.
6:39:13 PM
CHAIR FRENCH commented that when he came across the idea of day
fines as a prosecutor he scratched his head.
MR. WRIGHT said he understands that a Scandinavian country has
adopted a day fine plan and they seem to like it. HB 170 simply
asks to repeal the law because it is not being utilized.
CHAIR FRENCH commented that criminal defendants in Scandinavia
must have more money than they do here because it's his
impression that fines are the least enforced and least utilized
aspect of the criminal justice system. Typically, by the time a
person has been convicted of crimes once or twice they are out
of money. If there is any left it usually goes to restitution,
not a fine.
6:40:38 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked the intent of the original
legislation.
MR. WRIGHT explained that it was to reduce the prison population
by implementing a substantive fine system.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what specific crimes were the focus.
MR. WRIGHT said that was one of the problems. The court had
concerns over which misdemeanors were included and which were
excluded. Thus the request for the 1995 clarifying legislation,
he said.
CHAIR FRENCH mentioned the 4/26/1995 letter from the court
system and said the frustration of the committee is apparent. He
summarized that they wanted to make it work but they couldn't,
so they tossed it back to the Legislature and it hasn't moved.
6:41:44 PM
DOUG WOOLIVER, Administrative Attorney, Alaska Court System,
said he is available for questions. He added that the court
usually takes a neutral position on bills, but this is something
that has never been implemented. "Statutes are confusing enough
without having provisions that are paragraphs long and don't
mean anything," he said.
CHAIR FRENCH asked Mr. Wright if anyone has testified in
opposition to the bill.
MR. WRIGHT said no, but there was one no vote on House Floor. In
response to a question, he said Representative Crawford voted
no.
6:42:55 PM
CHAIR FRENCH closed public testimony and asked the will of the
committee.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI moved to report HB 170 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, HB 170 was reported from the Senate
Judiciary Standing Committee.
6:43:23 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair French adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting at 6:43 pm.
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