Legislature(1999 - 2000)
04/27/1999 01:40 PM Senate L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE
April 27, 1999
1:40 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Jerry Mackie, Chairman
Senator Tim Kelly, Vice Chairman
Senator Dave Donley
Senator Lyman Hoffman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Loren Leman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 61
"An Act relating to an exemption from the requirement for payment
for overtime under a voluntary written agreement for certain
employees in the airline industry; and providing for an effective
date."
-MOVED HB 61 OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 101(L&C)
"An Act relating to the mailing requirements that must be followed
by the commissioner of commerce and economic development to
involuntarily dissolve certain organized entities; relating to the
reinstatement of corporations that are public utilities and that
have been involuntarily dissolved; and providing for an effective
date."
-MOVED HB 101 OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 71(HES)
"An Act relating to licensure by the State Medical Board."
-HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
HB 61 - No previous action to consider.
HB 101 - No previous action to consider.
SB 71 - See HESS minutes dated 4/7/99 and 4/12/99.
WITNESS REGISTER
Representative Andrew Halcro
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 61.
Mr. Dwight Perkins, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Labor
P.O. Box 21149
Juneau, AK 99802-1149
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 61.
Representative Carl Morgan
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 101.
Mr. Ashley Reed
360 W Benson #200
Anchorage, AK 99503
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HB 101.
Ms. Dawn William
Division of Banking, Securities and Corporations
Department of Commerce
P.O. Box 110807
Juneau, AK 99811-0907
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HB 101.
Dr. Sarah Isto, Chairperson
State Medical Board
1718 Willow Dr.
Juneau, AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 71.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 99-18, SIDE A
Number 001
HB 61-OVERTIME WAGE EXEMPTION AIRLINE EMPLOYEES
CHAIRMAN MACKIE called the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee
meeting to order at 1:43 p.m. and announced HB 61 to be up for
consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO, sponsor, said that HB 61 allows exemption of
overtime for airline employees. It has the support of the unions
and industry.
SENATOR KELLY asked if it was limited to airlines.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO answered yes.
SENATOR KELLY asked if it applied to airline pilots.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO answered no.
SENATOR KELLY commented that pilots are regulated by the FAA.
CHAIRMAN MACKIE asked if there was any opposition to this bill.
REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO answered there was no opposition
MR. DWIGHT PERKINS, Department of Labor, said the Department has a
policy to oppose any changes to wage and hour overtime law, but
during the interim they talked to employee groups and individuals
and found that they don't oppose this bill.
SENATOR KELLY moved to pass HB 61 with individual recommendations.
There were no objections and it was so ordered.
HB 101-CORPORATE PUBLIC UTILITY REINSTATEMENT
CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced HB 101 to be up for consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE MORGAN, sponsor, said this legislation is a vehicle
to allow the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development
the discretion to reinstate, as a corporation, a local exchange
(telecommunications) company that serves several communities in
western Alaska. This legislation also clearly outlines
departmental procedure for corporate notification that should
prevent further involuntary dissolutions.
Bush-Tell is a small, rural local exchange telephone company
located in Aniak, Alaska. It provides local exchange telephone
service to ten small villages in Western Alaska. Bush-Tell was
incorporated on November 10, 1969 and has been providing
telecommunications service since 1970. The President and sole
shareholder of Bush-Tell recently contacted the Alaska Division of
Banking, Securities & Corporations to find out about registering a
"dba" and was informed that Bush-Tell was no longer registered as
a corporation with the Division. Bush-Tell had been involuntarily
dissolved in 1993 for failing to file its biennial report and/or
failing to pay its biennial corporate tax for the period ending
December 31, 1992.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that Bush-Tell's registered
agent had failed to follow the proper statutory procedures for
resigning as a registered agent and that his omissions resulted in
the involuntary dissolution of Bush-Tell.
Bush-Tell's designated agent was a sole practitioner in Anchorage
who also served as Bush-Tell's general counsel. In the early
1980's, Bush-Tell hired another law firm to do its legal work, but
continued to retain the sole practitioner as its registered agent.
The forms for Bush-Tell's biennial reports were sent to the
registered agent and were filed by the registered agent up to and
including the period ending December 31, 1990.
In 1991, the registered agent left the private practice of law,
closed his office and left a forwarding address for his mail with
the U.S. Postal Service. The registered agent did not inform the
Alaska Division of Banking, Securities & Corporations that his
address was changing or that he was resigning as Bush-Tells'
registered agent. Alaska Statute requires that, if a registered
agent resigns, they first file a written notice with the
commissioner setting out the latest address of the principal office
of the corporation and the names, addresses and titles of the most
recent officers of the corporation. The commission must then
immediately mail a copy of the notice to the corporation at its
principal office.
On July 12, 1993, the Alaska Division of Banking, Securities &
Corporations sent a notice by certified mail to Bush-Tell, in care
of the registered agent, informing Bush-Tell it had not filed its
biennial report and/or tax for the period ending December 31, 1992
and, if the biennial report and/or tax are not mailed by September
19, 1993, the Certificate of Involuntary Dissolution will be issued
and the corporation will cease to exist as of September 20, 1993.
This notice was returned to the Alaska Division of Banking,
Securities & Corporations because the registered agent's forwarding
notice had expired. On September 20, 1993, Bush-Tell was
involuntarily dissolved.
Since the time of dissolution, and even after discovering the
involuntary dissolution, Bush-Tell has observed all of the
corporate procedures required by its Bylaws and Alaska law
including holding regular board of directors meetings and paying
corporate income tax.
This legislation corrects an involuntary dissolution and
statutorily establishes corporate notification procedures used by
the Department of Commerce and Economic Development to prevent
similar situations from happening in the future.
Procedures would require mail be sent certified to a corporation's
registered office. If returned, it would be sent first class to
the president of the corporation or to another officer. The
requirements would apply to for-profit, electric and telephone
cooperatives, religious corporations, limited liability
corporations, cooperatives, nonprofit cemetery corporations, and
professional corporations. These requirements would not apply to
business and industrial development corporations (BIDCO), as they
do not have provisions for dissolution. These requirements do
apply to revocation of certificates of authority for out-of-state
organized entities.
MR. ASHLEY REED testified on HB 61, but due to a taping
malfunction, his testimony did not record.
SENATOR HOFFMAN asked how this legislation would work.
REPRESENTATIVE MORGAN answered that this is putting policy into
statute.
SENATOR DONLEY asked where Section 10 of the bill went into
statute, because it didn't say where it goes. He asked if it goes
in the temporary section of the statute.
MS. DAWN WILLIAMS, Department of Commerce, explained a temporary
section in the bill has happened with native corporations in the
past. They have a certain time limit in which to reinstate, and
after that time, the language is deleted.
CHAIRMAN MACKIE said they would check with the drafters to make
sure nothing was left out and asked if the Department supported the
bill.
MS. WILLIAMS said yes.
CHAIRMAN MACKIE asked her to explain how this was able to happen
and if they have a new policy in the meantime for notifications.
MS. WILLIAMS responded that she didn't know what happened in this
case as she wasn't here in 1993. She thought the certified notice
was sent to the registered agent and returned. She didn't know if
they then sent it then to a principle officer or not. Sections 3
and 8 will require them to do the policy and more.
SENATOR KELLY moved to pass CSHB 101(L&C) with individual
recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
SB 71-PHYSICIAN LICENSURE CHANGES
CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced SB 71 to be up for consideration.
DR. SARAH ISTO, Chair of the State Medical Board, explained that SB
72 resolves licensure problems for the Board, updates Alaska
statutes in relation to other states, and corrects unintended
problems within the current law. DR. ISTO said the State Medical
Board supports the bill.
DR. ISTO explained there have been several difficulties over the
past few years that this bill is intended to remedy. There are
seven specific problems SB 71 deals with. First, the Board is not
currently able to consider the fact that an applicant is a
convicted felon, unless the felony was committed during the
practice of medicine. The Board would like to be able to consider
felony and misdemeanor offenses when they relate to an applicant's
fitness to practice.
Second, DR. ISTO said this bill will prevent delays and
interruptions in the delivery of patient care. Currently, if a
person is short of continuing education credits, they are supposed
to stop work immediately. SB 71 will allow a person to continue
practicing while a minor deficiency is corrected.
Next, DR. ISTO explained SB 71 will fix a problem for residents
being trained as doctors. Currently, only one-year permits and
licences are awarded, though this is a three-year program in
Anchorage. This bill will allow residents to be licenced after two
years.
Also, Section 5 removes a prohibition on considering anything short
of a suspension or revocation in another state. DR. ISTO said the
Board needs to be able to consider other disciplinary actions and
this section of the bill simply "extends the language into modern
day discipline uses."
Section 6 deals with citizenship. Alaska is the only state that
requires this, and DR. ISTO remarked she does not think this is
pertinent to a doctor's competence. There are people who are
legally in the U.S. that are not able to see patients in Alaska,
and DR. ISTO said she would like to see this requirement deleted.
Section 7 deals with foreign medical graduates who come from
medical schools that are not accredited by the U.S. or Canada.
Currently, a person is required to have completed one year of post
graduate training in an accredited school. Forty-seven other states
require a person to have completed three years of post graduate
training in an accredited school of medicine. She would like to see
Alaska adopt the three year standard. Additionally, people who
graduate from accredited schools after 1995 would be required to
have two years of post-graduate training.
SENATOR KELLY expressed concern about language on page 4, line 28
of the bill which gives the Board too much latitude and discretion
to consider misdemeanor offenses. DR. ISTO replied the language
of the bill requires the misdemeanor to be "substantially related
to the qualifications, functions or duties of the licensee" in
order to be considered by the Board. SENATOR KELLY agreed that is
the initial language, but the bill goes on to say "or a misdemeanor
in this or any other jurisdiction." SENATOR KELLY stated, "That's
any misdemeanor . . . I don't want to give the Board that kind of
discretion."
DR. ISTO said she still reads the bill to allow consideration of a
misdemeanor only as it relates to fitness to practice. SENATOR
KELLY maintained that even if the consideration is tied to fitness
to practice, "That's just a lot of discretion to give to a group of
people who control their own profession." He asked why it is
necessary to give the Board discretion to reject an application by
a person who has committed a misdemeanor. DR. ISTO stated it is not
the intention of the Board to "lightly decline applicants because
they had some misdemeanor." She said she believes the Board would
be willing to modify this, if they were still given the discretion
to consider felonies.
SENATOR MACKIE asked if this section deals with the Board imposing
sanctions on licensees who have been convicted. He said his concern
is that a person who has committed a misdemeanor may be denied the
opportunity to practice medicine. DR. ISTO said she had only
intended the Board be able to consider these things, not
necessarily act on them or "sanction somebody or refuse a new
applicant." She repeated it was not the intent of the Board to
include language that would allow denial of a license or sanction
for a misdemeanor "of no consequence to the practice of medicine."
Again, she said she would agree to softening of the language if the
Board retained the right to consider felonies. SENATOR MACKIE
thought that was the current law. MS. ISTO explained felonies
could be considered only if they occur as part of a person's duties
as a physician.
SENATOR MACKIE asked who wanted the misdemeanor language. He
thought an example of a misdemeanor the Board might want to
consider would help the committee understand the motivation behind
the proposed amendments. DR. ISTO suggested the Board may wish to
consider a recent DWI.
SENATOR DONLEY suggested the committee was going back over the same
ground and "somebody should either propose something or we should
hold the bill over."
SENATOR KELLY reiterated he is uncomfortable with the idea of tying
a misdemeanor to the fitness to practice. He said this could be a
subjective judgement of whomever happens to be on the Medical Board
at the time. It is an expansion of the Board's power that makes him
nervous. SENATOR DONLEY agreed. SENATOR MACKIE proposed he would
hold the bill over while they worked on this issue.
Number 532
MS. CATHERINE REARDON, Director of the Division of Occupational
Licencing, testified that the Department strongly supports the
bill. She noted that the Medical Board is interested in licencing
people quickly and does not attempt to block applications
unnecessarily. She suggested the Board may wish to consider
misdemeanors involving recent substance abuse, and said there is a
need to consider felonies unrelated to the practice of medicine.
She mentioned there is always a right to a due process hearing,
which checks irresponsible application of a person's history by the
Board. She stated the bill has a zero fiscal note and the
Department supports it.
CHAIRMAN MACKIE thanked everyone for their testimony and said they
would hold SB 71 and adjourned the meeting at 2:28 p.m.
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