Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/27/2019 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB43 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 43 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 27, 2019
3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Chris Birch, Chair
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Lora Reinbold
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Jesse Kiehl
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Scott Kawasaki
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 43
"An Act extending the termination date of the Big Game
Commercial Services Board; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED SB 43 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 43
SHORT TITLE: EXTEND BIG GAME COMMERCIAL SERVICES BOARD
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) WILSON
02/04/19 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/04/19 (S) RES, FIN
02/20/19 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/20/19 (S) Heard & Held
02/20/19 (S) MINUTE(RES)
02/27/19 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR DAVID WILSON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 43, provided final remarks on
the bill.
MAJOR BERNARD CHASTAIN, Deputy Director
Alaska Wildlife Troopers
Alaska Department of Public Safety
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the court process for big game
commercial license cases related to SB 43.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:30:12 PM
CHAIR CHRIS BIRCH called the Senate Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Present at the call to order were
Senators Coghill, Kiehl, Giessel, Bishop, Reinbold, and Chair
Birch.
SB 43-EXTEND BIG GAME COMMERCIAL SERVICES BOARD
3:30:41 PM
CHAIR BIRCH announced the consideration of Senate Bill 43 (SB
43). He said his intention is to move the bill on to the next
committee of referral.
3:31:25 PM
SENATOR DAVID WILSON, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 43, summarized that SB 43 extends the termination
date for the Big Game Commercial Game Services Board until June
2025. Additional emails have been received and his office looks
forward to addressing issues that came up during public
testimony. SB 43 strictly extends the board; however, ways to
streamline the case process will occur later. He said he
welcomed input on how to work on solutions for the problems that
were mentioned during the previous hearing.
SENATOR REINBOLD said she decided not to offer an amendment to
reduce the boards extension to either two or four years. She
emphasized the 95 percent of cases are unnecessarily delayed and
fixing the delays is important.
SENATOR GIESSEL addressed the concept of "delays" and noted a
case where the first charging disposition occurred in September
2014, but the criminal court did not reach a disposition until
June 2018. She pointed out that the division had said in an
earlier hearing that the investigator for the board must open a
case when the wildlife troopers open their case, so
automatically the case was delayed three years and nine months.
She added that the noted case is currently in civil court and is
still not done. She said the case is informative when
considering the audit identified delays and acts as clear
evidence of the factors that occur outside of the board. She
pointed out that the board cannot act until the administrative
law judge in civil court has made a ruling.
SENATOR GIESSEL asked that the committee hear from the Alaska
Wildlife Troopers for information on what might delay the Big
Game Commercial Game Services Board from acting on licenses for
guides, transporters, or other individuals under their
jurisdiction.
3:35:37 PM
MAJOR BERNARD CHASTAIN, Deputy Director, Alaska Wildlife
Troopers, Alaska Department of Public Safety, Anchorage, Alaska,
explained that there are two scenarios, one is criminal, and one
is civil. The Alaska Wildlife Troopers operate in the criminal
side in reference to Alaska Statutes (AS) Title 8 (08), "AS 08,"
which were created by the Legislature to deal with criminal
offences that occur in the big game guiding industry.
He said after a case is charged under "AS 08," the criminal
court process commences where sometimes delays occur based upon
due process and things involved in the court process, but
eventually the criminal court case ends up with a resolution.
He explained that after the criminal court process, the civil
portion starts which is where the Department of Commerce and
Economic Development (DCCED) starts their investigation that
usually deals with licensing. Typically, courts try not to act
on big game commercial licenses because when a court acts on a
license, the board is bound by the court's action where judges
often let the board, the appropriate licensing agency, take
action on the license if criminal behavior occurred.
He noted that in the case that Senator Giessel referenced, the
judge did decide to let the board act on the license and after
the criminal resolution the investigator filed an accusation
against the defendant that started a civil process and that case
is currently awaiting a decision by the administrative law
judge.
3:38:13 PM
SENATOR GIESSEL noted the criminal court levied a $35,100 fine
with 30 days of jail time for the case that she referenced.
MAJOR CHASTAIN concurred with Senator Giessel's observation of
the criminal court's resolution and detailed specific fines,
jail and probation time associated with the case. He said the
Alaska Wildlife Troopers and DCCED both support suspension and
revocation of the defendant's license based upon the egregious
case.
SENATOR REINBOLD addressed the sunset audit that showed 145
cases had been open for 180 days. She pointed out that the audit
found 20 out of 22 randomly sampled cases had "unjustified
periods of inactivity." She asked if he believes the extension
should be shortened.
MAJOR CHASTAIN clarified that he was strictly speaking about the
enforcement side and the decision on extending the board's time
period was up to the Legislature. He said the previously noted
case is an example of cases that take several years to be
completely resolved, which leads to frustration. He said the
appearance is no action is being taken but in fact action is
being taken as the wheels-of-justice moves slowly along.
3:41:29 PM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to report SB 43, [version 31-LS0442\A],
from committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal note.
3:41:39 PM
CHAIR BIRCH said there being no objection, the motion carried.
3:41:45 PM
At ease.
3:43:33 PM
CHAIR BIRCH called the committee back to order.
3:43:42 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Birch adjourned the Senate Resources Standing Committee
meeting at 3:43 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB43 Jay Stanford Email 2.25.19.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2019 9:00:00 AM SRES 2/27/2019 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB43 Jaff Pralle Email 2.22.19.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2019 9:00:00 AM SRES 2/27/2019 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB43 Brad Dennison Email 2.18.19.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2019 9:00:00 AM SRES 2/27/2019 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB43 Kodiak Outdoor Adventures Letter 2.25.19.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2019 9:00:00 AM SRES 2/27/2019 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB43 Nate Turner Letter 2.25.19.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2019 9:00:00 AM SRES 2/27/2019 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |
| SB43 Wayne Kubat Email 2.26.19.pdf |
SFIN 4/9/2019 9:00:00 AM SRES 2/27/2019 3:30:00 PM |
SB 43 |