Legislature(2011 - 2012)BUTROVICH 205
03/15/2011 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB98 | |
| SB89 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 98 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 89 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 15, 2011
9:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Bill Wielechowski, Chair
Senator Joe Paskvan, Vice Chair
Senator Albert Kookesh
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Cathy Giessel
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 98
"An Act relating to biometric information."
- HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 89
"An Act clarifying that a legislator or legislative employee is
allowed to accept certain compassionate gifts; allowing
legislators and legislative employees to use legislative mailing
lists for campaign purposes and nonlegislative purposes;
allowing legislators and legislative employees who are
representing persons in an administrative hearing to contact
hearing officers and attempt to influence the outcome of the
hearing if they are professionals licensed in the state, and
allowing legislators and legislative employees who are not
professionals licensed in the state to contact hearing officers
for the purpose of influencing the outcome of the hearing in
certain instances; allowing legislators and legislative
employees, in certain circumstances, to participate in partisan
political activity while on state travel; prohibiting a public
member of the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics from
disclosing confidential information without authorization;
clarifying the ethics disclosure requirements for tickets to or
gifts in connection with charity events; amending disclosure
deadlines under the Legislative Ethics Act; relating to requests
to refrain from disclosure under the Legislative Ethics Act; and
establishing a seat for an alternate public member on the Select
Committee on Legislative Ethics and clarifying the requirements
related to participation by alternate members in the proceedings
of the committee."
- HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 98
SHORT TITLE: BIOMETRIC INFORMATION FOR ID
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) WIELECHOWSKI
03/11/11 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/11/11 (S) STA, JUD
03/15/11 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 89
SHORT TITLE: LEGISLATIVE ETHICS ACT
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) COGHILL
02/16/11 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/16/11 (S) STA, JUD
03/15/11 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
MICHAEL CAULFIELD, Staff to Senator Wielechowski
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 98 for the sponsor.
JASON GIAIMO, Co-chair
Citizens for Privacy in Alaska and
President
Net Gain Business Consultants of Alaska
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 98.
HORST POEPPERL, Chief Executive Officer
Borealis Broadband
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 98.
SENATOR JOHN COGHILL
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 89.
RYNNIEVA MOSS, Staff to Senator Coghill
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented sectional analysis of SB 89 for
the sponsor.
SKIP COOK, Chair
Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
Fairbanks, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided ethics committee positions on
provisions of SB 89.
JOYCE ANDERSON, Administrator
Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided ethics committee positions on
provisions of SB 89.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:01:48 AM
CHAIR BILL WIELECHOWSKI called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Paskvan, Giessel, Meyer, Kookesh, and Chair
Wielechowski.
SB 98-BIOMETRIC INFORMATION FOR ID
9:02:13 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the first order of business would
be SB 98. It is similar to a bill introduced last session, which
the legislature did not have time to fully consider. It would
protect Alaskans from inappropriate use of their fingerprints,
retinal patterns, voice patterns, facial characteristics, and
other biometric information.
SENATOR PASKVAN moved to adopt the committee substitute for SB
98, labeled 27-LS0661\M, as the working document of the
committee.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI objected for discussion purposes.
9:05:32 AM
MICHAEL CAULFIELD, staff to Senator Bill Wielechowski, said that
SB 98 proposed to update a law already on the books, to protect
our privacy rights from emerging new technologies. Senate Bill
217, which passed in 2004, outlaws the collection, analysis, or
storage of a law-abiding person's DNA without their written
consent. Advances in DNA technology have proven to be of great
benefit to society. But DNA science also holds the potential for
abuse, including obtaining information that people have a right
to keep private.
DNA is only one form of biometric information. Physiologic
characteristics can also be used, such as facial recognition
technology. Through this technology, an individual can be
tracked anywhere they go without their knowledge. Another form
is the fingerprint. SB 98 will insure that no organization or
person takes biometric information from another without their
consent. It allows for the use of other identification, such as
a passport or state ID card. There are exceptions for some
purposes, and the bill does not ban the consensual contribution
of biometric information.
Alaskans cherish their privacy; the right to privacy is even
written into the state constitution. On the most basic level,
this should include a right not to have their biometric
information collected and disseminated to third parties. SB 98
has broad support from Alaskans.
SENATOR COGHILL joined the meeting.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked Mr. Caulfield to describe the changes
from the initial bill to the CS.
MR. CAULFIELD said on page 1, line 13, the "and" after passport
has been changed to "or." On page 2, line 21, the phrase
"biometric information" has been added for clarification. Page
2, line 22 - 25, added exemptions to clarify that the Department
of Administration would not be breaking any laws by taking
pictures for ID cards. It also added facial images not used in a
biometric system. On page 2, lines 30, more types of biometric
information were added. Page 30, line 1, they removed the word
"palm" from "palm vein recognition" because of new types of vein
recognition.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI noted one concern is the idea that there are
cameras literally everywhere and they watch you and know exactly
where you are. Most Alaskans instinctively don't like that.
9:09:17 AM
SENATOR PASKVAN asked on page 4, line 22, should the words "palm
print" be changed.
MR. CAULFIELD agreed that should be fixed.
9:10:02 AM
JASON GIAIMO, Co-chair, Citizens for Privacy in Alaska, and
President, Net Gain Business Consultants of Alaska, Anchorage,
said he brought this issue to the attention of several senators
two years ago. Data mining and biometrics collection is a big
business; it is estimated that industry revenues will exceed
$7.5 billion for 2012 alone. Corporate revenues from
fingerprints, iris, vein scanning and facial recognition and
surveillance make up about 49 percent of that total. Data broker
ChoicePoint sells to 7,000 private and government customers,
including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
This is about protecting all Alaskans' privacy in an environment
that is increasingly hostile toward privacy protection. This was
a good bill last session. It is now an urgent bill, because of
the remarkably rapid deterioration in the privacy environment in
the last 12 months. There is a bill proposed in Washington, DC
right now that is a cornerstone of an immigration reform
proposal, and includes a mandatory fingerprinting of Americans
for a biometric workers' ID card.
9:18:31 AM
This has been proposed by two key senators from the East Coast.
This type of proposal makes biometric information an urgent
issue in Alaska. All workers would be enrolled in this federal
ID card program.
MR. GIAIMO said that two and one-half years ago he went to take
the last two parts of the CPA exam in Anchorage. It was January
of 2008, the security policy had changed, and they wanted his
fingerprints. They would not accept a passport, driver's
license, or birth certificate as identification. He had never
been fingerprinted before. He refused, which was very hard, but
he felt it was important to retain his integrity.
Because he is also a certified internal auditor, he was able to
follow the money trail. He learned that a company called
Prometric Corporation, which is a global company with offices in
Anchorage, was collecting the fingerprints. They receive a fee
for collecting the fingerprints, and they sell them to an
international data mining company called ChoicePoint. This
company received the largest fine in the history of the Federal
Trade Commission for bad privacy policies. This company is being
trusted with Alaskans' private information. In the end it is
about money, not identification. Many other exams are now
requiring fingerprints as ID. A city in Arizona is trying to
pass a city ordinance for fingerprinting requirements to receive
medicine at a local pharmacy.
9:23:02 AM
The Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District is
considering mandatory fingerprinting of all low-income school
children or they will be denied subsidized lunches. These sorts
of things are being pushed by biometrics industry lobbyists. It
is about money. Passage of SB 98 will hurt their ability to
collect and traffic our personal data.
9:23:59 AM
HORST POEPPERL, CEO, Borealis Broadband, Anchorage, testified in
support of SB 98. He said in today's world we face an onslaught
of organizations determined to extract every piece of personal
information possible. This situation is out of hand, and is
becoming more and more dangerous for the average citizen.
Companies buy and sell this data, and it can also be lost or
stolen. The best defense is not giving up the information in the
first place.
9:26:11 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI noted the committee also has a letter from
the ACLU. He closed public testimony and announced that SB 98
would be held over.
SB 89-LEGISLATIVE ETHICS ACT
9:28:22 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the next order of business would be
SB 89, which proposes changes to the statutes governing
legislative ethics.
SENATOR PASKVAN moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute
(CS) for SB 89, labeled 27-LS0452\D, as the working document.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI objected for discussion purposes.
SENATOR JOHN COGHILL, sponsor of SB 89, said his staff would go
over the sectional analysis. He said the bill is a product of
many years of conversation about things going on in the
legislature. Nine bills were introduced to change the ethics
law. Some issues have been proposed for three years running. One
issue became a politically hot issue, dealing with value of
meals. This brought the bill to a dead stop. That provision has
been removed.
9:30:06 AM
Mailing list issues have come into question: can legislators use
campaign mailing lists in the legislature, and can they take
mailing lists from the legislature to their campaigns. The
ethics committee gave an opinion on that issue some time ago,
and that will be codified in this statute.
The second question is about state travel. When is it proper to
do campaign activities while traveling as a legislator? Current
statutes have a prohibition against anything partisan in nature
while on state travel. The question should be: what is partisan
activity?
9:31:58 AM
When you are traveling in your home district, you are still that
partisan person. It is always unethical to use state travel to
go to fundraising activity. Senator Coghill said, "If I go home
for a fundraiser, I should pay. If I go to Fairbanks, my home
district, for meetings and I drive to Glenallen, and I am asked
to speak at a Republican luncheon on the way back to Fairbanks,
that would be strictly prohibited under current law."
The rules create a conundrum. Under current rules, he would have
to fly back to Juneau and then back to Fairbanks in order to
speak at that luncheon. The ethical question should be, when is
it right to be partisan and do it on state travel. Some people
would say never, but this ignores the geography problem of
Alaska. Other states are always connected by roads. It can
literally take a day and a half to travel to some places in
Alaska. Distance and logistics can make it difficult to be a
good representative.
9:35:20 AM
SENATOR COGHILL said another issue is billing the state for
costs when traveling out of state. Sometimes costs don't come
back within 30 days. This bill expands the time allowed to 60
days.
When you are helping someone in your office with government
institutions, navigating the systems, such as workers
compensation or the permanent fund, when can you say "Here is
the limit of what we will do on staff time." This needs to be
defined in statute. For years, legislators were the ombudsman.
Now we have an ombudsman's office. We did not have
administrative law judges, and we had to push for answers to
questions. Now administrative law judges can decide these
issues. Legislators can help constituents up until they get
before a final decision-maker. This gives clear boundaries on
how far they can help someone.
9:38:57 AM
He said one exception is for those in the legislature who are
lawyers and who will get paid to do that. It allows that action
but it must be clear.
In situations where a legislator is unable to attend a meeting
of the Legislative Ethics Committee, the committee will put an
alternate in. This bill says the alternate must stay in until
the hearing is concluded. SB 89 also codifies that when a
legislator cannot attend a meeting, the presiding officer can
appoint someone to take their place.
Most of these questions have come up in a series of ethics
committee meetings.
9:41:32 AM
RYNNIEVA MOSS, staff to Senator John Coghill, said she would
review the sectional analysis of SB 89. This is included in the
bill packet. Section 1 is cleanup from legislation passed in
2008, and accommodates the giving and receiving of a
compassionate gift. Section 1 also deals with the mailing list
issue, and clarifies the use of public funds and facilities, and
using legislative mailing lists for fundraising or campaigning
purposes.
Section 2 is about doing constituent work as a legislator. There
is an exception for violation of this section; as soon as they
become aware, the legislator must notify the ethics committee.
If a legislator is called to testify before an administrative
hearing, that would also be an exception.
Sections 3 and 4 of the bill deal with travel time and partisan
activities. The bill drafters tried to be as specific as
possible. This is a policy issue for the legislature to decide.
SB 89 says they can't participate in partisan activities during
a normal working day, which is from 8-5, excluding a meal break,
or on a municipal or state election day, or for 30 days
preceding an election. Under no conditions can they fundraise
for a political party or campaign while traveling on state
business.
9:44:59 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked what current law is regarding the
executive branch on this issue.
MS. MOSS responded she was not sure of the current AG opinion.
SENATOR COGHILL said the executive branch pro-rated based on de
minimis use, but this doesn't work for legislators.
MS. MOSS said section 5 was requested by the Legislative Ethics
Committee. It says they must keep on file for public access all
disclosures they have filed.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked if this change would broaden the law.
MS. MOSS answered it would release the committee from the burden
of compiling a list of all disclosures. Section 6 adds public
members to the prohibition of disclosing confidential
information. Section 7 deals with charity events, and clarifies
that charity tickets also include charity event gifts. Under
current law it is not clear that those must be disclosed. It
tries to clarify that anyone can contribute a gift to a
legislator in a sanctioned charity event. Lobbyists can
contribute up to $250. It is reportable and they cannot exceed
that amount.
9:48:27 AM
SENATOR MEYER asked about the Thanksgiving in March event. It is
sanctioned, and a legislator could win a door prize of a cruise.
If he wins, is that okay as long as he discloses?
MS. MOSS answered yes.
Section 8 is housekeeping regarding charity events. Section 10
accommodates people who may be required to make a disclosure but
that disclosure would violate a U.S. or state constitution or
state or federal law. They can request to refrain from
disclosing.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked about disclosing the names of clients
or patients.
MS. MOSS answered they would have to request not to disclose,
but they are not required to disclose confidential information.
Section 11 addresses volunteers and educational trainees. They
are not currently required to take ethics training. Under this
change they would be. Section 12 is housekeeping for section 14,
which adds a new section dealing with alternates. Section 13
refers to AS 24.16.131 and completely re-writes alternate member
language.
9:51:45 AM
This would include the Alaska Supreme Court in adding alternates
to the Legislative Ethics Committee. Section 15 is adding
legislative ethics training requirements. Section 16 is a
request by the committee to say that hourly legislative
employees (such as maintenance and print shop) are exempt from
ethics training.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked how a volunteer was defined.
MS. MOSS said volunteers are sometimes approved through the
legislative council. Some legislators also have UAF interns,
which is statutory.
SENATOR COGHILL added that if a person helps out in a
legislator's office, then that has to go through the Rules
chairman or legislative council. They would determine whether
that volunteer would have to take ethics training. Once a person
has access to information, they should be under the same type of
rules as other staff.
9:54:30 AM
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked if a staff member is sick and someone
fills in, what happens.
MS. MOSS asked if that person would be on the payroll.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI answered yes.
MS. MOSS responded if a person is on the payroll, they must
comply with legislative ethics laws.
MS. MOSS explained that section 17 defines the meaning of state
travel. Section 18 repeals AS 24.60.130(m); it is replaced by AS
24.60.131. The committee packet also includes a summary of these
changes.
SENATOR COGHILL said the committee packet includes links to
ethics laws in other states. Alaska is on the forefront in
defining legislative ethics. The state travel issue is not as
big in other states, because of geography. The packet also
includes minutes from ethics committee meetings, showing
discussion on state travel issues.
9:57:34 AM
MS. MOSS noted there are five or six different advisory opinions
in the packet. There are also some sets of minutes from 2010
ethics committee hearings regarding state travel.
SKIP COOK, Chair, Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, said
he wanted to comment on two areas of the bill. The state travel
issue has been the subject of much discussion. The Ethics
Committee takes the position that the statute is quite clear;
the committee has no position on what the law should be.
Understandably, the legislature has been reluctant to change the
current law due to possible public reaction. The legislature
passed the law, and the legislature must amend it.
He also commented on the structure of the committee and the use
of alternates. There are currently five public members and four
legislative members on the committee. This is a disadvantage to
the public side, because there is no provision for alternates
for public members. He suggested that be changed so that a Chief
Justice could appoint an alternate public member if the regular
member is unable to attend. This would be better than the
current law.
He also feels the current law goes too far with provisions for a
legislative member's replacement. It doesn't work well with
committee procedures. It is difficult enough to get alternates
up to speed, and the provision for a second alternate is not
fair unless it is also done for public members; it also makes
things difficult for administration of the committee.
10:03:34 AM
JOYCE ANDERSON, Administrator, Select Committee on Legislative
Ethics, said she agreed with the comments of Skip Cook.
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI closed public testimony and announced SB 89
would be set aside for further hearing.
10:05:00 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Wielechowski adjourned the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting at 10:05 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 89 Backup NCSL Links to States' Legislative Ethics Codes.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| SB 89 Committee Substitute Version D.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| SB 89 Sponsor Statement Version D.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| SB 89 Backup Ethics Committee Advisory Opinions.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| SB 89 Backup Ethics Committee Minutes Relevant.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| SB 89 Sectional Analysis Version D.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 89 |
| SB 98 sponsor statement.pdf |
HJUD 4/13/2012 1:00:00 PM SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 Sectional Summary.pdf |
HJUD 4/13/2012 1:00:00 PM SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 FAQ.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 Changes from Original to Version M.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 Biometrics Fact Sheet.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 Biometric textbook.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 Other states statutes.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 supporters.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 ACLU Support Letter.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 EFF background.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |
| SB 98 Choicepoint Article.pdf |
SSTA 3/15/2011 9:00:00 AM |
SB 98 |