SB 144-RATES: MOTOR VEHICLE WARRANTY WORK  1:34:09 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 144, "An Act relating to rates and time allowances for motor vehicle warranty work." 1:34:42 PM SENATOR MATT CLAMAN, District H, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of SB 144, gave an overview of SB 144. He stated that SB 144 would allow auto dealers to bill the same time allowance for warranty service as is used for non-warranty service. This would help auto dealers combat workplace challenges when recruiting - and retaining - employees to perform this essential work. He noted that SB 144 is an effort to equalize the marketplace and keep mechanics working in Alaska. 1:36:14 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN opened public testimony on SB 144. 1:37:16 PM JEFF PERRY, Director of Public Policy, General Motors, Detroit, Michigan, testified in opposition to SB 144. He stated that prior to the hearing, they were asked to randomly sample 25 labor operations to compare Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) times to after-market times. They evaluated warranty repair orders submitted by dealers and found that in more than 50 percent of the cases, the mechanics recorded completing the work in the OEM published time. He added that over 50 percent of the cases were completed within after-market times. He suggested that SB 144 is not about needing more time to complete the work; rather, it is about wanting more for the sake of getting more. He stated that when technicians are not able to complete the work within the time allotted, OEM alone has a process for the dealer to submit a request for additional time. MR. PERRY said that in 2023 General Motors (GM) approved 97 percent of additional time requests from Alaska dealers. He stated that GM makes a great effort to accurately measure the time needed for each labor operation and contrasted this with after market time guides. He commented that an after-market time guide is a product, and the customer is the dealer or the repair shop. He explained that these after-market guides compete based on who publishes the highest prices. It is not uncommon for repair shops to have multiple after-market time guides in order to "cherry-pick" the highest time for a repair when charging their customers - even though these guides come with disclaimers stating that they are estimates only - and are not intended for use when billing. He pointed out that the Alaska Auto Repair Act requires repair shops to provide detailed receipts to avoid misrepresentation of the work performed. He suggested that charging for two hours of work when only one hour of work was done is a misrepresentation - and opined that the state of Alaska should not be endorsing this practice. 1:40:19 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN closed public testimony on SB 144. 1:40:34 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN solicited a motion. 1:40:36 PM SENATOR BISHOP moved to report SB 144, work order 33-LS0736\A, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). 1:40:55 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN found no objection and SB 144 was reported from the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.