HB 83 - FEDERAL REGULATIONS & EXECUTIVE ORDERS  2:50:11 PM CHAIR KELLER announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 83, "An Act relating to certain federal statutes, regulations, presidential executive orders, and secretarial orders; relating to the duties of the attorney general; and providing for an effective date." 2:50:30 PM JIM POUND, Staff, Representative Wes Keller, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of the sponsor, Representative Keller, explained that HB 83 would clarify in Alaska statute that a federal statute, [federal] regulation, presidential executive order, or secretarial order that is unconstitutional or that was not properly adopted in accordance with federal statutory authority may not be considered to preempt Alaska law. He offered his belief that many [federal statutes, federal regulations, presidential executive orders, and secretarial orders] have resulted in Alaska's economy being brought to all but a screeching halt, and that many don't comply with either the U.S. Constitution or the basic rules pertaining to their adoption. Under HB 83, when a federal statute, [federal] regulation, presidential executive order, or secretarial order is considered to be unconstitutional or improperly adopted, the attorney general shall notify the chairs of the House and Senate committees having jurisdiction over judicial matters - the House and Senate Standing Judiciary Committees. Being provided this information would give [the legislature] the opportunity to determine how to proceed. In conclusion, he relayed that [the sponsor] would appreciate the committee's support of HB 83. CHAIR KELLER, as the sponsor of HB 83, said that from his perspective, there seem to be more and more [federal] laws that are [constitutionally] questionable. The bill would enable the legislature to become involved in instances where the attorney general becomes aware of any such [laws]. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, noting that court decisions can impact [federal] laws, ventured that perhaps they ought to add judicial decisions to the list of items that the attorney general shall review and report on. 2:57:39 PM DAVID JONES, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Opinions, Appeals, & Ethics Section, Civil Division (Anchorage), Department of Law (DOL), in response to a question, said that under HB 83 as currently written, [the attorney general] would be required to notify the aforementioned legislative committees of potential constitutional problems, when discovered, that may have a preemptive effect [on state law]. Without the bill, such notification might not occur in the normal course, and so to that extent, [the attorney general's] workload would increase under the bill. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG suggested that perhaps the bill should be changed to instead require legislative Legal and Research Services to conduct the reviews, rather than the attorney general. CHAIR KELLER acknowledged that although the Department of Law (DOL) is tasked with protecting Alaskans, conducting reviews of what's occurring at the federal level in light of that task would be new. In conclusion, he relayed that HB 83 would be held over.