SB 71-COUNCIL ON ARTS: PLATES & MANAGE ART  12:16:40 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the final order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 71(FIN), "An Act relating to special request registration plates celebrating the arts; relating to artwork in public buildings and facilities; relating to the management of artwork under the art in public places fund; relating to the powers and duties of the Alaska State Council on the Arts; establishing the Alaska arts and cultural investment fund; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was CSSB 71(FIN).] 12:16:49 PM SENATOR STEVENS, prime sponsor, introduced CSSB 71(FIN). He stated that the bill had been drafted at the request of the Alaska State Council on the Arts resulting from budget complications in its 2019 cycle. He stated that the proposed bill would curtail the council's reliance on the general fund by allowing private fundraising activities. He added that existing license plate project is mandatory, and the bill would make the program optional and would permit the council to modestly compensate the winning artist. 12:18:33 PM MR. LAMKIN, on behalf of Senator Stevens, prime sponsor of CSSB 71(FIN), presented a sectional analysis [included in the sectional analysis], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Sec. 1: AS 28.10.421(a), relating to fees paid to the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for vehicle license plates, allows for an additional fee, set by Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) regulation, and not to exceed $50, when a person chooses a new or replacement ASCA artistic plate. The subsection also provides that these additional fees will be accounted for separately and that the total amount that exceeds the costs of the Artistic License Plate Program may be appropriated to fund the ASCA. Sec. 2: AS 35.27.020(h), relating to the Art Works in Public Buildings and Facilities program, adds a new subsection to specify ASCA's management responsibility for public artwork created under the program, to include the management of the relocation, disposition, or exchange of such artwork. Sec. 3: AS 44.27.050(7), relating to the duties of the ASCA, is a cross reference to the prior section, specifying ASCA's management responsibility for public artwork created through its programs, to include the management of the relocation, disposition, or exchange of such artwork. Sec. 4: AS 44.27.053(a), establishes the Attorney General being legal counsel for ASCA, similar to other state agencies, and allows the ASCA to retain additional legal counsel as needed, subject to the approval of the Attorney General. Sec. 5: AS 44.27.055(d), relating to the ASCA managing its affairs, exempts from the purview of the Executive Budget Act those funds received by ASCA from private non-profit foundation partners. Sec. 6: AS 44.27.080(a), relating to an ASCA-sponsored competition for artistic plates design, from being mandatory to being optional, every four years, at the discretion of ASCA. Sec. 7: AS 44.27.080(c), relating to the artistic plate design competition, restores authority for the ASCA to award the artist of the winning design a monetary amount set in regulation, from the funds generated by the artistic plates. This provision was repealed in 2018. Sec. 8: Provides an effective date of July 1, 2021. MR. LAMKIN added that the creation of a new fund under Section 6 would itemize the privately raised funds to protect those funds from veto separate from its state funds. 12:21:59 PM BENJAMIN BROWN, Chair, Alaska Council on the Arts, testified that the most important aspect of the bill is the license plate monetization section because it would permit collection of revenue to support the programs to aid in meeting federal fund matching requirements. He recalled that Senate Bill 154 had created that Alaska artistic license plate program. He added that the council's board of trustees had coordinated with the bill sponsor to improve the statutes governing the program. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE stated that there exist many questions that she hoped to ask during future committee hearings and would include specific questions regarding the artwork that is in the custody of the council. 12:25:21 PM The committee took an at-ease from 12:25 p.m. to 12:27 p.m. 12:27:25 PM CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS advised that the committee recess to the following Monday. 12:28:03 PM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was recessed at 12:28. [The meeting was recessed to 9:00 a.m. Monday, May 17, 2021.]