SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS brought SB 164 (MUNICIPAL INCORPORATION, RECLASSIFICATION, DISSOLUTION) before the committee as the first order of business. Number 015 DAN BOCKHORST, Department of Community & Regional Affairs, staff to Alaska Local Boundary Commission, testified from Anchorage over the Legislative Teleconference Network. He said he has reviewed the proposed committee substitute dated 4/9/93, and that it encompasses most of the recommendations made by the department with two exceptions. The work draft retains language the department recommended be deleted because it felt it was redundant to the LBC's tasks that would be assigned under the bill. It would retain the provision for a city council hearing on reclassification as well as requiring a hearing by the LBC. The department does not have strong objection to keeping the language in the bill, but they suggest a technical amendment to AS 29.04.040(c) to reflect that reclassification is now limited only to reclassification of first class cities. The second suggested change is of a policy nature and relates to language in AS 29.06.500(b) that allows a second class city with a population of 3,500 or more permanent residents in jurisdictional boundaries that encompass 35 square miles or more to adopt a home rule charter. The department feels that this proposal should be repealed because the language is tantamount to being local and special legislation. The provisions would apply only to one of Alaska's 116 second class cities, and the department believes that the statutes, from a policy standpoint, should be broad and general and not applicable to single interests as is the case in this particular situation. Mr. Bockhorst outlined three other suggested technical changes: expanding the title of the Act; amending the title of Section 2; and on page 8, line 19, change "shall" to "may." Number 155 SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS requested that Mr. Bockhorst provide the committee with a letter outlining the changes he had discussed, as well as providing a new fiscal note for the committee substitute. He then closed the public hearing on SB 164.