SB 181-IDENTIFICATION OF CONTRACTOR IN ADS  3:31:53 PM CHAIR HUGHES announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 181 "An Act relating to identification requirements for contractors." She stated that this was the first hearing and the intention was to hear the introduction and sectional analysis, take public testimony and hold the bill in committee. 3:32:49 PM Daniel Phelps, Staff, Senator Shelley Hughes, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced SB 181 on behalf of the committee. He spoke to the sponsor statement that read as follows: Since 1968 when AS 08.18.051 became statue, contractors in the State of Alaska have been required to list their name, mailing address, address of the contractor's principal place of business, and contractor registration number in all advertising. Although simple, this requirement can incur great expense for contractors, particularly those looking to advertise in print, radio, or television where each additional word or line increases the cost. Furthermore, many contractors in our state maintain several business licenses specific to each service they provide. This requires the contractor to list multiple registration numbers within the same advertisement. Senate Bill 181 amends the current statute by adding a section which allows contractors to provide an internet website or landing page that contains the identification requirements for contractor advertisements in place of those same requirements. Additionally, this bill requires contractors to specify that the internet website or landing page provided contains the information required under statute. This section is added to spare costs to contractors and streamline the advertisement process 3:33:56 PM Senator Wilson joined the meeting. MR. PHELPS presented the following sectional analysis for SB 181: Section 1 AS 08.18.051 (b) Page 1, Line 3 through  Page 1, Line 15 Amends AS 08.18.051 regarding identification requirements for contractors in advertisements. The new language specifies that a contractor's internet website or landing page satisfies the contractor's identification requirements in advertisements so long as it contains the identifiers required under AS 08.18.051 and the advertisement states that the required information is contained on the contractor's Internet website or landing page. CHAIR HUGHES asked if this was compulsory. MR. PHELPS answered no; SB 181 offers contractors the choice to continue to list the required identifiers manually or provide that information on a website instead. 3:35:26 PM CHAIR HUGHES opened public testimony on SB 181. 3:35:37 PM HOLLY BORGMANN, Vice President of Government Affairs, ADT Security Services, Boca Raton, Florida, stated support for SB 181 which will modernize the law and help provide more robust consumer protection for customers in Alaska. Similar legislation has broad support from a diverse range of states. She described the manual process ADT consumers go through to find contractor information versus the simpler process of accessing the information at ADT.com. She opined that the electronic option was more consumer-friendly. 3:37:05 PM CHAIR HUGHES closed public testimony and held SB 181 in committee.