HB 111-CIVIL LIABILITY AND LIVESTOCK    CHAIRMAN TORGERSON announced HB 111 to be up for consideration. REPRESENTATIVE JOHN COGHILL, sponsor, said the intent of HB 111 is to encourage livestock activity and to provide limited civil liability for some of the inherent risks involved in having livestock. It references the wrongful death statute, exempting this particular section, and defines the exemption for gross negligence and intentional misconduct. The primary intent of the bill is to give some relief to those who work around fairs and the like, who do not want to get sued for negligence by someone who was bit while petting their animal or some similar situation. He said this bill was put together by some 4-H students in Fairbanks and was brought to him as part of a 4-H project. MS. KATIE SCHOLLENBERG, President, Trail Blazers 4-H Club, stated support for the bill. MS. DARCY DAVIES said she is involved in a therapeutic riding program and is a coach for a Special Olympics equestrian program in Fairbanks. She said this bill would eliminate liability if their animals hurt someone. She said the Special Olympics program has a lot of problems finding enough horses for participants and sometimes has to turn people away. They would have enough horses if this bill passed, because people would be willing to lend them out if they were protected from liability. She related how her horse accidentally broke the hand of a child who was petting it by accidentally catching the child's hand in the halter. MS. MELISSA LEVENSON, Kodiak resident, said she wants to start a cow riding business during the summer and people would be more willing to come out and ride with this assurance. MS. ANGELA SHORT, Kodiak resident, stated support for HB 111. MS. SARAH PENNINGTON said she strongly supports this bill. She said the benefit [of horseback riding] to children who don't have the use of their legs and can associate with animals is "so awesome." A rider communicates with horses in a way the rider can't communicate with people. This bill would encourage that relationship to happen more frequently. She said she would like to give lessons, but can't because the liability is too great and this bill would help that. MS. KAREN CREELMAN, Kodiak 4-H Leader, stated support for HB 111. She works with younger children and said they learn a lot of things like public speaking, horse anatomy, contest judging and things like that. She would feel a lot more secure if this bill passed. MS. ROBYN DAVIES, Fairbanks 4-H Leader, said the model of 4-H is to learn by doing and she has been involved in this project from the start. She thought promoting this bill would be a good way for the teams to learn about government. She stated, "It has been an incredibly excellent experience for everyone involved." Ms. Davies told members she had 27 public opinion messages in support of this issue. SENATOR TAYLOR asked for the names of the lawyers who wrote the bill for them. MS. DAVIES answered that Ralph Seekins first brought this up at a meeting. He took language from an Oklahoma State statute and gave it to a University of Alaska lawyer, Jano Parrish, to use as a model. Number 2000 MR. TONY TAKAZAWA said he is a 4-H leader and concerned parent. He suggested adding "economic, educational and personal benefits" to HB 111 on line 2. He told members, "The aspect of HB 111 I want to bring to your attention is the 4-H rule of working by doing. Where youth has been able to participate in hands-on land and natural resource related educational activities, such as horse clubs, it has been shown that students of all ability levels have improved their performance and gained a better understanding and appreciation for science. Further, these students have gained increased knowledge and understanding of relevant concepts, content, and processes." He read an article to committee members about how diseases are transmitted to people from animals and how soon the real world will be learned only through books or films as people become afraid of the liability of associating with animals. He thought HB 111 would be a good way to fight this kind of fear. SENATOR TAYLOR asked how many people had died in the article he read. MR. NAKAZAWA responded that 56 people were sick, but it didn't say anyone had died. He stated, "This is just one example of the restrictions that are coming on the industry even for a simple educational petting zoo. It's ridiculous." SENATOR TAYLOR asked if the article indicated whether any of the people brought suit. MR. NAKAZAWA said no. CHAIRMAN TORGERSON thanked everyone for their testimony and said they would hold the bills, since he didn't have a quorum. He adjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m.