SB 92-LIMITED LICENSE IGNITION INTERLOCK  CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 92. SENATOR FRENCH said the ignition interlock device is an automatic check to prove that drivers are sober before driving their cars. The idea is to put something between repeat drunk drivers and their cars. SB 92 uses modern technology to combat drunk driving in Alaska, which has one of the highest DUI [driving under the influence] rates in the country. Many convicted drivers are multiple offenders. In 2006, nearly one third of Alaska's DUI cases involved a person that had been convicted in the past. The device would be required during probation for repeat DUI offenders and for first-time offenders with a blood-alcohol level of over 0.15. In order for a repeat offender to drive, the car must be equipped with the device, and the cost of the device will be borne by the offender. If a judge grants a limited license privilege to an offender during the period of license revocation, the bill will require the device. No one will argue that Alaska needs to lower its DUI statistics, he stated, and SB 92 is a proactive step. 9:27:14 AM SENATOR FRENCH said there are places in the state where it might be impossible to install the device, and the bill leaves it to the commissioner to delegate where its use is feasible. He noted that in Unalaska the cost of the device would be over $1,000. The idea is to get as many people as possible, and he suggested that the use of the device will be feasible in the Railbelt and other cities that can support the necessary technician. It is not a magic bullet--there is always a way for someone to get around the law--but Alaska needs to make it more difficult for someone to drive drunk. The device will also allow someone who is sober back behind the wheel, he concluded. 9:29:06 AM SENATOR BUNDE said he supports the goal, and he has looked into it before, but he was discouraged by the scofflaws that could get around the system. He asked about cheating in other states. MS. BABETTE MILLER, Owner, Smart Start, said she doesn't have those numbers, but she can get them. SENATOR BUNDE said the new interlocks are more sophisticated, and he asked how they work. MS. MILLER said the interlock system works by blowing and humming into the unit for seven seconds. A voice detector prevents someone from using an air tank. 9:31:19 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked if the system detects that particular individual, and what the costs are. MS. MILLER said there is a new unit that takes a picture of the individual blowing into the unit to verify identity, but it is not approved for Alaska yet. She said her company charges $100 for installation and $125 a month for the lease. SENATOR BUNDE said when someone builds a better lock, someone finds a better hacksaw. He asked about a person required to use an interlock in one town who went to another town to buy a car. 9:33:11 AM SENATOR FRENCH said it is not a matter of where the car is registered, but where the person will be driving. He assumes the department will consider everything when granting a waiver to drive. There are ways of checking where a person lives, he said. 9:34:07 AM SENATOR BUNDE asked if the department will do a case by case analysis of who will get a waiver. SENATOR FRENCH said it could be a hybrid, and someone could be exempted because of the disproportionate costs, and he anticipates that there will be regional exemptions. SENATOR BUNDE said some people will claim poverty, forcing the state to pick up the tab. SENATOR FRENCH said driving is a privilege not a right, and the state will not pay. If a person can't afford a car, the state doesn't offer a car. Likewise, if a person can't satisfy the condition of the sentence, he or she will need to use public transportation. There is a huge cost involved, but his sympathy is with the ones hurt by drunk drivers. SENATOR BUNDE said he agrees that the perpetrator must bare the costs, and the state should not pay for the program. SENATOR GREEN asked when the infraction actually occurs. She asked if driving a different car is an offence. 9:36:36 AM SENATOR FRENCH said the onus would be on the person; if driving, he or she must be behind the wheel of a car with the device. Family members can drive that car or a car without a device. RODNEY DIAL, Lieutenant, Alaska State Troopers, said the Department of Public Safety fully supports SB 92. Having this device is not only a reminder to the driver; it is also an indication to the rider. He has made hundreds of DUI arrests and is constantly amazed at the number of drunk drivers who have a sober passenger. "We are fairly excited about this, that this will reduce some of the impaired drivers on our roads and make Alaska highways safer," he stated. 9:39:26 AM SENATOR BUNDE noted the sponsor's intention of exempting remote areas because of the added costs. "If you can't afford an interlock that's going to cost you $1,000, maybe you ought not to drink." He noted there are places where bootlegged alcohol costs hundreds of dollars a gallon, and "perhaps there is the money available if there is the will." 9:40:24 AM SENATOR FRENCH said one study shows repeat offenses are decreased 80 percent in the first year of using the interlock device. He pointed out one letter in support of SB 92 that notes the harm done by repeat offenders. We can eliminate the killing of innocent people--or keep downward pressure, he said. SENATOR GREEN noted that court-imposed fines don't vary by region and why Senator French is concerned about the variation in the cost of the interlock device. 9:41:57 AM SENATOR FRENCH said the fines are uniform. "We don't fine people in Bethel $5,000 and people in Anchorage $1,000." If an ignition interlock can be many times more expensive, "there has to be some allowance for the fact that it is just not available statewide." He said it may be feasible with future technology, but for now, the disproportion costs need to be considered. SENATOR STEVENS asked if it applies to other vehicles such as snow machines. MS. MILLER said the unit cannot be installed where it can't be protected from the environment. 9:44:03 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said the legislature needs to continue the pressure of getting the interlock devices in the communities. [The bill] doesn't mention the cost of the device, she said. Driving is a privilege, and the interlock device absolutely reduces recurrence rates. It is incumbent on the legislature to encourage the use and availability of the devices in outlying areas. "Whatever it takes," she stated. SENATOR BUNDE moved Amendment 1, as follows: Delete lines 12-15 on page 10, which give the Department of Administration the ability to determine that interlocks are not available in some places. With fines as high as $6,000, "it seems as if the cost of another $1,000 for an interlock is not substantial." This is a very broad allowance for the department to determine if the device is unavailable. Someone in Talkeetna could make that claim, he suggested. CHAIR MCGUIRE said the net effect would be that someone who didn't get the device would not be able to drive. 9:46:57 AM SENATOR GREEN noted other references to the same thing. SENATOR BUNDE withdrew his amendment and instead moved conceptual Amendment 1 to "remove all references to making the interlock device optional." 9:48:13 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said the drafter can look for any reference, and she noted the references on page 2, 7, and 10. She said she will object in order to hear Senator French's response. SENATOR FRENCH said it boils down to proportionality. It is not fair to charge one person $125 and another $1,000. He is willing to wait for the technology to catch up with the rest of the state and focus on the Railbelt and other urban areas. SENATOR STEVENS said he has some concerns with the remote villages that he is not familiar with. Villages don't have public transportation, he noted. 9:50:08 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE asked if the Smart Start Company is in Alaska now. MS. MILLER said yes, and the company goes to remote areas once there are four to five people that need the service. The airfare is not charged to them. "We bite that cost," she stated. "We do that with approximately two remote areas at a time. We are currently…expanding into as many areas as we can." She said she is hiring contractors in outlying areas, including Dillingham, Kodiak, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Juneau. There is a competitor in Bethel, she added. The company tries to cover as many areas as it can. There are two people on a list in Unalaska, "and once we pull out of another area that we're in at a loss, if that area still needs the service, we will go in to that area and install the units and try to find a contractor there." SENATOR BUNDE said the level of alcohol abuse in rural Alaska exceeds the high abuse in urban Alaska. The bill deals with traffic laws and only applies to state roads. Small villages may not have state roads, he said, and asked if it would apply. 9:52:42 AM SENATOR FRENCH said there are insurance laws that don't apply, but you can get a DUI while sitting in a parking lot or in a driveway. It is all encompassing, he said. He then asked Ms. Miller if she charges the same fee throughout the state. MS. MILLER said the installation cost is $50 more when flying to an area, and the monthly price is same. SENATOR STEVENS asked if the waiver is removed and if a person in a place without access to the device drives sober, would he or she would be in violation. He thinks the waiver should be left in for the time being. 9:54:19 AM SENATOR FRENCH suggested holding the bill until the department figures out where the device will be required. It is important to keep in mind that the bill is about repeat offenders. 9:55:09 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE said the limited license is a privilege within a privilege: "you're a repeat offender; you've broken the law multiple times, and now we're allowing you to drive on a limited basis, and in exchange for that very gracious privilege, we're asking that an interlock device be installed to put you in between your drinking problem and the wheel of your car." She said she is leaning toward the amendment because of the privilege part and that the interlock is maybe the only thing that separates that alcoholic from the car and the drinking. SENATOR BUNDE asked if a remote location adds an extra $50 for installation, but the monthly fee is the same throughout the state. He noted that a $1000 installation fee isn't reality. MS. MILLER said that is true, but her competitor passes on the airfare. Her company gives the option of paying the airfare if an individual doesn't want to wait for four or five others needing the service in the area. 9:57:29 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked for the statistics of DUIs around the state, because some villages may not have any DUIs. CHAIR MCGUIRE requested information on airline costs and the other company's policies. SB 92 was held over.