HOUSE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE April 8, 1998 3:15 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Norman Rokeberg, Chairman Representative John Cowdery, Vice Chairman Representative Jerry Sanders Representative Joe Ryan Representative Tom Brice MEMBERS ABSENT Representative Bill Hudson Representative Gene Kubina COMMITTEE CALENDAR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 34 Establishing a Joint Committee on Electric Utility Restructuring. - MOVED CSHCR 34(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 235(FIN) "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers." - MOVED CSSB 235(FIN) OUT OF COMMITTEE SENATE BILL NO. 268 "An Act relating to the assignment to the Department of Labor of certain wage claims; and providing for an effective date." - MOVED SB 268 OUT OF COMMITTEE (* First public hearing) PREVIOUS ACTION BILL: HCR 34 SHORT TITLE: JT COM ON ELEC UTILITY RESTRUCTURING SPONSOR(S): LABOR & COMMERCE Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 03/30/98 2788 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 03/30/98 2788 (H) LABOR & COMMERCE 04/06/98 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17 BILL: SB 235 SHORT TITLE: BOARD OF CERTIFIED REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS SPONSOR(S): LABOR & COMMERCE Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 01/14/98 2194 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 01/14/98 2194 (S) L&C, FIN 01/27/98 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203 01/27/98 (S) MINUTE(L&C) 02/10/98 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203 02/10/98 (S) MINUTE(L&C) 02/11/98 2479 (S) L&C RPT 3DP 02/11/98 2479 (S) DP: LEMAN, HOFFMAN, MILLER 02/11/98 2479 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (DCED) 03/11/98 (S) FIN AT 9:30 AM SENATE FINANCE 532 03/12/98 (S) RLS AT 12:00 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203 03/12/98 (S) MINUTE(RLS) 03/12/98 2839 (S) FIN RPT CS 6DP 1NR SAME TITLE 03/12/98 2839 (S) DP: SHARP, PHILLIPS, PARNELL, TORGERSON 03/12/98 2839 (S) DONLEY, PEARCE NR: ADAMS 03/12/98 2840 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN (DCED) 03/19/98 2895 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 3/19/98 03/19/98 2896 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME 03/19/98 2896 (S) FIN CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT 03/19/98 2896 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UNAN CONSENT 03/19/98 2896 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 235(FIN) 03/19/98 2896 (S) PASSED Y15 N- E5 03/19/98 2901 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) 03/20/98 2673 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 03/20/98 2673 (H) L&C, FINANCE 04/08/98 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17 BILL: SB 268 SHORT TITLE: WAGE CLAIM ASSIGNMENTS TO DEPT. OF LABOR SPONSOR(S): LABOR & COMMERCE BY REQUEST Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 01/28/98 2334 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 01/28/98 2334 (S) L&C, JUD 02/24/98 (S) L&C AT 1:30 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203 02/24/98 (S) MINUTE(L&C) 02/25/98 2645 (S) L&C RPT 4DP 02/25/98 2645 (S) DP: LEMAN, KELLY, MACKIE, HOFFMAN 02/25/98 2645 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (LABOR) 03/20/98 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ ROOM 211 03/20/98 (S) MINUTE(JUD) 03/23/98 2944 (S) JUD RPT 2DP 1NR 03/23/98 2944 (S) DP: TAYLOR, PEARCE; NR: PARNELL 03/23/98 2944 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN (LABOR) 03/24/98 (S) RLS AT 11:45 AM FAHRENKAMP RM 203 03/24/98 (S) MINUTE(RLS) 03/25/98 2989 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 3/25/98 03/25/98 2990 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME 03/25/98 2991 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UNAN CONSENT 03/25/98 2991 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME SB 268 03/25/98 2991 (S) PASSED Y20 N- 03/25/98 2991 (S) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) SAME AS PASSAGE 03/25/98 2996 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) 03/26/98 2746 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 03/26/98 2746 (H) LABOR & COMMERCE 04/08/98 (H) L&C AT 3:15 PM CAPITOL 17 WITNESS REGISTER MIKE PAULEY, Legislative Assistant to Senator Loren Leman Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 123 Juneau, Alaska 99801 Telephone: (907) 465-3841 POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 235. ANNETTE KREITZER, Legislative Assistant to Senator Loren Leman Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 113 Juneau, Alaska 99801 Telephone: (907) 465-3844 POSITION STATEMENT: Answered question on SB 235; presented SB 268. AL DWYER, Director Division of Labor Standards and Safety Department of Labor P.O. Box 21149 Juneau, Alaska 99802-1149 Telephone: (907) 465-4855 POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 268. ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 98-46, SIDE A Number 0001 CHAIRMAN NORMAN ROKEBERG called the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:15 p.m. Members present at the call to order were Representatives Rokeberg, Cowdery, Sanders, Ryan and Brice. HCR 34 - JT COM ON ELEC UTILITY RESTRUCTURING Number 0130 CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG announced the committee's first order of business would be HCR 34, Establishing a Joint Committee on Electric Utility Restructuring. REPRESENTATIVE JERRY SANDERS made a motion to rescind the committee's action on the proposed committee substitute for HCR 34 [April 6, 1998]. There being no objections, it was so ordered. Number 0138 REPRESENTATIVE TOM BRICE made a motion to move to HCR 34 out of committee as amended, with individual recommendations and any fiscal notes. Number 0150 REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS objected for discussion. He thanked the chairman for his indulgence in allowing the committee to hold HCR 34 shortly, noting the motion had passed but the chairman had backed up and allowed the members to vote. With that comment, Representative Sanders withdrew his objection. REPRESENTATIVE BRICE asked to make a short statement before the objection was withdrawn. He stated, "As this bill does move through, I hope that we can provide a little bit more thought though into possibly allowing some form of industry representation on this committee that this legislation seeks to establish, as well as possibly extending the length of time. It is a complicated issue, but I would just encourage the chair to continue to look at those issues." Number 0230 CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG assured Representative Brice if the chairman has any part, the industry will be more than adequately represented in any way, shape or form. There being no further objection, CSHCR 34(L&C) moved out of the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee. [IT APPEARS FROM TAPED TESTIMONY CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG CALLED A BRIEF AT EASE AT THIS POINT BUT THIS WAS NOT INDICATED IN THE TAPE LOG NOTES] CSSB 235(FIN) - BOARD OF CERTIFIED REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS Number 0270 CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG announced the committee's next order of business was CSSB 235(FIN), "An Act extending the termination date of the Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers." Number 0285 MIKE PAULEY, Legislative Assistant to Senator Loren Leman, came forward to testify. He stated SB 235 simply extends the termination date for the Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers (BCREA). The board was created in 1990 after enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act guidelines of 1989, which required all appraisals in connection with federally-related transactions to be performed by state- licensed or state-certified appraisers. CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG asked Mr. Pauley to briefly comment on the January 7, 1998, legislative audit, indicating the audit had apparently not been addressed by the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee. MR. PAULEY said he had not reviewed the audit report, noting he had only recently received responsibility for this legislation. Number 0390 ANNETTE KREITZER, Legislative Assistant to Senator Loren Leman, came forward to testify. She commented she had reviewed the audit, stating there were things the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee did consider in that audit. Ms. Kreitzer said the committee held the bill for two weeks to allow the Real Estate Commission the opportunity to come up with any amendments the commission felt necessary. The commission did not do this and the Senate House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee moved the bill. Number 0439 REPRESENTATIVE BRICE drew the chairman's attention to page 7, paragraph 3, of the audit, "In our view the BCREA serves a public purpose, is operating in an efficient and effective manner, and continues to propose changes to statutes and regulations to remain in compliance with federal mandates." Representative Brice made a motion to move CSSB 235(FIN) out of committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal note. There being no objections, it was so ordered. SB 268 - WAGE CLAIM ASSIGNMENTS TO DEPT. OF LABOR Number 0489 CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG announced the committee's next order of business was SB 268, "An Act relating to the assignment to the Department of Labor of certain wage claims; and providing for an effective date." Number 0505 ANNETTE KREITZER, Legislative Assistant to Senator Loren Leman, came forward to testify. She stated that currently under AS 23.05.220(c), the Department of Labor (DOL) is authorized to accept claims of unpaid wages in amounts up to $5,000. These are claims for unpaid last paychecks, failures to pay entirely, or failure to pay amounts due by contract. Such claims are often settled administratively, but when that is not possible the department files the matter in small claims court. She stated it is just $5,000 the way the current statute is written, noting legislation last year increased the small claims limit to $7,500 (chapter 33, SLA 1997). In the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee she stated there was a question about the DOL being essentially a collection agency for the state. She referred to a letter in the committee members' packets from the DOL commissioner's office speaking to that issue to satisfy the concerns of the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee. She stated the DOL does not, and is not statutorily authorized, to collect a fee, and no one from the Senate committee addressed any further concerns after receipt of the DOL's letter. The March 2, 1998, letter from Dwight Perkins, Special Assistant, DOL, reads: During the Department of Labor's February 24th testimony on SB 268, Senator Kelly asked if the department charged a fee for collection wages owed to employees. The answer is "no." AS 23.05.060(4) specifically prohibits the Department of Labor from charging employees for instituting court proceeding against an employer, and there is no authority in Chapter 23 statutes to charge a fee to the employer. Under AS 23.05.190, the Department is required to investigate possible violations and institute actions for penalties. In addition to the actual wages collected, all civil penalties are paid to the employee. AS 23.05.210 states, "The attorney general may prosecute a civil case arising under this chapter that is referred to the attorney general by the department for that purpose." Both the Department of Labor and the Department of Law agree that rather than tie up the Attorney General's office, Small Claims Court should be utilized whenever possible. However, AS 23.05.220(c) limits acceptable claims to $5,000 or less. The Small Claims Court's maximum is now $7,500; hence this bill would allow the Department of Labor to gain the maximum, and most-cost efficient use of Small Claims Court. Number 0595 REPRESENTATIVE JOE RYAN asked how much this was in excess of the maximum amount and how much the DOL was going to collect. MS. KREITZER indicated the amount in excess would be $2,500, up to the small claims limit of $7,500. Number 0609 CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG added that he would suspect that is because the legislature adopted (indisc.) to move that limit up, and so if there is any further adjustments in that rate, this remedial legislation would not be necessary. He asked Ms. Kreitzer if that was correct. MS. KREITZER answered in the affirmative. CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG asked if Mr. Dwyer had anything to add. Number 0623 AL DWYER, Director, Division of Labor Standards and Safety, Department of Labor, replied he could not add anything to what had been said. Number 0648 REPRESENTATIVE BRICE made a motion to move SB 268 out of committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal note. There being no objection, it was so ordered. ADJOURNMENT Number 0678 CHAIRMAN ROKEBERG adjourned the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee meeting at 3:25 p.m.