HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE March 22, 2000 1:20 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Bill Hudson, Co-Chair Representative Beverly Masek, Co-Chair Representative John Harris Representative Carl Morgan Representative Ramona Barnes Representative Jim Whitaker Representative Reggie Joule Representative Mary Kapsner MEMBERS ABSENT Representative John Cowdery, Vice Chair COMMITTEE CALENDAR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 194(RES) "An Act relating to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve." - MOVED CSSB 194(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE HOUSE BILL NO. 238 "An Act establishing a federal tax obligation loan program under the commercial fishing loan program." - MOVED HB 238 OUT OF COMMITTEE CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18(RLS) Requesting Exxon Corporation to pay claimants for court-ordered damages resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. - MOVED HCS CSSJR 18(O&G) OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS ACTION BILL: SB 194 SHORT TITLE: CHILKAT BALD EAGLE PRESERVE Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 1/14/00 1977 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 1/14/00 1977 (S) RES 2/18/00 (S) RES AT 3:00 PM BUTROVICH 205 2/18/00 (S) Moved CS(Res) Out of Committee 2/18/00 (S) MINUTE(RES) 2/22/00 (S) RLS AT 12:00 PM FAHRENKAMP 203 2/22/00 (S) MINUTE(RLS) 2/22/00 2377 (S) RES RPT CS 6DP SAME TITLE 2/22/00 2377 (S) DP: HALFORD, GREEN, PARNELL, MACKIE 2/22/00 2377 (S) LINCOLN, PETE KELLY 2/22/00 2378 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (DNR) 2/24/00 2407 (S) RLS TO CALENDAR AND 1 OR 02/24/00 2/24/00 2407 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME 2/24/00 2408 (S) RES CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT 2/24/00 2408 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UNAN CONSENT 2/24/00 2408 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 194(RES) 2/24/00 2408 (S) PASSED Y20 N- 2/24/00 2414 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) 2/25/00 2298 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 2/25/00 2298 (H) RES 2/25/00 2298 (H) REFERRED TO RESOURCES 3/22/00 (H) RES AT 1:15 PM CAPITOL 124 BILL: HB 238 SHORT TITLE: TAX OBLIGATION LOAN PROGRAM FOR FISHERS Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 5/14/99 1409 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 5/14/99 1409 (H) FSH, RES, FIN 2/07/00 (H) FSH AT 5:00 PM CAPITOL 124 2/07/00 (H) Moved Out of Committee 2/07/00 (H) MINUTE(FSH) 2/09/00 2143 (H) FSH RPT 6DP 2/09/00 2143 (H) DP: HUDSON, WHITAKER, DYSON, SMALLEY, 2/09/00 2143 (H) KAPSNER, HARRIS 2/09/00 2143 (H) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (DCED) 2/09/00 2143 (H) REFERRED TO RESOURCES 3/17/00 (H) RES AT 1:30 PM CAPITOL 124 3/17/00 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard 3/22/00 (H) RES AT 1:15 PM CAPITOL 124 BILL: SJR 18 SHORT TITLE: EXXON VALDEZ DAMAGE CLAIMS Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 3/24/99 662 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 4/07/99 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211 4/07/99 (S) MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE 4/07/99 (S) MINUTE(JUD) 4/28/99 (S) RES AT 3:00 PM BUTROVICH 205 4/28/99 (S) FAILED TO MOVE OUT OF COMMITTEE 4/28/99 (S) MINUTE(RES) 5/07/99 (S) MINUTE(RES) 5/11/99 (S) RLS AT 12:00 PM FAHRENKAMP 203 5/15/99 (S) RLS AT 1:30 PM FAHRENKAMP 203 5/16/99 (S) RLS AT 4:30 PM FAHRENKAMP 203 5/16/99 (S) MINUTE(RLS) 5/19/99 662 (S) O&G, RES, JUD 4/09/99 843 (S) JUD RPT 4DP 4/09/99 843 (S) DP: TAYLOR, ELLIS, TORGERSON, DONLEY 4/09/99 843 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (S.JUD) 5/10/99 1322 (S) RES RPT 3DP 1NR 5/10/99 1322 (S) NR: HALFORD; DP: MACKIE, LINCOLN, TAYLOR 5/10/99 1322 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN (S.JUD) 5/16/99 1514 (S) RLS RPT CS 3CALENDAR 1DNP 1OR 5/16/99 1515 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 5/16/99 5/16/99 1522 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME 5/16/99 1523 (S) RLS CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT 5/16/99 1523 (S) HELD IN SECOND READING TO 5/17 CALENDAR 5/17/99 1585 (S) TAKEN UP IN SECOND READING 5/17/99 1586 (S) RETURN TO RULES CMTE MOTION FLD Y7 N13 5/17/99 1586 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING FLD Y13 N7 5/17/99 1586 (S) THIRD READING 5/18 CALENDAR 5/18/99 1645 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSJR 18(RLS) 5/18/99 1645 (S) PASSED Y14 N6 5/18/99 1646 (S) GREEN NOTICE OF RECONSIDERATION 5/19/99 1689 (S) RECON TAKEN UP - IN THIRD READING 5/19/99 1689 (S) PASSED ON RECONSIDERATION Y16 N4 5/19/99 1715 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) 1/10/00 1878 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 1/10/00 1879 (H) O&G, RES, JUD 1/10/00 1896 (H) CROSS SPONSOR(S): KERTTULA 2/24/00 (H) O&G AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 17 2/24/00 (H) Failed To Move Out Of Committee 2/24/00 (H) MINUTE(O&G) 2/25/00 2315 (H) CROSS SPONSOR(S): SMALLEY 2/29/00 (H) MINUTE(WTR) 3/02/00 (H) O&G AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 17 3/02/00 (H) Moved HCS CSSJR 18(O&G) Out of Committee 3/02/00 (H) MINUTE(O&G) 3/03/00 2395 (H) O&G RPT HCS(O&G) NT 3DP 1DNP 3NR 3/03/00 2395 (H) TECHNICAL TITLE CHANGE 3/03/00 2395 (H) DP: SMALLEY, KEMPLEN, HARRIS; 3/03/00 2395 (H) DNP: PORTER; NR: PHILLIPS, WHITAKER, 3/03/00 2395 (H) DYSON 3/03/00 2395 (H) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (H.O&G) 3/03/00 2395 (H) REFERRED TO RESOURCES 3/22/00 (H) RES AT 1:15 PM CAPITOL 124 WITNESS REGISTER SENATOR JERRY MACKIE Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 427 Juneau, Alaska 99801 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of SB 194. CAROL CARROLL, Director Division of Support Services Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 400 Willoughby Avenue, Fifth Floor Juneau, Alaska 99801-1724 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 194. REPRESENTATIVE MARY KAPSNER Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 424 Juneau, Alaska 99801 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of HB 238. BRUCE TWOMLEY, Chairman Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) Alaska Department of Fish and Game 8800 Glacier Highway, Suite 109 Juneau, Alaska 99801-8079 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 238 and provided information regarding the bill. RON BARNES 8301 Rangeview, Number 1 Anchorage, Alaska 99504 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 238. GREG WINEGAR, Loan Manager Division of Investments Department of Community & Economic Development 3032 Vintage Boulevard P.O. Box 34159 Juneau, Alaska 99803-4159 POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on HB 238. PAUL FROST P.O. Box 229 Togiak, Alaska 99678 POSITION STATEMENT: Asked questions regarding HB 238. SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 11 Juneau, Alaska 99801 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as the sponsor of SJR 18. PATIENCE FAULKNER P.O. Box 2574 Cordova, Alaska 99574 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18. ROSS MULLINS P.O. Box 436 Cordova, Alaska 99574 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18. CHRIS BERNS P.O. Box 26 Kodiak, Alaska 99615 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18. LARRY MALLOY 104 Center Street, Number 200 Kodiak, Alaska 99615 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18. BRUCE SCHACTLER P.O. Box 2254 Kodiak, Alaska 99615 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18. DAVID OESTING, Attorney at Law Managing Partner Davis Wright Tremaine 701 West 8th Avenue, Suite 800 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18. ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 00-23, SIDE A Number 0001 CO-CHAIR HUDSON called the House Resources Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:20 p.m. Members present at the call to order were Representatives Hudson, Masek, Harris, Morgan, Barnes and Kapsner. Representatives Joule and Whitaker arrived as the meeting was in progress. SB 194 - CHILKAT BALD EAGLE PRESERVE Number 0131 CO-CHAIR HUDSON announced that the first order of business would be CS for SENATE BILL NO. 194(RES), "An Act relating to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve." SENATOR JERRY MACKIE, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB 194, stated that SB 194 takes land out of a park. He explained that when the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve was created there were private land holdings around it, and there was basically a surveying error that took place. He pointed out that SB 194 allows the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources to replat the survey markers so that the private citizens can have the land they rightfully own. He added that it is a very simple and straightforward correction, and he knows of no controversy surrounding the legislation. CAROL CARROLL, Director, Division of Support Services, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), stated that the department supports the bill. Number 0380 REPRESENTATIVE BARNES made a motion to move CSSB 194(RES) from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note; she asked for unanimous consent. There being no objection, CSSB 194(RES) moved from the House Resources Standing Committee. HB 238 - TAX OBLIGATION LOAN PROGRAM FOR FISHERS Number 0426 CO-CHAIR HUDSON announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 238, "An Act establishing a federal tax obligation loan program under the commercial fishing loan program." REPRESENTATIVE MARY KAPSNER, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of HB 238, stated that HB 238 was introduced as an effort to keep Alaskan fishing permits in Alaska, to retain a high value on those fishing permits and to preclude the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from seizing permits from commercial permit holders who have debt to the IRS. The bill provides low-interest loans to fisherman who owe the IRS money in back taxes; it is a "one time only deal." The bill is intended for people whose fishing permits are the only things of value that they may own. BRUCE TWOMLEY, Chairman, Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC), stated that they have, for a long time, dealt with the IRS on this issue. He explained that it is very easy for small- business owners to get into trouble with the IRS. In the case of fishermen, the state has made them especially vulnerable by virtue of the limited entry permits that they need, which also have a monetary value; those are big targets for a tax collector. He explained that the state has also supplied a loan program to help fisherman get access to credit, and HB 238 would allow the program to also loan money so that fisherman could meet their tax obligations. MR. TWOMLEY noted that people doing outreach and helping fisherman come into tax compliance have told them that it is a critical element, because many people they are dealing with live in isolation in Western Alaska and do not have the capacity to respond to a notice from the IRS, especially if they do not have any money and their permit is the only item of cash value. He indicated that the program would give these people hope, and it would not cost anything because the revolving loan fund is already in place. He noted that the loans would be secured. Number 0776 REPRESENTATIVE JOULE asked who the fisherman look to for help when the IRS contacts them. MR. TWOMLEY responded that it could be a very different situation, depending on whether it happens in an urban setting or a rural setting. He pointed out that there is a lot of help available, and there have been some constructive efforts to do outreach. He indicated that they currently have a constructive relationship with the IRS, which has extended itself to try to do outreach. The Alaska Business Development Center has also been working to do that and to help people file taxes. He noted that it is important to have the tool to put together an agreement with the IRS, and an offer in compromise, and that is where the loan program comes in. REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER said she appreciates Representative Joule's question. She explained that at one point the IRS was looking at people in Western Alaska who were permit holders as easy targets, because the IRS knew that there was not a lot of legal representation in that area and people did not have easy access to it. CO-CHAIR HUDSON indicated he is glad to hear that they have a better relationship with the IRS, because it was not always the case. MR. TWOMLEY pointed out that it is with the help of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens; there are some new procedural protections in place. He noted that the IRS currently is going through quite a bit of turmoil, and it is uncertain what the change in administration in Washington, D.C., will bring. Number 0985 RON BARNES testified via teleconference from Anchorage. A commercial fisherman from Western Alaska who has a commercial fishing entry permit, he wondered if one needs a filed federal income tax [form] or can just provide an income statement for the loan process. GREG WINEGAR, Loan Manager, Division of Investments, Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED), answered that the bill requires that the person has filed all of his/her returns with the IRS; therefore, the Division of Investments would look at those current filings. MR. BARNES commented that based on Article VII, Section 12, of the Constitution of the State of Alaska, he does not believe that the constitutionality of taxing Natives has been settled yet, "under the U.S. Constitution, because we are recognized as foreign territory, and this is based on some research from a 1899 law review and then the recognition in the United Nations under Article 73. And since those are not satisfied, then I think those are questions that need to be dealt with." CO-CHAIR HUDSON asked Mr. Barnes to send in his written testimony. Number 1274 PAUL FROST testified via teleconference from Anchorage. He questioned whether the bill has provisions for borrowing money if one loses one's permit due to a poor fishing season and is forced to sell the permit to satisfy debt. MR. WINEGAR answered that the existing commercial fishing program would allow a person to apply for a loan for a permit. REPRESENTATIVE BARNES explained that HB 238 has to do with IRS foreclosures on permits. REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER pointed out that HB 238 amends the statute so that a fisherman can repay tax obligations. However, if a person owes money to a bank for a boat, the bill would not address that; it is just for the IRS. MR. FROST questioned the language on page 1, Section 1 of the bill. [The committee explained to Mr. Frost that HB 238 is only amending existing law and that only the underlined language is new.] REPRESENTATIVE JOULE made a motion to move HB 238 from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note; he asked for unanimous consent. There being no objection, HB 238 moved from the House Resources Standing Committee. SJR 18 - EXXON VALDEZ DAMAGE CLAIMS Number 1936 CO-CHAIR HUDSON announced that the next order of business would be CS for SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18(RLS), requesting Exxon Corporation to pay claimants for court-ordered damages resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. CO-CHAIR HUDSON called an at-ease at 2:50 p.m. and called the meeting back to order at 2:55 p.m. [The committee took up HCS CSSJR 18(O&G), version 1-LS0731\N.] SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SJR 18, explained the legislation. [Due to a recording malfunction, some of this testimony was lost.] She told members: As you know, over 40,000 claimants await payment while Exxon [Mobile Corporation] has continued to file motions and other legal actions to delay payment. The latest appeal of the federal district court's denial of Exxon's second motion for a new trial was heard in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle on May 3, 1999. This past week the Ninth Circuit ruled against Exxon Mobile [Corporation] on one of the three parts of their appeal. We're awaiting a decision on the other two parts of that appeal. The resolution [SJR] 18 urges - and I have to underscore that word - it urges Exxon Mobile Corporation to immediately pay the compensatory damages awarded in the court-ordered judgment of 50 million dollars. And as you will read in the letter that was sent on March 16, ... it was $20 million and now, with the interest, it's $50 million. While following the spill Exxon payed a limited group of fisherman and processors for some of the damages prior to the judgment in the pending federal suit, those payments were less than the compensatory damages ... later awarded in the federal court. The Exxon appeal at the Ninth Circuit is of both, as you know - the compensatory and punitive damages - with the 40,000 litigants who are entitled to payments from Exxon Mobile [Corporation] including the commercial fishermen, the fish processors, cannery workers, residents of communities who depended on the subsistence resource from the area, and many local governments from Prince William Sound, the Cook Inlet and Kodiak Island, the tourism and other business operations, as well as the many real property owners in the core spill area. ... To date, a very large group of others who were impacted have received absolutely no compensation from this devastating spill that occurred and, Mr. Chairman, I worked on that oil spill for months and am acutely familiar with the damages that did occur, and every day going out there to mop up the oil on the water and oil on the shoreline, and steaming those rocks, and then going back 11 years later - or near 11 years - and seeing still ... what I call the dead shoreline. I mean, it is just so sterile. ... I recognize the rights of individuals and corporations to use our judicial system. I know that that's what the judicial system is there for; however, there is the issue of corporate responsibility and doing what's right for Alaska and for our citizens. Those who have waited over six years for payment of any money from Exxon do not think that Exxon is doing its part to make Alaska whole again, like they promised after the spill. While the level of damages was paid to a very limited class of persons and businesses following the spill, a very large majority of those affected by the spill have not received any payment from Exxon. A letter, which I alluded to, is in your packet and explains how the judge in the original trial interpreted the maritime law to limit those entitled to compensatory damages to a rather limited class of those who are impacted by this bill. Again, I will say that this resolution urges - urges - Exxon to pay the level of compensatory claims ordered by the court, to pay that immediately, and if the remaining portions of Exxon's appeals are also denied by the Ninth Circuit, then to pay those punitive damages without further delay ... . Number 2418 PATIENCE FAULKNER testified via teleconference from Cordova. She indicated that she is an Alaska Native and lifetime Cordova resident. She stated: ... I feel the most important thing that has happened to the Cordova community and to the Native Village of Eyak has been that it's very expensive to continue to live here. Now, granted, this is our birthplace and we've been here many, many years. But when we're an economy that depends on money to survive, it's pretty hard to just go out there and sit in a tree and live. In the fishing industry, which we depend on in this area, one-third of the fishing vessels did not go salmon fishing. These are the seiners, of course, ... the larger vessels; they employ three to five people. They also each have families. For the last, I'd say, five or six years, ... only one-third of the vessels have gone fishing. We also have herring that was closed this year in October. It's been closed for so many years I don't even know what a herring looks like. Also impacted were the salmon fisheries. The salmon fisheries, especially the setnetters over on Western side, they haven't fished. They don't even get their gear ready to go, because they're told that their areas are not producing any salmon at all. ... The fishermen are impacted; that hits their crews and their families very hard. Then the cannery workers ... have no fish to process. Local businesses suffer because there are no funds to keep the community moving, and then the general community suffers. We have people that end up leaving town or taking what limited resources out of this community, which makes it more expensive for those who stay here. On the subsistence side, for me as an Alaska Native, our resources are dwindling, and then whatever we manage to get, they're tainted. We're not sure if they're good to eat. They have a lot strange things that happen to them. Maybe the herring that do come back will have an extra head or they won't spawn correctly, and the places that they spawn, for instance, like herring roe on kelp, it doesn't taste very good - too much something in the water. Exxon promised us in 1989 that they would make us whole. Well, we are ... going to be in such a financial hole and such a spiritual hole that we will never be able to dig out. We are dying off. I think Senator Lincoln expressed it in her papers. We're dying off, and many of our people are dying, and they are not going with a peace of mind. That has been the most important thing, is that twelve seasons we are into, in about two days. We have no relief. We'd like to have you tell Exxon, "Pay off." Please, make us a little bit better. Thank you. Number 2594 ROSS MULLINS testified via teleconference from Cordova. He indicated that he has lived in Cordova for about 39 years and has participated in the commercial fishery all of those years. He stated: I would like to applaud Senator Lincoln's sponsorship of this bill because, in my opinion, I think it could go a long way to help instill goodwill among those that have been injured by the oil spill and our political representatives. I think back to the early '70s when Cordova District Fisherman United brought a lawsuit against issuing the permit for a terminus in Valdez, our concern being that a massive spill might impact our environment and impinge our ability to earn a living. Well, those fears were realized in 1989. And, of course, had the pipeline gone through Canada - as we were urging, as were a few of the political pundits of the day - we might not be in the condition we're in today. But we were promised, of course, by federal and state representatives that we would be taken care of: this would be the safest terminus and most scrutinized operation in the history of the world .... I remember Ted Stevens saying when we were in his office in Washington, [D.C.], "Not one drop of oil is going to touch the waters of Prince William Sound." Well, gentlemen, you know where we are today, and you know what's happened. To change my approach here a little bit from the last testimony I gave before the [House Special Committee on] Oil & Gas ..., I'd like to read a few items from the transcript of the oral arguments that were presented in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle, Washington, on May 3, 1999 - might give you a sense of how Exxon is attempting to utilize the state to escape its responsibility in paying the punitive and compensatory damages that they have incurred at the result of the jury. I will quote, this is Exxon's attorney, Dom (ph), speaking: "Long before this verdict society had already spoken, through its authorized representatives, the Attorney General of the United States and the Attorney General of Alaska, and had defined the proper punishment necessary to vindicate society's interest." They recommended, and the district court opposed, the largest fines of an environmental matter in history. Judge Kleinfeld, who is a member of the Ninth Circuit, hearing this case, spoke up, and he said: "Yes, I understand the language of that. It said compensatory and remedial. That quote, 'compensatory and remedial,' could you show me the page and the excerpt to show ... that it also intended to apply to punitive damages?" Exxon's Dom (ph): "The consent decree by its terms does not speak of punitive damages, but it required the State of Alaska to dismiss with prejudice its complaints, and that complaint had sought all the punitive damages to which the State of Alaska was entitled, parens patriae, ... as public trustee and on every other basis." Kleinfeld: "So, the consent decree doesn't take punitive damages, but the complaint did?" Dom (ph): "Correct." Exxon goes on at length to try to make the argument that by the state releasing it from punitive damages, by the payment of the $900 million, that that, in fact, relieved Exxon of any burden to pay punitive damages to any other plaintiffs, because the state acted in their behalf. Now, gentlemen, I ask you if that is, in fact, your intent? I think it's obvious the ploy Exxon is using here. They're trying to get out ... from under the responsibility to, as Don Cornett (ph) - who spoke here in 1989, three days after the spill said to a packed auditorium of concerned Cordova citizens - ... said, "Exxon will make you whole. If your nets don't fill up with fish, we'll take care of it." Well, we know how they've taken care of it. ... Patience was being charitable when she said one-third of the fleet is not fishing in the purse seine fishery. It is one-half the fleet. There's 272 permits issued, and prior to the spill in 1989, all 270 - plus or minus two or three - would be fishing every season. You can look at the historical record. Today, if you have 120 to 135 out there, that's about it, and those guys are barely able to make a living. I can't say that every factor is directly a result of Exxon's actions, but there have been scientific studies that have come forward, just within the last couple of years, that show there's long-term, low-level damages ongoing in Prince William Sound, and that (indisc.) parts per billion, the oil in the sediments, of having a direct impact on pink salmon and herring resources. These are studies done by the National [Oceanic and Atmospheric] Administration, not really subject to being construed as biased. So I think if the state could get behind this resolution that [Senator Lincoln] and others are sponsoring, it would go a long way to create a goodwill among the [population]. I mean, we are talking about 40,000 plaintiffs that are still waiting to be made whole from Exxon's promise and, you know, many of them are dying off. There's over 500 estates that are party to the litigation. All that this resolution urges is that you get behind it, and if the court of appeals comes down with a ruling that Exxon's argument is not supported in the law, then urge them to pay up rather than seek further appeals. I mean, Exxon is a master of delay. I heard several of their attorneys referred to as "Doctor Delay." I mean, it's the name of the game for those people. Every year they delay is another few billion they can sock away. I mean, I just feel this has gotten -- 11 years now since the event, six years since the litigation. It's time to bring an end to it. And if they lose at the court of appeals level - and they did lose the one issue on jury improprieties that caused an additional year delay - if the question of punitive damages is resolved in the plaintiff's benefit, I urge you gentlemen to have the State of Alaska at least stand behind its citizens and ask for Exxon to do the responsible thing and pay what they are obligated to pay by law. Thank you very much. TAPE 00-23, SIDE B Number 2925 CHRIS BERNS testified via teleconference from Kodiak. He indicated that he supports the resolution. He stressed that 40,000 Alaskan residents will benefit. Number 2871 LARRY MALLOY testified via teleconference from Kodiak. He stated that he is representing the Aquaculture Association in Kodiak and supports the resolution. BRUCE SCHACTLER testified via teleconference from Kodiak. He stated that he supports the resolution. He indicated that not only are there 40,000 residents who are actual claimants, but that could be multiplied by four or five because of all the communities that also are claimants. DAVID OESTING, Attorney at Law, Managing Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine, testified via teleconference. He indicated that he is the court-appointed lead counsel for all 40,000 claimants. He said that as an advocate and Alaskan citizen he strongly urges the passage of the resolution. He thanked Senator Lincoln for her stellar efforts because he believes that the message needs to be sent to Exxon. CO-CHAIR HUDSON closed public testimony on SJR 18. Number 2737 REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS made a motion to move HCS CSSJR 18(O&G) out of committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal note. There being no objection, HCS CSSJR 18(O&G) moved from the House Resources Standing Committee. ADJOURNMENT Number 2693 CO-CHAIR HUDSON adjourned the House Resources Standing Committee meeting at 2:25 p.m.