SENATE LABOR AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE May 6, 1999 2:20 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Jerry Mackie, Chairman Senator Tim Kelly, Vice Chairman Senator Dave Donley Senator Loren Leman Senator Lyman Hoffman MEMBERS ABSENT All members present COMMITTEE CALENDAR HOUSE BILL NO. 79 "An Act relating to letters of credit under the Uniform Commercial Code; and providing for an effective date." -MOVED HB 79 OUT OF COMMITTEE CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 201(FIN) am "An Act relating to the computation of overtime; and providing for an effective date." -HEARD AND HELD HOUSE BILL NO. 208 "An Act relating to professional counselors; and providing for an effective date." -MOVED SCSHB 208(L&C)OUT OF COMMITTEE CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 146(JUD) "An Act relating to civil liability for commercial recreational activities; and providing for an effective date." -MOVED SCSHB 146(L&C) OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION HB 79 - No previous action to consider. HB 201 - No previous action to consider. HB 208 - No previous action to consider. HB 146 - No previous action to consider. WITNESS REGISTER Representative Norm Rokeberg Alaska State Capitol Juneau, AK 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 79 and HB 201. Mr. Dwight Perkins, Deputy Commissioner Department of Labor P.O. Box 21149 Juneau, AK 99802-1149 POSITION STATEMENT: Supports HB 201. Representative Lisa Murkowski Alaska State Capitol Juneau, AK 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 208. Ms. Catherine Reardon, Director Division of Occupational Licensing Department of Commerce and Economic Development P.O. Box 110806 Juneau, AK 99811-0806 POSITION STATEMENT: Supports HB 208. Ms. Kelly Sullivan Aide to Representative Pete Kott Alaska State Capitol Juneau, AK 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HB 146 for sponsor. Mr. Dave Gray Aide to Senator Jerry Mackie Alaska State Capitol Juneau, AK 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HB 146. Mr. Mike Windred Alaska Travel Adventures 9085 Glacier Hwy Juneau, AK 99801 POSITION STATEMENT: Supports HB 146. ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 99-20, SIDE A Number 001 HB 79-UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE:LETTERS OF CREDIT CHAIRMAN MACKIE called the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee meeting to order at 2:20 p.m. and announced HB 79 to be up for consideration. REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG, sponsor of HB 79, said 40 other states have adopted similar legislation. SENATOR DONLEY moved to pass HB 79 from committee with individual recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered. HB 201-OVERTIME COMPENSATION COMPUTATION CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced HB 201 to be up for consideration. REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG, sponsor of HB 201, said the bill was drafted in response to a recent reinterpretation of how overtime is computed under the Wage and Hour Act. Judge Weeks in the First Judicial District determined that an individual can be paid twice for overtime hours under a pyramid scheme. For example, if a person worked 11 hours on a Monday and worked eight hours for the balance of the week, the person would be paid for three hours of overtime on Monday, and three hours of overtime for the week, for a total of six hours of overtime. COMMISSIONER CASHEN, Department of Labor, said the statute has never been interpreted in that way. The intent of HB 201 is to specifically overturn the intent language so it does not interpret commerce and business activity in the State. It also has a retrospective effect clause under the two year statute of limitations. The Administration, organized labor, the Chamber of Commerce, and every business organization in the State support this bill. MR. DWIGHT PERKINS, Department of Labor, testified that this legislation does not change the way overtime has been calculated since pre-statehood; it only clarifies current practice in statute. CHAIRMAN MACKIE said he has not read the bill yet and wanted to hold it since Labor and Commerce is the only committee of referral. CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced HB 208 to be up for consideration. REPRESENTATIVE LISA MURKOWSKI, sponsor, said HB 208 is a housekeeping bill that was requested by the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and the Counseling Association. HB 208 defines the authority of the Board created in SB 331 last year. It extends by six months the deadline for an individual to qualify to become an eligible professional counselor. She noted that Ms. Reardon would address some amendments. Number 100 MS. CATHERINE REARDON, Division of Occupational Licensing, said the first amendment adds to page 2, line 30, the language: "has not had a license related to the practice of counseling, psychology, marital and family therapy, or social work in this or another jurisdiction suspended, revoked, limited or surrendered in lieu of discipline unless the license has been fully reinstated in that jurisdiction:". Under the original bill an individual could not qualify if his/her counseling license was suspended or revoked elsewhere. MS. REARDON said, "Since we have a lot of allied mental health professions, we didn't think we'd want someone who had their psychology license revoked turning around and becoming a professional counselor any more than we wanted to have someone with their professional counselor license revoked coming to Alaska." The issue is that a professional with a particular license could have his/her license revoked in one profession and apply for a license in a very similar profession. MS. REARDON continued. New language was added to page 3 that establishes the grounds for discipline or denial. It provides that disciplinary action for other types of mental health licenses is grounds for denial or discipline of a counseling license. The last change is not substantive. The reference to licensed psychiatrists was removed because they are not licensed separately from physicians therefore the reference is redundant. Number 222 SENATOR KELLY expressed concern that if a person's license was suspended elsewhere and then cleared, but that person chose to move to Alaska and get licensed, they could not under these terms because they didn't get relicensed in the former state. MS. REARDON said that is true, but there is a more frequent situation where someone gets into trouble in another state and then decides to move to Alaska to avoid a bad reputation. SENATOR KELLY asked why "licensed psychiatrist" was deleted. MS. REARDON explained that licensed psychiatrists were removed from the list of professionals who can supervise the training of a professional counselor. Both licensed physicians and licensed psychiatrists were listed which is redundant because all psychiatrists are physicians. She suggested removing the word "limited" from the list of things that automatically disqualify an applicant from getting a license. Denial of a license would then be an option, not automatic. REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI said she had no problem taking it out. SENATOR LEMAN moved to adopt SCSHB 208(L&C) as the working document of the committee. There being no objection, it was so ordered. SENATOR LEMAN moved to insert on page 3, line 11 "or nationally" after "regionally." He explained some institutions have national accreditation but not regional accreditation. The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education treats them equally in regard to student loans. He noted that would be consistent with previous legislative action. There being no objection, it was so ordered. SENATOR LEMAN moved to pass SCSHB 208(L&C) from committee with individual recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered. HB 146-LIABILITY FOR COMMERCIAL REC ACTIVITIES CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced HB 146 to be up for consideration. MS. KELLY SULLIVAN, staff to Representative Kott, sponsor of HB 146, said the bill addresses specific guidelines for operators of, and participants in, outdoor recreation activities to minimize the possibility of accidents and, should an accident occur, the bill helps determine who will held liable for the accident. MS. SULLIVAN stated existing legal uncertainties have resulted in high liability insurance costs which hurt small Alaskan businesses. Representative Kott does not want to lose these businesses and he wants to avoid frivolous, unfair, and unreasonable lawsuits. MR. DAVE GRAY, staff to Senator Mackie, noted the legislative drafter suggested adding a reference to AS 05.50.040 on page 3, line 11, to clarify the issue. SENATOR LEMAN moved to adopt SCSHB 146(L&C). There being no objections, it was so ordered. MR. MIKE WINDERD, Alaska Travel Adventures and president of the local AVA chapter, said this is a very important subject to the visitor industry as a whole. They have polled different business organizations, including ARDA and a number of AVA chapters which represent 95 percent of the recreational businesses in the State, and they support this bill. SCSHB 146(L&C) sets out some of the responsibilities of the participants on a tour and sets a higher standard for operators of recreational tours. The primary concern of businesses is nuisance lawsuits that usually equal the cost of an insurance deductible and can be numerous and add up. Number 390 SENATOR KELLY moved to pass SCSHB 146(L&C) as amended from committee with individual recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered. CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced that the committee would take up the confirmation of the Commissioner of Labor, and the confirmation of the nominees for: the Alcohol Beverage Contol Board; the Labor Relations Agency; the State Board of Registration for Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors; the Board of Chiropractic Examiners; the Board of Dispensing Opticians; the Board of Marine Pilots; the Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers; the Board of Veterinary Examiners; the Board of Workers' Compensation; and the Real Estate Commission. SENATOR KELLY moved to forward the names for consideration to the joint session. SENATOR LEMAN objected to say he did not intend to vote for everyone. He then removed his objection. There being no further objection, the motion passed. Number 409 There being no further business to come before the committee, CHAIRMAN MACKIE adjourned the meeting at 2:47 p.m.