Peggy's Corner of the House

Hello and welcome to week nine of Peggy’s Corner of the House.

Although the deadline has passed for all personal legislation to be introduced, committees still have the ability to introduce legislation that is specific to a committee. This has happened in my Transportation Committee. The Department of Administration, that oversees the Department of Motor Vehicles, (DMV) has asked that we carry HB 378 which relates to keeping Alaska compliant with federal regulations pertaining to our commercial driver license (CDL) program. This bill is intended to make our roads safer through safety-related improvements mandated in the federal CDL program. Commercial drivers that are found to be driving under the influence, refuse to submit to chemical tests, are convicted of manslaughter or negligent homicide may lose their privilege to drive a commercial vehicle. Texting while driving

commercially will also become a serious traffic violation subject to suspension or revocation of a CDL.

If this bill isn’t passed this session, Alaska will be out of compliance with federal regulations which could jeopardize our Commercial Driver’s License program. Decertification of our CDL program could jeopardize up to $34 million dollars of Alaska’s federal highway funding. I know that we all hate what we consider to be federal over-reach, but this not only affects highway funding that we rely on, but could also cause undue hardship on Alaskans that rely on their commercial driver licenses to operate interstate throughout the US.

The Transportation Committee has introduced additional legislation that will clarify the Department of Transportation’s authority as the primary manager of right of way that are necessary as they relate to highways, airports and public facility lands.

Currently there is ambiguity in State law regarding overlapping management between DOT&PF and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). HB 371 will provide for a practical mechanism for DNR and DOT&PF to transfer property between their agencies. This may save between 15-24 months of permitting time between one state department and another which will then save time and money on public projects! This will presume that interagency transfers are considered to be in the public’s interest if the Legislature has already funded a specific DOT&PF project. Also, this will authorize DNR to lift the current 55-year restriction on specific easements granted to the Forest Service (USFS) so that the USFS will reciprocate by lifting their 55-year restrictions on easements through the Tongass National Forest for construction of transportation and utility corridors.

House Bill 298 has passed both the House and Senate and is headed to the Governor’s office for his signature. The point of this bill is to assist the state in agency performance audits and reviews. This restarts a practice that was stopped in the 1980’s. Each state

department or agency will be completely reviewed every ten years. This is to make sure they are in compliance with their missions and core values; are upholding their constitutional duty, and aren’t being duplicative. Our intention is to reduce bureaucracy where possible without reducing services. The first review, The Alaska Dept. of Corrections, is currently underway. The Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services is the next to follow in 2015.

The tempo of all of our committee meetings has surely increased as we are on the downhill side of our short 90 day sessions. In Resources we are back to working afternoon and evenings on SB138 addressing the Alaska LNG project and understanding the changes that were made to the bill in the Senate. I am very pleased with one addition that was made that will create an Alaskan affordable energy fund. The fund would receive 10% of the royalty from the AK LNG project (after payments to the Alaska permanent fund). Personally, I would like to see a little higher percentage put into this fund for our future. This non-dedicated fund is intended to help develop energy

infrastructure in areas of the state that will NOT have direct access to a North Slope natural gas pipeline. Of course, this is many years in the future, if and when the state moves forward with a project, but it is positive for many parts of our state that aren’t in the railbelt!

Please don’t forget to use the local Legislative Information Office as a means to stay involved in the legislative process! Lastly, we are entering the last week of your ability to file for your Alaska permanent fund – don’t put if off any longer or you just might miss out completely!

That’s all for now from Peggy’s Corner of the House – talk with you next week!