Since 2012, alcohol retailers, public health experts and others have spent more than 8,000 hours drafting a mammoth revision to the state statutes dealing with alcohol and the crimes associated with it.
Senate Bill 165 isn’t the result of that effort.
Instead, when the Senate voted 19-0 to approve SB165, it gave its OK to a scaled-down version of the suggested reforms in a bill designed to be uncontroversial in a Legislative session when lawmakers have been consumed by the need to address Alaska’s $4 billion budget gap.
“What you see in 165 are the segments that have been agreed upon,” said Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, before lawmakers voted.
Though it was designed to be uncontroversial, SB165 needed a floor amendment to meet some concerns raised by Alaska CHARR, the trade group representing Alaska’s alcohol retailers.
The amendment removes the public health seat on the five-person Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and replaces it with a seat reserved for the general public. The person selected for that seat cannot have ties to public health.
The bill also relaxes the penalties for Alaskans younger than 21 who are charged with possessing or drinking alcohol.
Currently, they may face misdemeanor charges and can have their driver’s license revoked, even if the incident didn’t involve driving.
“The data demonstrate that what we’re currently doing is having a more negative effect on youth,” Micciche said.
Instead of a misdemeanor, underage alcohol crimes will become violations punishable by a $500 fine — which can be partially offset by undergoing alcohol abuse-prevention courses.
The bill also contained a clause that effectively acts as a safety net in case the Legislature deadlocks on commercial marijuana legislation this year.
The clause permits the Marijuana Control Board to conduct national criminal background checks of prospective commercial marijuana licensees. Cynthia Franklin, director of the control board, has said those background checks are necessary for the board to begin licensing businesses later this year.
SB165 now goes to the House for consideration.
In other business, the Senate voted 17-1 with two members absent to approve special license plates celebrating the Blood Bank of Alaska. Senate Bill 154 calls for the plates to cost $50, and if the state collects enough in fees to offset the cost of creating the plates, the excess money will go to the blood bank. The bill heads to the House.
The Senate also approved SB69, which slightly alters the duties of the Alaska Board of Chiropractic Examiners. The bill passed 18-1 with one member absent.
If the bill is also approved by the House and Gov. Bill Walker, the board will be allowed to license chiropractic interns, preceptors and assistants as well as chiropractors.
The bill also states that chiropractors may perform school physicals and physicals of children necessary to play school sports.
House votes for water and sewer committee
In its Friday floor session, the House voted 39-0, with one member absent, in favor of a plan to create a water and sewer committee devoted to providing running water to Alaska’s remaining communities without it.
House Bill 209 calls for the creation of a 10-member water and sewer committee, which would spend two years coming up with a plan to provide safe water to those communities.
HB209 now goes to the Senate for consideration.
In other business, the House voted 38-1 on House Bill 254, which extends the Big Game Commercial Services Board through 2019. Without the bill, it is expected to expire this year.
The bill goes to the Senate.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com.
