House State Affairs Committee Minutes 2005 MINUTES HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE DATE: January 13, 2005 TIME: 9:00 A.M. PLACE: Room 412 MEMBERS: Chairman Deal, Vice Chairman Smylie, Representatives Stevenson, Ellsworth, Black, Edmunson, Miller, Ring, Snodgrass, Jones, Garrett, Loertscher, Anderson, Andrus, Hart, Shepherd(2), Smith(30), Pasley- Stuart ABSENT/ Representatives Ellsworth, Edmunson, Jones EXCUSED: GUESTS: Please refer to the attached sign-in sheet. Chairman Deal called the committee organizational meeting to order at 9:03 A.M. with a quorum being present. There were no minutes to review. He introduced Karen Daniels, new Committee Secretary, and Sarah Dexter, Page. He informed the committee that Teresa Jones, previous Committee Secretary, is now working for Keller-Williams Realty. The Chairman introduced all of the Committee Members and welcomed the new and returning Members. Chairman Deal explained that the State Affairs Committee deals with a multitude of issues. Some of the major issues to come before the committee this year deal with the lottery, telecommunications, open records, horse racing, elections, same sex marriage and the bond bank. The Committee will follow Mason’s Manual of Rules. The Chairman stressed the importance of our Citizens’ testimony, indicating that questions may be asked during testimony but any debate on issues will be held until all testimony has been taken. The Agency Rules were handed out and the Committee as a whole will review the Rules on Tuesday, January 18 and Wednesday, January 19. On Thursday, January 20 the Committee will consider several pieces of Legislation. The Chairman requested that all Members be on time so agenda items can be completed in the time allotted. ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 9:21 A.M. Representative Bill Deal Karen Daniels Chairman Secretary MINUTES HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE DATE: January 18, 2005 TIME: 9:00 A.M. PLACE: Room 412 MEMBERS: Chairman Deal, Vice Chairman Smylie, Representatives Stevenson, Ellsworth, Black, Edmunson, Miller, Ring, Snodgrass, Jones, Garrett, Loertscher, Anderson, Andrus, Hart, Shepherd(2), Smith(30), Pasley- Stuart ABSENT/ Rep. Pasley-Stuart EXCUSED: GUESTS: Please refer to the Committee sign-in sheet. Chairman Deal called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M. with a quorum being present. The first order of business was to review the minutes of January 13, 2005. MOTION: Representative Shepherd(2) made a motion to accept the minutes of January 13, 2005 as written. Motion carried by voice vote. DOCKET NO. Safety and Accident Reporting Rules for Utilities 31-1101-0401 Mr. Paul Kjellander, President, Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC), explained that through Docket No. 31-1101-0401, the Commission will adopt, by reference, Parts 191, 192, 193, 195, and 199, Title 49, the Code of Federal Regulations. The federal accident reporting requirements contained in the rules adopted by reference in Rule 201 are replaced for state reporting purposes. All gas and pipeline corporations subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction are required to abide by applicable provisions of these federal regulations adopted by rule. Mr. Kjellander stated that there were no public comments received. DOCKET NO. Utility Customer Relations Rules 31-2101-0401 Mr. Paul Kjellander, President, Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC), presented Docket No. 31-2101-0401 to the Committee, explaining that this rule deals only with water, electric and natural gas utilities – telephone services are being dealt with in the following rule. The proposed changes are necessary to conform with Idaho’s Unclaimed Property Act and pertain to instances where water, electric or natural gas utilities customers have made deposits or advance payments to obtain utility service. DOCKET NO. Telephone Customer Relations Rules 31-4101-0401 Mr. Paul Kjellander, President, Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC), spoke to the committee regarding Docket No. 31-4101-0401, stating that the Commission is proposing several changes to its Telephone Customer Relations Rules. First, the rule changes pertain to telephone customer deposits or advance payments to obtain utility service and conform to Idaho’s Unclaimed Property Act. Second, the proposed revisions are intended to eliminate ambiguities and clarify the procedures for issuing and obtaining a medical certificate. Mr. Kjellander stated that all PUC rules should now conform to the same requirements for medical certificates. Finally, these changes adopt the updated version of slamming regulations promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission. Vice Chairman Smylie asked if a motion was in order for the PUC rules presented by Mr. Kjellander. Chairman Deal stated that he prefers to wait until all of the rules have been reviewed before a motion is entertained. DOCKET NO. Rules of the Idaho Commission on the Arts 40-0101-0401 Mr. Dan Harpole, Executive Director, Idaho Commission on the Arts, explained that Docket No. 40-0101-0401 places into rule the current requirements for applicants under the Commission’s grant and award programs. The proposed rules do not create new programs or requirements for applicants, but are simply housekeeping rules. He mentioned that the grant and awards guidelines have been modified over a 30-year period and have been adopted by the Commissioners, but they have not gone through the rulemaking process until now. The Commission’s administrative rules were adopted by the Legislature last session. When asked if the Commission had received any public comments on these rules, Mr. Harpole said none were received. In response to a question about the language being deleted that pertains to the makeup of the Board, Mr. Harpole explained that this language is now contained in the administrative rules that were adopted last session. ADJOURN: There being no more business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 A.M. Representative Bill Deal Karen Daniels Chairman Secretary HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS January 18, 2005 - Minutes - Page 2 MINUTES HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE DATE: January 19, 2005 TIME: 9:00 A.M. PLACE: Room 412 MEMBERS: Chairman Deal, Vice Chairman Smylie, Representatives Stevenson, Ellsworth, Black, Edmunson, Miller, Ring, Snodgrass, Jones, Garrett, Loertscher, Anderson, Andrus, Hart, Shepherd(2), Smith(30), Pasley- Stuart ABSENT/ Representatives Snodgrass and Andrus EXCUSED: GUESTS: Please refer to the attached Committee sign-in sheet. Chairman Deal called the meeting to order at 9:04 A.M. with a quorum being present. The minutes of January 18, 2005 were reviewed. MOTION: Representative Miller made a motion to accept the minutes of January 18, 2005 as written. The motion carried by voice vote. Docket No. Rules Governing the State Athletic Commission 03-0101-0401 Mr. Kit Clark, Deputy Attorney General, presented Docket No. 03-0101-0401 to the Committee. He said that State Athletic Commissioner, Mr. Tom Katsilometes, was unable to attend the meeting. Mr. Clark explained that amendments of the Athletic Commission’s statutes by the 2004 Legislature limit unsupervised fighting contests and exhibitions. In an effort to preclude unsupervised fighting contests and exhibitions, all martial arts were included within the definition of boxing, basically regulating daily martial arts activities and requiring a sanction from the Athletic Commission for martial arts activities. Mr. Clark said this rule is necessary to ensure that martial arts schools and their students are able to continue their daily activities without regulation by the Commission. This rule clarifies which martial arts activities are to be regulated (exhibitions and contests which involve combative contact between the contestants and participants). When asked how many interested parties had contacted the Commission regarding this change, Mr. Clark mentioned one entity indicated this rule would create a hardship. In response to a question about the number of martial arts schools in Idaho, he said he did not know, but the intent of last year’s statute was not to bring them under regulation. He also ensured the Committee that “tough man” events are still regulated. Docket No. Rules Implementing the Sunshine Law 34-0301-0401 Mr. Tim Hurst, Chief Deputy, Secretary of State, informed the committee that Docket No. 34-0301-0401 deals with the implementation of the Sunshine Law that was adopted in 1993. This rule formalizes the reporting requirements set forth for lobbyists and their employers. Required forms for lobbyist registration, annual reporting, campaign financial disclosure, and expenditures incurred (debts and obligations) and payment made on debt will be removed from the appendix and made available online. This rule drops the requirement for reporting office expenses and specifically outlines the expenditures that are to be reported. The Committee had no questions for Mr. Hurst. Docket No. Idaho Emergency Communications Commission Temporary Rules 38-0601-0401 Ms. Joanna Guilfoy, Deputy Attorney General, explained that the Emergency Communications Commission was established in the Department of Administration, effective July 1, 2004. The Commission is directed to mediate disputes between local government agencies over the governance of operations of consolidated emergency communications systems. These temporary rules will govern the mediation process and will be brought before the Legislature next session as pending rules. No comments have been received on these rules. When asked to give a hypothetical example of a situation