JUNEAU -- The Alaska House passed a bill Sunday that rewrites penalties for minor alcohol consumption and restructures the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board as part of a broader effort to overhaul the state's alcohol laws.
Senate Bill 165, sponsored by Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, also requires background checks for anyone applying for a license to start a marijuana business. The bill unanimously passed the Senate a week ago, but failed when it returned to the Senate later Sunday with a new amendment attached.
Separately on Sunday, the House sent Walker a bill that reduces the texting-while-driving penalty in cases that do not involve physical injury or death to another person to a $500 fine, with no threat of jail time. Senate Bill 123, modeled after an Anchorage ordinance that took effect at the start of the year, and was sponsored by Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage.
Taking texting violations out of the realm of state criminal law and into traffic court will make the law easier to enforce, Meyer said.
In the case of both the texting bill and the alcohol laws for minors, lawmakers say that the reduced penalties will actually do a better job of deterring or improving bad behavior -- a theme that's also reflected in an omnibus criminal justice reform measure moving through the Legislature.
Micciche's bill converts the penalties for minor alcohol consumption and possession from criminal offenses into essentially traffic tickets. Instead of potential probation, jail time and the loss of a driver's license, underage drinking will come with a $500 fine that can be reduced through alcohol education courses or youth court.
Underage drinking violations also will no longer show up on a minor's Court View record. Micciche, who got involved with the legislation mainly to help reform the underage drinking laws, said the current system doesn't work.
"When you're trying to help a person who's made a mistake to succeed, throwing multiple layers of obstacles in their way doesn't do that," Micciche said.
He noted that the reduced penalties wouldn't apply if the minor's drinking happened in conjunction with another crime, like driving under the influence.
In another change, SB 165 restructures the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which regulates Alaska's alcohol industry. Until now, the board has consisted of two alcohol industry members and three members of the public, including one from the Bush.
Five people will still serve on the board. In addition to two industry members, one board member will be drawn from the public safety profession, one will represent the Bush and a third will represent the "general public."
One provision of the bill: The general public member can't actively work in the public health sector.
That requirement came as a compromise with the alcohol industry. The Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association had initially opposed the legislation, but later sent a letter applauding efforts to "ensure the ABC board was not stacked against the hospitality industry."
Micciche said there's nothing to prevent someone with a public health background from serving on the board, or an active public health sector employee from serving on the board's rural Alaska seat.
"We felt it was a fair balance at this time," Micciche said.
At least one lawmaker found that change concerning. Rep. Shelley Hughes sits on the board of Recover Alaska, the group backed by the Rasmuson Foundation that strategizes ways to reduce the effects of alcohol abuse in the state.
She said she understood Alaska CHARR's concerns but saw the public health element to the board as a priority.
"We need to respect what they want and work with them, but I think the public health aspect ... I'm just hoping, with the changes, that won't be forgotten," Hughes said.
In general, the Micciche bill represents a smaller carve-out of a bigger effort to rewrite state alcohol laws, which haven't been substantially updated since 1980. More than 70 people across a variety of industries have been working on the revisions to the laws, known collectively as Title 4.
When the rewrite was first introduced at the end of last year's Legislative session, it was more than 100 pages long. It's since been scaled back to focus on what Micciche said were the priority items. Broader legislation will be introduced again next year, he said.
SB 165 "is still a minor proportion of the changes that have to be made," Micciche said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that SB 165 was headed for Gov. Bill Walker's desk. When the bill passed the House, it returned to the Senate for a concurring vote on a last-minute amendment, which it did not receive.