Wine bill uncorked in committee
Published Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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Stumble It!JUNEAU — The story of HB 51 and SB 305 already involves conflicts of interest, clashing personalities, and uncorked bottles of wine. And it’s not over yet.
The story begins last January, when HB 51 first started moving through the Legislature. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Jay Ramras, a Republican from Fairbanks, and basically allowed people to take half-empty bottles of wine home with them after a meal at a restaurant, as long as the bottles were recorked in an approved way.
Ramras says it’s no different from taking home the second half of prime rib dinner, and argues it’s good public policy because it would stop people from drinking too much before they drove home. HB 51 moved quickly through the House and passed the body with only three votes against it.
The bill stalled when it got to the Senate, and it’s been in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee since last February.
“Last year there didn’t seem to be any interest among Senate members, so it wasn’t a priority,” committee chair Sen. Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, said Tuesday. This year some senators started asking about the bill — some of them with friends who liked to drink wine with dinner.
So Ellis decided to hear the bill.
But not Ramras’ bill. Ellis said he didn’t want people to get wrapped up thinking Ramras was only pushing the bill because he is a restaurant owner and would somehow benefit from it.
“It seemed like making a committee bill would keep the focus on the public policy,” he said.
Ellis introduced SB 305 last week. It has the exact same language as Ramras’ bill but is sponsored by the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.
Ramras said Tuesday he’s fine with the new bill. He said the idea just sort of came up one night when he was having dinner with Ellis and other lawmakers.
“I said, ‘I think it would be better if it passed without my name on it,’” he recalled.
Ramras said he didn’t think he had a conflict of interest at all, and claimed the issue was more about some senators having personal issues with him because of how he treated their bills in his committee, the House Judiciary.
“It was pretty clear they weren’t going to pass my bill,” he said.
SB 305 was scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday but wasn’t heard.
Ellis said he hasn’t yet made up his mind on the bill but thought it would probably make it out of his committee at least, maybe even with his support.
Bill aims to protect small charter schools
A bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks, aimed at protecting charter schools like the Effie Kokrine Charter School in Fairbanks had its first hearing in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday.
Current law funds charter schools like other schools if they have 150 students or more. But if the number of students falls below 150, the charter schools receive significantly less money per student.
According to Eddy Jeans, the head of school finance for the state’s department of education, the law is in place to discourage having lots of small charter schools in larger districts.
“The 150’s in there for a reason, and it’s to promote efficiently operating schools,” he said Tuesday.
Thomas argues the drop in funding is too harsh. While the Effie Kokrine school has more than 150 students this year, it didn’t last year and lost a lot of state funding because of it.
Thomas’ bill would still give charter schools with fewer than 150 students less state money than regular schools that size, but would give them more money than they get now.
Jeans said the administration would leave the decision up to the Legislature as long as the charter schools didn’t get more money than Thomas is proposing.
The bill is SB 152.
Stampede park bill to get hearing
A bill sponsored by Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks, creating the Stampede State Recreation Area is scheduled for its first hearing Wednesday in the House Resources Committee.
The recreation area would be located around the rugged Stampede Road located west of Healy and is aimed at protecting the area while keeping it open to current uses.
The bill is HB 241. Thomas is sponsoring a companion bill in the Senate. That bill, SB 173, has not yet been heard.
Your chance to weigh in
The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to take public testimony on the state’s capital budget starting at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Contact your local Legislative Information Office to find out how to comment on an individual project or the overall budget.
The bill is SB 221.
For more news from the capital, visit www.newsminer.com/weblogs and look for Capital Focus.
Community Discussion
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Did Jay Ramras pay off the bet he had made that he wouldn't say anything stupid after his most recent gaffe?
You know the gaffe, the involving the "V" word...
Fairbanks MUST find someone better to represent them.
Nice to hear of such important legislation being worked on in Juneau, both over dinner and in session.
Nice work if you can get it...
Do you two honestly believe that just because he admitted to having dinner and talking "shop" that he is the first politician to do so? You are only kidding yourself, the term in politics is called an 'iron triangle' go look it up.
as for the merit of his proposed bill, there is no way I could support it and I not only have grown up in the restraunt/ bar industry but have worked closely with this issue. I dont see any way that having an open container in the car can be differentiated between someone who got a bottle at the store and drank it while driving around or someone who is driving home with one they only drank half of at the restraunt. Lets talk about the difference between DWI and DUI and then realize that there is no magic wand that an officer should possess to make that judgment call without seeming prejudicial to people based on there appearance, social or economic standing in the community. One more thing to consider, would the normal person who has had half a bottle of wine drive around with something to show exactly how much they have consumed?
Having lunch,drinking wine and making new laws.What a life!
For some reason a lot of people seem to dislike Jay. To me this is just another very small but great idea. If a couple go out for dinner and choose to pay for a good bottle of wine, they should be able to take it home with them. Most people have trouble leaving that last bit of steak on the plate. I doubt that the last of the wine will be left behind either. The open container law is just stupid anyway. What is the difference if you drink a couple of glasses of wine at home and then drive, or drink it in the car on the way. You are either over the limit or not. Where you consumed the alcohol makes no difference.
steelheadak -
"a lot of people seem to dislike Jay." You are absolutely correct. I have talked to many woman who have worked at his establishments - I have yet to meet one that actually likes him after their experiences as his employee. If I went into detail, it could be construed as libel, so I won't...
Having said that, I do think this is a good idea. I for one can tell you that if I order a $30+ bottle of wine with dinner, you can be damn sure that I will drink it all before leaving!
JB---
It wasn't just "talking shop over dinner", although that may violate open meeting laws (I'm not sure), it is the picture of a couple of legislators sipping wine, not finishing it, and concluding that they should make a law about it. C'mon, that's funny.
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