Lawmakers finally pass identity theft bill
Published Sunday, April 13, 2008
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Stumble It!JUNEAU — The Alaska Legislature on Saturday gave final approval to a comprehensive bill aimed at protecting residents from identity theft.
The bill, which came to 30 pages, was held over Friday night in the Senate after Sen. Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, succeeded in amending it to require companies to notify the state’s attorney general of any security breaches.
The Senate approved the bill 20-0 on Saturday, and the House voted to agree with Senate changes to it.
“We have been trying for more than three years now to find that balance of protection from identity theft while still allowing commerce and transactions to continue, and this bill meets that need,” said one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. John Coghill, R-North Pole, in a written statement.
Therriault, who sponsored a companion version of the bill, said the bill would give individuals more control over their own personal and financial information.
The bill, HB 65, now moves to the governor.
Guttenberg wins passage of vets bill
For the last year and a half, Rep. David Guttenberg and his staff have been pushing a relatively simple proposal — give military veterans an easy way to get information about veterans’ benefits.
The Fairbanks Democrat kept pushing it hard in the final days of the legislative session, and on Saturday the bill finally made it through.
“It’s the veterans who get the benefits, and it’s great for them,” Guttenberg said.
If approved by the governor, the bill will add a voluntary check-off box to the permanent fund dividend application that veterans can check if they want to receive information about benefits to which they might be entitled.
The Senate Finance Committee met briefly Saturday and moved the bill out of committee, and the Senate approved the bill unanimously.
The bill is HB 44.
Real ID Act bills pass
Lawmakers on Friday approved two measures in opposition of the federal Real ID Act of 2005.
One measure, sponsored by Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, is a bill prohibiting the state from spending money for the purpose of implementing the federal law.
The other, sponsored by Coghill, is a resolution encouraging the repeal of the act.
The bills are SB 202 and HJR 19.
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It is about time! I have been a victim of this and it cost me into the tens of thousands of dollars! I personally have been pushing letters to our elected officials for a year now and was told that this was in the works. I know this is not on the gas line, but I seriously hope Palin signs this before more people go through the stress and hardship that did not seem to be the responsability of the financial industry, at least thats there story.
Good deal.
I'm relieved to see us cutting down the Real ID Act. Thank you, Coghill and Wielechowski.
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