SCS CSHB 419(FIN): "An Act relating to regional seafood development associations and to regional seafood development taxes."
00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 419(FIN) 01 "An Act relating to regional seafood development associations and to regional seafood 02 development taxes." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 16.43.160(e)(2)(A)(iii) is amended to read: 05 (iii) Department of Community and Economic 06 Development - commercial fishing loan program, Alaska Seafood 07 Marketing Institute, regional seafood development program, and 08 community development quota program; 09 * Sec. 2. AS 16.43.160(e)(2)(A)(ix) is amended to read: 10 (ix) Department of Revenue - fisheries business tax 11 program, fishery resource landing tax program, salmon enhancement 12 tax program, seafood development tax program, salmon marketing 13 tax program, and dive fishery management assessment program; 14 * Sec. 3. AS 43.76 is amended by adding new sections to read:
01 Article 6. Seafood Development Tax. 02 Sec. 43.76.350. Two percent seafood development tax. (a) A person 03 holding a limited entry permit or interim-use permit under AS 16.43 shall pay a 04 seafood development tax at the rate of two percent of the value, as defined in 05 AS 43.75.290, of fishery resources taken in a fishery that the person removes from the 06 state or transfers to a buyer in the state. 07 (b) A two percent seafood development tax on fishery resources taken in a 08 fishery may only be levied and collected under (a) of this section if 09 (1) the commissioner of community and economic development has 10 designated an organization to be the qualified regional seafood development 11 association for the seafood development region in which the fishery occurs; and 12 (2) the two percent seafood development tax for the fishery is 13 approved under AS 43.76.370. 14 Sec. 43.76.355. One and one-half percent seafood development tax. (a) A 15 person holding a limited entry permit or interim-use permit under AS 16.43 shall pay a 16 seafood development tax at the rate of 1.5 percent of the value, as defined in 17 AS 43.75.290, of fishery resources taken in a fishery that the person removes from the 18 state or transfers to a buyer in the state. 19 (b) A 1.5 percent seafood development tax on fishery resources taken in a 20 fishery may only be levied and collected under (a) of this section if 21 (1) the commissioner of community and economic development has 22 designated an organization to be the qualified regional seafood development 23 association for the seafood development region in which the fishery occurs; and 24 (2) the 1.5 percent seafood development tax for the fishery is approved 25 under AS 43.76.370. 26 Sec. 43.76.360. One percent seafood development tax. (a) A person 27 holding a limited entry permit or interim-use permit under AS 16.43 shall pay a 28 seafood development tax at the rate of one percent of the value, as defined in 29 AS 43.75.290, of fishery resources taken in a fishery that the person removes from the 30 state or transfers to a buyer in the state. 31 (b) A one percent seafood development tax on fishery resources taken in a
01 fishery may only be levied and collected under (a) of this section if 02 (1) the commissioner of community and economic development has 03 designated an organization to be the qualified regional seafood development 04 association for the seafood development region in which the fishery occurs; and 05 (2) the one percent seafood development tax for the fishery is 06 approved under AS 43.76.370. 07 Sec. 43.76.365. One-half percent seafood development tax. (a) A person 08 holding a limited entry permit or interim-use permit under AS 16.43 shall pay a 09 seafood development tax at the rate of 0.5 percent of the value, as defined in 10 AS 43.75.290, of fishery resources taken in a fishery that the person removes from the 11 state or transfers to a buyer in the state. 12 (b) A 0.5 percent seafood development tax on fishery resources taken in a 13 fishery may only be levied or collected under (a) of this section if 14 (1) the commissioner of community and economic development has 15 designated an organization to be the qualified regional seafood development 16 association for the seafood development region in which the fishery occurs; and 17 (2) the 0.5 percent seafood development tax for the fishery is approved 18 under AS 43.76.370. 19 Sec. 43.76.370. Election to approve, amend, or terminate seafood 20 development tax. (a) A qualified regional seafood development association for a 21 seafood development region may conduct an election under this section to approve, 22 amend, or terminate a seafood development tax in one or more fisheries in a seafood 23 development region after 24 (1) the association pays a fee of $500 for each fishery in which an 25 election is held; and 26 (2) the commissioner of community and economic development 27 approves 28 (A) the notice to be published by the qualified regional seafood 29 development association; 30 (B) the ballot to be used in the election; and 31 (C) the registration and voting procedure for the approval,
01 amendment, or termination of the seafood development tax. 02 (b) The seafood development tax is levied under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 03 43.76.360, or 43.76.365 on fishery resources taken in a fishery, or is amended or 04 terminated, on the effective date stated on the ballot if 05 (1) the levy, amendment, or termination of the tax is approved by a 06 majority vote of the eligible interim-use permit and entry permit holders in the fishery 07 who vote in an election held under this section; 08 (2) at least 30 percent of the eligible interim-use permit and entry 09 permit holders in the fishery cast a ballot in the election to levy, amend, or terminate 10 the tax; and 11 (3) the election results are certified by the commissioner of community 12 and economic development under (d) of this section. 13 (c) In conducting an election under this section, the qualified regional seafood 14 development association shall adopt the following procedures: 15 (1) the association shall hold at least one public meeting, not less than 16 30 days before the date on which ballots must be postmarked to be counted in the 17 election, to explain the reason for the proposed seafood development tax, the 18 amendment of the tax, or the termination of the tax and to explain the registration and 19 voting procedure to be used in the election; the association shall provide notice of the 20 meeting by 21 (A) mailing the notice to each eligible interim-use permit and 22 entry permit holder; 23 (B) posting the notice in at least three public places in the 24 seafood development region in which the fishery occurs; and 25 (C) publishing the notice in at least one newspaper of general 26 circulation in the region at least once a week for two consecutive weeks before 27 the meeting; 28 (2) the association shall mail two ballots to each eligible interim-use 29 permit and entry permit holder; the first ballot shall be mailed not more than 45 days 30 before the date ballots must be postmarked to be counted in the election; the second 31 ballot shall be mailed not less than 15 days before the date ballots must be postmarked
01 to be counted in the election; the association shall adopt procedures to ensure that only 02 one ballot from each eligible interim-use permit and entry permit holder is counted in 03 the election; 04 (3) the ballot must 05 (A) indicate whether the election relates to a seafood 06 development tax under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 43.76.360, or 43.76.365; 07 (B) indicate the fishery that is or will be subject to the seafood 08 development tax to be levied or amended; 09 (C) ask the question whether the seafood development tax shall 10 be levied or amended, as appropriate; 11 (D) indicate the geographic boundaries of the seafood 12 development region in which the seafood development tax will be levied; 13 (E) provide an effective date for the levy or amendment of the 14 seafood development tax in the fishery; and 15 (F) indicate the date on which returned ballots must be 16 postmarked in order to be counted; 17 (4) the ballots shall be returned by mail and shall be counted by the 18 commissioner of community and economic development or by a person approved by 19 the commissioner of community and economic development. 20 (d) The commissioner of community and economic development shall certify 21 the results of an election under this section if the commissioner determines that the 22 requirements of (a) - (c) of this section have been satisfied. 23 (e) The rate of the seafood development tax levied in a seafood development 24 region shall be uniform for all fisheries and fishery resources in the region. 25 (f) If a seafood development tax has not been levied on a fishery resource in a 26 seafood development region, the initial tax levied in any fishery in the region may be 27 set at a rate set under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 43.76.360, or 43.76.365 in accordance 28 with procedures set out in this section. If a seafood development tax is currently 29 levied on fishery resources in any fishery in a seafood development region, an election 30 to approve the initial levy of a seafood development tax in another fishery in the 31 region shall be for a levy of the tax at the current rate in the region. The election to
01 approve the levy of a seafood development tax within a fishery shall be conducted 02 among the eligible interim-use permit and entry permit holders in the fishery. 03 (g) An election to amend the current rate of the seafood development tax 04 within a seafood development region shall be conducted among the eligible interim- 05 use permit holders and entry permit holders in each fishery within the region that has 06 approved the levy of the tax under this section. In an election to amend the current 07 rate of the seafood development tax within a region, a person shall receive, and may 08 cast and have counted, a separate ballot for each fishery in the seafood development 09 region that is subject to the tax for which the person is an eligible interim-use permit 10 or entry permit holder. 11 (h) Except as provided in AS 43.76.375, an election to terminate a seafood 12 development tax within one or more fisheries in a seafood development region shall be 13 conducted under the same procedures established under (a) - (d) of this section for an 14 election to approve or amend a seafood development tax. 15 (i) In this section, "eligible interim-use permit and entry permit holder" means 16 an individual who, 90 days before the date ballots must be postmarked to be counted 17 in an election under this section, is listed in the records of the Alaska Commercial 18 Fisheries Entry Commission as the legal owner of an interim-use permit or an entry 19 permit that authorizes the individual to operate commercial fishing gear in the fishery 20 that is or will be subject to the seafood development tax that is the subject of the 21 election. 22 Sec. 43.76.375. Termination of seafood development tax. (a) The seafood 23 development tax levied under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 43.76.360, or 43.76.365 may 24 be terminated by the commissioner of revenue upon majority vote of eligible permit 25 holders who vote in an election held under AS 43.76.370 in which at least 30 percent 26 of the eligible permit holders cast a ballot. The seafood development tax may be 27 terminated in one or more fisheries within a seafood development region under this 28 section. 29 (b) The commissioner of revenue shall terminate a seafood development tax 30 under (a) of this section following an election conducted by the qualified seafood 31 development association for the seafood development region if
01 (1) a petition is presented to the commissioner of community and 02 economic development requesting termination of the seafood development tax in a 03 fishery that is signed by at least 10 percent of the number of persons who are eligible 04 to vote in an election under AS 43.76.370 to approve the levy of the seafood 05 development tax in the fishery; 06 (2) an election is held in accordance with AS 43.76.370; the ballot 07 must ask the question whether the seafood development tax for the fishery shall be 08 terminated; the ballot must be worded so that a "yes" vote is for continuation of the 09 seafood development tax and a "no" vote is for termination of the seafood 10 development tax; 11 (3) a majority of the votes cast in the election by eligible interim-use 12 permit and entry permit holders are for the termination of the seafood development 13 tax; 14 (4) at least 30 percent of the permit holders who are eligible to vote in 15 the election cast a ballot in the election; and 16 (5) the qualified regional seafood development association for the 17 fishery provides notice of the election in accordance with AS 43.76.370 within two 18 months after receiving notice from the commissioner of community and economic 19 development that a valid petition under (1) of this subsection has been received. 20 Sec. 43.76.380. Liability for tax on fishery resources sold to a buyer. (a) 21 Except as provided under (c) of this section, a buyer who acquires a fishery resource 22 that is subject to a seafood development tax levied under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 23 43.76.360, or 43.76.365 shall collect the seafood development tax at the time of 24 purchase, and shall remit the total tax collected during each month to the department 25 by the last day of the next month. 26 (b) A buyer who collects the seafood development tax shall 27 (1) maintain records reflecting the fishery in which the fishery resource 28 was caught; and 29 (2) report to the Department of Revenue by March 1 of each year the 30 total value, as defined in AS 43.75.290, of the fishery resources caught in each fishery 31 that the buyer has acquired during the preceding year.
01 (c) A commercial fisherman who transfers possession of a fishery resource to 02 a buyer who is not a fisheries business licensed under AS 43.75 is liable for the 03 payment of a seafood development tax levied under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 04 43.76.360, or 43.76.365 if, at the time possession of the fishery resource is transferred 05 to a buyer, the seafood development tax payable on the fishery resource has not been 06 collected. If a commercial fisherman is liable for payment of the seafood development 07 tax under this subsection, the commercial fisherman shall comply with the 08 requirements under (b) of this section to maintain records and to make reports to the 09 Department of Revenue. Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a person subject to this 10 subsection shall remit the total seafood development tax payable during the calendar 11 year to the Department of Revenue before April 1 after close of the calendar year. 12 (d) The Department of Revenue shall deposit the seafood development tax 13 collected under AS 43.76.350 - 43.76.399 in the general fund. The legislature may 14 make appropriations based on this revenue to the Department of Community and 15 Economic Development for the purpose of providing financing for qualified regional 16 seafood development associations. 17 Sec. 43.76.385. Liability for tax on fishery resources shipped from the 18 state. (a) The owner of fishery resources removed from the state is liable for payment 19 of a seafood development tax levied under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 43.76.360, or 20 43.76.365 if, at the time the fishery resources are removed from the state, the seafood 21 development tax payable on the fishery resources has not been collected by a buyer. 22 (b) If the owner of fishery resources is liable for payment of the seafood 23 development tax under (a) of this section, the owner shall comply with the 24 requirement of AS 43.76.380(b) to report the owner's liability for payment of the tax. 25 Sec. 43.76.390. Exemption. AS 43.76.350 - 43.76.399 do not apply to 26 salmon harvested under a special harvest area entry permit issued under AS 16.43.400. 27 Sec. 43.76.399. Definition. In AS 43.76.350 - 43.76.399, unless the context 28 otherwise requires, 29 (1) "buyer" means a person who acquires possession of fishery 30 resources from the person who caught the fishery resources regardless of whether 31 there is an actual sale of the fishery resources but excluding a transfer to a person
01 engaged solely in interstate transportation of goods for hire; 02 (2) "fishery" has the meaning given in AS 16.43.990. 03 * Sec. 4. AS 44.33 is amended by adding a new section to read: 04 Sec. 44.33.065. Regional seafood development associations. (a) The 05 Department of Community and Economic Development shall assist in and encourage 06 the formation of a qualified regional seafood development association for each 07 seafood development region identified in (b) of this section for the purpose of 08 promoting and marketing Alaska seafood products harvested in the region. The 09 commissioner shall designate the first organization to apply and qualify under this 10 subsection for recognition as the qualified association for a region to be the qualified 11 regional seafood development association for that seafood development region if the 12 commissioner determines that the organization 13 (1) is established for the following purposes: 14 (A) promotion of seafood and seafood by-products that are 15 harvested in the region and processed for sale; 16 (B) promotion of improvements to the commercial fishing 17 industry and infrastructure in the seafood development region; 18 (C) establishment of education, research, advertising, or sales 19 promotion programs for seafood products harvested in the region; 20 (D) preparation of market research and product development 21 plans for the promotion of seafood and their by-products that are harvested in 22 the region and processed for sale; 23 (E) cooperation with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute 24 and other public or private boards, organizations, or agencies engaged in work 25 or activities similar to the work of the organization including entering into 26 contracts for joint programs of consumer education, sales promotion, quality 27 control, advertising, and research in the production, processing, or distribution 28 of seafood harvested in the region; 29 (F) cooperation with commercial fishermen, fishermen's 30 organizations, seafood processors, the Alaska Fisheries Development 31 Foundation, the Fisheries Industrial Technology Center, state and federal
01 agencies, and other relevant persons and entities to investigate market 02 reception to new seafood product forms and to develop commodity standards 03 and future markets for seafood products; 04 (2) provides for representation of commercial fishing permit holders 05 for each fishery in the region that is subject to a seafood development tax levied under 06 AS 43.76.350 - 43.76.399 on the board of directors of the organization; 07 (3) provides for membership in the organization by any commercial 08 fisherman who holds a commercial fishing permit for a fishery that is conducted in the 09 region and by other persons and groups in the region who wish to be members of the 10 organization; and 11 (4) is organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the state 12 for the purpose of marketing and promoting seafood products taken in the region and 13 seafood products taken in fisheries subject to a seafood development tax levied under 14 AS 43.76.350 - 43.76.399. 15 (b) Seafood development regions are established for each of the following 16 regions of the state and are made up of the designated commercial fishing 17 management areas established by the Board of Fisheries in accordance with the 18 boundaries of those areas as adopted by the Board of Fisheries: 19 (1) Southeast Alaska seafood development region -- Southeastern 20 Alaska area and Yakutat area; 21 (2) Prince William Sound seafood development region -- Prince 22 William Sound area; 23 (3) Cook Inlet seafood development region -- Cook Inlet area; 24 (4) Kodiak seafood development region -- Kodiak area; 25 (5) Alaska Peninsula seafood development region -- Alaska Peninsula 26 area; 27 (6) Aleutian Islands seafood development region -- Aleutian Islands 28 area; 29 (7) Chignik seafood development region -- Chignik area; 30 (8) Atka-Amlia Islands seafood development region -- Atka-Amlia 31 Islands area;
01 (9) Bristol Bay seafood development region -- Bristol Bay area; 02 (10) Kuskokwim seafood development region -- Kuskokwim area; 03 (11) Yukon-Northern seafood development region -- Yukon-Northern 04 area and Kotzebue area; 05 (12) Norton Sound-Port Clarence seafood development region -- 06 Norton Sound-Port Clarence area. 07 (c) An organization may be designated as the qualified regional seafood 08 development association for more than one seafood development region. 09 (d) A qualified regional seafood development association for a fishery may 10 request state financial assistance from the department to aid the seafood development 11 programs of the association. 12 (e) A qualified regional seafood development association requesting state 13 financial assistance shall submit an annual financial report to the department on a form 14 provided by the department. The department may require that a qualified regional 15 seafood development association use a uniform system of accounting. A qualified 16 regional seafood development association requesting state assistance shall submit an 17 annual budget to the department on or before a date specified by the department. 18 (f) The department may adopt regulations necessary to implement this section. 19 (g) In this section, "fishery" has the meaning given in AS 16.43.990.