SB 301: "An Act providing notice of and authorization for the Department of Administration to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for the construction, the purchase of equipment, and the financing of a fish hatchery in Anchorage to be operated by the Department of Fish and Game; relating to the issuance of certificates of participation for the fish hatchery; authorizing payments for the lease-purchase agreement from sport fishing facility license surcharge fees; relating to capital lease financing of sport fishing facilities; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 301 01 "An Act providing notice of and authorization for the Department of Administration to 02 enter into a lease-purchase agreement for the construction, the purchase of equipment, 03 and the financing of a fish hatchery in Anchorage to be operated by the Department of 04 Fish and Game; relating to the issuance of certificates of participation for the fish 05 hatchery; authorizing payments for the lease-purchase agreement from sport fishing 06 facility license surcharge fees; relating to capital lease financing of sport fishing 07 facilities; and providing for an effective date." 08 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 10 to read: 11 FINDINGS, INTENT, AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature finds that 12 (1) sport fishing is an important part of the lifestyle of this state, and 13 contributes more than $1 billion a year to the state's economy;
01 (2) sport fish hatcheries play an important part in fisheries management in this 02 state by enhancing existing fisheries and creating new, easily accessible roadside fisheries that 03 reduce pressure on wild stocks; 04 (3) the two existing hatcheries in Anchorage provide fish for stocking at more 05 than 300 sites throughout the southcentral and interior regions of this state; 06 (4) the ability of these hatcheries to produce fish to meet existing demand was 07 put in jeopardy when nearby military bases shut down their power plants that had been a vital 08 source of heat at no cost for accelerating fish growth; 09 (5) in 2005, the legislature recognized that the best way for the Department of 10 Fish and Game to continue to provide sport fish for anglers of this state was to build new 11 hatcheries in Fairbanks and Anchorage and authorized the issuance of revenue bonds to 12 finance their construction through the enactment of ch. 94, SLA 2005; 13 (6) the state bond committee issued revenue bonds under ch. 94, SLA 2005 14 and at least $21,000,000 of the proceeds of those bonds are currently assigned to a new fish 15 hatchery to be located in Anchorage; and 16 (7) the capital investment in sport fish hatcheries authorized by ch. 94, SLA 17 2005 and this Act would solidify the heritage of recreational angling in this state well into the 18 future. 19 (b) It is the intent of the legislature that the assignment of revenue bond money 20 received through ch. 94, SLA 2005 along with the proceeds of the certificates of participation 21 to be issued by the state bond committee under sec. 5 of this Act, including any investment 22 income earned, be used to construct the fish hatchery in Anchorage. It is also the intent of the 23 legislature that the amount of money to be used for the construction and equipping of the new 24 fish hatchery in Anchorage is $100,000,000. Of that amount, it is further the intent of the 25 legislature that 26 (1) at least $21,000,000 shall come from the Alaska sport fishing construction 27 account (AS 16.05.130(f)); 28 (2) approximately $9,000,000 shall come from the investment income earned 29 on the proceeds of the sale of the bonds described in (a) of this section; and 30 (3) up to $70,000,000 shall come from the proceeds of the certificates of 31 participation to be issued by the state bond committee described in sec. 5 of this Act.
01 (c) The purpose of secs. 5 and 6 of this Act is to provide notice of and authorize the 02 Department of Administration to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for the construction 03 of, the purchase of equipment for, and the financing of a fish hatchery in Anchorage. 04 * Sec 2. AS 16.05.100 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 16.05.100. Fish and game fund established. There is created a revolving 06 "fish and game fund," which shall be used exclusively for the following: 07 (1) to carry out the purposes and provisions of this title, except 08 AS 16.51 and AS 16.52, or other duties that may be delegated by the legislature to the 09 commissioner or the department; 10 (2) to pay the principal of and interest on revenue bonds issued under 11 AS 37.15.765 - 37.15.799 to finance the construction and renovation of fisheries 12 rehabilitation, enhancement, and development projects that benefit sport fishing; 13 [AND] 14 (3) to make lease payments for capital leases that finance the 15 construction and renovation of fisheries rehabilitation, enhancement, and 16 development projects that benefit sport fishing; and 17 (4) to carry out the purposes and objectives within the scope of this 18 title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52 as may be directed by the donor of any such funds. 19 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.130(e) is amended to read as follows: 20 (e) Money accruing to the state from the sport fishing facility surcharge 21 imposed under AS 16.05.340(j) shall be deposited in a separate account known as the 22 Alaska sport fishing enterprise account within the fish and game fund. Money in the 23 enterprise account shall be allocated to sport fishing facilities intended to directly 24 benefit license purchasers. Money in the enterprise account may be pledged to pay the 25 principal of and interest on revenue bonds issued under AS 37.15.765 - 37.15.799 and 26 on a subordinate basis may be pledged to the payment of capital leases. The 27 commissioner shall seek authority for the transfer of amounts determined under 28 AS 37.15.783 from the enterprise account to the redemption fund established in 29 AS 37.15.770. 30 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05.340(j) is amended to read: 31 (j) In addition to the fees for a sport fishing license set out in (a) and (d) of this
01 section, each person who purchases a sport fishing license shall pay a sport fishing 02 facility surcharge as set out in this subsection for the purpose of providing funding for 03 sport fishing facilities. A person who is eligible for a $5 resident hunting, trapping, 04 and sport fishing license under (a)(6) of this section or a free license under 05 AS 16.05.341 is exempt from payment of the surcharge imposed under this subsection. 06 The surcharge authorized by this subsection shall take effect on the date established by 07 regulation by the commissioner. The authority of the department to collect the 08 surcharge under this subsection terminates on December 31 of the calendar year in 09 which the principal amount of the bonds issued under AS 37.15.765 - 37.15.799, 10 together with the interest on them and any interest owing on unpaid installments of 11 interest, and all other obligations with respect to the bonds, are fully met and 12 discharged, and any sport fishing facility capital lease financed by the surcharge is 13 fully paid and no longer outstanding. The amount of the surcharge attached to each 14 sport fishing license must be clearly disclosed on the sport fishing license. The amount 15 of the sport fishing facility surcharge to be paid for each sport fishing license is as 16 follows: 17 (1) resident sport fishing license..................................................$ 9 18 (2) resident hunting and sport fishing license.................................9 19 (3) resident hunting, trapping, and sport fishing license................9 20 (4) nonresident 14-day sport fishing license................................30 21 (5) nonresident seven-day sport fishing license...........................25 22 (6) nonresident three-day sport fishing license............................15 23 (7) nonresident one-day sport fishing license...............................10 24 (8) nonresident annual sport fishing license.................................45 25 (9) special nonresident military small game and sport 26 fishing license................................................................................9 27 (10) special nonresident military sport fishing license..................9. 28 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 29 read: 30 NOTICE AND APPROVAL OF ENTRY INTO AND FINANCING OF A LEASE- 31 PURCHASE AGREEMENT. (a) Subject to annual appropriation, with the primary sources of
01 repayment intended to be general fund monies and the sport fishing facility surcharge 02 established under AS 16.05.340(j), the Department of Administration is authorized to enter 03 into a lease-purchase agreement for a fish hatchery in Anchorage to be constructed under the 04 lease-purchase agreement and to be operated by the Department of Fish and Game. 05 (b) The state bond committee is authorized to provide for the issuance of certificates 06 of participation in one or more series in the aggregate principal amount of up to $70,000,000 07 for the construction of a fish hatchery in Anchorage under the lease-purchase agreement 08 authorized in (a) of this section. The anticipated total cost of construction, acquisition, and 09 other costs of the project is $100,000,000. The anticipated annual amount of rental obligations 10 under the lease-purchase agreement is $5,100,000. The anticipated total lease payments for 11 the full term of the lease-purchase agreement is $125,637,000. In this subsection, "cost of 12 construction" includes credit enhancement and underwriting expenses, rating agency fees, 13 bond counsel fees, financial advisor fees, printing fees, advertising fees, capitalized interest, 14 and interest earnings used for lease payments. 15 (c) The state bond committee may contract for credit enhancement, underwriting, 16 credit ratings, bond counsel, financial advisor, printing, advertising, and trustee services that 17 the committee considers necessary in financing the project described in this section. 18 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 19 read: 20 NOTICE AND APPROVAL OF AGREEMENT. Section 5 of this Act constitutes the 21 notice and approval required by AS 36.30.085. 22 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).