02/20/2018 11:00 AM House FISHERIES

          HB 260-FISH & GAME LICENSES; ELECTRONIC FORM                                                                      
                                                                                                                              
11:03:30 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR STUTES announced that the  first order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL NO. 260, "An  Act relating to electronic possession of                                                               
certain licenses,  tags, and identification  cards issued  by the                                                               
Department  of Fish  and  Game; and  providing  for an  effective                                                               
date."                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
11:04:28 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  DAN SADDLER,  Alaska  State Legislature,  Juneau,                                                               
Alaska, paraphrased the sponsor  statement, which read as follows                                                               
[original punctuation provided]:                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     Smart  phones  have  become an  indispensable  part  of                                                                    
     modern   Alaska   life.   They   provide   users   with                                                                    
     inexpensive,  convenient and  reliable information  and                                                                    
     services,    including   communications,    navigation,                                                                    
     scheduling,  research, photography,  and entertainment.                                                                    
     There  is almost  no aspect  of  life that  smartphones                                                                    
     don't make easier and better.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     HB   260  seeks   to  leverage   modern  communications                                                                    
     technology  to   enhance  the  timeless   pleasures  of                                                                    
     traditional  Alaskan  activities of  hunting,  fishing,                                                                    
     and  trapping, by  allowing  state  licenses for  these                                                                    
     activities to be displayed on  digital devices, as well                                                                    
     as in paper form.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     State law  currently requires outdoorsmen and  women to                                                                    
     carry   paper   licenses    while   enjoying   licensed                                                                    
     activities.  But as  anyone who's  ever tumbled  into a                                                                    
     stream while landing  a king salmon or sat  in the rain                                                                    
     in a  duck blind knows,  paper licenses can  be damaged                                                                    
     or lost at the worst  possible time. And while a person                                                                    
     might  misplace  their   wallet,  their  smartphone  is                                                                    
     almost always within arm's reach.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Alaskans  have been  authorized since  2013 to  display                                                                    
     secure proof of insurance on  a digital device, and the                                                                    
     benefits  of  extending  that  capability  to  outdoors                                                                    
     recreational licenses are clear. They would:                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     ?  Make  it easier  and  more  convenient for  hunters,                                                                    
     fishers  and  trappers  to obtain  and  carry  required                                                                    
     licenses                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     ? Help entice new  participants in these activities, by                                                                    
     lowering one barrier to entry                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     ? Make Alaska a  more attractive tourist destination by                                                                    
     making it easier for visitors to get licenses                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     ?  Improve  compliance  with state  fish  and  wildlife                                                                    
     management laws,  by making  it easier  for enforcement                                                                    
     officials to verify users are legal                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     ?  Save  money  for   the  state  and  private  license                                                                    
     vendors, by reducing or eliminating printing costs                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     ?   Enhance   licensing    security   with   harder-to-                                                                    
     counterfeit digital licenses                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     HB 260  also lays  the foundation  for smartphone-based                                                                    
     "apps" that  will eventually  let ADF&G  deliver timely                                                                    
     information  on local  regulations,  opening dates  and                                                                    
     times, and hazards to  users; while letting outdoorsman                                                                    
     reciprocate by  sending back real-time data  on harvest                                                                    
     effort  and  success.  Until then,  the  advantages  of                                                                    
     digital  licenses  are  significant enough  to  warrant                                                                    
     swift passage of HB 260.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SADDLER  began  his testimony  by  offering  [and                                                               
holding up] his  smartphone as his fishing  license, stating that                                                               
would  depend upon  passage of  HB 260.   If  the bill  passes it                                                               
would  then  be possible  to  trade  paper fishing  licenses  for                                                               
digital ones, he said.   He offered this as a  first step to take                                                               
in the  digital revolution as  it applies to hunting  and fishing                                                               
licenses.  He asked committee members to support HB 260.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
11:08:13 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS  characterized HB  260 as  a "great                                                               
bill."   He said he sees  many parallels between this  bill and a                                                               
bill passed  several years ago  that used smartphones  to provide                                                               
digital proof of driver's insurance.   He said he personally used                                                               
that technology and found it simple and  easy to use.  He has not                                                               
heard  any  negative  impacts  on   the  digital  technology  for                                                               
driver's vehicle  insurance, he  stated.   He offered  his belief                                                               
that HB 260 seemed to be  consistent with the new digital society                                                               
that everyone lives in.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
11:09:03 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER  said that one  of the few  questions that                                                               
has arisen on  digital proof of auto insurance  was the liability                                                               
in  the event  a law  enforcement officer  checking for  proof of                                                               
vehicle insurance,  took possession  of a  phone and  dropped and                                                               
damaged the smartphone.  Currently  liability in state law exists                                                               
such  that in  the  event  an officer  takes  the smartphone  and                                                               
damages or breaks it, the police  officer is not liable; thus, it                                                               
was  up to  an  individual  to decide  if  he/she  wants to  hand                                                               
his/her phone to an officer.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR STUTES  also characterized  HB 260 as  a "great  bill" that                                                               
may  also  pave the  way  for  electronic or  digital  commercial                                                               
fishing licenses, which she believed would be an advantage.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
11:10:08 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE TARR  noted that she  liked the bill.   She stated                                                               
that  some  she appreciated  that  the  bill  did not  require  a                                                               
fishing license  to be  presented in electronic  form as  some of                                                               
her constituents do not have the means to own a smartphone.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
11:10:36 AM                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR STUTES announced that HB 260 would be set aside.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
[HB 260 was held over.]