Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 124
02/28/2005 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB19 | |
| HB26 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 19 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 26 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SJR 5 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 26-SHORT-TERM COM FISHING CREWMEMBER LICENSE CO-CHAIR SAMUELS announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 26 "An Act relating to short-term commercial fishing crewmember licenses; and providing for an effective date." 1:18:54 PM ADAM BERG, Staff to Representative Carl Moses, Alaska State Legislature, told the committee that HB 26 simply allows for the purchase of a seven-day commercial fishing crewmember license. Currently a yearlong license is $60 for a resident and $180 for a non-resident, he said, and the bill allows for a $30, seven- day license for a resident or non-resident. He said that this will maximize options for fishermen, allowing them to hire short-term help or charge tourists to see an Alaska fishing operation up-close and hands-on. He said that often friends or family will want to join the crew. 1:19:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked for comments regarding the fisherman's fund. MR. BERG said that the original version of the bill would have excluded short-term license holders from the fisherman's fund, and the Department of Labor (DOL) requested omitting that. He said he is not sure of the legal reasons. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if the vessel owners would end up paying for any injuries occurring on the boat. MR. BERG said he wasn't sure but thought there was a cap, and he deferred to Mr. Lasankie. 1:22:05 PM PAUL LASANKIE, Director, Division of Workers Compensation, Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOL), said the fisherman's fund is administered through DOL. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS said he understands the goal of the bill is for lodges to sell the fishing experience to tourists, and he asked what the pros and cons are of including the fisherman's fund. MR. LASANKIE replied that the short-term commercial license is intended to meet peak demand for crew, who would be fisherman and should be included in the fisherman's fund. He said the second group of individuals desiring a short-term license is unique, and the fund has never had to address the idea of an individual holding a commercial fishing license and not being able to access the fund. "Our concern was just right along those lines, that everyone who has a commercial fisherman's license of whatever duration would be able to pay into the fund and make a claim against the fund," he explained. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said that the fund supplies the first $2,500 of medical costs because fishermen have a $2,500 deductible. MR. LASANKIE said that was correct, and in most cases it is limited to $2,500 for people who do not have medical insurance. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said a $30 license will pay less than $12 into the fund since the fund gets 40 percent of license fees. He asked if Mr. Lasankie wants to accept medical liability, especially for someone who is new on the job, for $12. MR. LASANKIE said that is a conundrum. He added that the amount of money brought into the fund per day of liability is more from short-term licenses than long-term licenses. But he does ask the question if this will bring in more inexperienced crew who will be more likely to make a claim. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS offered that an inexperienced person can get a long-term license now. Children can participate, he added. MR. LASANKIE said that is true. He thinks the children of fishermen get good training. The committee took an at-ease from 1:27 PM to 1:28 PM. 1:27:58 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he requested legal opinions from Legislative Legal Affairs, and he was told that the fisherman's fund probably will not lose its dedicated fund provision if the legislation does not extend liability coverage to the short-term license holders. The second opinion addressed the ability to distinguish between short-term license holders and long-term license holders without breaking equal protection laws, and the advice given, he said, was that it would be fine as long as there is a difference between those two groups of people. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if the department thinks that by allowing short-term licenses, the state will be losing money. MR. LASANKIE responded that the department has a hard time quantifying what the fiscal impacts will be. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS stated that it could be possible that experienced people will be buying short-term licenses. MR. LASANKIE said there is no way to analyze it. 1:31:14 PM REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if a crewmember were to buy a short- term license, how much would go to the fisherman's fund. MR. LASANKIE answered 39 percent, net of the vendor's percentage. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked where the 39 percent would go if short-term license holders were not contributing to the fisherman's fund. MR. LASANKIE said it will still go to the fund. 1:32:06 PM REPRESENTATIVE GATTO said that this would allow one tourist to observe fishing operations and a second tourist to actively engage, and both would be covered by the fisherman's fund. MR. LASANKIE said "Yes, but there is a requirement, we believe, that someone actually be engaged in commercial fishing, so there might be a potential question if someone had the license and was just a bystander. That's something we haven't pursued beyond noting that there might be such a problem." REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked that in order to go on a fishing boat, even as an observer, does one need a license? MR. LASANKIE said he does not have an answer, but he didn't think so. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON clarified that if someone is on board and not engaged at all, a license is not needed. But if someone ties up the boat, throws fish into the hold, or participates in any way, he or she must have a commercial fishing license. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked, so someone who is not engaged would not need that license? CO-CHAIR SAMUELS said that is correct--they don't need a license now or after this legislation. CO-CHAIR RAMRAS asked how much disclosure is required for each license, what paperwork does a person have to sign regarding the fisherman's fund, and what steps will the captain be required to take to disclose the risks to novices? MR. LASANKIE said that the Alaska Department of Fish & Game is looking at what would be required for that license. SARAH GILBERTSON, Legislative Liaison, Office of the Commissioner, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, said she did not know what disclosures were required. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX said it is a matter of federal maritime law. 1:37:38 PM REPRESENTATIVE CRAWFORD asked how much demand there might be for these short-term licenses. MR. BERG said that it is unclear how much interest there is. One fisherman, he said, put a one-day fishing trip on his web site and got 1,200 hits in 12 hours. "There's been a lot of interest just in tourism in general on getting off the Grayline Bus tour and doing your own thing," he said. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said that currently it is just like buying a sport-fishing license. It is just an application with no disclosure, he said. The disclosures between a vessel and a non-vessel fishery are different. Employees on a vessel must sign a contract with the captain. Representative Seaton said he is concerned that the short-term license holder will get full medical coverage for a small amount of money. He said it is unfunded liabilities for the fisherman's fund for the benefit of the tourist industry. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS said that the price is only $60 now. He asked why the short-term license is for seven days, since tourists usually would want a one-day license. MR. BERG said the number of days has varied. The bill went into the Fisheries Committee with a one-day and three-day license, and the committee changed it to seven, because of the variety of fishery activities. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game just wanted to deal with one length of time, so the committee settled on a seven-day license. 1:43:46 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said that HB 26 covers the tourist who pays to join a fishery, but it also could be used to get inexperienced deckhands while not paying them enough to get a commercial license. It comes down to cheap labor, he said, and lowers the professionalism of the industry. He added that he has an amendment. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS disputed that if a captain only needs help for seven days, he or she could hire experienced people with a short-term license. He said a captain would not seek help just because it is $30 cheaper. He said he would like to amend the bill to limit a short-term license to one per person per year. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX said that she thinks it is important to only have one time-length option. She said that ADF&G didn't want various options. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said he thinks if the committee amended the bill to prohibit getting paid while working under a short- term license then it will be a recreational, tourist opportunity, and a true crewmember wouldn't get one. 1:50:29 PM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved Amendment 1, labeled 24-LS0181\Y.2, Utermohle, 2/28/05, which read: Page 2, line 17, following "may not": Insert: "be paid, receive crew shares, or receive other compensation for work performed under the license and may not" CO-CHAIR SAMUELS objected for purposes of discussion. The committee took an at-ease from 1:51 PM to 1:52 PM. 1:52:09 PM MR. BERG said he and the sponsor talked about the amendment and decided to let the committee decide on it. "We're easy on this one. Whatever the resource committee thinks," he said. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS removed his objection to Amendment 1. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked for the sponsor's view of Amendment 1. MR. BERG said that Representative Moses wasn't going to make that switch himself. He said he thinks there are people who would work briefly who are skilled. "We don't think fisherman are out looking for cheap labor...and put their operation at risk," he said. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS said seeing no objections, Amendment 1 is adopted. REPRESENTATIVE SEATON brought up the question of the fisherman's fund. A tourist won't do dangerous jobs, he said, so he thinks Amendment 1 takes care of that problem, but he wanted to air it. CO-CHAIR SAMUELS moved to report CSHB 26(FSH) out of committee, as amended, with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB 26(RES) was reported from the House Resources Standing Committee.
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