HB 26-CONFLICT OF INTEREST: BD FISHERIES/GAME  11:06:49 AM CHAIR TARR announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 26, "An Act relating to participation in matters before the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game by the members of the respective boards; and providing for an effective date." CHAIR TARR said the committee has not received any proposed amendments to HB 26. She related that Representative Kreiss- Tomkins has expressed his strong support for the bill. 11:07:35 AM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES expressed her support for this "fabulous legislation." REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ voiced his support for this "brilliant piece of legislation." 11:08:05 AM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE related that people from the Interior are saying that members of the Board of Game rarely conflict out, so they are questioning the need for HB 26. People from the sport fish side are saying there should not be any more undue influence on the conversations. More is heard from commercial fishing because they are the ones who are overwhelmingly conflicted out. Since the legislature has talked about this for many years, she is listening to all sides to ensure the committee is making a sound decision because this deals with allocation. She said she is leaning toward supporting this given that members of the board are already deliberating off the record because their insight is needed. So, she continued, the committee is asking that it be on record for the public to hear. She further argued that the "fish and game members" are professionals and should be trusted and able to differentiate between statements made from a direct financial interest versus statements made from expertise in a fishery or region. If the department and board members believe that a member is making comments in the [sharing] expertise, they have the wisdom to see the difference. Representative Vance specified that HB 26 does not allow a [conflicted board member] to vote on the matter, which is the hard line here because it is not being said that that can be overridden and waived. She stated she is currently supportive of HB 26 because she wants the transparency to the public and doesn't like that there is conversations happening off record that people are unaware of. The more transparency to the public on these conversations, the more trust can be built in the Board of Fisheries and in the public process. 11:12:17 AM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES added that whether it be fish or game, the legislation treats everybody and all sectors equally. 11:12:56 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE stated that in general he is supportive of the idea of HB 26. He agreed with Representative Vance that it is important to get all the conversation on the record instead of off the record so it can be seen later. He said his friends who are sport fishermen and who may not support the bill might at some point be on the other end of things where they want an excellent sport fisherman board member to speak on the record for them. He is waffling on yes or no because of the different sides, he continued, and surprisingly the bill highlights the distrust and divisiveness that has happened between commercial fish and sport fish. Both are going after the same resource and the committee needs to fix that at some point. 11:14:18 AM CHAIR TARR stated her support for HB 26. She noted that the board process is very involved, and that people need to be dedicated and have the time and commitment to be a good board member. She questioned whether it can always be expected that each time there will be a lot of Alaskans to fill that, as well as also having good representation between the regions and the backgrounds. She said it makes her feel more comfortable that it can be disclosed and that everything can be on the record, and she agrees with the transparency component of the bill. 11:15:17 AM REPRESENTATIVE STORY related that was an elected school board member for 15 years and members got to vote on issues and express their opinions. She said she thinks it is very helpful to have most of the conversations on the record at the table. While she realizes that a member can leave his or her chair and testify before the body, she said it expedites things to have the [conflicted] member at the table and able to share his or her thoughts. It is not going to prohibit side conversations from happening, she added, but they will be done more at the committee level and the public will appreciate hearing those thoughts whether or not they agree with them. 11:16:08 AM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE posed a scenario in which a member with a financial conflict is participating in deliberations and the board chair deems that that member's conversation is ethically going too far. She asked whether the board chair has discretion to limit the conversation so that it doesn't provide undue influence over the vote. 11:17:03 AM GLENN HAIGHT, Executive Director, Board of Fisheries, Boards Support Section, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), replied that he thinks the board chair would have the ability to stop the conversation and take a break to talk with the board member to explain the chair's concerns. 11:17:25 AM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE inquired whether there are any examples in the past where a chair has exercised that authority. MR. HAIGHT responded that an example occurred last year when a board member was recused from working on a suite of proposals. He explained that at the beginning of every board meeting all board members sit through staff reports, but in this example a line of questions came from one board member and the recused member came back with another line of questioning that was starting to get to argument building. The board chair and the Department of Law representative realized it was probably going too far, so they stopped the meeting and had that conversation. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE commented that that answers the concern that there is another safety net mechanism for when undue influence is taking place and the chair has the discretion [to stop the conversation]. CHAIR TARR offered her appreciation for the comments about the legislation and said it points to how important the resource is to all Alaskans. 11:19:10 AM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES moved to report HB 26 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying [zero] fiscal note. 11:19:37 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE objected. 11:20:07 AM The committee took an at-ease from 11:20 a.m. to 11:21 a.m. 11:21:12 AM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES withdrew her first motion as she had stated the incorrect bill version. She moved to report HB 26 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying [zero] fiscal note. 11:21:37 AM REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE objected. 11:21:47 AM A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Kreiss-Tompkins, Story, Ortiz, Vance, Stutes, and Tarr voted in favor of the motion to report HB 26 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal note. Representative McCabe voted against it. Therefore, by a vote of 6-1, HB 26 was reported out of the House Special Committee on Fisheries.