00 CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 9(L&C) am H 01 Urging the United States Congress to exempt cruise ships from certain provisions of the 02 Passenger Vessel Services Act and other applicable provisions of federal law for the 03 period during which Canadian ports are closed to cruise ships carrying more than 100 04 people; and urging the President of the United States not to fine or take actions against 05 cruise ships sailing to the state. 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 WHEREAS more than 2,260,000 visitors traveled to the state in 2019; and 08 WHEREAS, in 2019, approximately 1,331,600 people visited the state by cruise ship, 09 accounting for 90 percent of the visitors to Southeast Alaska; and 10 WHEREAS, each year, the tourism industry generates more than $214,000,000 in 11 state and municipal revenue, more than $1,400,000,000 in payroll, and $2,200,000,000 of 12 visitor spending; and 13 WHEREAS, on average, the tourism industry creates 8,394 jobs annually, generating 14 $271,600,000 in wages and earnings for Southeast Alaska each year; and 15 WHEREAS, in 2020, the diminished tourism season resulting from the COVID-19 01 pandemic contributed to an increase in statewide unemployment from 6.2 percent to 11.0 02 percent; in Southeast Alaska, unemployment increased from 4.7 percent to 11.3 percent, 03 which equates to a loss of 17 percent of all jobs in the region; and 04 WHEREAS state residents are being vaccinated against COVID-19 at the highest rate 05 per capita in the country, with 15 percent of state residents having been vaccinated; and 06 WHEREAS, on October 30, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 07 issued a Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, which allows cruise ships to resume 08 sailing with mitigation plans for crews, passengers, and people in port communities and 09 includes requirements for increased testing, additional crew safeguards, simulated voyages, 10 and certification of mitigation plans; and 11 WHEREAS, on February 3, 2021, Canada extended until February 2022 a ban 12 preventing cruise ships carrying more than 100 people from sailing through Canadian waters; 13 and 14 WHEREAS 46 U.S.C. 55103 (Passenger Vessel Services Act) requires that certain 15 passenger vessels that sail from United States ports must visit a foreign port before returning 16 to a port in the United States; and 17 WHEREAS an exemption of cruise ships from the requirement of visiting a foreign 18 port would help mitigate continued job and revenue loss and provide relief to an industry with 19 an economic impact that spans across every region of the state and employs people from 20 Ketchikan to Nome; and 21 WHEREAS other federal laws may interfere with the ability of certain ships to hire 22 and retain crews on routes to the state that do not include a stop in Canada; and 23 WHEREAS small business owners, families, and young people in the state depend on 24 tourism jobs for their livelihoods, and a missed cruise season could cause irreparable 25 economic harm; 26 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 27 Congress to exempt certain cruise ships sailing to the state from provisions of the Passenger 28 Vessel Services Act and other federal laws that require cruise ships to stop at a Canadian or 29 other foreign port in order to operate in the state for the period during which Canadian ports 30 are closed to cruise ships carrying more than 100 people; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that, if the United States Congress does not exempt cruise 01 ships from the requirements of the Passenger Vessel Services Act and any other applicable 02 provisions of federal law, the Alaska State Legislature urges the President of the United 03 States, to the extent allowed by law, to exercise his authority to allow cruise ships to travel 04 directly on round-trip itineraries to and from ports in the State of Washington and this state 05 while Canadian ports are closed to cruise ships. 06 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 07 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and 08 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, 09 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 10 delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 117th United States Congress.