Enrolled SJR 9: Urging the United States Congress to exempt cruise ships from certain provisions of the Passenger Vessel Services Act and other applicable provisions of federal law for the period during which Canadian ports are closed to cruise ships carrying more than 100 people; and urging the President of the United States not to fine or take actions against cruise ships sailing to the state.
00Enrolled SJR 9 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 period 03 during which Canadian ports are closed to cruise ships carrying more than 100 people; and 04 urging the President of the United States not to fine or take actions against cruise ships sailing 05 to the state. 06 _______________ 07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 WHEREAS more than 2,260,000 visitors traveled to the state in 2019; and 09 WHEREAS, in 2019, approximately 1,331,600 people visited the state by cruise ship, 10 accounting for 90 percent of the visitors to Southeast Alaska; and 11 WHEREAS, each year, the tourism industry generates more than $214,000,000 in 12 state and municipal revenue, more than $1,400,000,000 in payroll, and $2,200,000,000 of 13 visitor spending; and 14 WHEREAS, on average, the tourism industry creates 8,394 jobs annually, generating 15 $271,600,000 in wages and earnings for Southeast Alaska each year; and 16 WHEREAS, in 2020, the diminished tourism season resulting from the COVID-19 17 pandemic contributed to an increase in statewide unemployment from 6.2 percent to 11.0
01 percent; in Southeast Alaska, unemployment increased from 4.7 percent to 11.3 percent, 02 which equates to a loss of 17 percent of all jobs in the region; and 03 WHEREAS state residents are being vaccinated against COVID-19 at the highest rate 04 per capita in the country, with 15 percent of state residents having been vaccinated; and 05 WHEREAS, on October 30, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 06 issued a Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, which allows cruise ships to resume 07 sailing with mitigation plans for crews, passengers, and people in port communities and 08 includes requirements for increased testing, additional crew safeguards, simulated voyages, 09 and certification of mitigation plans; and 10 WHEREAS, on February 4, 2021, Canada extended until February 2022 a ban 11 preventing cruise ships carrying more than 100 people from sailing through Canadian waters; 12 and 13 WHEREAS 46 U.S.C. 55103 (Passenger Vessel Services Act) requires that certain 14 passenger vessels that sail from United States ports must visit a foreign port before returning 15 to a port in the United States; and 16 WHEREAS an exemption of cruise ships from the requirement of visiting a foreign 17 port would help mitigate continued job and revenue loss and provide relief to an industry with 18 an economic impact that spans across every region of the state and employs people from 19 Ketchikan to Nome; and 20 WHEREAS other federal laws may interfere with the ability of certain ships to hire 21 and retain crews on routes to the state that do not include a stop in Canada; and 22 WHEREAS small business owners, families, and young people in the state depend on 23 tourism jobs for their livelihoods, and a missed cruise season could cause irreparable 24 economic harm; 25 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 26 Congress to exempt certain cruise ships sailing to the state from provisions of the Passenger 27 Vessel Services Act and other federal laws that require cruise ships to stop at a Canadian or 28 other foreign port in order to operate in the state for the period during which Canadian ports 29 are closed to cruise ships carrying more than 100 people; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that, if the United States Congress does not exempt cruise 31 ships from the requirements of the Passenger Vessel Services Act and any other applicable
01 provisions of federal law, the Alaska State Legislature urges the President of the United 02 States, to the extent allowed by law, to exercise his authority to allow cruise ships to travel 03 directly on round-trip itineraries to and from ports in the State of Washington and this state 04 while Canadian ports are closed to cruise ships. 05 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 06 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and 07 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, 08 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 09 delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 117th United States Congress.