1997-03-06                     Senate Journal                      Page 0594
SB 120                                                                       
Fiscal note published today from Department of Revenue.                        
                                                                               
Governors transmittal letter dated March 5:                                    
                                                                               
Dear President Miller:                                                         
                                                                               
World supplies of salmon have more than doubled in the past                    
decade.  Farmed salmon has been aggressively marketed to displace              
Alaska salmon in several domestic and international markets.  To               
meet this challenge and increase demand for Alaska salmon, we must             
expand our markets by diversifying the products we offer to our                
customers and stepping-up our marketing efforts.  This legislation             
was recommended by participants at the Salmon Industry Forum my                
Administration held recently.  It is designed to promote both of these         
goals while simultaneously increasing the value of the resource to all         
industry participants, including ex-vessel prices paid to fishermen.           
This will, in turn, expand employment opportunities in the production          
of value-added products in Alaska.                                             
                                                                               
This bill, part of my Alaska Business Investment Incentive Plan,               
provides a tax credit against a companys fisheries business tax (raw           
fish tax) for the purchase of processing equipment that is used in             
Alaska to produce value-added salmon products.  The credit would               
only apply to equipment that would process salmon beyond a headed              
and gutted product, excluding canned salmon.  In addition, the bill            
attempts to assist with clearing one of the mightiest hurdles                  
entrepreneurs face--successful marketing of a new product--by                  
extending the raw fish tax credits to marketing efforts for new                
Alaska salmon products.                                                        
                                                                               
Tax credits would not exceed  50% of a company's salmon tax                    
liability and could not be used to fund more than 50% of an                    
expenditure. The credit would be available for the 1997, 1998 and              
1999 tax years with a two-year carry-forward through 2001.  These              
coming years will be, perhaps, the most critical years the Alaska              
salmon industry has ever faced.