Legislature(2017 - 2018)ADAMS ROOM 519
04/16/2018 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB411 | |
| SB78 | |
| SB215 | |
| SB15 | |
| SB92 | |
| HB260 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 411 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 15 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 78 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 215 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 92 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 260 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HOUSE BILL NO. 260
"An Act relating to electronic possession of certain
licenses, tags, and identification cards issued by the
Department of Fish and Game; and providing for an
effective date."
4:31:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DAN SADDLER, SPONSOR, read the sponsor
statement:
Smart phones have become an indispensable part of
modern Alaska life. They provide users with
inexpensive, convenient and reliable information and
services, including communications, navigation,
scheduling, research, photography, and entertainment.
There is almost no aspect of life that smartphones
don't make easier and better.
HB 260 seeks to leverage modern communications
technology to enhance the timeless pleasures of
traditional Alaskan activities of hunting, fishing,
and trapping, by allowing state licenses for these
activities to be displayed on digital devices, as well
as in paper form. In addition, it seeks to provide a
peace officer examining an electronic device
displaying a license with immunity from liability for
damage to the device resulting from the inspection.
State law currently requires outdoorsmen and women to
carry paper licenses while enjoying licensed
activities. But as anyone who's ever tumbled into a
stream while landing a king salmon or sat in the rain
in a duck blind knows, paper licenses can be damaged
or lost at the worst possible time. And while a person
might misplace their wallet, their smartphone is
almost always within arm's reach. But for those
circumstances when a person fails to have a license in
actual possession, HB 260 turns the citation issued by
a peace officer into a "fix-it ticket," whereby a
person can nullify any violation for failure to have a
license in actual possession, by presenting a valid
license within 30 days.
Alaskans have been authorized since 2013 to display
secure proof of insurance on a digital device, and the
benefits of extending that capability to outdoors
recreational licenses are clear. They would:
• Make it easier and more convenient for hunters,
fishers and trappers to obtain and carry required
licenses
• Help entice new participants in these activities,
by lowering one barrier to entry
• Make Alaska a more attractive tourist destination
by making it easier for visitors to get licenses
• Improve compliance with state fish and wildlife
management laws, by making it easier for
enforcement officials to verify users are legal
• Save money for the state and private license
vendors, by reducing or eliminating printing
costs
• Enhance licensing security with harder-to-
counterfeit digital licenses
HB 260 also lays the foundation for smartphone-based
"apps" that will eventually let ADF&G deliver timely
information on local regulations, opening dates and
times, and hazards to users; while letting outdoorsman
reciprocate by sending back real-time data on harvest
effort and success. Until then, the advantages of
digital licenses are significant enough to warrant
swift passage of HB 260.
4:34:51 PM
Co-Chair Foster relayed the list of available testifiers
online.
4:35:22 PM
Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony.
4:35:53 PM
RICK GEASE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KENAI RIVER SPORT FISHING
ASSOCIATION, SOLDATNA (via teleconference), relayed that
the Kenai River Sport Fishing Association fully supported
HB 260. He thought it was consistent with being able to
make application online. He suggested incorporating an
electronic harvest card in the future.
4:37:17 PM
Co-Chair Seaton asked how the fisheries or hunts that
required recording of catch would be designed for use on a
phone.
Mr. Gease responded that if an electronic harvest card that
allowed anglers to report on their phones while in the
field were authorized now, the department could develop the
application.
Representative Saddler offered that currently capture was
recorded on the back of the paper license. He said that
under the legislation a form would need to be printed and
filled out to record the capture of king salmon. However,
the Board of Fish had recently decided that regulation
would be changed so that a record of harvest of a
specifically managed species would not have to be written
in ink. He thought it was the next obvious step.
4:40:05 PM
MARK RICHARDS, RESIDENT HUNTERS OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS (via
teleconference), fully supported HB 260. He told a story of
one of the members of Resident Hunters of Alaska. He
thought the bill was a great idea. He believed the
department and the Alaska State Troopers would support it
also.
4:41:18 PM
SAMANTHA WEINSTEIN, SOUTHEAST ALASKA GUIDES ORGANIZATION,
JUNEAU (via teleconference), spoke in support of the
legislation. She read a prepared statement (copy on file).
4:42:34 PM
Co-Chair Foster CLOSED public testimony.
4:43:39 PM
Representative Pruitt MOVED to ADOPT Conceptual Amendment
1:
Page 2, Line 8
Delete "any"
Following "device":
Insert ", except that a peace officer may be liable
for civil damages that are the result of the peace
officer's intentional misconduct"
Representative Wilson OBJECTED for the purpose of
discussion.
Representative Pruitt explained the amendment.
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
Representative Wilson MOVED to ADOPT Conceptual Amendment
2:
Page 2, Line 2
Delete "in"
Following "produces"
Insert ", to an office of the arresting or citing agency,
not later than 90 days after the issuance of the citation,
a license previously issued to the person that was valid at
the time of the offense."
Representative Pruitt OBJECTED for the purpose of
discussion.
Representative Wilson explained the amendment.
Representative Pruitt WITHDREW his OBJECTION.
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
Vice-Chair Gara reviewed the fiscal note.
4:49:04 PM
Co-Chair Seaton MOVED to report CSHB 260 (FIN) out of
Committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal note.
There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
CSHB 260 (FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with a "do
pass" recommendation and with a previously published zero
fiscal note: FN1 (DFG).
Co-Chair Foster discussed housekeeping.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| IN3NERGY_HFIN HB411_04162018.pdf |
HFIN 4/16/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 411 |
| SB 15 Amendment #1 Wilson.pdf |
HFIN 4/16/2018 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
| HB 260 Conceptual Amendment #1.pdf |
HFIN 4/16/2018 1:30:00 PM |
HB 260 |