03/26/2007 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE

                                                                                                                                
     CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 105(TRA)                                                                                            
     "An  Act  extending,  for  purposes of  a  program  of  debt                                                               
     reimbursement  to municipalities,  the  date  by which  debt                                                               
     must be incurred for a  small boat harbor; and providing for                                                               
     an effective date."                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
This was  the first hearing for  this bill in the  Senate Finance                                                               
Committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stedman  communicated that the  intent would be  to move                                                               
this  bill  from  Committee  today   unless  new  information  or                                                               
unanticipated circumstances were presented.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Hoffman,  the bill's sponsor,  deferred to  staffer John                                                               
Weise to present the bill.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
JOHN WEISE, Staff  to Co-Chair Hoffman, stated that  this bill is                                                               
a continuum  to HB 528,  which was  passed by the  Legislature in                                                               
2002.  Due   to  a   number  of   delays,  including   a  lengthy                                                               
environmental  impact statement  (EIS)  process,  the small  boat                                                               
harbor project  in the  City of Unalaska  which was  specified in                                                               
that bill could not be completed by the 2007 deadline.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Mr.  Weise  displayed a  schematic  [copy  not provided]  of  the                                                               
overall  project and  communicated  that the  outer harbor  work,                                                               
which is a federal project, must  be completed before the City of                                                               
Unalaska  could conduct  the inner  harbor work  addressed in  HB
.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Mr.  Weise  advised that  the  funding  mechanism for  the  outer                                                               
harbor  work that  would be  conducted  by the  federal Corps  of                                                               
Engineers had  changed, and the  work could not begin  until full                                                               
federal funding  was allocated. This  funding was  anticipated to                                                               
be included in the FFY  2008 appropriation bill with construction                                                               
to begin in 2009.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Weise stated that the total  cost of the inner harbor project                                                               
work  that  would  be  conducted  by  the  City  of  Unalaska  is                                                               
estimated to  be approximately $12 million  dollars. Five million                                                               
dollars of that was reimbursable by the State.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:50:16 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
In  response  to a  question  from  Co-Chair Stedman,  Mr.  Weise                                                               
stated that language  in the title of the original  version of SB
  mirrored that  of HB  528. The  intent of  this bill  was to                                                               
extend  the   2007  deadline  for  debt   incurred  for  projects                                                               
specified  in HB  528 to  2012.  The Unalaska  small boat  harbor                                                               
project is  the only project included  in that bill that  has not                                                               
incurred debt.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Weise  specified that since the  title of the bill  could not                                                               
specifically denote the Unalaska small  boat harbor in its title,                                                               
the  goal  of the  committee  substitute  adopted by  the  Senate                                                               
Transportation Committee was to "make  it as tight as possible so                                                               
that  the funding  would only  get directed  toward a  small boat                                                               
harbor, and, in this case, Unalaska's".                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Senator Huggins  concluded therefore,  that even  though multiple                                                               
harbors were  identified in HB  528, funding would be  limited to                                                               
the Unalaska small harbor project.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Mr.  Weise expressed  that  the other  harbors  would be  covered                                                               
since they are  still in the bill. The distinction  is that, with                                                               
the exception  of Unalaska,  debt for  the other  harbor projects                                                               
has been incurred.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Stedman  specified that  this bill  would not  incur any                                                               
fiscal  impact to  the  State,  as the  fiscal  impacts had  been                                                               
addressed in HB  528. This bill would simply  extend the timeline                                                               
of that legislation.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Weise  noted that  a representative of  the City  of Unalaska                                                               
was available to answer questions.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
9:53:11 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Senator   Dyson   spoke   in   support  of   the   bill.   "Dutch                                                               
Harbor/Unalaska  is the  largest fishing  port" in  North America                                                               
and  perhaps the  world, in  terms of  "fish poundage  or value".                                                               
Fishing  in that  area is  dangerous  and it  is imperative  that                                                               
boats  have access  to safe  harbors.  The Dutch  Harbor/Unalaska                                                               
area is  the largest fishing  industry location in the  State and                                                               
is a significant supporter of the industry.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Hoffman  moved to  report the  bill from  Committee with                                                               
individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
There  being  no  objection,  CSSB  105(TRA)  was  REPORTED  from                                                               
Committee with  two previous  zero fiscal  notes: fiscal  note #1                                                               
from Department  of Commerce, Community and  Economic Development                                                               
and  fiscal note  #2 from  the Department  of Transportation  and                                                               
Public Facilities.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
AT EASE 9:55:05 AM / 9:55:02 AM