Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
03/17/2008 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB214 | |
| Board of Game Confirmation Hearings | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 214 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 214-HUNTING BY MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY'
3:38:16 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS announced SB 214 to be up for consideration.
JODY SIMPSON, staff to Senator Huggins, sponsor of SB 214, said
there was a new CS, version E that she hoped accomplished the
goals of the sponsor. It provides for military and Coast Guard
members and their dependents, it waives the 12-month waiting
period that is required currently in statute for them to be able
to pay resident rates, it accords resident rate fees for permits
and tags and it addresses Senator McGuire's concerns about going
back to the original language of the bill. This CS does that
and does it without qualifying them under other areas of the
statute as residents. They are still defined as non-residents.
It also addresses Senator Wagoner's concerns in that it doesn't
open up the dip-netting and personal use fisheries for these
folks until they have been here for a year. An email from Kevin
Saxby, Department of Law (DOL), confirms that. She said it also
addresses the concerns of the Alaska Professional Hunters'
Association and others by retaining the guide component for the
three most dangerous species.
3:40:11 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said he appreciated all the work that went into
this issue and he asked if this would include the uniform
military and the Corps of Engineers.
CHAIR HUGGINS answered yes as they are a branch of the U.S.
Army.
SENATOR STEVENS said he was thinking of the uniform medical
corps in the BIA.
CHAIR HUGGINS said they are not covered by this bill.
3:41:28 PM
KRISTIN WRIGHT, Supervisor, Finance Licensing, Alaska Department
of Fish and Game (ADF&G), relative to Senator Stevens' question,
explained that the BIA and other groups, if they are not
considered as part of the military on a certain federal
register, they are not considered military.
SENATOR STEVENS said his concern is that the Coast Guard is
under the Department of Homeland Security and it's their
intention to cover them.
CHAIR HUGGINS said they are covered specifically in the bill. He
asked if Ms. Wright saw any challenges in administering this
change.
MS. WRIGHT answered no.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if someone from ADF&G could comment
on whether this legislation would impact the numbers of fish and
wildlife available to residents.
MS. WRIGHT answered they already pay the resident rate for the
fishing license now, but at issue is the hunting license. Very
few have participated in hunting, but it's possible that more
military might hunt under this bill because the licenses would
cost less than what they would have been paying. The fiscal note
would always be a guess.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he supports the bill, but they have a
constitutional obligation to mandate for sustainable resource
and that's what he's getting at. He asked if she anticipated
that these provisions would have a significant impact on that
mandate.
MS. WRIGHT replied that these people would still be considered
non-residents and wouldn't be able to participate in the
personal use fisheries until they have met the one-year
residency requirement. They are already doing that.
3:44:42 PM
KEVIN SAXBY, Department of Law (DOL), said he was available to
answer questions.
SENATOR MCGUIRE joined the committee.
3:45:24 PM
FRANK BISHOP, combat veteran, Kodiak, said he had been a
resident of Alaska for the past 37 years and he disagreed with
SB 214. He thought they were trying to make a special status of
citizen. At the present time all the military are voluntary and
this would have a drastic impact on the economy of the local
population that makes their living from non-residents.
CHAIR HUGGINS said requiring a guide for the big species in the
first year would continue, so you still need a guide for brown
bear and goat hunting. The other part is that the difference in
some of the professions and vocations is that military people
are sent here on orders; it may be they want to come or they
don't want to come, but they don't have a choice. A lot of young
men and women are coming to Alaska for a matter of months and
then shipping out to Iraq or Afghanistan, and some of them don't
come back. He characterized it as being good hosts for young
people who are really making a sacrifice for the country
potentially. He concluded by thanking him for his years of
service in being a combat veteran.
3:49:01 PM
BOBBY FITHIAN, Professional Hunters Association, supported SB
214, version E. He said they appreciated the sponsor working
with them to delete sections 2 and 3 that dealt with the guide-
required species.
3:49:54 PM
BRUCE KNOWLES, representing himself, Mat-Su, said he is a
disable veteran and he loved this bill. He said that people who
don't understand the military and those who have been away from
it for years cannot understand today's military and the
sacrifices these people are making. He has a son in the military
and he said, "These people deserve everything we can give them."
The fact that they won't be able to participate in the personal
use fisheries is short sighted, but that's how it worked out.
3:50:51 PM
TOM LOGAN, representing himself, Big Lake, supported SB 214. He
related that he had personal experience with this issue. He was
transferred by the military to Alaska quite a few years ago, and
the second day he was here he bought a non-resident hunting
license and didn't sign in to his base for 10 days. The next
year he used his non-resident hunting license to show that he
had been in Alaska over a year, although it was a year and two
days, and bought a regular hunting license. ADF&G tried to say
"no" because the military said he didn't get here until 10 days
later. The department didn't want to accept his old license as
proof that he had been in Alaska 10 days before.
MR. LOGAN said a lot of other young men did the same thing; they
came up early and hunted on a non-resident license and then
wound up paying a fine because they couldn't document they had
been here ahead of time.
3:53:19 PM
SENATOR STEVENS moved to adopt CSSB 214(RES), version E, for
discussion purposes. There were no objections and it was so
ordered.
3:54:20 PM
SENATOR STEVENS moved to report CSSB 214(RES), version E, from
committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal notes.
There were no objections and it was so ordered.
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