ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 24, 2020
3:29 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Peter Micciche, Chair
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Joshua Revak
Senator Scott Kawasaki
Senator Jesse Kiehl
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 145
"An Act relating to the registration of commercial fishing
vessels; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSSB 145(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 171
"An Act relating to industrial hemp."
- BILL HEARING CANCELED
SENATE BILL NO. 150
"An Act relating to industrial hemp."
- BILL HEARING CANCELED
SENATE BILL NO. 161
"An Act relating to industrial hemp."
- BILL HEARING CANCELED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 145
SHORT TITLE: REGISTRATION OF BOATS: EXEMPTION
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) MICCICHE
01/21/20 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/17/20
01/21/20 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/20 (S) RES, FIN
02/14/20 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/14/20 (S) Heard & Held
02/14/20 (S) MINUTE(RES)
02/17/20 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/17/20 (S) Heard & Held
02/17/20 (S) MINUTE(RES)
02/24/20 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
KONRAD JACKSON, Staff
Senator Peter Micciche
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided an overview of the committee
substitute for SB 145.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:29:23 PM
CHAIR PETER MICCICHE called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:29 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Giessel, Kawasaki, Coghill, Bishop, Revak,
Kiehl, and Chair Micciche.
SB 145-REGISTRATION OF BOATS: EXEMPTION
3:30:15 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE announced that the only order of business would
be SENATE BILL NO. 145, "An Act relating to the registration of
commercial fishing vessels; and providing for an effective
date."
3:30:46 PM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for
SB 145, work order 31-LS1292\U, as the working document.
CHAIR MICCICHE objected for discussion purposes.
3:31:33 PM
KONRAD JACKSON, Staff, Senator Peter Micciche, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, reminded the committee that SB 145
seeks to resolve some unintended consequences of a derelict
vessel bill that passed in 2018. SB 145 removes duplicative and
confusing registration requirements for active commercial
fishing vessels, inadvertently created by passage of the
derelict vessel bill, Senate Bill 92.
He provided the following summary of changes from version A to
version U of SB 145:
• Section 1:
Amends page 2, line 9: deletes the word "fishing".
MR. JACKSON explained that the change in section 1 is to allow
for other vessels, such as tenders, registered by the Commercial
Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) to also fall under the
registration requirement.
• Section 2:
Amends AS 05.25.056(a) to clarify the requirement that
vessels not exempted by section 1 of the act, shall
apply to the Department of Administration for a
certificate of title.
• Section 3:
Adds new subsections to AS 16.05.475:
(e) CFEC shall assess an $8.00 commercial fishing
vessel registration fee.
(f) Specifies the fee collected shall be accounted for
in the same manner as the fee previously collected by
Dept. of Administration (DMV).
• Section 4:
Adds a retroactivity clause to uncodified law, making
section 1 of the bill effective January 1, 2020.
• Section 5:
Adds new immediate effective date.
3:33:50 PM
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked him to clarify which version the
committee is considering. He said he has a version U, a version
M, and the original version A and a summary of changes document
from version A to version G.
MR. JACKSON apologized and said the summary of changes should
say from version A to version U, which is the correct version
and the one Senator Coghill moved. He added that the substance
of the summary of changes from the CS is correct.
SENATOR COGHILL asked for an explanation of the change in
section 3, subsection (f) that points to the DMV statute.
MR. JACKSON explained that the new subsection (f) in the CS
requires the $8 fee assessed by CFEC to be accounted for in the
same way that the current DMV registration fee is accounted for,
which would go toward the derelict vessel fund.
3:35:26 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE summarized that the committee decided at the last
hearing that commercial fishermen should be pay the same amount
for registration as everyone else who is registering a similar
vessel. However, the committee questioned the need for fishermen
to go to DMV to register when they are preparing for a
commercial fishing season. He admitted that the rollout for the
current registration requirements did not go well and SB 145
eliminates the rollout requirement. The bill will allow
commercial fishermen to simply click a box and pay their boat
registration fee for the season as they do every year when
renewing permit fees and vessel fees on the CFEC website.
3:36:25 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE removed his objection. Finding no further
objection, version U was adopted.
3:37:06 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE noted that public testimony was heard during the
last hearing and it was still open. Finding no one who wished to
testify, he closed public testimony on SB 145 and solicited a
motion..
3:37:18 PM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to report the CS for SB 145, version U,
from committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal notes.
3:37:28 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE found no objection and CSSB 145(RES) moved from
the Senate Resources Standing Committee.
3:37:54 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Micciche adjourned the Senate Resources Standing Committee
meeting at 3:37 p.m.