SB 3-CFEC AS INFORMATION RESOURCE   8:04:33 AM CO-CHAIR MUNOZ announced that the first order of business would be SENATE BILL NO. 3, "An Act authorizing an Alaska regional development organization to use the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission as an informational resource." 8:05:04 AM TIM BENINTENDI, Staff, Senator Donny Olson, Alaska State Legislature, speaking on behalf of the sponsor, explained that SB 3 would benefit the state's economic development organizations, Alaska Regional Development Organizations (ARDORs), by simply allowing them to obtain public information from the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC). The intent of SB 3 is to simply provide CFEC available public information without charge. Under AS 16.05.815, no confidential information would be made available. Mr. Benintendi highlighted that the information would be of special benefit to the eight ARDORs for which commercial fishery activities are a significant portion of their economy. Furthermore, the information would help these eight ARDORs anticipate regional economic trends and development opportunities. The CFEC supports SB 3 and believes the loss of fees is negligible. The legislation has two zero fiscal notes, he noted. 8:06:31 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER questioned whether the intent of SB 3 requires legislation or is just a policy call for the CFEC. She then related her understanding that all the information the CFEC gathers is public information. MR. BENINTENDI explained that by law agencies are required to charge fees for certain public documents, and thus it's necessary to do this in statute in order for the CFEC to be able to give away information. Furthermore, everything contained in CFEC isn't public information as some issues, such a fishery information from specific permit holders, would include personal information of a particular fisherman. REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER then asked if the CFEC's information, beyond the confidential information, is public information. MR. BENINTENDI deferred to other witness, and pointed out that SB 3 only allows the ARDORs to receive public information without paying a fee because of tight budgets. CO-CHAIR HERRON, noting that the backup refers to the fees as negligible, inquired as to what is negligible. MR. BENINTENDI answered that he has been told by CFEC that the fees amount to less than $10,000 per year. 8:09:25 AM FRANK HOMAN, Chairman/Commissioner, Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G), related support for SB 3. He explained that SB 3 is necessary in order to get around the statute specifying that agencies shall charge a fee for the production of information. The ARDORs, he further explained, were created to help stimulate business in the region and most often operate on a shoe string. This legislation would provide ARDORs with available public information from CFEC without charge. Typically, ARDORs have requested sorting data in a manner that's specific to the ARDOR's region, which would require an analyst or programmer to sort out the data. Therefore, the request could cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on the depth of the request. However, since there are only about a dozen ARDORs and only eight to nine of them are coastal, CFEC doesn't expect [providing this information for free] to be a major financial burden. He clarified that the CFEC doesn't perform economic analysis for the ARDOR, it merely provides the information on the ARDOR's region. 8:13:07 AM REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS related his understanding that ARDORs and CFEC are both sanctioned or authorized by the state. MR. HOMAN noted his agreement, adding that both ARDORs and the CFEC are established by the legislature. In further response to Representative Harris, Mr. Homan related his understanding that ARDORs receive some state funding each year while the CFEC receives funding from licensing fees, which are authorized by the legislature. REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS characterized what SB 3 proposes as a common sense matter. He asked if it's the fee that's the issue. MR. HOMAN responded that's essentially correct, reiterating the existence of the statute that specifies agencies will charge a fee for information they have to develop. 8:15:32 AM MR. HOMAN reiterated that SB 3 doesn't allow any release of confidential information from individual fish tickets. 8:16:43 AM CO-CHAIR MUNOZ, upon determining no one else wished to testify, closed public testimony. 8:16:52 AM CO-CHAIR HERRON moved to report SB 3 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, it was so ordered. The committee took a brief at-ease.