HOUSE BILL NO. 19 "An Act relating to the registration of commercial vessels; and providing for an effective date." 11:14:54 AM REPRESENTATIVE LOUISE STUTES, SPONSOR, introduced the bill. She read from prepared remarks. Thank you, House Finance Co-Chairs, members of the committee. For the record, Representative Louise Stutes, representing District 5, including Kodiak, Cordova, Seward, and many smaller coastal communities. Thank you for the opportunity to present House Bill 19. House Bill 19 would exempt active commercial fishing vessels from duplicative registration requirements created by the passage of Senate Bill 92, the "derelict vessel bill", in 2018. SB 92 aimed to provide State and local municipalities with a searchable database containing details of vessels and ownership. That database exists for commercial fishing vessels in the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC). The database is updated in real time and operators are required to register yearly. The database is publicly accessible, and the information is provided under penalty of perjury. • The information includes: • the legal owner of the vessel and a contact person if not the same person as the applicant. o permanent and mailing address, o SSN, o phone numbers, o DOB, and o email address. Members and the public can find copies of the relevant forms on BASIS. Further, House Bill 19 institutes an annual $8 fee for documented, CFEC-registered vessels. Currently, vessels owners pay a $24 fee to DMV. HB 19 waives the fee for those vessel owners who have paid the $24 to DMV in the past two years. This is NOT an additional fee for commercial fishermen. Representative Stutes interjected that currently documented fishing vessels were required to have both a CFEC and D sticker. The rationale for the requirement was to provide the state and local municipalities with a state-maintained database of who owns and operated vessels. She summarized that the legislation removed the requirement to obtain a DMV sticker if the vessel operator had a CFEC sticker. However, documented vessels without a CFEC sticker were still required to obtain a DMV sticker. She informed the committee that for the prior 4 years, in conjunction with the bill sponsor, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) had not enforced the dual sticker requirement. Representative Stutes reviewed the sectional analysis (copy on file): Section 1: Amends AS 05.25.055(i) to exempt U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) documented vessels with a valid license issued by the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) from the requirement to register with the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Section 2: Adds new subsection (e) to AS 16.05.475 that requires CFEC to assess an $8 registration fee for USCG documented vessels upon a renewal or issuance of a license beginning on January 1, 2024. This fee is in lieu of the current 3-year, $24 registration or renewal fee collected by DMV. Adds new subsection (f) to AS 16.05.475 specifying that fees collected in subsection (e) will be accounted for as provided in AS 05.25.096(b), to be made available to the Department of Administration, the Department of Commerce Community and Economic Development, and the Department of Natural Resources. Section 3: Adds a new section to uncodified law that requires CFEC to waive the $8 registration fee for years that USCG documented vessels have already paid through the 3-year, $24 registration fee with the DMV. Section 4: Adds a new section to the uncodified law that makes Section 1 of this act retroactive to January 1, 2023. Section 5: Establishes an immediate effective date for the remainder of the bill. 11:20:54 AM Co-Chair Edgmon provided some historical context for the bill. He reported that the issue of derelict vessels was a longstanding issue in the state. With the passage of SB 92 [SB 92 - Vessels: Registration/Titles; Derelicts, Chapter 111 SLA 18, 10/11/2018], "the derelict vessel bill," in 2018, an oversight occurred resulting in duplicative registration. He believed that the bill was common sense especially in small communities with one small Division of Motor Vehicle (DMV) Office. The issue also created more complications for the commercial fishers. He characterized the issue as a small oversight and hoped that the committee passed the bill out of committee. Co-Chair Johnson recalled hearing the bill the previous year. She asked about Coast Guard licensed vessels not licensed by CFEC. She asked for comment by the sponsor regarding allowing for other types of boats licensed by the Coast Guard. Representative Stutes was unsure about the question. She explained that vessels registered by the Coast Guard had a federal registration. The bill created a state registration for vessels. 11:24:31 AM GLENN HAIGHT, COMMISSIONER, COMMERCIAL FISHERIES ENTRY COMMISSION, understood the question to mean that all documented vessels would register with the CFEC. He thought that it would not be practical. He explained that when the CFEC licensed a vessel a metal plate was issued, and each subsequent year was given an updated decal to display. He furthered that for non-commercial vessels that were involved in other endeavors it would be difficult to distinguish for enforcement. The documented vessels that were not involved in commercial fisheries would continue to register with the DMV, which allowed for a state registration and accompanying data base. Representative Stutes interjected that there was an effort to combine the CFEC database and DMV database into one. Co-Chair Foster asked for closing comments. Representative Stutes had received no opposition to the legislation. TRACY WELCH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED FISHERMEN OF ALASKA (UFA), related that UFA was in full support of the bill and viewed it as a cleanup measure. HB 19 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration.