SENATOR KELLY announced SB 177 (SALMON MARKETING, TAX;ASMI BOARD & DUTIES) to be up for consideration. MR. FINK explained the changes contained in the new committee substitute which were included after discussion during the previous meeting. SENATOR LINCOLN asked what guarantees that representatives from the small discrete fisheries on the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers, and Norton and Kotzebue Sound were going to be heard. MR. FINK said there were no provisions stipulating those concerns. He said this bill restricts administrative costs to 10 percent and the remaining 90 percent would go to domestic marketing. RICK LAUBER, Pacific Seafood Processors Association, commented that the language on page 4, line 7 was confusing. It could be interpreted as establishing grades, classifications, etc. instead of establishing a futures market. The language he suggested was "...product forms and to explore the development of futures markets for salmon products." DEAN PADDOCK, Bristol Bay Driftnetters Association, said the fishermen want to be reassured that if they are going to pay, they are going to be able to play a substantial part in determining where the money goes and that is accomplished by deleting the "9" on line 29 and adding "8." SENATOR LINCOLN asked what assurance there is that it will not tax the fisherman whose product occupies a specialty market niche without providing visible benefits to them. Number 440 MR. ELTON said there probably isn't any assurance. He pointed out that the market is extremely diverse and there are many new product forms. A representative from the Alaska Trollers Association opposed SB 177. Trollers feel that marketing is not their problem, she said. Not catching enough fish is their problem. SENATOR RIEGER moved to adopt the amendment and then asked a question on "e". He thought they should refer to the "whole salmon enhancement tax" instead of "three percent" because the figure may vary. KATE TROLL, Southeast Alaska Seiners Association, explained that they want to be able to petition the Commissioner of Department of Commerce and Economic Development directly to repeal the tax because they didn't want to have an institutional perspective involved. PAUL FUHS explained the only provisions in there are for a repeal, because other people might want to change it. He said it is a matter of democracy that the people who establish it should have the right to vote on it. SENATOR SALO asked if there wasn't an easier way to solve the problem of having to repeal everything before instituting a new tax rate. COMMISSIONER FUHS said he did believe this was the most direct way to do it given all the circumstances. Number 275 TOM TILDEN, a commercial fisherman from Dillingham, said there was a lot of opposition to the bill in its present form. There was a lot of fear regarding who was going to dominate the governing board. He said there were no stipulations for the commercial fishermen although there were for the processors. He feared domination by the seafood processors. SENATOR KELLY asked if there was objection to the amendment. SENATOR SALO and SENATOR LINCOLN objected. SENATOR SHARP, SENATOR RIEGER, and SENATOR KELLY supported the amendment and the amendment was adopted. SENATOR RIEGER moved to pass the CSSB 177 (L&C) out of committee with individual recommendations. SENATOR LINCOLN objected. She pointed out that there has been considerable language change to the bill and there were other amendments that need to be made before it moves to the other committees. SENATOR KELLY said there was ample time to look at the changes before it moved from the Finance Committee. SENATOR SHARP, SENATOR RIEGER, SENATOR KELLY, and SENATOR SALO favored moving the bill and SENATOR LINCOLN was opposed. The Chairman stated the motion to move SB 177 out of committee had passed.