SB 190-BIG GAME COMMERCIAL SERVICES BOARD  2:08:01 PM CHAIR EGAN announced the consideration of SB 190. 2:08:24 PM SENATOR PASKVAN moved to bring CS for SB 190, version \M, before the committee for discussion purposes. CHAIR EGAN objected, for discussion purposes. SENATOR LINDA MENARD, sponsor of SB 190, thanked the chair and committee for allowing the bill to be heard and then turned the presentation over to her staff. MICHAEL ROVITO, Chief of Staff to Senator Menard, said SB 190 is about licensing and disciplinary issues for the Big Game Commercial Services Board. The board spent about one year working on these changes that they think are beneficial to their industry. First, he said, the bill will create a retired status master guide outfitter license; an individual holding this license may not guide or outfit in the state, but the license will serve as a symbolic recognition of their achievement in the profession. The medical field has five such retired status licenses. He said the bill also simplifies and clarifies the relationship between a registered guide working for another registered guide. It also eliminates the requirement that a registered guide be present in the field during a hunt if a Class A assistant guide or another registered guide working for the contracting guide is handling the hunt. Currently, the contracting guide would have to fly out to the site of the hunt, even if it's just to shake the person's hand that is going on the hunt. Not having to do that would save money and resources, because another guide is actually conducting the hunt. MR. ROVITO explained that the CS gives the board additional authority to suspend or permanently revoke a transporter license or any class of guide license if it finds, after a hearing, that the licensee engaged in conduct involving unprofessionalism, moral turpitude or gross immorality. Further, the bill will slightly change the penalties for certain violations to allow a court to order the board to suspend a license instead of requiring the court to order the board to suspend it. The concern here was that a minor violation might fall into the category where the court has to order the board to suspend the license; this would give the court a little more leeway to determine the severity of the offense before ordering revocation of a license. The last section simply directs the department to set a fee for that retired status license. MR. ROVITO said Version M gives the board authority to adopt other regulations that it considers appropriate. Another change in section 4 gives the board the ability to make regulations to change the requirement that the contracting guide be present in the field, and that can be done through the course of the normal board deliberations (as opposed to through statute). The third change makes the section 4 effective date July 1, 2013, the reason being that the board meets in March and December, and it's unlikely that this legislation will be through the legislature by the time their March meeting occurs. This would give them time to address the contracting guide in the field issue at their next board meeting so it could go into effect the next year. The final change was that the original bill didn't have an effective date; that was cleared up by adding that the rest of the bill goes into effect immediately. 2:13:38 PM SENATOR GIESSEL asked what five medical licenses have a retired category. MR. ROVITO answered chiropractic, medical doctor, physician's assistant, podiatrist and optometrist. CHAIR EGAN opened public testimony. 2:14:35 PM THOR STACEY, Alaska Professional Hunters' Association, stated support for the CS for SB 190. It is an extensive collaborative effort through the board process to make the statutes more user friendly, and it has been well vetted by all parties. He said section 4 addresses supervision requirements; this is a big issue for both the guide industry and members conducting hunts and running businesses. It's what the public wants from licensed professionals hunting big game animals in Alaska. The intent of these changes is to maintain a supervision requirement in statute that is permissive enough to allow the board to adopt meaningful regulations that fulfill the supervision intent. An example is the question of whether a registered guide could take meat out of the field. The requirement to be physically present in the field with the client at least once during the contracted hunt was not meaningful; the hinge point was the definition of "field." Operators that were not supervising their hunts correctly were able to circumvent the requirement by shaking hands with a client and signing a contract on state land outside of an area with permanent dwellings. Removing that provision and giving the board the regulatory authority to approach supervision in a meaningful way will make it work better. He clarified that this bill does not address licensing standards. 2:19:50 PM SENATOR PASKVAN thanked him for a thorough explanation. 2:20:28 PM LIEUTENANT BERNARD CHASTAIN, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, Department of Public Safety, Anchorage, said he was available to answer questions. SENATOR PASKVAN asked if they support SB 190. LIEUTENANT CHASTAIN answered that they are fine with the changes in SB 190. Currently, the court is bound to a mandatory one-year suspension for a conviction, but the language change allows the court to decide if a suspension is warranted or not. SENATOR PASKVAN asked if the CS is an improvement that the troopers added to. LIEUTENANT CHASTAIN said he'd been involved throughout and that yes it was. 2:22:39 PM JOE KLUTSCH, master guide representing himself, King Salmon, stated support for SB 190 and that the CS refines the points in the current legislation. Statutes are sometimes restrictive and this gives the board the authority to respond to federal and state agencies, industry concerns, public safety and wildlife enforcement agencies. 2:25:11 PM LOREN KARRO, registered guide representing herself, Palmer, stated support for the SB 190, although she said both items in section 4 were already addressed by 12 AAC 75.240 and AS 8.54.620 when they discuss the duties of a Class A assistant guide. She stressed that section 4 in no way allows a guide to sit in a Florida or California condo and conduct their hunt through somebody else. 2:27:22 PM DAN MONTGOMERY, master guide representing himself, Wasilla, stated strong support for SB 190. It will be very good for the industry. 2:28:28 PM WAYNE KUBAT, master guide representing himself, Wasilla, stated support for SB 190, but said he agreed with the previous two presenters that the in-field issue was already addressed. "In the field" means the same or neighboring guide use area. If you have a hunting lodge there, it's easy to comply with, but that is not the case for him where the nearest place is 70 miles away, and he can't buy gas for his airplane there. That has been the problem with the in the field participation. He also didn't understand the changes why the effective date for section 4 was delayed for a year (so the board can adopt regulations formalizing a Class A guide to work for a contracting registered guide), because it's already in AS 08.54.620 and regulation 75 AAC 240(a). Why wait a year to adopt regulations that are already covered? 2:30:58 PM DICK ROHRER, master guide representing himself, Kodiak, said Mr. Stacey covered the issues very well. He heard Mr. Rovito mention not requiring the contracting guide to be physically present in the field and that statement could be a bit misleading, not that that was his intent. He explained that he is a contracting guide who is always in the field; he doesn't fly an airplane, but he has other guides guiding clients, as well. His ongoing problem is that he is in a place where he has to have a certain height and stage of tide access for a boat; then the boat goes dry for as much as a week and he can't physically get back to his base camp in case a client finished a hunt early and wants to leave. So, this language helps contracting guides who are actively involved in the business to not get caught in a problem area; it's not designed for him to not be there and still oversee the hunt. He said it was not necessary to delay implementation. 2:33:30 PM VIRGIL UMPHENOUR, master guide representing himself, Fairbanks, said Big Game Guides is the only occupation he knows of where the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States has been violated by statute if you fill out a form wrong. He fits in the same category as Mr. Rohrer except that he hunts inland and some of his camps may be 120 to 150 miles apart and accessed by boat. Boat gas at Huslia, where he bases his operations, costs $7/gallon; and if the wind starts blowing, it's impossible to leave. If a client wants to leave early he will definitely leave, and then you can't comply with the communications requirement. These changes make the law better. CHAIR EGAN thanked everyone for testifying and said that completed public testimony. He announced the he would hold SB 190 in committee and bring it up again soon.