ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
February 2, 2023
10:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Sarah Vance, Chair
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative CJ McCormick
Representative Ben Carpenter
Representative Louise Stutes
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 19
"An Act relating to the registration of commercial vessels; and
providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 19
SHORT TITLE: REGISTRATION OF BOATS: EXEMPTION
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) STUTES
01/19/23 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/23
01/19/23 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/19/23 (H) FSH, RES
02/02/23 (H) FSH AT 10:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE LOUISE STUTES
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, introduced HB 19.
MATT GRUENING, Staff
Representative Louise Stutes
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 19 on behalf of Representative
Stutes, prime sponsor.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:00:37 AM
CHAIR SARAH VANCE called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Representatives
McCabe, Carpenter, and Stutes were present at the call to order.
Representative McCabe and McCormick arrived as the meeting was
in progress.
HB 19-REGISTRATION OF BOATS: EXEMPTION
10:01:13 AM
CHAIR VANCE announced that the only order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 19, "An Act relating to the registration of
commercial vessels; and providing for an effective date."
10:01:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LOUISE STUTES, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, introduced HB 19. She stated that the intent of HB 19
is to remove burdensome and duplicative licensing fees created
under Senate Bill 92, "the derelict vessel bill," passed during
the Twenty-Ninth Alaska State Legislature and imposed by the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to current motor vessel
owners. Representative Stutes explained that currently,
commercial fishers must register with two state agencies, and
the proposed legislation seeks to remove that duplication.
10:03:16 AM
MATT GRUENING, Staff, Representative Louise Stutes, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HB 19 on behalf of Representative Stutes,
prime sponsor. He gave an overview of vessel documentation as a
long-standing national form of vessel registration with the U.S.
Coast Guard. He pointed to document [included in the committee
packet] that outlines its applications, and explained that in
the context of the bill discussion, "documented" and
"undocumented" would apply "to having or not having that U.S.
Coast Guard registration." He stated the purpose of the bill is
to exempt the requirement to register vessels every three years.
He reiterated the beginning of the information the bill sponsor
had given from the first couple paragraphs of the sponsor
statement [included in the committee packet], then he
paraphrased the next three paragraphs of the sponsor statement,
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Prior to the passage of SB 92, USCG documented vessels
were exempt from DMV registration; however, that
exemption was repealed by the bill and as a result,
documented vessels now must register with the DMV.
The rationale for this requirement was to provide the
State and local municipalities with a state-maintained
database of who owns and operates vessels in Alaskan
waters, as well as how to contact those individuals.
However, the database CFEC maintains for commercial
fishing vessels was overlooked. Active commercial
fishing vessel owners must renew their vessel license
annually with the CFEC and the commission provides the
necessary contact information in a publicly
accessible, state database.
MR. GRUENING defined CFEC as standing for the Commercial
Fisheries Entry Commission. He said HB 19 would institute an
annual $8 fee for documented CFEC vessels upon renewal, in lieu
of the three-year $20 fee at the Division of Motor Vehicles
(DMV), to keep the bill cost-neutral; the fiscal notes attached
to HB 19 reflect interagency transfers the first couple years.
This ensures that although CFEC vessel owners are exempt from an
unnecessary trip to the DMV, they are still paying their way
toward boating safety programs through the Department of Natural
Resources, such as the "Kids Don't Float" program. He noted
there are other related boating programs through the Department
of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED). The rest
of the money, after licensing fees are paid, goes into the
derelict vessel fund.
10:07:16 AM
MATT GRUENING, in response to Chair Vance, offered further
details regarding the fee, including that vessel owners who had
already paid the $24 fee would have that amount apply toward the
$8 fee [for three years]. In further response to Chair Vance,
he cited Section 3 of HB 19, beginning on page 2, line 26,
[through page 3, line 2], as addressing this issue.
10:10:03 AM
CHAIR VANCE ascertained that there were no questions from the
committee. She expressed her support for "cutting out extra red
tape."
10:10:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES expressed appreciation to the Department
of Public Safety for becoming aware of the duplicate issue and
working with her office.
CHAIR VANCE indicated that [the duplication of fees] was an
unintended consequence of Senate Bill 92.
10:11:40 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 10:11 a.m. to 10:12 a.m.
10:12:36 AM
CHAIR VANCE noted that the committee had briefly discussed its
intent for HB 19 during the at-ease.
10:12:53 AM
MR. GRUENING noted that since mentioning the Kids Don't Float
program, he recalled that approximately $147,000 annually goes
to the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA), which
conducts marine training and safety exercises.
10:13:27 AM
CHAIR VANCE announced that HB 19 was held over.
10:13:44 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at [10:14]
a.m.