ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 25, 2020
1:03 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Louise Stutes, Chair
Representative Matt Claman
Representative Harriet Drummond
Representative Andi Story
Representative Dave Talerico
Representative Mel Gillis
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bryce Edgmon
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 185
"An Act relating to the registration of commercial vessels; and
providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSHB 185(TRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 253
"An Act relating to the powers of the Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities; and relating to the sale,
transfer, or disposal of state ferries."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 185
SHORT TITLE: REGISTRATION OF BOATS: EXEMPTION
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) STUTES
01/21/20 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/10/20
01/21/20 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/20 (H) FSH, TRA
02/04/20 (H) FSH AT 11:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
02/04/20 (H) Heard & Held
02/04/20 (H) MINUTE(FSH)
02/06/20 (H) FSH AT 11:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
02/06/20 (H) Moved CSHB 185(FSH) Out of Committee
02/06/20 (H) MINUTE(FSH)
02/07/20 (H) FSH RPT CS(FSH) 4DP 1NR
02/07/20 (H) DP: KOPP, EDGMON, TARR, STUTES
02/07/20 (H) NR: NEUMAN
02/13/20 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
02/13/20 (H) Heard & Held
02/13/20 (H) MINUTE(TRA)
02/25/20 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
BILL: HB 253
SHORT TITLE: SALE, TRANSFER, OR DISPOSAL OF FERRIES
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) KREISS-TOMKINS
02/17/20 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/17/20 (H) TRA, STA
02/25/20 (H) TRA AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
WITNESS REGISTER
MATT GRUENING, Staff
Representative Louise Stutes
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented CSHB 185(FSH) on behalf of
Representative Stutes, prime sponsor.
DALE KELLEY, Commissioner
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
Department of Fish & Game
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information during the hearing on
CSHB 185(FSH).
REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, introduced HB 253.
MATT MCLAREN, Business Development Manager
Alaska Marine Highway System
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information during the hearing on
HB 253.
MIKE LESMANN, Legislative Liaison
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information during the hearing of
HB 253.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:03:10 PM
CHAIR LOUISE STUTES called the House Transportation Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. Representatives Claman,
Drummond, Story, and Stutes were present at the call to order.
Representatives Gillis and Talerico arrived as the meeting was
in progress.
HB 185-REGISTRATION OF BOATS: EXEMPTION
1:04:24 PM
CHAIR STUTES announced that the first order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 185, "An Act relating to the registration of
commercial vessels; and providing for an effective date."
[Before the committee was CSHB 185(FSH).]
1:05:19 PM
CHAIR STUTES [moved to adopt] Amendment 1, labeled 31-
LS1250\S.2, Klein, 2/25/20, which read as follows:
Page 2, following line 21:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 3. AS 16.05.475 is amended by adding new
subsections to read:
(e) The Alaska Commercial Fishing Entry
Commission shall assess a commercial fishing vessel
registration fee of $8 a year.
(f) Fees collected under (e) of this section
shall be separately accounted for as provided in
AS 05.25.096(b)."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
Page 2, following line 24:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 5. Section 3 of this Act takes effect
January 1, 2021."
Renumber the following bill section accordingly.
Page 2, line 25:
Delete "This"
Insert "Except as provided in sec. 5 of this Act,
this"
1:05:28 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN objected to the motion, for the purpose of
discussion.
1:05:41 PM
MATT GRUENING, Staff, Representative Louise Stutes, Alaska State
Legislature, presented CSHB 185(FSH) on behalf of Representative
Stutes, prime sponsor. Mr. Gruening imparted that Amendment 1
would bring CSHB 185(FSH) to cost-neutral by charging an $8 fee
per year in lieu of the three-year $24 fee that would have been
charged at the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Under
Amendment 1, he added, a Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
(CFEC)-registered vessel would still be required to pay the $8
per year to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for
boating safety programs and the Derelict Vessel Fund, but CFEC-
registered vessels would not be required to go into the DMV or
display the decal. Mr. Gruening informed the committee that
Amendment 1 also included a delayed effective date for those
folks who may be wondering about the current year.
1:07:16 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND asked what costs would be involved with
the administration of such a minimal fee.
1:07:39 PM
MR. GRUENING replied that he guessed that the cost would be part
of the transfer, but that he would defer to the CFEC to
determine what administrative costs, if any, would be
associated.
1:08:07 PM
DALE KELLEY, Commissioner, Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission, Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G), said she
appreciated the delayed effective date but that some vessels
were already one year into the three year combined fee, so there
may be some issues on the CFEC end, but the CFEC would be able
to work through those issues.
1:09:20 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY said that she appreciated the continued
funding for the Derelict Vessel Fund.
1:09:37 PM
MR. GRUENING said that as a fisherman, he also appreciates not
having to go to the DMV to fill out extra paperwork, and that
the money is going toward a problem that exists statewide
(derelict vessels).
1:10:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN removed his objection to the motion to
adopt Amendment 1 to CSHB 185(FSH). There being no further
objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
1:10:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN moved to report CSHB 185(FSH), as amended,
out of committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSHB
185(TRA) was reported out of the House Transportation Standing
Committee.
1:11:29 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 1:11 p.m. to 1:13 p.m.
HB 253-SALE, TRANSFER, OR DISPOSAL OF FERRIES
1:13:29 PM
CHAIR STUTES announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 253, "An Act relating to the powers of the
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities; and relating
to the sale, transfer, or disposal of state ferries."
1:14:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS, Alaska State
Legislature, as prime sponsor, introduced HB 253, a three-line
bill which would ask for approval from the legislature before
disposal of assets of the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS).
He added that HB 253 is in response to frustration in Coastal
Alaska over the state of the AMHS. Even with more [AMHS]
structure and funding, Representative Kreiss-Tompkins imparted,
if core assets were "rashly" disposed of, then there would no
longer exist a system to put back together.
1:16:22 PM
CHAIR STUTES added that she would like to amend HB 253 to say
that if any AMHS assets were sold, then the funds would go back
into the AMHS.
1:17:09 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN asked how HB 253 would deal with the
legislature's lack of fast action when it may be needed.
1:18:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS replied to Representative Stutes
that he thought there was a lot of logic in putting proceeds
from asset sales back into the AMHS fund. Addressing
Representative Claman, he said he saw that lack of fast action
as analogous to the court system where individual legislation is
required to add specific judgeships: it would be an
administrative change and yet it would be a modification of
statute; similarly to the legislative/judicial branch
interaction, it seems functional that there would be an
interaction between the executive branch and the legislative
branch in terms of vessel sales.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS added that the underlying
motivation behind HB 253 is one of defense. Alaskans wish to
prevent the AMHS from becoming dismantled, to protect assets,
and to ensure that rash decisions are not being made. He went
on to say that there is currently no check on mainline ferries,
the main assets of the AMHS, from being eliminated.
Furthermore, he admitted that if the AMHS did move to the public
corporation model and it did have independent governance of the
system, then HB 253 may become moot. Since the AMHS is
currently not operating under the public corporation model,
however, and there is currently real existential concern about
the AMHS, HB 253 is a defensive reaction.
1:20:54 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN said he could see how HB 253 does speak to
the lack of long-term planning. It would be one thing, he
added, if there were a decision made over the course of a year
that determined a fast ferry should be sold, and quite another
to suddenly decide to sell one of the fast ferries within a
month if it were not being used. One scenario suggested
planning and time to coordinate with the legislature while
another suggested a decision that may not be made with any kind
of in-depth analysis, Representative Claman surmised; HB 253
would facilitate the former and hinder the latter.
1:22:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said that he agreed with
Representative Claman regarding the fast ferries not coming
back, at least in the foreseeable future. The main idea behind
HB 253 was making sure the mainliner vessels, which are the
fleet's core assets, were protected and not eliminated.
1:23:45 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND asked whether the M/V Chenega and the
M/V Fairweather could return to service or whether it had been
decided that they were too expensive to operate. She also
mentioned that the M/V Tazlina and the M/V Hubbard had long been
problematic but the former two could have been "pinch hitting"
during this time when no ships were in operation.
Representative Drummond disagreed that the M/V Chenega and the
M/V Fairweather should be eliminated from the impact of HB 253
as it is currently written.
1:25:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said that he would defer to the
will of the committee and stakeholders, and if they did not
object, then he did not object either.
1:26:50 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked Representative Kreiss-Tompkins to
refresh her memory on how the M/V Taku was handled, as she had
heard from constituents that its removal had been hasty.
1:27:15 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that he thought the
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOTPF) had
been in contact with an outfit in Portland, Oregon, who had
expressed interest in buying it for use as an attraction on the
waterfront, but that fell through, and ultimately the vessel was
sold for only "$100,000 or $200,000" to a shipwrecking yard in
Bangladesh or India. He added that the low price point of the
M/V Taku sale was indicative of there being no market for the
ships.
1:29:22 PM
MATT MCLAREN, Business Development Manager, Alaska Marine
Highway System, Department of Transportation & Public
Facilities, informed the committee that the M/V Taku had sold
for $172,000.
1:29:50 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY repeated that some of her constituents felt
there had not been an adequate public process regarding the M/V
Taku and she had been wondering about the legislative and public
input stages.
1:30:08 PM
MR. MCLAREN said that the first step had been to see if there
were any other public entities in Alaska or in the U.S. that
were interested in the vessel's purchase. Mr. McLaren said he
was unaware of public process as far as input. In response to a
follow-up question, he confirmed he was not aware of any process
or approval that went through the legislature.
1:31:20 PM
MIKE LESMANN Legislative Liaison, Department of Transportation &
Public Facilities, recalled going to Ketchikan for a public
meeting on the M/V Taku and seeing Representative Ortiz and
community members in the room.
1:32:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked whether the Alaska Railroad
Corporation is required to go through the legislature if it is
going to dispose of any assets.
1:32:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TALERICO said that he believed legislative
approval was required.
1:32:58 PM
CHAIR STUTES announced that HB 253 would be held over.
1:33:55 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Transportation Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:34
p.m.