UFA Legislative Update: May 4, 2018

Dear UFA Members and Friends,

Just when we thought session was winding down, things sped back up with several bills moving.  HB 354 – the Dive Fishery Management bill, which UFA supports, is now awaiting transmittal to the Governor.  Another bill that UFA supports, HB 56 – Comfish Loan Limits passed out of Senate Finance and is awaiting scheduling for a floor vote.  HB 76 – Mariculture Loan Funds, also a UFA supported bill, passed Thursday in Senate Finance and is now in Senate Rules awaiting scheduling for a floor vote.  All three of these bills were sponsored by Representative Dan Ortiz and kudos should be given to Rep. Ortiz and his staff for their hard work supporting commercial fishing.

We are still tracking several bills and will be monitoring them closely next week.

-Frances Leach, Executive Director

Please support our business members – see links on our website
To join UFA see https://www.ufafish.org/become-a-member/


Contents:
1. Legislation – happenings from this week
2. Legislative meetings of interest for next week
3. To testify, watch or listen in to a hearing
4. Bills related to fisheries, and others that may be of interest to fishermen
-Bills passed
-Others


1. Legislation – happenings from this week on fisheries bills:

HB 354 – Dive Fishery management (Ortiz –UFA Supports) – passed the Senate on Wednesday…awaiting transmittal to Governor – the bill as initially introducedwas passed by both bodies without amendment. Congratulations to Rep. Ortiz and his staff.

SB 92 – Derelict vessels passed House floor Monday… awaiting transmitted to Governor

HB 56 – Comfish loan limits – UFA supports – Passed Senate Finance Wednesday and is currently in Senate Rules committee awaiting scheduling for floor vote.

HB 76 – Mariculture Loan funds (Ortiz – UFA Supports) – Senate Finance amended it and passed Thursday – now in Senate Rules awaiting scheduling for floor vote  “…For the existing farm loans, the statute is unchanged: the department cannot require payments for the first six years of the loan. The department has the option of providing that interest not accrue during that period. For the new hatchery loans: there are (1) no payments and (2) no interest accrual for the first six years of the loan. The department can extend both for the first 11 years… and removes the authority to make grants from the revolving loan fund. Current version is SCS CSHB 76(FIN).

HB 177 – Invasives – passed House floor Wednesday – referred to Senate Resources and Finance committees. Current version is CSHB 177(FIN).

HB 260 – ADFG Electronic license (Saddler) …does not include commercial crew licenses – Passed House on Thursday and will be transmitted to the Senate.

HB 267 re release of certain records relating to big game hunters, guided hunts, and guided sport fishing activities to municipalities for verification of taxes (Edgmon)  – passed the Senate Monday and is awaiting transmittal to the Governor.

HR 8 – New and moving fast – A Resolution to locate NOAA Alaska assets in Alaska –Introduced by House Community and Regional Affairs Monday and passed the House today currently en route to the Senate. The bill as originally introduced was amended on the House floor to correct that the NOAA headquarters for Alaska is in Juneau, not Anchorage. The version as passed by the House should be posted under the Full Text tab of the bill’s home page shortly.


2. Legislative meetings of interest for the week of May 7As was the case last week, most committees are working on bills previously heard with very short notice, with schedules shifting to accommodate floor sessions. Both House and Senate Rules Committees are busy scheduling bills that have passed all their committees of referral reach for floor votes. To keep up check the daily House and Senate floor schedules and  committee schedule daily, or check on individual bills with the links below.


3. To testify, watch or listen in to a hearing …To testify it’s best to go to a Legislative Information office – see them online at http://akleg.gov/lios.php . If you can’t get to an LIO you can call in to listen in or testify through the following numbers – call & ask for the specific committee hearing:
From Anchorage based phones call 907-563-9085;
From Juneau based phones or outside Alaska call 907-586-9085;
From other areas of Alaska, call toll-free 844-586-9085…and ask for the specific hearing.

To watch hearings online go to legislative home page at http://w3.akleg.gov/  at the time of the hearing, and click on the “Live Now” tab, and then select the meeting.

To watch floor sessions and other hearings see Gavel to Gavel archives.

To find your legislators and contact info see http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/  – see “WHO REPRESENTS ME?” in the lower right corner of the page.


4. Bills related to fisheries, and others that may be of interest to fishermen…with primary sponsor and current committee.

Bills Passed:
HJR 19 – Arctic Marine Safety Agreements (Lincoln) – Passed House and Senate and awaiting transmittal to the governor. Final version.

SB 37 – Boards of Pharmacy and Commercial Fishery Entry Commission – Includes amended language from HB 231 CFEC bill – Passed House and Senate and awaiting transmittal to the governor (UFA supported the initial bill and version D and was not able to meet as a board on the final version adopted into SB37).

HJR 12 – Opposing FDA approval of GM Salmon and urging labeling (Tarr – passed House and Senate, awaiting transmittal to the Governor – UFA Supports)

SB 92 – (CS Posted) An Act relating to abandoned and derelict vessels; relating to the registration of vessels…(Micciche) – passed Senate and House, now awaiting transmittal to the Governor

HB 267 re release of certain records relating to big game hunters, guided hunts, and guided sport fishing activities to municipalities for verification of taxes (Edgmon)

HB 354 – Dive Fishery management (Ortiz – Senate Resources – UFA Supports)

Others:

HR 8 – Locate NOAA Assets in Alaska –New resolution from House Community and Regional Affairs April 30, passed House May 4, currently being transferred to the Senate.

HCR 8  – Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center (House Fisheries – passed House and Senate Committees, now in Senate Rules – UFA Supports)

HB 14  – Leg. approval of Bristol Bay sulfide mine (Josephson – now in House Resources – new fiscal notes posted by DEC, DNR & ADFG)

HB 17 – Establishing a fish and game conservation program/account in ADFG (Josephson – now in House Resources)

HB 19 – Ban neonicotinoid pesticides (Drummond – passed House Resources, now in Finance)

SB25 – Motor Fuel Tax – Senate Rules by Request of the Governor (Senate Finance)

HB 29 – Prohibiting sale of genetically modified fish/fish products  (Tarr – House Fisheries)

HB 32  – Relating to the labeling of food; relating to the misbranding of food; requiring labeling of food produced with genetic engineering (Tarr- House Resources – UFA Supports)

HB 42 – Relating to seizure of property; relating to forfeiture to the state – includes language on seizure of fishing permits  (Wilson – House Finance)

HB 46 – Procure AK Fish, Ag Prod.; Raw Milk Sales (Tarr – House Finance)

HB 56 – Relating to limitations on certain commercial fishing loans (Ortiz – UFA Supports – Passed House and Senate committees now in Senate Rules)…
& companion bill:
SB 71 – Relating to limitations on certain commercial fishing loans (Stevens –Senate Finance – UFA Supports)

HB 60 – Motor Fuel Tax (House Rules by Request of the Governor –now in House Finance)

SB 89  – Shellfish Enhancement Hatcheries (Stevens – now in Senate Finance – UFA Supports)
HB 128  – Companion bill (Ortiz – passed House and now in Senate Rules – UFA Supports)

SB 95 – Mariculture revolving loan fund (Stevens – Senate Finance – UFA Supports)
HB 76 –  House companion bill – (Ortiz – passed House and Senate committees – now in Senate Rules – UFA Supports)

HB 87 – Board of Fisheries and Board of Game – Conflict of Interest (Stutes –passed House, now in Senate State Affairs – UFA Supports)

HB 88 –  Board of Fisheries Membership (Rep. Stutes – now in House Fisheries)

HB 386 – Derelict vessels House companion (Seaton) – See SB 92 above under bills passed.

HB 107 –  Fisheries enhancement permit – egg & unfed fry enhancement in same waters (Talerico – House Resources)

SB 115 – “An Act relating to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission; and providing for an effective date.” (Administration – Senate State Affairs) See SB 37 above under bills passed.
HB 231 – “An Act relating to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission; and providing for an effective date.” (Administration –House Rules – UFA Supports). See SB 37 above under bills passed.

HB 129 – Fish and Game offense, licenses, and penalties (Administration – Passed House committees and now in Rules)
&
SB 60  – Companion bill passed (Administration -now in Senate Judiciary)

SB135 – Cook Inlet Setnet Buyback (Micciche – Senate Resources)

HB 149 – Board of Fisheries five year cycle (Chenault – House Fisheries – UFA Supports)

HB 155 – AK Mental Health Land Exchange (Ortiz –House Finance)

SB 173 –”An Act relating to the liability of a person or the state for the release of certain pesticides during application on a utility pole.” (Micciche – passed S. Resources and now in S. Judiciary)

HB 173 – Climate Change Commission (Josephson – now in House resources)

HB 177 – Invasive Species (Tarr–House Finance – now in House Rules)

HB 188 – Regional permit banks (Kreiss–Tomkins – passed House Fisheries, now in House Labor and Commerce)

HB 199 – Salmon Habitat permitting (Stutes – House Fisheries – New CS version I)

HB 260 – Electronic Licensing for Sport Fishing and Hunting (Saddler – passed House, awaiting intro andSenate committee referrals)

HB 237 – Salmon Escapement Goals (Neuman – House Fisheries)

HB 379 – Fishermen’s Fund reimbursement (Ortiz – passed House committees and in House Rules awaiting floor vote – UFA Supports)

SB 210 – Mislabeling by retail food establishments (Wielechowski – Senate Judiciary – UFA Supports)

SB 211 – “An Act relating to the temporary transfer of limited entry commercial fishing permits; and providing for an effective date.”  (Stevens, referred to Resources and Finance committees)

HJR 35  –Urging Co-Management Plan for Sea Otters (Millett – House Community and Regional Affairs – UFA Supports)

SJR 13: – Urging Co-Management Plan for Sea Otters (Stedman – Passed the Senate and now in House Resources – UFA Supports)

SJR 3  – Urging the President of the United States and the United States Congress to mitigate the harm done to the state’s seafood industry because of the withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement; and urging the President of the United States and the United States Congress to work to benefit and protect the state’s seafood industry (Senator Wielechowski –Senate State Affairs – UFA Supports)

HCR 25  – Requesting the Governor to establish an office of outdoor access and recreation…


Compiled by UFA staff and made possible by the support of our Group, Business, Individual and Crew members.
To join UFA see https://www.ufafish.org/become-a-member/
ufa@ufa-fish.org
PO Box 20229
Juneau AK 99802
(907) 586-2820