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Sponsor Statement for HB 194
Entry Permit Fees

An Act relating to the year in which public school student competency testing begins.

House Bill 194 repeals current statute that requires the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) to charge non-resident fishers three times the amount charged a resident fisher and replaces it with a provision that gives them the authority to charge non-resident fishers the maximum amount allowed by the court. Which in some cases, may be more than 3 to 1.

As you may be aware, in 1982 Carlson and other nonresident commercial fishers sued CFEC alleging that the resident-nonresident fee differential violates the Commerce Clause and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Case law holds that any difference in commercial license and permit fees may only be based on the amount that residents pay for the pertinent state services through taxes that are not also paid by nonresidents. Thus, the court established a formula that is used to compute the maximum difference that the state can charge for nonresident license and permit fees.

However, in a court trial in June 2000, the superior court ruled that some, but not all, of the budget categories identified by the state may be counted when calculating the annual expenditures for commercial fisheries management. By disallowing four of the six categories, the State of Alaska is faced with a potential $30 million liability. The State will be appealing that decision to the Supreme Court and will be arguing that the other four budget categories should be included in the formula. Meanwhile, as we continue to charge non-residents three to one, the states liability continues to grow.

By passing this piece of legislation, CFEC will discontinue the practice of charging three to one and instead will charge the maximum amount that is allowed by the court. In other words, starting in January, CFEC would calculate the fee differential based on the two budget categories that the court has allowed. However, the Department of Law is hopeful that they will prevail in their appeal and once the court makes its final ruling, CFEC will be able to include some, if not all, of the other four budget categories into the formula.

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