The House Special Committee on Fisheries on May 18 voted to report out Senate Bill 156 after adopting a committee substitute that limits loans by the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agricultural Bank using state funds to those secured at least in part by a limited‑entry permit.

The committee adopted the committee substitute as its working draft by unanimous consent and then moved the bill from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal notes, Vice Chair Edgmon said.

The substitute mirrors House Bill 199, the companion bill previously passed by the committee, while preserving a Senate change that confines the use of a one‑time infusion of state capital by the Commercial Fishing and Agricultural Bank (CFAB) to loans collateralized in whole or in part by limited‑entry permits under Alaska Statute 16.43. "The mechanism as has been discussed in the past is a one‑time infusion of capital that will be returned to the state of Alaska and can only be used for commercial fisheries loans by CFAB to Alaskans," Senator Jesse Kiel said in a brief introduction of the bill and Senate changes.

Kyle Newman, staff to the House Fisheries Committee, explained that the committee substitute keeps Senate language constraining CFAB eligibility to loans secured at least partly by limited‑entry permits and removes a Senate finance amendment that would have shortened the period during which the state's commercial fishing revolving loan fund can offer reduced interest rates. "Cutting down the length of time this relief is offered to the currently beleaguered commercial fishing industry is in opposition to the goals and the recommendations of the task force," Newman said, referring to the joint legislative task force evaluating Alaska's seafood industry.

Newman noted the 2024 Legislature passed House Bill 273, which temporarily lowered the interest rate on the state's commercial fishing revolving loan fund to 5.25% and set that reduced rate through 2027. The committee substitute before the Fisheries Committee preserves the longer effective period for the revolving loan fund and constrains CFAB's use of state funds to permit‑backed loans.

Sharon Lechner, president of the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agricultural Bank, and Robert Schmidt, director of the Division of Banking and Securities in the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, were on the line and available to the committee but did not make extended remarks during the hearing.

Committee members adopted the committee substitute as the working document by unanimous consent and then reported Senate Bill 156 out of committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal notes. Committee staff were asked to complete the required paperwork following the meeting.

Background: The committee previously passed House Bill 199 on May 6; SB 156 is the Senate companion that makes the changes described above. The substitute before the committee returns much of the bill to the language and intent of HB 199 while keeping the limited‑entry permit constraint for CFAB loans financed with state funds. The transcript and committee remarks do not specify the dollar amount of the proposed one‑time infusion of capital.

Looking ahead, the committee action moves SB 156 to the next stage for floor or cross‑chamber consideration with the committee's individual recommendations and attached fiscal notes.