HB 304 Alaska House · 34th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act relating to the duties of the commissioner of fish and game; establishing the sport fishing angler access account; establishing the sport fishing angler access surcharge; and providing for an effective date.

HB 304 imposes a $1 surcharge on all sport fishing licenses in Alaska, except for holders of $5 resident licenses or free licenses. The revenue funds a dedicated "sport fishing angler access account" to produce biennial reports on the economic impacts of sport fishing in the state. These reports must follow a specific format modeled after a 2007 Department of Fish and Game publication. The bill affects all sport fishing license buyers (with limited exemptions) and requires the commissioner to distribute these reports publicly every two years.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 13, 2026 Last action Feb 27, 2026

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What changed between versions

HB 304 → CSHB 304(FSH) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to clarify that the new report on sport fishing's economic impact will be produced every four years instead of biennially. Additionally, the funding source for this report was expanded to include money allocated for improving nonmotorized fishing access, and the specific surcharge amounts for various license types were added to the statute.

Scope change

The frequency of the required economic impact report changed from every two years to every four years.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the requirement for the commissioner to produce a biennial report on sport fishing's economic impacts to a report produced every four years.

FISCAL

Added a requirement for the department to allocate funds from the angler access account to programs that develop and maintain access opportunities and infrastructure for nonmotorized sport fishing.

DEFINITION

Inserted a new subsection listing specific dollar amounts for the sport fishing angler access surcharge for various resident and nonresident license types.

TIMELINE

Reorganized the effective dates of the bill's sections, moving the immediate effective date to Section 6 and setting the general effective date to January 1, 2027.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

(H) REFERRED TO FINANCE

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) Moved CSHB 304(FSH) Out of Committee

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors