Murkowski Introduces Permanent Exemption from PVSA for Alaskan Cruises

Posted and edited by MARY KAUFFMAN

September 24, 2021
Friday AM

(SitNews) – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) unveiled a new law on Wednesday that Cruise for Alaska’s Workforce Actto provide a permanent exemption from the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) for cruises that carry passengers from the United States to Alaska in excess of 1,000 passengers.

Senator Murkowski previously enacted the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act (ATRA), signed May 24, 2021, which provides a temporary exemption from the PVSA for cruises between Washington state and Alaska to circumvent Canada’s restrictions that prevent U.S. cruises from docking at their ports.

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“A few months ago we were able to bring the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act across the finish line and give the PVSA a temporary legislative resolution to bring tourism back to a number of communities in Alaska that rely on hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to the state on cruise ships. While the PVSA is still doing its job in the Lower 48, it inadvertently turned many Alaskan companies over to the Canadian government when Canada closed its borders, including ports. The impossibility of cruises to Alaska has nearly wiped out our economies in the southeast – communities like Skagway, for example, saw business revenues fall 80 percent, ”Senator Murkowski said.

“While the PVSA is well meant to protect American jobs and businesses, it has had the unintended consequence of putting Alaska companies at the mercy of the Canadian government. It nearly wiped out the economies of Southeast Alaska when we saw company after company ready to welcome visitors, but couldn’t because Canadians did not respond to our requests to allow foreign stops in their ports to meet the demands of PVSA to meet. We cannot allow that again, ”said Senator Murkowski.

Murkowski said “I’m proud to introduce new legislation that permanently exempts cruises between US ports and Alaska from PVSA. My new bill guarantees that PVSA will not intrude into the Alaskan tourism industry while also ensuring that overseas-built ships do not compete with US-built ships. This legislation is good news for any Alaskan who depends on tourism for a living. ”

This new legislation will permanently exempt Alaskan cruises with more than 1,000 passengers from the PVSA. This legislation will create jobs for American merchant ships in the cruise industry, and to ensure that overseas-built cruise ships don’t compete with U.S.-built ships, that waiver will end once there is a U.S.-built cruise ship that carries more than 1,000 passengers . We don’t want to compete with US shipbuilders – that’s why this legislation ends as soon as there is an American market. The bottom line is that we need to reform the PVSA so that the ability of Alaskans to trade is not derailed by the government of another country. “

In 2019, Alaska hosted over 1.3 million cruise ship visitors. That number stalled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mandates that came with it, which decimated Alaska small businesses and the Alaska economy as a whole. For example, according to a June 2020 report by the Southeast Conference, Skagway’s business revenues declined 80 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The Alaskan tourism industry typically generates more than $ 214 million in state and municipal revenue, and more than $ 1.4 billion in payroll, and $ 2.2 billion in visitor spending – all during the coronavirus. Pandemic recorded a significant decrease.

Recently, Alaskan Congressman Don Young (R-AK) posted a comment in the Vancouver Sun detailing his recently introduced Tribal Tourism Sovereignty Act, making it ports or land owned by tribes or Alaska Native Corporations allowed to meet the requirements of the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) foreign stopping duty. According to the PVSA, large foreign-flagged passenger ships are not allowed to make consecutive US port stops without a foreign stopover.

That year, the 2021 cruise season in Alaska was jeopardized by Canada’s decision to close its ports, effectively devastating a vital part of Alaska’s economy. The Alaska Congressional Delegation successfully passed HR 1318, the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act, to save part of the cruise season.

This year, cruises between Seattle and Alaska were exempt from stops in Canada following President Biden’s decree. In his comment, Young wrote, “My proposal is simple but effective: Large foreign-flagged passenger ships calling at ports or locations in the United States owned by Tribes or Alaska Native Corporations would meet the PVSA requirements over foreign ones Fulfill stops. ”

“In Alaska, that would mean cruises no longer have to end in Canada or begin in Canada. Cruises could start and end in Alaska, maximizing their time in our state, and opening up new opportunities for economic development for Alaskans. My bill also benefits indigenous communities. “In the lower 48 states by creating port development opportunities for tribes in Washington State, Oregon, the Great Lakes, and the Northeast,” Young wrote.

He went on to write: “There are many potential places where this arrangement can flourish: the Aleutian Islands on Adak, Metlakatla or even Port Clarence in the Bering Sea. Agreements with cruise lines.”

“After the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act expires, Canada will once again have a de facto veto right over Alaska’s cruise industry. So we need to reform the PVSA to protect the sovereignty of our tourism economy, ”wrote Young.

In his comment, Congressman Young describes his Tribal Tourism Sovereignty Act, which provides a permanent solution that will allow large foreign-flagged ships to bypass Canada entirely. Click here to read his full comment.

The Canadian government denied a United States motion for a technical stop along the coast to circumvent the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act (ATRA), which was finally passed on May 24, 2021.

According to Agassiz Harrison observer, Ian Robertson, CEO of the Greater Victoria Harbor Authority to amend the same law.

These two US laws, now being proposed by Congressman Young and Senator Lisa Murkowski, aimed at allowing Alaskan cruise ships to bypass Canadian ports, would have “devastating” effects on British Columbia’s economy, Robertson said .

BC Tourism Minister Rob Fleming said: “The cruise industry is vital to BC tourism and to the thousands of people who depend on the regular arrival of ships for their livelihoods.”

Source of the news:

Office of US Senator Lisa Murkowski
www.murkowski.senate.gov

Op-Ed Vancouver Sun

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