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Governor Parnell Signs Legislation Reauthorizing the ARDOR Organizations

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has signed legislation that extends the 12 Alaska Regional Development Organizations in Alaska. The ARDOR organizations include the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference, the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation and the Kenai Economic Development District… among others. The authorization for the ARDOR program expired last year after a reauthorization effort failed during last year’s first session of the 28th Alaska Legislature. House Bill 71 was approved unanimously in the Alaska House and Senate last year but the bodies voted on different versions of the same bill and could not work out their differences. Those differences resulted in 3 separate conference committee’s and the final committee came up with a solution to the problems with the bill. House Bill 71 was ultimately approved by the House and Senate and sent to the Governor. He signed the bill Tuesday. The new version of House Bill 71 included transition language to allow the regulations for the previous ARDOR program to remain in place while the state prepares new regulations. Along with reauthorizing the ARDOR organizations, House Bill 71 also reenacts the vessel based limited entry fishery system for a Bering Sea hair crab fishery effective immediately. However, there is a sunset date for the hair crab fishery of December 30th, 2018. Now that the ARDOR’s have been reauthorized they can receive their share of the $859-thousand dollars in state funding included in the current F-Y 2014 budget.

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