HF 3162

1st Engrossment - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 03/08/2010 01:22pm

A resolution
memorializing Congress to effect change in U.S. Coast Guard law relating to fishing
guides.

WHEREAS, Minnesota's tourism industry and businesses support licensing and oversight
to ensure public safety on Minnesota's lakes and rivers; and

WHEREAS, leisure and hospitality is an $11.2 billion industry in Minnesota that accounts
for 16 percent of Minnesota's state sales tax and provides over 245,000 full-time and part-time
jobs; and

WHEREAS, Minnesota has over 500 guides who take anglers on inland navigable waters
and hundreds of resorts and businesses that offer casual boat and pontoon rides to their guests; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Coast Guard's qualifications for licensing of an operator of an
uninspected passenger vessel, also known as the "six-pack" license, was not designed for
most inland lakes or rivers nor for small vessels such as 16- to 23-foot outboard boats; NOW,
THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that Congress should
speedily enact legislation requiring the U.S. Coast Guard to develop licensing appropriate to
smaller vessels operating on inland waters and to establish interim enforcement that addresses
safety issues without penalizing small vessel operators for issues that do not relate to inland lakes.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of
the United States House of Representatives, the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard,
and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.