The Alaska House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that would tighten residency requirements for Alaskans buying hunting or fishing licenses.
House Bill 93 aims to ensure that only people who spend enough time each year in Alaska to qualify for a Permanent Fund dividend can buy resident hunting and fishing licenses, which tend to cost less and offer higher bag limits than nonresident licenses.
State law currently limits resident licenses to people who are physically present in Alaska with no plans to leave, do not claim residency in another state and have maintained a home in the state for 12 consecutive months. But it does not require that resident hunters and fishermen actually live in the state for a full year.
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka independent who sponsored the bill, said that definition leaves a big loophole.
“The last point means that we allow someone who rents a room in a home from friends, or someone who has a liveaboard boat that's on a trailer but actually is in the state for less than a month — less than two months, potentially less than a week — to hunt and fish and enjoy the higher bag limits that are reserved for residents who are here year-round, shoveling snow, volunteering in their communities and putting their kids in our schools,” Himschoot said.
Himschoot’s bill seeks to close that loophole. If the bill becomes law, Alaskans would have to be physically present in the state for at least 180 days each year to get resident licenses, though there would still be numerous exemptions, including for military servicemembers, students and others allowed to be outside the state while remaining eligible for Permanent Fund dividends.
In some cases, people ineligible for dividends would still be eligible for resident hunting and fishing licenses. For example, new Alaskans moving to the state would be eligible for resident licenses 12 months after they arrive. Permanent Fund dividend eligibility rules generally require new residents to live for an entire calendar year in the state, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, before applying for a dividend.
People who do not qualify for a resident license would have the option to buy a nonresident license instead.
The deputy director of the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, who enforce fish and game laws, told a House committee in 2024 that the current definition makes it difficult to prosecute people who violate the residency requirements. By contrast, state prosecutors often bring charges against people who fraudulently apply for Permanent Fund dividends.
“The problem is that our enforcement officers don't have the right tools,” said Rep. Donna Mears, an Anchorage Democrat.
A wide range of local governments, tribes and fish and game advisory committees spread across the state backed the bill.
Twelve House Republicans opposed the bill, including Big Lake Rep. Kevin McCabe, who said he was concerned the bill would exclude some Alaskans from the benefits of a resident license.
“What about those pilots that have vacation homes elsewhere, that would like to go spend two months in Hawaii, say, and then they have to fly out of state for 15 days a month?” McCabe said.
The bill, however, had broad support and passed with a bipartisan two-thirds majority in favor.
“Is there a problem? I think that we all acknowledge there is,” said Rep. Dan Saddler, an Eagle River Republican. “Is this a solution? I think it is. Is it the perfect solution? No, it's not. But we don't deal in perfect and ideal. We do what's best and what we can do.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, which passed a similar bill in 2024.
“An Alaskan is and always will be an Alaskan,” Himschoot said. “But if you live outside Alaska, and you enjoy those lower prices at the grocery store and other costs of living that are much reduced compared to what we experience here in Alaska — if that is you, we ask you to please hunt, fish and trap as a nonresident.”
