***NEW LEGISLATION*** SB 157 ESTABLISH SUNRISE REVIEW BOARD – SB 157 will create a new "sunrise" review board which is a type of regulatory review process used to evaluate the need for occupational licensing in a particular field or profession. The purpose of this review is to determine whether licensing is necessary to protect the public from harm and whether the costs of regulation outweigh the benefits. The review board will consist of a panel familiar with licensing, safety, and workforce issues, as well as representatives from government agencies and the public. They may consider factors such as the potential for harm to consumers, the availability of alternative forms of regulation, and the impact of licensing on market competition. The goal of a sunrise review is to ensure that licensing requirements are based on evidence and are necessary to protect public health and safety.
SB 157 is currently in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee, and we look forward to a hearing soon.
***NEW LEGISLATION*** SB 158 SCHOOL GRANTS AND BOND DEBT REIMBURSEMENT – SB 158 is designed to be implemented in alignment with the moratorium end and create new rules to make sure that the debt program is sustainable and used for school districts’ most critical projects. The bill limits school bond debt reimbursement eligibility to a district’s number one priority on DEED’s school construction list and/or the top two projects on DEED’s major maintenance list for each district. If a district has a major maintenance project that is among the top 20 major maintenance projects statewide it is also eligible for school bond debt reimbursement.
SB 158 is currently in the Senate Education Committee, and we look forward to a hearing soon.
***NEW LEGISLATION*** SB 160 PLANNED COMMUNITIES – SB 160 was inspired by a constituent who reached out to my office with concerns regarding the use of drones by his local HOA to monitor his property. When looking into current laws regarding the issue my office discovered Alaska is unique in having almost no protections for homeowners currently in state statute when it comes to their interactions with HOAs. The bill prevents HOAs from regulating external appearance portions not viewable by the public (no drones), forces HOAs to provide payment plans for those who are delinquent on fines, and prevents HOAs from regulating the types of payments a landlord can receive for renting their own property. The goal of the bill is to be preventative and bring Alaska into alignment with best practices from other states that maximize homeowner freedom.
SB 160 is currently in the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee, and we look forward to a hearing soon.
***NEW LEGISLATION*** SB 163 ANIMAL ADOPTION RECORDS - SB 163 would impose statewide privacy protections for those who adopt or foster an animal from a shelter. It is the purpose of SB 163 to make personal identifying information of a person who has adopted or is providing foster care for an animal exempted from public record requests under the Alaska’s Public Records Act. This bill was listed as a priority legislation of both the current and prior FNSB assembly, and a companion bill HB 188 is being carried in the House by Representative Dibert.
SB 163 is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we look forward to a hearing soon.
***NEW LEGISLATION*** SB 167 MUNICIPAL PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS – SB 167 was drafted in conjunction with Representative Frank Tomaszewski’s office who has been the leader on this issue and filed the companion HB 267. SB 167/HB 267 is designed to help protect churches and non-profits for overzealous municipal tax accessors. The bill explicitly protects parking lots owned by non-profits and used for parking from taxation in response to issues the Fairbanks food bank has had regarding scrutiny for their parking lot size by our local accessor’s office. Another provision of the bill provides protection for non-profits with property under construction or reconstruction from taxation. SB 167/HB 267 also changes use standards for non-profits and churches from “exclusive use” to “primary use” in hopes of undoing changes in interpretation that have become prevalent in the last few years and return the relationship between non-profits and municipal assessors to is status quo from decades prior.
SB 167 is currently in Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee, and we look forward to a hearing soon.
SB 129 MATT GLOVER BIKE PATH - SB 129 would name the MP 357-362 Bicycle/Pedestrian Path project connecting two existing paths to create a continuous path between Fairbanks and North Pole after cyclist Matt Glover. Matt Glover was an avid cyclist and member of the cycling community. His fellow cyclists described him as kind and caring, with a witty sense of humor. He traveled through rain and snow, logging thousands of miles a year traveling between his home in North Pole and work in Fairbanks. Tragically in 2022, Matt Glover passed away after a vehicle collision while on his bike.
SB 129 is currently in the Senate Rules Committee, and we expect it to move to the Senate floor next week.
SR 2 U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION/AMENDMENTS - Article V of the Constitution of the United States allows state legislatures to call for a constitutional convention to consider and ratify amendments to the US Constitution if two thirds of their fellow legislatures also ratify similar calls for conventions. Currently the state of Alaska has passed several calls for a convention including HJR 17 in 1982 and HJR 22 in 2014. However, it is unknown how many other state legislatures have called for a constitutional convention equivalent to Alaska and whether the two-thirds threshold for a constitutional convention has been met. It is the purpose of SR 2 to assess the number of other state applications under Article V of the US Constitution to determine if the two-thirds threshold for a constitutional convention has been met. If the threshold has been met, then SR2 urgers the Governor to direct the Attorney General to institute legal action requiring the U.S. Congress to comply with its ministerial duty to call the convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
SR 2 is currently in the Senate State Affairs Committee, and we look forward to a hearing in the next few weeks.
SB 13 UNIVERSITY: TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS COST - SB 13 The Textbook Cost Transparency act provides students with vital information about their textbook and course materials while they are registering for classes, allowing them to make informed choices and financially plan. The goal of this legislation is to provide students with as much information regarding costs as early as possible in the registration process with clearly defined definitions integrated into the University of Alaska’s shared online course catalog (UAOnline). By allowing students to see which classes come at “zero-cost” or “low-cost” they will be able to make more informed financial decisions more easily.
We previously introduced this legislation last session, and it received bipartisan support from the then Senate President, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, and Rules Chair (now presiding officer) who cosponsored the legislation. We have also received overwhelming support from students, student advocacy groups, and some faculty. A companion bill HB 10 has been submitted by Representative Ashley Carrick.
***On 5/5/23 SB 13 passed the Senate on a vote of 19-1 and now awaits its first hearing in the House Education Committee in the next few weeks. ***
SB 102 REFUSE UTILITY REGULATIONS - SB 102 would allow refuse utilities to use the SRF (Simplified Rate Filing) provided by the RCA (Regulatory Commission of Alaska). The SRF is a process in which applicants are able to adjust their rates as frequently as quarterly but may not exceed a cumulative 20 percent in any three-year period or a cumulative eight percent in a 12-month period. Rate adjustments under SRF regulations are in addition to purchased and fuel cost rate adjustments (AS 42.05.381(e) and 3 AAC 48.700).
The goal of the legislation is to help the RCA deal with refuse utility filling backlogs and provide flexibility for service area expansion, especially in the Interior. SB 102 is currently in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee, and we look forward to a hearing soon.
SJR 3 CONST. AM: APPROP LIMIT - SJR 3 is a proposed amendment to the constitution that establishes and defines annual appropriation limits on state government. During the third special session of 2021 my office submitted SJR 301 as a companion to then Representative Kaufman's HJR 301 and worked with the recommendations of the Alaska Comprehensive Fiscal Plan Working Group which advocated that the legislature evaluate state spending limit reform.
SJR 3 is an exact copy of the version of SJR 301 that was amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee to be based instead on a five-year average of individual personal income in the state minus the PFD and the income of state and local employees. The resolution also provides exceptions for certain large scale capital projects in the future.
SJR 3 is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and still awaits a hearing.
