HB0075b -1- CSHB 75(STA)
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CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 75(STA)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY THE HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Offered: 2/28/25
Referred: Labor and Commerce
Sponsor(s): REPRESENTATIVES BYNUM, Holland
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to national criminal history record checks for certain employees of the 1
Department of Revenue; relating to allowable absences for eligibility for a permanent 2
fund dividend; relating to the confidentiality of certain information provided on a 3
permanent fund dividend application; relating to electronic notice of debt collection 4
executed on a permanent fund dividend; and providing for an effective date." 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 6
* Section 1. AS 12.62.400(c) is amended to read: 7
(c) To obtain a national criminal history record check for determining a 8
current or prospective employee's qualifications under AS 39.90.210, a current or
9
prospective employee's qualifications and suitability to administer the permanent 10
fund dividend program under AS 43.23, or a contractor's qualifications under 11
AS 36.30.960, the agency or the procurement officer shall submit the current or 12
prospective employee's or contractor's fingerprints to the department with the fee 13 34-LS0475\I
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established by AS 12.62.160. The department shall submit the fingerprints to the 1
Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain a national criminal history record check of 2
the current or prospective employee or contractor for the purpose of evaluating a 3
person's qualifications under AS 36.30.960, [AND] AS 39.90.210, or AS 43.23, as 4
applicable. In this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires, 5
(1) "agency" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290; 6
(2) "contractor" has the meaning given in AS 36.30.960; 7
(3) "employee" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290. 8
* Sec. 2. AS 43.23.008(a) is amended to read: 9
(a) Subject to (b) and (d) of this section, an otherwise eligible individual who 10
is absent from the state during the qualifying year remains eligible for a current year 11
permanent fund dividend if the individual was absent 12
(1) receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time 13
basis; on a break or holiday from a secondary or postsecondary educational 14
institution during an academic year, not including summer break, if the 15
individual is enrolled in and attends the educational institution on a full-time 16
basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation program 17
required as a condition of the secondary or postsecondary education and the 18
individual immediately begins the education on a full-time basis after the 19
completion of the orientation; 20
(2) receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a 21
full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 22
Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state; on a break 23
or holiday from the vocational, professional, or other specific training, not 24
including summer break, if the individual is enrolled in and attends the training 25
on a full-time basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation 26
program required as a condition of the vocational, professional, or other specific 27
training and the individual immediately begins the training on a full-time basis 28
after the completion of the orientation; 29
(3) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed services 30
[ARMED FORCES] of the United States or accompanying, as that individual's 31 34-LS0475\I
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spouse, minor dependent, or disabled dependent, an individual who is 1
(A) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed 2
services [ARMED FORCES] of the United States; and 3
(B) eligible for a current year dividend; 4
(4) serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an 5
oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine or attending a vocational 6
program that 7
(A) trains students for a career in the United States 8
merchant marine; 9
(B) provides seagoing service that meets the requirements 10
of the United States Coast Guard for United States merchant marine 11
credentialing; and 12
(C) is approved by the United States Coast Guard; 13
(5) receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a 14
licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician who treated the 15
illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change; 16
(6) providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with 17
a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the 18
attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical 19
specialty complex; 20
(7) providing care for the individual's terminally ill family member; 21
(8) settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse, 22
sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days; 23
(9) serving as a member of the United States Congress; 24
(10) serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United 25
States Congress; 26
(11) serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other 27
location; 28
(12) accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection; 29
(13) accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason 30
permitted under (1), (2), (5) - (12), (16), or (17) of this subsection as the spouse, minor 31 34-LS0475\I
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dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident; 1
(14) serving as a volunteer in the federal peace corps program; 2
(15) because of training or competing as a member of the United States 3
Olympic Team or a United States national team for an Olympic sport; 4
(16) participating for educational purposes in a student fellowship 5
sponsored by the United States Department of Education or by the United States 6
Department of State; 7
(17) for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a 8
state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed 9
(A) 180 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 10
claimed 11
(i) under (3) of this subsection if the individual is not 12
claiming an absence under (1), (2), or (4) - (16) of this subsection; or 13
(ii) under (5) of this subsection if the individual is 14
not claiming an absence under (1) - (4) or (6) - (16) of this 15
subsection; 16
(B) 120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 17
claimed under (1) - (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an 18
absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection but is claiming an absence under (1) 19
or (2) of this subsection; or 20
(C) 45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 21
claimed under (1) - (16) of this subsection if the individual is claiming an 22
absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection. 23
* Sec. 3. AS 43.23.008(f) is amended to read: 24
(f) In [FOR PURPOSES OF (a)(7) OF] this section, 25
(1) "family member" means a person who is 26
(A) [(1)] legally related to the individual through marriage or 27
guardianship; or 28
(B) [(2)] the individual's sibling, parent, grandparent, son, 29
daughter, grandson, granddaughter, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or first cousin; 30
(2) "uniformed service" means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 31 34-LS0475\I
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Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, and the Commissioned Corps of the National 1
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Public Health Services. 2
* Sec. 4. AS 43.23.055 is amended to read: 3
Sec. 43.23.055. Duties of the department. The department shall 4
(1) annually pay permanent fund dividends from the dividend fund; 5
(2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations 6
under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time 7
limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the 8
number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is 9
declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year; 10
(3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 11
that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon 12
reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority 13
because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on 14
behalf of the individual; 15
(4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because 16
of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to 17
establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends; 18
(5) use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under 19
AS 43.23.005(d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the 20
Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those 21
individuals; 22
(6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005(d) 23
and 43.23.048; 24
(7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian, 25
or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year 26
permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no 27
application was submitted on behalf of the individual; 28
(8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to 29
apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050(a)(2) reissued if it is not 30
collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may 31 34-LS0475\I
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not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued 1
must be filed; 2
(9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent 3
fund dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or 4
the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes 5
authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the 6
department shall provide the requesting agency with either 7
(A) access to the data base; or 8
(B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement 9
certifying its contents; 10
(10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the 11
(A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who 12
apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in 13
AS 11, by detecting and investigating those crimes; and 14
(B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or 15
paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or 16
paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions 17
under AS 43.23.270; 18
(11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 19
so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under 20
AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an 21
applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is 22
entitled to receive; 23
(12) submit fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public 24
Safety for a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 for the 25
purpose of determining a person's qualifications and suitability for administering 26
the permanent fund dividend program under this chapter. 27
* Sec. 5. AS 43.23.110(a) is amended to read: 28
(a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, information on each permanent 29
fund dividend application [, EXCEPT THE APPLICANT'S NAME,] is confidential. 30
The department may only release information that is confidential under this section 31 34-LS0475\I
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(1) to a local, state, or federal government agency; 1
(2) in compliance with a court order; 2
(3) to the individual who or agency that files an application on behalf 3
of another; 4
(4) to a banking institution to verify the direct deposit of a permanent 5
fund dividend or correct an error in that deposit; 6
(5) as directed to do so by the applicant; 7
(6) to a contractor who has a contract with a person entitled to obtain 8
the information under (1) - (5) of this section to receive, store, or manage the 9
information on that person's behalf; a contractor receiving data under this paragraph 10
may only use the data as directed by and for the purposes of the person entitled to 11
obtain the information; 12
(7) to the division of elections as required by AS 43.23.101. 13
* Sec. 6. AS 43.23.140(d) is amended to read: 14
(d) An assignment of or levy, execution, garnishment, attachment, or other 15
remedy for the collection of debt applied to a dividend for a year may not be accepted 16
by the department before April 1 of that same year. AS 09.38.080(c) and 09.38.085 do 17
not apply to a levy on a permanent fund dividend. Upon receipt of a writ of execution 18
under (a) of this section or another court order, the commissioner shall deliver to the 19
court that portion of the dividend executed on [UPON] along with the case name and 20
number. At the time payment is made to the court, the department shall send notice to 21
the court that issued the writ or order and to the individual at the address provided 22
in the individual's dividend application or the electronic mail address at which the 23
individual has consented to receive notices or documents in a verifiable manner, 24
as provided in regulations adopted by the department. The [AND TO THE 25
COURT THAT ISSUED THE WRIT OR ORDER A] notice must contain [THAT 26
CONTAINS] 27
(1) notification that all or part of the individual's dividend has been 28
seized under a writ of execution or court order; 29
(2) the name and address of the court that issued the writ or order; 30
(3) the case number for which the writ or order was issued; 31 34-LS0475\I
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(4) the amount seized under the writ or order; and 1
(5) notification that the individual has 30 days from the date the notice 2
is mailed in which to file with the court an objection to the seizure if a mistake has 3
been made. 4
* Sec. 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026. 5