Alaska 2025-2026 Regular Session

Alaska Senate Bill SB77 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	SB0077A -1- SB 77
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5	5	34-LS0394\N
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11	11	SENATE BILL NO. 77
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13	13	IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
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15	15	THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
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17	17	BY SENATOR KIEHL
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19	19	Introduced: 1/27/25
20	20	Referred: Labor and Commerce, State Affairs
21	21
22	22
23	23	A BILL
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25	25	FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
26	26
27	27	"An Act relating to national criminal history record checks for certain employees of the 1
28	28	Department of Revenue; relating to allowable absences for eligibility for a permanent 2
29	29	fund dividend; relating to the confidentiality of certain information provided on a 3
30	30	permanent fund dividend application; relating to the duties of the Department of 4
31	31	Revenue; and providing for an effective date." 5
32	32	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 6
33	33	* Section 1. AS 12.62.400(c) is amended to read: 7
34	34	(c) To obtain a national criminal history record check for determining a 8
35	35	current or prospective employee's qualifications under AS 39.90.210, a current or
36	36	9
37	37	prospective employee's qualifications and suitability to administer the permanent 10
38	38	fund dividend program under AS 43.23, or a contractor's qualifications under 11
39	39	AS 36.30.960, the agency or the procurement officer shall submit the current or 12
40	40	prospective employee's or contractor's fingerprints to the department with the fee 13 34-LS0394\N
41	41	SB 77 -2- SB0077A
42	42	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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44	44	established by AS 12.62.160. The department shall submit the fingerprints to the 1
45	45	Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain a national criminal history record check of 2
46	46	the current or prospective employee or contractor for the purpose of evaluating a 3
47	47	person's qualifications under AS 36.30.960, [AND] AS 39.90.210, or AS 43.23, as 4
48	48	applicable. In this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires, 5
49	49	(1) "agency" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290; 6
50	50	(2) "contractor" has the meaning given in AS 36.30.960; 7
51	51	(3) "employee" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290. 8
52	52	* Sec. 2. AS 43.23.008(a) is amended to read: 9
53	53	(a) Subject to (b) and (d) of this section, an otherwise eligible individual who 10
54	54	is absent from the state during the qualifying year remains eligible for a current year 11
55	55	permanent fund dividend if the individual was absent 12
56	56	(1) receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time 13
57	57	basis; on a break or holiday from a secondary or postsecondary educational 14
58	58	institution during an academic year, not including summer break, if the 15
59	59	individual is enrolled in and attends the educational institution on a full-time 16
60	60	basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation program 17
61	61	required as a condition of the secondary or postsecondary education and the 18
62	62	individual immediately begins the education on a full-time basis after the 19
63	63	completion of the orientation; 20
64	64	(2) receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a 21
65	65	full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 22
66	66	Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state; on a break 23
67	67	or holiday from the vocational, professional, or other specific training, not 24
68	68	including summer break, if the individual is enrolled in and attends the training 25
69	69	on a full-time basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation 26
70	70	program required as a condition of the vocational, professional, or other specific 27
71	71	training and the individual immediately begins the training on a full-time basis 28
72	72	after the completion of the orientation; 29
73	73	(3) serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of the 30
74	74	United States or accompanying, as that individual's spouse, minor dependent, or 31 34-LS0394\N
75	75	SB0077A -3- SB 77
76	76	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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78	78	disabled dependent, an individual who is 1
79	79	(A) serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of 2
80	80	the United States; and 3
81	81	(B) eligible for a current year dividend; 4
82	82	(4) serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an 5
83	83	oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine or attending a vocational 6
84	84	program that 7
85	85	(A) trains students for a career in the United States 8
86	86	merchant marine; 9
87	87	(B) provides seagoing service that meets the requirements 10
88	88	of the United States Coast Guard for United States merchant marine 11
89	89	credentialing; and 12
90	90	(C) is approved by the United States Coast Guard; 13
91	91	(5) receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a 14
92	92	licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician who treated the 15
93	93	illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change; 16
94	94	(6) providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with 17
95	95	a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the 18
96	96	attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical 19
97	97	specialty complex; 20
98	98	(7) providing care for the individual's terminally ill family member; 21
99	99	(8) settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse, 22
100	100	sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days; 23
101	101	(9) serving as a member of the United States Congress; 24
102	102	(10) serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United 25
103	103	States Congress; 26
104	104	(11) serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other 27
105	105	location; 28
106	106	(12) accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection; 29
107	107	(13) accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason 30
108	108	permitted under (1), (2), (5) - (12), (16), or (17) of this subsection as the spouse, minor 31 34-LS0394\N
109	109	SB 77 -4- SB0077A
110	110	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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112	112	dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident; 1
113	113	(14) serving as a volunteer in the federal peace corps program; 2
114	114	(15) because of training or competing as a member of the United States 3
115	115	Olympic Team or a United States national team for an Olympic sport; 4
116	116	(16) participating for educational purposes in a student fellowship 5
117	117	sponsored by the United States Department of Education or by the United States 6
118	118	Department of State; 7
119	119	(17) for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a 8
120	120	state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed 9
121	121	(A) 180 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 10
122	122	claimed 11
123	123	(i) under (3) of this subsection if the individual is not 12
124	124	claiming an absence under (1), (2), or (4) - (16) of this subsection; or 13
125	125	(ii) under (5) of this subsection if the individual is 14
126	126	not claiming an absence under (1) - (4) or (6) - (16) of this 15
127	127	subsection; 16
128	128	(B) 120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 17
129	129	claimed under (1) - (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an 18
130	130	absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection but is claiming an absence under (1) 19
131	131	or (2) of this subsection; or 20
132	132	(C) 45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 21
133	133	claimed under (1) - (16) of this subsection if the individual is claiming an 22
134	134	absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection. 23
135	135	* Sec. 3. AS 43.23.055 is amended to read: 24
136	136	Sec. 43.23.055. Duties of the department. The department shall 25
137	137	(1) annually pay permanent fund dividends from the dividend fund; 26
138	138	(2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations 27
139	139	under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time 28
140	140	limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the 29
141	141	number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is 30
142	142	declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year; 31 34-LS0394\N
143	143	SB0077A -5- SB 77
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146	146	(3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 1
147	147	that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon 2
148	148	reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority 3
149	149	because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on 4
150	150	behalf of the individual; 5
151	151	(4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because 6
152	152	of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to 7
153	153	establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends; 8
154	154	(5) use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under 9
155	155	AS 43.23.005(d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the 10
156	156	Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those 11
157	157	individuals; 12
158	158	(6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005(d) 13
159	159	and 43.23.048; 14
160	160	(7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian, 15
161	161	or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year 16
162	162	permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no 17
163	163	application was submitted on behalf of the individual; 18
164	164	(8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to 19
165	165	apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050(a)(2) reissued if it is not 20
166	166	collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may 21
167	167	not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued 22
168	168	must be filed; 23
169	169	(9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent 24
170	170	fund dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or 25
171	171	the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes 26
172	172	authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the 27
173	173	department shall provide the requesting agency with either 28
174	174	(A) access to the data base; or 29
175	175	(B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement 30
176	176	certifying its contents; 31 34-LS0394\N
177	177	SB 77 -6- SB0077A
178	178	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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180	180	(10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the 1
181	181	(A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who 2
182	182	apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in 3
183	183	AS 11, by detecting and investigating those crimes; and 4
184	184	(B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or 5
185	185	paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or 6
186	186	paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions 7
187	187	under AS 43.23.270; 8
188	188	(11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 9
189	189	so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under 10
190	190	AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an 11
191	191	applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is 12
192	192	entitled to receive; 13
193	193	(12) submit fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public 14
194	194	Safety for a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 for the 15
195	195	purpose of determining a person's qualifications and suitability for administering 16
196	196	the permanent fund dividend program under this chapter. 17
197	197	* Sec. 4. AS 43.23.110(a) is amended to read: 18
198	198	(a) Except as provided in (c) of this section, information on each permanent 19
199	199	fund dividend application [, EXCEPT THE APPLICANT'S NAME,] is confidential. 20
200	200	The department may only release information that is confidential under this section 21
201	201	(1) to a local, state, or federal government agency; 22
202	202	(2) in compliance with a court order; 23
203	203	(3) to the individual who or agency that files an application on behalf 24
204	204	of another; 25
205	205	(4) to a banking institution to verify the direct deposit of a permanent 26
206	206	fund dividend or correct an error in that deposit; 27
207	207	(5) as directed to do so by the applicant; 28
208	208	(6) to a contractor who has a contract with a person entitled to obtain 29
209	209	the information under (1) - (5) of this section to receive, store, or manage the 30
210	210	information on that person's behalf; a contractor receiving data under this paragraph 31 34-LS0394\N
211	211	SB0077A -7- SB 77
212	212	New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
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214	214	may only use the data as directed by and for the purposes of the person entitled to 1
215	215	obtain the information; 2
216	216	(7) to the division of elections as required by AS 43.23.101. 3
217	217	* Sec. 5. AS 43.23.140(d) is amended to read: 4
218	218	(d) An assignment of or levy, execution, garnishment, attachment, or other 5
219	219	remedy for the collection of debt applied to a dividend for a year may not be accepted 6
220	220	by the department before April 1 of that same year. AS 09.38.080(c) and 09.38.085 do 7
221	221	not apply to a levy on a permanent fund dividend. Upon receipt of a writ of execution 8
222	222	under (a) of this section or another court order, the commissioner shall deliver to the 9
223	223	court that portion of the dividend executed on [UPON] along with the case name and 10
224	224	number. At the time payment is made to the court, the department shall send notice to 11
225	225	the court that issued the writ or order and to the individual at the address provided 12
226	226	in the individual's dividend application or the electronic mail address at which the 13
227	227	individual has consented to receive notices or documents in a verifiable manner, 14
228	228	as provided in regulations adopted by the department. The [AND TO THE 15
229	229	COURT THAT ISSUED THE WRIT OR ORDER A] notice must contain [THAT 16
230	230	CONTAINS] 17
231	231	(1) notification that all or part of the individual's dividend has been 18
232	232	seized under a writ of execution or court order; 19
233	233	(2) the name and address of the court that issued the writ or order; 20
234	234	(3) the case number for which the writ or order was issued; 21
235	235	(4) the amount seized under the writ or order; and 22
236	236	(5) notification that the individual has 30 days from the date the notice 23
237	237	is mailed in which to file with the court an objection to the seizure if a mistake has 24
238	238	been made. 25
239	239	* Sec. 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026. 26