The Alaska House Finance Committee voted Thursday to advance a bill extending the state's Board of Registration for Architects, Engineers, and Land Surveyors and adding registered interior designers to the professions it regulates.

House Bill 314 passed out of committee with individual recommendations after a hearing that included discussion of changes made to address concerns that led to a gubernatorial veto of similar legislation last year. The board's current authorization expired June 30, 2025, putting it in a one-year wind-down period.

Rep. Mike Prox, a North Pole Republican who sponsors the bill, said the measure addresses three issues raised with Senate Bill 54, which the legislature passed in 2025. The earlier bill would have repealed a statute the administration believed prevented the Department of Transportation from issuing design-build contracts. House Bill 314 leaves that section in place.

The new version also narrows language about wastewater system installers. Where Senate Bill 54 would have allowed Department of Environmental Conservation-certified installers to install wastewater systems up to 1,500 gallons for both commercial and residential properties, House Bill 314 limits that authority to residential systems only.

The bill keeps the board at 11 members rather than expanding it to 13 as the earlier version proposed. It removes one civil engineer position and adds a registered interior designer. It eliminates requirements that specific engineering disciplines be represented, giving the governor flexibility to appoint any discipline the board regulates.

"The challenge with the board, especially one this large with many professions, is getting the right person if you are designating professions," Prox said. "Finding somebody to serve on the board becomes a problem."

Chris Curtis, the state's legislative auditor, testified that her office conducted a sunset audit of the board in 2024 and found no issues requiring recommendations. The audit supported an eight-year extension, the maximum allowed, which would move the board's termination date to June 30, 2033.

Curtis warned that if the board is not extended, licensing duties would transfer to the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. While licenses would not disappear, the state would lose volunteer experts who help draft regulations and assist with investigations.

"My concern is that you would be losing some expertise in helping draft your regulations," Curtis said. "You would also be losing those volunteer experts to help with the investigative process."

The bill creates a pathway for interior designers to register with the board under what is known as a title act rather than a practice act. A title act provides voluntary registration for interior designers who meet competency standards through education, experience, and examination. Unregistered interior designers could continue practicing but could not use the title "registered interior designer" or sign and stamp certain documents. A practice act, by contrast, would require mandatory licensure of anyone practicing in the scope of practice.