Senate panel advances bill adding faculty member to university board

The Alaska Senate Finance Committee voted Friday to advance legislation that would add a faculty member to the University of Alaska Board of Regents.

The committee unanimously approved a substitute version of House Bill 10, version I, that updates the implementation timeline and includes a sunset provision. The bill now moves to the Senate Rules Committee with attached fiscal note and individual recommendations.

The committee met May 8 at the State Capitol and considered two items on its agenda. The panel first moved Senate Bill 162, concerning species as legal tender, before taking up House Bill 10.

Alaska News previously reported that the committee first heard the bill on April 22, when members took public testimony and reviewed fiscal notes. The University of Washington added a faculty regent as a voting member to its board in 2022 following similar legislation.

The committee substitute updates implementation dates. The new version changes the implementation date from February 1, 2026 to February 1, 2027, and adds a sunset clause that would expire the faculty position on February 1, 2033.

"We are updating the dates," said Liz Harpold, staff to Senator Olson and the Senate Finance Committee. "Previously they were February 1, 2026. Which we are of course beyond that date now. So it is now February 1, 2027, and then the sunset of this will now occur six years later, February 1, 2033."

Harpold described the date changes as the only revisions made in the committee substitute.

Committee Chair Lyman Hoffman noted the bill had received public testimony at the April hearing. The committee adopted the substitute version without objection before voting to move the bill forward.

"Seeing none, that bill passes from committee and moves on to the next committee referral, which will be the Rules Committee," Hoffman said.

The legislation would expand the Board of Regents to include a faculty representative alongside the current members. The board oversees the University of Alaska system.

The bill requires Senate Rules Committee approval before advancing to the full Senate for consideration. The committee adjourned after scheduling its next meeting for Monday at 9 a.m.