Alaska Legislature: Senate State Affairs — May 2, 2026 10:00am

Okay, I'd like to call the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting to order. We are here on a Saturday. It's May 2nd. It— time is now 10:06. We got a little bit of a late start.

Appreciate members for being here. We have President, Vice Chair Senator Bjorkman. I believe Senator Wilkowski will be on call. Senator Tilton, myself, Chair Kawasaki, we do have a quorum to conduct business. I would like to thank Carrie Tepeau from Senate Records and Kyla Tepeau, moderator with the Legislative Information Office, for being here on a Saturday.

Once again, we have 3 items on today's agenda. We have a first hearing on Senate Bill 169. Welcoming Alaska Office by Senator Lucy Gayle Tobin. We have a second hearing on House Bill 13, Municipal Property Tax Exemptions, by Andrew Gray. We also have a first hearing on Senate Bill— I'm sorry, House Bill 176, University of Alaska Fees, by Representative Ashley Carrick.

First, we will hear Senate Bill 169, Welcoming Alaska Office. I'd like to invite Senator Lucy Gayle Tobin and her staff, Mike Mason, to present the legislation to us.

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record, my name is Lukie Gail Tobin, Senator for Senate District I. And good morning, my name is Mike Mason. I am staff to Senator Tobin. Well, Mr. Chairman, I do want to thank you for taking the opportunity to hear this legislation here on this beautiful, blustery Saturday in Juneau.

I want to start by saying that the genesis for this bill was actually a community member from my hometown of Nome. His wife is Filipino, and over the last few years, they have welcomed many Filipino educators coming to teach in their school district. And he would often share that there just doesn't seem to be a place where folks were able to find fellowship and an opportunity to learn more about Alaska, to feel connected, and to feel really invested in the community. And while he and his wife were doing exemplary work in opening their home and showing folks where to go shopping and potentially to find the products for their ethnic foods in the Anchorage area, he recognized that there was an opportunity for us to do more, to become more welcoming than we already are as a community. And that was really, uh, what spurred my interest in seeking out other states' approaches to welcoming new immigrants and new community members and hoping that they feel invested and connected to the community.

And that is the genesis of Senate Bill 169. It's really to emphasize how welcoming we are and make ourselves a little bit more welcoming to newcomers from other states and immigrants from other countries. The bill before you has several key provisions. One would empower a Welcoming Alaska Office to help oversee educators, especially assisting our political subdivisions, our locally elected school districts, with the fees and other costs associated with visa applications, recruitments, and housing support for these new immigrants and newcomers. Additionally, the Welcoming Alaska Office would seek to remove barriers to visa opportunities and help foreign-born educators navigate the maze that is the American American immigration system.

Just a few weeks ago, I had President Stevens call me and share that his school district in Kodiak is actually working to, to help get some of their H-1B visa holders into the green card process. He is just so in awe of these foreign-born educators and how the students in his community have really resonated with these folks who have come to teach our young ones. And he was sharing with me how he hopes that we can figure out new pathways and reduce barriers and challenges that foreign-born educators are experiencing. And I said, well, good news, President Stevens, I have a piece of legislation that seeks to do just that. One of the things I think is really critical to note is the Welcoming Alaska Office is not entirely new.

Under our legislation, we would replace the underused Office of Citizenship Assistance, which is currently in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which had been dormant for many years. Under the leadership of Commissioner Muñoz, there has been some increased energy in that particular office. However, their longstanding director did announce his retirement and has left the division. So again, that office is going dormant once again. The Office of Citizenship Assistance has been doing incredible work.

However, its scope is rather limited. So under this legislation, we would seek to expand what that office has been doing, which is currently working primarily with office discrimination on SURF unsafe working conditions and labor issues, and instead increase the— and expand the focus to also work to welcome and integrate foreign-born and new residents to the state of Alaska through the Welcoming Alaska Office. One of the things I think is also really important to know is that this work cannot just be done by us here in the state. It is a community statewide approach. So under SB 169, we would create a 9-member advisory committee to help guide the Welcoming Alaska Office's work and recommend policies, procedures, regulation, and future legislation to ensure that our state government and state programs are accessible and responsive to the needs of newcomers and new immigrants.

We also think it's really important that each state each state department designate a liaison to work with the welcoming office. While I know that many of these foreign-born and new residents to Alaska are working in our education labor force, we do know that between our canneries, our fisheries, and also our healthcare sector, there are many folks who are foreign-born or not from Alaska originally who are working in those areas as well. So this really is a statewide approach. It's a statewide issue when it comes to workforce development, and this legislation would seek to help support state departments that are working to bring those new Alaskans into our community, into our labor pool. I think it's really important just to highlight once again that this is not a new office.

It's not a new idea. It's just expanding the work the state already does. It's hoping to build a more cohesive and collaborative approach to how we support our foreign-born and new immigrants to Alaska. And it really focuses and seeks to successfully integrate these community members into our community. Many of us here in this room are not originally from Alaska or perhaps were first-generation Alaskans.

Our family members came from someplace else, and they came to a state that was incredibly welcoming and supported their endeavors. And of course, that meant that we get to be here. This office seeks to do just that and continue to do that great work. I'm very proud of my state, and I want everyone to move here, and I'm trying to figure out a way to make that happen. So with that, Mr. Chairman, we are happy to walk through a brief sectional analysis.

Otherwise, we do have two invited testifiers who are here to speak in support of a new welcoming Alaska office. Let's see if there's any questions from members of the committee. We do have Senator Wilkowski who's joined us online. If there's any questions— Senator Tilton. Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome here today, Senator Tobin. I have a question regarding your definitions of a newcomer. You've said someone who has arrived in the state and been here less than 36 months.

Can you just give me a background on where that definition came from? And obviously your definition of immigrants is— Thank you. Once again, Lukey Tobin, Senator for District I. Through the chair, Senator Tilton, that's a great question. One of the things I do want to note, and we had in previous testimony, is that this approach is not new or unique to Alaska.

We took model legislation from states like Minnesota and Michigan, uh, that they have established welcoming offices, and we adopted some of their definitions based on what they found was the best practice. Additionally, one of our invited testifiers was the former state refugee coordinator for Catholic Social Services, and I am sure she can speak more to why that 36-month range is such a unique one. Additionally, uh, Mr. Mason might have some additional insight. Mike Mason, staff to Senator Tobin. In drafting this, I kind of— we kind of tried to go look at how it's used, how it's defined federally.

And so the 36-month, it lines up with the definition of migratory agricultural workers and migratory fishers. So that's kind of where that— the genesis was. And then that survived the ledge legal process. So thank you. Thank you, Senator Tilton.

Any other questions before we go to the sectional analysis?

Mr. Mason.

Once again, good morning. My name is Mike Mason. I am staff to Senator Lucy Giltobin. I'll go quickly through this, this sectional analysis. Section 1 would amend AS2305 to add several new sections.

AS2305.131 would establish the Welcoming Alaska Office within the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. That office would provide services to new immigrants and newcomers, including employment information. Subsections under the 2305.131 would allow the Welcoming Alaska Office to offer grants to support the social integration of new immigrants and newcomers, also implement strategies and programs to make the state more welcoming, and operate a toll-free hotline for service referrals. AS 2305.132 would require each department in the state government to designate liaisons to work with the Welcoming Alaska Office Office on issues impacting newcomers and new immigrants. AS2305-133 establishes the 9-member Welcoming Alaska Office Committee— advisory committee, rather, sorry— to assist with developing recommendations to ensure that state programs are accessible and responsive to the needs of new immigrants and newcomers.

AS2305-134 would authorize the Welcoming Alaska Office to establish a center that would provide virtual and in-person information and assistance to new immigrants and newcomers. Should It's important to note that that would be subject to appropriation, the, the actually setting up that center. AS 2305.135 defines newcomer as an individual who has moved to the state from another state in the preceding 36 months. New immigrant is defined as an individual or the child of an individual who's arrived or will arrive in the state as an immigrant or refugee. And then Section 2 would amend AS 3925.120 to add the executive director of the Welcoming Alaska Office to the list of positions positions that are considered partially exempt.

A person holding a position in the partially exempt service is not required to complete an assessment and is not eligible for a hearing before the Personnel Board in the event of dismissal, demotion, or perhaps suspension. Section 3 repeals AS 2305-125, which is the statute that created the Office of Citizenship Assistance in 2004. So essentially, it is, uh, the bill is replacing that with the new Welcoming Alaska Office. And then finally, Section 4 adds a new section to the uncodified law requiring the Welcoming Alaska Office to conduct a study to determine immigration opportunities in the state of Alaska. The report must also establish goals for the office and develop performance indicators to measure progress.

Study must be included— sorry, must include input from employers. The report should be submitted to the Alaska House of Representatives— or sorry, to the Alaska Legislature by July 1st, 2027. And then there is a July 1, 2026 effective date in Section 5. That's a quick sectional analysis. Thank you.

Uh, and Mr. Chairman, once again, Lukey Tobin, Senator for District I. I do want to note one thing that's very unique for you and I under this legislation. Uh, we both, uh, represent military bases here in the state of Alaska. And one thing I have heard, uh, from many of the folks who live and reside on base or who are recently arrived from other posts is that they struggle difficult sometimes to find connection to the communities. One of the ancillary impacts, although not the primary focus of the Welcoming Alaska Office, is to help any newcomer really connect deeper into the community. And so I'm hoping that this might be one of the impacts of this office is to really serve and provide support to those military members and their family.

We know that when they are deeper connected, there are less negative impacts. And as you and I both know, there has been some disruptions on base that resulted in a loss of life. And I know that the deeper you're connected, the less likely you are to inflict self-harm. Thank you for the presentation, Mr. Mason. Senator Tobin, I did have a question about that, um, about military in particular.

You're right, we do have a large number of militaries— military folks who do come up and would be considered newcomers, as well as through the university process. And I was wondering if you thought that there might be any duplication within the military. Military has the morale, welfare, and recreation group that does things on post and tries to get them involved in the community. And of course, the university has 25% of the graduating class— this today at UAF is not from Alaska, which is pretty cool because we hope those people who are smart and got degrees here depend will eventually stay here. So can you tell me a little bit about why this is not duplication?

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman, once again. Uh, Lukey Tobin, Senator for District I. That's a great question, and one of the things that I've had, uh, the pleasure of is representing, uh, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. We have legislative— excuse me, we have military liaisons who attend our community council meetings and who bring information to us about what is happening on base. And one of the struggles I have had in representing that district is that there's not really an organized effort to bring information to to the base.

And so one of my, my hopes is with this particular endeavor is that there will be more of a codified relationship and collaboration, not just a one-way communication. Additionally, one of the things we've noted is that while there's significant supports on base, uh, sometimes folks who are, are new to the community need, uh, additional resources that they are unable to provide or they don't have connection to. Within the Welcoming Alaska office, with the recognition of a liaison for each department, there will be a direct person that we can connect those military resources to, to help support and integrate those members in a more cohesive and organized fashion.

Thank you. Are there any further questions before we go to public testimony? Senator Bjorkman. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator Tobin, for the presentation.

I'm curious about the fiscal impacts in With regards to the Office of Citizens Assistance, I believe that had its own budget line item. Is that— are those funds being transferred here? I didn't hear mention of that in the fiscal note. Well, so I'm sorry, Mike Mason, staff to Senator Tobin. If you go take a look at the budget that likely will be before you later, or next week, the Office of Citizens— Citizenship Assistance has a line item of $478.9,000.

That was in the governor's budget, that was in the House budget, that was in the Senate Finance Committee version of the budget. So that is what will be before you. And then depending upon the status of this bill, it would repeal that office And then there is the fiscal notes that are in this bill would basically go into place replacing that funding, I'm assuming. Thank you. Senator Bjorkman.

So what—. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What is the additional level of new spending as a result of this bill compared to what we're currently spending on the Office of Citizenship Assistance? If you don't have it right now, Don't worry about it. For the record, Lukey Tobin, Senator for District I.

Through the Chair, Senator Bjorkman, in your packet you should have the fiscal notes, and I am looking at OMB component number 2780, and that outlines what the potential increase in fiscal impact will be. And much of the, the resources again come from establishing that 9-member Welcoming Alaska Advisory Committee. Additionally, the 3 FTEs that are currently in the citizenship assistance would be reestablished under this legislation, and so you see where those particular transfers would occur. And one of the interesting things is underneath this legislation, the department does indicate that they believe that they will need 4 additional FTEs, which I think could be part of the discussion with the department about whether those, those positions are needed or necessary, particularly within the stipulations of the legislation, and if they have any additional insight of how we might be able to do this work with the existing resources we have. We do know that we have a substantial state vacancy rate, and it's been a bit of a struggle difficult to recruit new state employees.

So our hope and intent is that we don't create a situation where we have a new office that we can't necessarily fully staff.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Bjorkman, Senator Tobin. Any further questions before we go to invited testimony?

Hearing and seeing none, we will go ahead and open invited and public testimony. And we first have, um, online from Anchorage, Isa Spatrisano. I think that is— and I've got a biography right here. Uh, she's the former Alaska State Refugee Coordinator at Catholic Social Services. She currently serves as the Director of Programs at the Rasmussen Foundation.

Spahtrehsano has a master's degree in teaching and learning from the University of Alaska Anchorage. I apologize we weren't able to get you on Thursday, but we're glad that you were here with us on a Saturday. Thanks for being here, Isa.

And, uh, thanks for— good morning everyone, and thanks for having me. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on Senate Bill 169, the Welcoming Alaska Bill. As stated, my name is Isis Battresano, very good pronunciation of my last name, and I served as the Alaska State Refugee Coordinator from 2018 to 2025. During my time in refugee resettlement and as an English as a Second Language instructor, I've had the privilege of assisting immigrants from over 80 countries here in Alaska. I'll be speaking today about refugee resettlement and immigrants and the important role this bill will play in strengthening both our systems and our economy.

A note that putting refugee resettlement into statute isn't in the bill as introduced today, but will be included in the committee substitute presented on Tuesday.

That mirrors the changes to Representative Mena's House Bill 188. Alaska has been resettling refugees since 2003, with the first arrivals from the former Soviet Union resettling into Delta Junction. Since then, refugees have built lives across the state, from Kodiak to Juneau to Anchorage. They are essential workers, business owners, neighbors, and community leaders. Immigrants are not a side story in Alaska's economy.

They are an essential part of it. At a time when Alaska faces persistent workforce shortages, an aging population, and outmigration, Newcomers and immigrants help stabilize and grow our labor force. They fill critical roles in healthcare, seafood processing, construction, tourism, education, and small business development. Many arrive ready to work, and over time, many become employers themselves. Senate Bill 169 is in part about making sure Alaska is positioned to benefit from that reality.

Historically, Refugee Services in Alaska have been administered by Catholic Social Services as the replacement designee for the state. However, in March of 2025, through Office of Refugee Resettlement Policy Letter 2504, the federal government began requiring that refugee resettlement funding move to state-led rather than administered by nonprofit replacement designees. This bill ensures that refugee resettlement can continue in Alaska in alignment with federal timelines. Speaking from my experience as a former state refugee coordinator, moving refugee resettlement into state administration will lead to better outcomes in several important ways. First, it strengthens oversight and accountability of federal funds.

These are federal dollars already coming into Alaska and will cover all associated staffing costs for refugee services within state administration. State administration ensures clearer alignment with state priorities and better visibility across agencies. The skills and talents of historical refugee resettlement providers like Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services, or NUCHAMS, can continue through the state contracting process. This means essential direct services can continue with culturally informed partners within the state oversight. Second, it allows for better coordination with existing systems.

During the significant increase in arrivals in 2021 and 2022, when Alaska saw more than a 2,000% rise in arrivals due to Afghan and Ukrainian fleeing violence, I witnessed and saw firsthand the challenges of coordinating across systems from outside of state government. Departments like Labor and Workforce Development, Public Assistance, and the DMV are strong partners, but there were delays and inefficiencies as we worked to bridge gaps in understanding around immigration status, eligibility, and required service delivery. Housing this work within state government reduces these barriers. It allows for faster and more consistent service delivery and better outcomes for both the state and for arriving families. Third, it creates opportunity to better connect refugees to Alaska's workforce needs.

With state administration, refugee employment services can be more directly aligned with workforce development programs and help people move more quickly into jobs where Alaska employers are already struggling to find workers. At its core, Senate Bill 169 is about ensuring Alaska can continue to participate in both humanitarian— can continue to participate in a federal program that brings both humanitarian and economic benefits, and doing so in a way that is more efficient, more accountable, and more aligned with our state's needs. I strongly encourage your support of this bill, and I'm happy to take any questions, and appreciate your time and consideration. Thank you very much for your testimony. I, I did have a question because you were talking a little bit about federal, um, federal law and federal money coming and being directed to the state, and that it used to maybe go through Catholic Social Services but now it would be directed directly.

Can you tell me a little bit more about that mechanism? Yeah, currently, um, the federal government allows for administrative funds for any refugee resettlement oversight, and so historically those funds have gone to Catholic Social Services through a grant that's called Cash and Medical Assistance, CMA. CMA allows for administrative costs, cash costs, and medical assistance costs for refugee arrivals. If the state, in the new incorporated bill that you'll see on Tuesday, puts refugee resettlement into this office and allows the state refugee coordinator— hires a state refugee coordinator, all those positions would be completely federally funded and would be of no cost to the State of Alaska. Last year, Catholic Social Services' CMA award was around $850,000.

I think you could get the exact number from them, but it covers all those associated costs, including, like, database development and other things. What is also nice about federal dollars is it does allow for cost allocation. So if there's a supervisory person overseeing the refugee program, cost allocation can be contributed in to cover the fees the cost of the office also.

Thank you. Um, thank you. Another question on that is that you're no longer at Catholic Social Services, but if that was money that formerly was directed to Catholic Social Services as sort of a, a, a charity that does that type— performs that type of work— and it's going to now be done internally through the administration, does that mean there's less money for Catholic Social Services And do you think that the state can do the job just as well as Catholic Social Services has done over the years? [Speaker:KATHRYN] Through the chair, that's a great question. I would say that we are the abnormal route.

The vast majority of refugee resettlement offices are housed in state government. That's the norm. Alaska's sort of been on the outside having a nonprofit fill that role for the last 20 years. Catholic Social Services has done a great job. I filled that role for many years.

I'm proud of the work that we did. I also would say that this is not— this will become not a choice. The federal government, the Trump administration, is moving away from allowing federal dollars to go to the nonprofit for administration. The State of Alaska has always had the right to take that program back. It's the state's choice to have passed it along to a nonprofit.

And so, In short, even if the state chooses not to do this, there may be a path in the future in which Catholic Social Services is not allowed to do it, and that's coming in the near future. So, for a system that's worked for many years, it was a great success. Most states have it housed inside of state government. There's benefits to being inside of state government and outside of state government, but I will just speak from my own experience. It would have been very beneficial to have been housed within state government during the mass arrival of Ukrainians and, frankly, when Afghans arrived.

Those very large numbers required a lot of statewide coordination that we figured out how to do it, but it really did delay services, it delayed benefits, and it ultimately didn't serve us as a state. And so the norm is that, say, refugee coordinators and administration is housed inside state government. And like I said in my testimony, there's another side of funding which is called Refugee Support Services. That is the direct line item funding that pays for direct service provision. The state can still contract out those direct services for employment services and health services and others to those long-term providers like Catholic Social Services, like New Chance, which is an ethnic community-based Ukrainian organization.

They can still do the direct line service work. That's so great. This just allows for better integration into the state, especially as we see immigrants and, I mean, especially as we see refugees really move across the state. Historically, they've been mostly in Anchorage, but that's not the norm anymore. Thank you.

Are there any other questions for Aspettrisano? Can you say your name again? I know it's Italian. I just don't— I'm just really bad at it. Yeah, it's Aspettrisano.

If you look at it too long, it becomes complicated. You're doing great. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.

We will now move on to New York City. Committee, where we have a person who was formerly supposed to be online and we missed her as well. We have Caitlin McTiernan. Caitlin is the program manager at the Office of New Americans, or the ONA State Network, at the American Immigration Council. We welcome you to the Senate State Affairs Committee, Caitlin.

Good morning, and thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members, for this opportunity to provide testimony today. My name is Caitlin McTiernan, and I work for the American Immigration Council. As the program manager for the Office of New American State Network on our state and local initiatives team. My organization works to create a more welcoming America, one that provides a fair immigration process for new Americans and adopts policies that consider the vital contributions that new Americans make to the U.S. economy. I'm here today to share the council's strong support of Senate Bill 169 to establish the Welcoming Alaska Office to support the integration of immigrants and newcomers in Alaska.

Over the past several years, my organization has worked with leaders in government, business, and civil society to establish and support similar state-level offices across the country. These offices partner with state agencies and community-based organizations to facilitate the social, economic, and cultural integration of immigrant and refugee communities. These state offices work to ensure equitable access to services and information, to engage the private sector to attract and retain international talent, and secure employment. Increase civic participation, and convene relevant stakeholders to better coordinate efforts. Alaska has the opportunity to join a growing number of states that recognize the return on investing in New American integration and engagement.

Over the past few years, states including Colorado, Hawaii, and North Dakota enacted bipartisan legislation to establish statewide offices. The total number of states with these offices or similar senior advisor positions is now up to 24. These state offices are focused on ensuring new Americans successfully integrate and achieve economic self-sufficiency in their local communities and workforces. For example, the Office of Global Michigan worked with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to create over 40 occupational licensing guides, and these guides help internationally trained professionals obtain licenses for in-demand jobs, including doctors, teachers, and cosmetologists. In North Dakota, the state's Global Talent Office launched a grant program to support employers and communities across North Dakota in recruiting, retaining, and integrating New Americans into the state's workforce and communities.

In collaboration with World Education Services, my organization convenes these offices through the Office of New Americans State Network. Individuals appointed to conduct integration work in Alaska would be welcome to participate in the network where they can learn best practices from counterparts across the country and ensure Alaska is well positioned to sustain a productive and successful Welcoming Alaska Office that helps facilitate the full integration of the state's immigrant communities to the benefits of all. To help illustrate why this issue is important and why it makes sense to think of a state-level immigration services office as an economic integration workforce issue, my organization conducted quantitative research using data from the 2023 American Community Survey to highlight the impact immigrants already have in Alaska. We found that Alaska is home to a small but vital community of more than 54,000 immigrants in 2023, making up 7% of the state's population and 10% of the workforce. This community is critical to the state's future workforce.

81% Of immigrant Alaskans were of working age, defined as ages 16 to 64, in 2023, compared to 63% of their U.S.-born counterparts. Ports. Over 60% of the state's immigrants have been— have become naturalized citizens. As neighbors, business owners, taxpayers, and workers, immigrants are an integral part of Alaska's diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit all. Immigrant households in Alaska contribute millions of dollars in federal, state, and local taxes each year and hold tremendous spending power.

They paid $522 million in taxes in 2023. Including $114 million in state and local taxes, and have $1.8 billion in spending power that can be reinjected into the state and local economies. By creating the Welcoming Alaska Office, Alaska can maximize this economic impact, invest in the state's future workforce, and ensure the full integration of immigrants and refugees. I encourage you to support the passage of SB 169, and I thank you for your consideration and time today. Thank you, Ms. McTiernan.

Are there questions? I guess I'll start off with a question. You mentioned— I'm sorry, a question mostly about federal law, because I'm not sure how these big federal changes over the last year, year and a half have sort of either decreased the ability to get into country or— like, I know there's a state senator who's married, who just married a woman from the Philippines, and they're trying to get paperwork and they can't get any paperwork. Work through. And of course, you can imagine for a person who's not connected to a state Senate, it must be very, very difficult.

So can you tell me how that is going just overall?

Sure. Well, I would say we've certainly seen slowdowns in the processing of immigrant benefit applications.

I can't speak to the whole federal system in total because that's— there's so many different, you know, kinds of visa applications everywhere. But across the board, we've seen an increase in backlog. There's also been cuts to the immigration, like, judicial system and immigration judges who help move— who help process these applications as well, or And there's been a declining number of judges in the past year as well. So, we've certainly seen a slowdown in some of the processing times. But I'd also just kind of play off that question.

I think it's one of the strengths of having a statewide office is having a centralized place where individuals can go to to get information because of all of the changes that are happening at the federal level. Like you said, it can be very confusing to keep track of. And so, we see that as a function of a lot of these state offices. As sort of a clearinghouse for information, both for those within state government and for community members.

Great, thank you very much, Ms. McTiernan. I have no— I don't see any other questions here. Thank you for your time. We appreciate your input. We will now move on to public testimony.

We do have one person who has called in. We have Erica Bauman in Anchorage. If you could state your name and your affiliation and if you can keep your testimony under 2 minutes, that would be great.

Hi. Yeah, my name is Erica. I have no affiliation. I'm just calling as an Alaska resident today, although I do have 7 years prior work experience working with refugees and new immigrant arrivals in Alaska, and during most of that time, I spent a lot of that time in a setting similar to the one proposed by SB 169. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] So, I, I can speak from personal experience that refugees and immigrants arrive to Alaska ready to work.

They're ready to provide for their families, and they're ready to contribute to the larger community. Supporting immigrants and new arrivals is a vital component in addressing current labor shortages across the state. They're filling jobs that we need filled, and it's also so important to have dedicated resources for new arrivals as they're building the connections that make a new place feel like home. Having a space where people can access English classes and employment assistance and career development opportunities and other support systems just allows new arrivals to more quickly become self-sufficient and members of the local fabric. Thank you.

Thank you so much for your testimony today, Ms. Bauman. Are there further Questions, or is there anybody else who'd like to testify on Senate Bill 169?

I see none. We'll go ahead and hold open public testimony on Senate Bill 169 until the next hearing. We wanted to bring it back to Senator Tobin if you have any comments you'd like to make, or do we have any questions that we have for the senator?

For the record, Luki Tobin, Senator for District I. No, I just want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for hearing this bill on this Saturday. As Issa indicated, there are some changes that are happening federally, and we want to ensure that we continue to provide not only the resources and supports for new Alaskans but also capture any federal dollars that might be left on the table. So we're excited to talk with you more about a forthcoming yes, that will help integrate some of those suggestions that ISSA and others have made to ensure that this is an opportunity to really capitalize on what we already know is happening and ensure that folks who are coming to Alaska feel welcomed and also are supported.

Thank you. Are there any questions? And I just wanted to thank you for bringing this forward, and I know there's been some comments about this Office of Citizenship Assistance, and then of course the Office are what this new Alaska— Alaska— what is it called? The Alaska Welcome— Alaska Welcome to Alaska, whatever the, whatever the organization is going to be called, um, that it is not only for folks who are new to the United States but also new to the state in general. And you mentioned, of course, the military.

We have a great thriving military. A lot of people come and then a lot of people stay and We do want our military to stay. We do want our university students to stay, uh, as we can build capacity through them. So having an office, I think, really does make a lot of sense. And thank you for bringing this forward.

Any other comments? Senator or rep— or Mr. Mason? Uh, Mike Mason, staff to Senator Tobin. I just wanted to note that I think we have one public testifier that just came on Thank you. Oh, let me hit recycle.

We do. Okay, we do have one more person to testify. This is, um, on Senate Bill 169, the Welcome Alaska Office. Oh, actually we have two more. We have first Larissa Fanov, uh, in Wasilla, a constituent of the senator If you would like to state your name and affiliation, welcome to the Senate State Affairs Committee this Saturday.

Good morning. Can you hear me well? We sure can. Good morning. Can you hear me well?

Awesome. Thank you. It has been a back and forth since the original time that we had for public testimony, which went into overtime. But I'm happy to be here on this beautiful Saturday morning in Wasilla. My name is Larissa Fonov.

I'm a case manager with New Chance here in the valley. And I'm in strong support of SB 169, especially Sections 2 and 3. For the past 4 years, every week I sit with families who are ready to move forward. They have fled a war. They have difficult situations they have encountered.

They have arrived in Alaska, and they want to be here. They want to work. They want to open businesses. They want to take care of their children and build a life here. And as I sit with them, every single phone call I make with my laptop open, 100 tabs running, All we're trying to do is the basic collection of information.

Where do they go? What license do they open? What bond do they need? Where do the kids need to be registered? In which school?

What boundary? It's not because the help isn't out there. It's because it's all scattered that this will fix this issue. I've worked with families across Alaska who are trying to re— understand where resources are even available. What office is open?

What time do they operate? Earlier in the year, when it was still in-house, uh, this, uh, Vice Chair spoke on Juneau and the families that are there. I have been to Juneau. I have tried to help the families in Juneau. Which office is open?

How do we get them there? And this—. With this proposition, it will help us fix this issue. The families are searching, and while we're searching, they're waiting, waiting to get to work, waiting to stabilize and to move forward. So Section 2 can address this.

Having a liaison in each department means they're no longer guessing. They have real coordination, and we can help them get the help faster. I see clearly when families are trying to open small businesses, we spend hours, sometimes days, just trying to understand the basic requirements of insurance, bonding, where to go. It shouldn't be this long. With a centralized office with a reliable resource guide, that would change that, which is less time searching and more time helping people finding successful answers.

And this matters just even beyond families. One day someone approached me in the parking lot and asked me for money. While I'm helping refugees, the resources that I had at my hand, at my disposal, I was able to share with other people because I already had the answers. Imagine if we could have it all in a centralized place, if we could all have it in one office. As it was spoken in house, can we help people here that are in America that are not refugees with these resources?

I don't see why not. The people that pick up the job jobs, to work as case managers, to work as resource guides. They have a heart for people. They have a heart for help. And this will address so many of those issues.

Section 3 as well is just an incredible addition to this, having an advisory committee that will bring real voices to the table and ensure accountability. We need accountability. We like accountability. And the resources that they're being used wisely and they're being used to help people. For me, this is personal.

I've seen what happens when things finally get together, when someone finally gets a job, when they finally successfully land their LLC license, when they get the insurance that they need to be able to open their business. I want to see this succeed, and I'm in very strong support of this. Thank you for hearing me out. Thank you very much, Ms. Fanoff. And, and I don't know that we have your draft in front of us, but we are— that is forthcoming, and I will make sure the committee members do get it.

But thank you for your testimony. We next have Lori Pickett in Anchorage. If you would state your name and your affiliation, welcome to the Senate State Affairs Committee.

Thank you so much. Good morning, Chair and members of the Senate State Affairs Committee. Thank you for hearing my testimony. My name is Lori Pickett. I have worked in adult and family education here in Alaska for 30-ish years supporting our immigrant and refugee neighbors to improve their English flourish, advance their careers, and integrate into our community.

I'm here today as a neighbor and a long-term partner in this work. SB 169 is a dream long in the making. My experience across this state is that Alaskans truly cherish our newest neighbors for how they enhance our communities and more. Every person who chooses to call Alaska home represents a vital reinvestment in our future. As we navigate the challenges of outmigration and a tightening labor market, we must recognize that immigrants and refugees are not just seeking a new start, they are providing one for us.

They arrive with global professional experience and an unwavering entrepreneurial spirit that revitalizes our neighborhoods. And frankly, I'm greatly—. For how they—. I'm grateful for how improve our local food scene. This is why I find this bill so exciting.

A centralized hub hosting federal refugee programs located in the DOLWD can leverage federal and private dollars, reduce duplication of services, and streamline complicated systems. It allows the state to partner effectively with the nonprofit and community groups those already doing the work, ensuring we are all moving in the same direction. By investing in this office, the state is making it clear that we value our newest neighbors, and when we welcome them with a clear, streamlined path, we aren't just helping them, we're strengthening our own economy and communities. When our new neighbors thrive, Alaska stays competitive, vibrant, and strong. Long.

It's truly a win-win. I urge your support for SB 169. Thank you. Thank you very much, Miss Pickett. Uh, we will now move to, uh, back to Osceola where we have Mike Coons.

If you'd state your name and your affiliation. Yeah, this is Mike. Yeah, this is Mike Coons. I'm speaking for myself. You know, basically this bill sounds, sounds good.

I don't have any really— if this is what the intent of this bill is, is to help people that are coming into this nation, into our state, into this nation legally, I think this is a great thing, especially when we see so many immigrants today not speaking English, don't understand our culture. Those things don't need to be done. However, where I am concerned, considering the political climate of today, is that if this state ends up turning purple or blue and we have a governor that is Democrat and a House and a Senate that's Democrat, that this— I think this could be used nefariously for illegal aliens by the state of Alaska becoming a sanctuary state. And that I would totally oppose. And that's— so this I'm hoping that there are safeguards to this and guardrails to this bill that makes it so that this department does not help illegal aliens that are here in the state of Alaska.

And if they do find illegal aliens, that they are turned over to ICE immediately. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Coons, for your testimony this morning. Thank you for coming. Let's see if there's anybody else who would like to testify. We do have public testimony and we will keep public testimony open until the next meeting. I don't see anybody.

Okay. We don't have anybody. Are there now any final words that you get— that the senator or Mr. Mason have? Again, Luki Tobin, Senator for District 9. No, Mr. Chairman, we just want to thank you again for for hearing legislation.

Thank you. I don't see any other questions before the committee. We want to thank you for presenting on this glorious Saturday in Juneau, Alaska. We'll go ahead and set Senate Bill 169 aside until Tuesday's meeting, and then we'll take a brief at ease to spin up the next bill.

All right, I'd like to call the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting back to order. Time now is 10:55. We now have— we will now hear House Bill 13, Municipal Property Tax Exemptions. This bill was heard at a meeting, I think it was two Tuesdays ago. It's everything so fast.

We do have a draft committee substitute on House Bill 13 in your packets. May I have a motion to adopt the committee substitute? Senator Bjorkman. Yes, you may, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move to adopt committee substitute for House Bill 13, work draft 34-LS0194/W as our working document.

Thank you. Mr. Chair, I will object for purposes of discussion and bring up Mr. Joe Hayes, staff to the Senate State Affairs Committee, to explain the changes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. So the first change is going to be a title change.

It adds real property owned and occupied by volunteer certified or licensed providers of firefighting emergency services, mobile intensive care paramedic services, or hazardous material response services. Page 1, lines 10 to 13, we're adding an R, or potentially exempt. There's explanation there. Page 2, lines 1 through 6, we're adding a hazardous material response services with the explanation. And then the bill is renumbered accordingly.

Those are the changes, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Hayes. Are there any questions? I guess I will ask a really quick question.

If you know the answer to this, we are adding licensed paramedics, mobile intensive paramedics, and those who are certified or licensed under Title 18. Is there a way to distinguish hazardous materials response services, the third, the new part of that bill? So is there, is, if we're going to provide if we will be able to provide an exemption, are we going to be able to figure out who is considered a hazardous material response service provider?

Through the chair, Senator Kawasaki, I believe that we have addressed that in the explanation. I'll actually read the explanation. So Alaska currently allows municipalities to offer a $10,000 property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and EMS providers under AS2945-050. Hazmat responders perform similar frontline public service functions, often alongside fire and EMS, but are not explicitly included. Hazmat volunteers face comparable risk, and excluding them creates an inequality among similarly situated emergency responders.

So, uh, Through the chair, I do believe there is a definition for hazmat folks that should be covered. Thank you, Mr. Hayes. Questions? Hearing and seeing none, I'll remove my objection to adopting the committee substitute, the W version. Are there further questions?

Okay. Hearing and seeing none, we will hold House Bill 13 over for a further hearing. And we will take a brief at ease to bring up the next bill.

All right, I'll call the next— call the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting back to order. We next have House Bill 176. House Bill 176 is entitled University of Alaska Fee Transparency. It's sponsored by Representative Ashley Carrick. Her staff, Griffin Sakau, will come up to present the legislation.

Thank you, and really appreciate, Mr. Chair and members of the Senate State Affairs Committee, you hearing House Bill 176 today. For the record, Ashley Carrick, and I represent West Fairbanks. House Bill 176 is before you, but I just want to say first off, major congratulations because we have commencement day happening today. So we have this university bill before you, but it also happens to be commencement day.

So congratulations to the graduates. I have the honor of carrying House Bill 176 in in companion with the other member of the other body from North Pole, who's behind us. And as representative for the UAF main campus, I consider all UA students my constituents. And so this House Bill 176 Student Fee Transparency Act before you is the result of conversations with many students over a period of years who have expressed desire for transparency with what they pay on their student fee Um, up until about 2020, there had been a bit of a fluctuation between fees being unconsolidated and itemized and having a consolidated fee structure. Between 2020 and just very recently, student fees in the UA system had been consolidated.

Um, consolidated fees are easier for the University of Alaska administration to process, but they provide far less transparency for students. Students. And in addition to that lack of transparency, the university, university system is not required currently to notify students on the creation or raising of system-wide and campus-wide student fees. And until last year, uh, the University of Alaska Fairbanks was involving student leaders in the fee process through the Tuition and Fee Committee. However, UWF had changed its committee structure, and so there was a little bit less of that responsiveness.

And then also the consolidated fee didn't allow for the average student to see what was included in their fee without doing more follow-up and, for example, calling the registration office and asking for that information. So the university would provide it when asked, but you had to go through a little bit more of a process. This. So House Bill 176 requires all of our UA campuses to provide itemized billing statements detailing how much students pay for the components of their, their student fees that are system-wide or campus-wide fees. It does not change that students are required to pay their fees by default, or that the university has full authority to level those fees and change those fees.

Um, what it does do is it provides more information for students who are seeking better transparency and information about what they're paying for in their higher education and where their dollars will be spent. And I can, uh, Mr. Chair, think of examples where students have actually advocated to increase a fee, as well as situations where students have advocated to decrease fees. It's hard to advocate if you don't know exactly what it is that you're looking at on your bill. I also just want to thank the UA administrators that have made communication and transparency a priority because as I said, students are able to reach out and ask for this information and have in the past and have gotten great response from the administration.

So the administration does have an interest in providing transparency, and they've worked with us on this legislation to ensure that the way this bill would be implemented matches our intent to provide that transparency up front. And I'm really grateful for their work on this effort, and I look forward to continuing on these shared priorities. And with that said, we did work with the UA administration to come up with a few changes to this bill in the prior Committee of Referral that will again better reflect how the implementation will match our intent. And so I would ask my staff if the chair would like to walk through the sectional and also the summary of changes from the prior Committee. That'd be great.

Thank you, Representative Carrick. Mr. Sukao.

Good morning, Senators. Um, through the chair, for the record, Griffin Sukao, staff to Representative Ashley Carrick. The changes that we made in the Senate Education Committee are pretty simple. Um, in Section 2, subsection C, we identified the Board of Regents shall provide the notice as required by this bill There is an additional clarifying that the notice should be sent a minimum of 30 days before the change when practicable. Subsection (c)(3) was removed.

Subsection (c)(3) had been saying that under the requirements of noticing the changes of the fee, whether the fee is permanent or temporary, In talking to the UA administration, we learned that fees are very rarely temporary, so we just removed that part. Additionally, there was a new definition clarifying that a mandatory fee means a fee assessed to all students attending the university or a specific campus of the university and does not include course fees, matriculation fees, parking fees, or other similar fees as determined by the Board of Regents. Regents. With that, the sectional is as follows. Um, line— Section 1 creates a short title for this bill.

Section 2 adds a new subsection to AS 14.40.170, which requires the Board of Regents to specify, uh, two things before imposing a new fee, the amount of the fee, and the reason for the fee. For example, what the fee is going to be used for. That's in subsection C, apologies. When practicable, the Board of Regents shall provide notice required under this subsection of at least 30 days prior to a new mandatory fee or fee increase. It also clarifies that a fee means it's that mandatory fee definition that I just went over.

Section 3 adds a new subsection— or a new section, AS.14.40.252, that requires the University of Alaska to provide students with an itemized billing statement showing all tuition and fees that are charged to the student. And Section 4 establishes an effective date of July 1st, 2027. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tsukeo. Are there questions of the sponsor of the bill?

I'll start with just one question about the 30-day time limit for the Board of Regents, or as practicable. What exactly does that mean? Thank you to the chair. Again, for the record, Ashley Carrick representing West Fairbanks. So we had initially had a time frame in this bill of 30 days, and just in conversation with administration, we felt it was important to say when practicable because there may be certain situations where implementation of a fee and the notification process is happening, say, outside of the regular semester, outside of regular enrollment periods.

And so when practicable just provides a little bit of flexibility while still putting in a timeline that is is likely very reasonable for the vast majority of situations. And so that was added in consultation with the university system.

Thank you. Are there any other questions?

Okay. Just one more just comment, I guess, statement is that we have this tuition fees and costs. It's a page 4. 4 And 5 of— must be the course catalog or something like that. And it shows what the consolidated fee is for the Fairbanks and rural campuses at $56 per credit.

Um, and then it shows a distribution for 2025-2026: 18.5% to counseling, 12% to Center for Teaching and Learning, 11.5% 5. That's pretty darn specific, and I guess that that is— that's really what I like to see. I'm glad that that's there. I'm also glad that it is consolidated, so I don't necessarily have to see that, but this is really good, I think. Did you— questions?

Are there any further questions for Representative Mr. Carrick or Mr. Sukeo? I have a question. Senator Bjorkman. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Representative Carrick, thank you for bringing the bill forward today. I'm wondering, as we kind of contemplate different pieces of legislation that talk about fees and who can charge what and how we should pay for things in the role of government and dictating how people charge fees, I'm curious, what's to stop the university system from just rolling fees into the base tuition rate? Like, what if, let's say, they don't want to charge any fees at all, could they not just include these fees within the tuition per credit and then not have any fees and you'd have even less transparency?

Through the chair to Senator Bjorkman. So I'm not, I'm not particularly concerned about that possibility because again, transparency is a shared objective with the University System and with this bill. I think the delta between the current University System practice or past practice and this bill is mandating that we have an itemized customized structure. Right now, you know, they have made recent changes to try to improve transparency a little bit further on what you see on your bill with the percentage structure that Chair Kawasaki was talking about. But prior to that, you would have to do a little bit of digging if you wanted to know that information.

But the information was still there. And I think that's really important. What I am looking for as the sponsor sponsor of this bill and what students have asked for over time, as well as others that might be paying bills like parents or other individuals, is, um, is for that information to be provided more upfront. But I am not super concerned about the scenario you've described because I don't think that the university system wants to completely eliminate transparency around fees outside of tuition. And also, there would be questions about that as well, because tuition is calculated in a very separate process from how fees are currently constructed.

So I don't think I would be concerned about that. Follow-up? I'm curious, so I see on this breakout on the same printout that the chairman was referencing earlier that there are percentages assigned to descriptions that would typically, in other university systems, be paid through what's essentially called the student body tax that is governed by a student body governing council of some kind. Does any structure exist like that in the University of Alaska system? And then what, what are the taxes that they have some control and agency over?

And then what do they use those monies for? That's a great question. Um, through the chair to Senator Bjorkman, so the, the student body has input on the ASUAF student government fee, on the, um, used to be called the concert board fee. I think now it's called just more broadly speaking like student life, um, at different campuses. But the student governing organizations Commissioners do have a role in advising and on levying additional fee increases through their, you know, elections process.

Ultimately, those have to go into place through the administration. So, you know, the administration could— I've never seen it or heard about it happening, but the administration could theoretically reject a student fee increase that's been voted on. That doesn't, I don't think, happen in practice. And students do have some agency to also increase or decrease student fees as well on certain line items, not all line items, but a couple of those.

Okay, thank you, Senator Bjorkman. Thank you, Representative Carrick. I think, I think we have a little bit of history here too because the student recreation Student Recreation Center bond fee was one of those fees that was voted on. Maybe Joe voted on it when he was a member of the student body at— up in Fairbanks at UAF. And then it was something that I had to pay as an incoming student, but it was something that was again done in a prior year by a student body that voted on it.

And now we have a student rec center in Fairbanks, which is pretty cool, and it's completely paid off, although it looks like there's still some money coming from students to keep it running. So 11.5% of your consolidated fee if you're a student from Fairbanks. Are there any other questions before we— uh, well, we'll open up public testimony and invited testimony, but I don't see anybody online. And I don't see anybody here in the room unless the senator would like to present next to his House counterpart. Okay, then we will keep public testimony open for House Bill 176 as we will hear this bill again on Tuesday of the following week.

Any final questions or comments you'd like to make? One. Yeah, go ahead, Representative. Uh, thank you very much again for hearing this bill. Uh, just to the Chair's comments earlier, I think what's— what, um, is really important to also note is the university could still call something under a broad category, like they could even say consolidated fee, but what we're asking for in this bill is that they have a drop-down menu where you can actually see the price of what's included in system-wide and campus-wide fees.

So we're not trying to make the bill more onerous for students per se, and that was something we really worked with the university administration on because— and it's why course fees are not included in this subject to the provisions of this bill, because course fees are harder to determine. There are many, many components of those, and so we want to make the bill still have a streamlined look and feel for students students that are looking for that, but with options just like you would have on any other large bill that you might pay. So you can see a little bit more information up front and available. So just to make that note about what it is we're looking for and what this applies to here. Okay, great.

Um, thank you very much for the presentation on House Bill 176, fee transparency. We will now set that bill aside for a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. I'd like to make an amendment deadline for both Senate Bill 169, the Welcome Alaska Office, and House Bill 174, which is the fee— I'm sorry, 176, which is the fee transparency bill, for Monday at 5 PM. This would conclude our meeting for today. I'd like to make the following announcements that On Saturday, May 5th— no, that's not right.

On Tuesday, May 5th, we will have consideration of the governor's appointees to the Police Standards Council, Michael Craig. We'll have a second hearing on House Bill 25, Disposable Food Serviceware, by Representative Andy Josephson. A second hearing on House Bill 278, Economic Development Alaska-Ireland Trade Commission, by Representative Mia Castello, a second hearing on House Bill 176, University of Alaska Fees, by Representative Ashley Carrick, and a first hearing on House Bill 214, Motor Vehicles Proof of Insurance, SR 22, by Representative Elise Galvin. And finally, we'll have a first hearing on Senate Bill 286, Dalton Highway Toll, by the Senate State Affairs Committee by request. And bills previously heard or scheduled.

We're getting to the final crunch here, so Mostly just House bills at this point in time. Are there any final questions or comments or dad jokes to come before the committee?

Okay, hearing none, the Senate State Affairs Committee is adjourned. Let the record reflect that it's 11:18 AM.