CSSB 56(HSS): "An Act extending the January 15, 2021, governor's declaration of a public health disaster emergency in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; providing for a financing plan; making temporary changes to state law in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the following areas: occupational and professional licensing, practice, and billing; telehealth; fingerprinting requirements for health care providers; charitable gaming and online ticket sales; access to federal stabilization funds; wills; unfair or deceptive trade practices; and meetings of shareholders; relating to informed consent for COVID-19 vaccines; relating to personal objections to the administration of COVID-19 vaccines; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 56(HSS) 01 "An Act extending the January 15, 2021, governor's declaration of a public health 02 disaster emergency in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic; 03 providing for a financing plan; making temporary changes to state law in response to 04 the COVID-19 outbreak in the following areas: occupational and professional licensing, 05 practice, and billing; telehealth; fingerprinting requirements for health care providers; 06 charitable gaming and online ticket sales; access to federal stabilization funds; wills; 07 unfair or deceptive trade practices; and meetings of shareholders; relating to informed 08 consent for COVID-19 vaccines; relating to personal objections to the administration of 09 COVID-19 vaccines; and providing for an effective date." 10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 11 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 12 to read:
01 FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that 02 (1) in December 2019, a novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory 03 syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei province, 04 People's Republic of China, leading to outbreaks of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) 05 that have now spread globally; 06 (2) on January 31, 2020, the United States Secretary of Health and Human 07 Services declared a public health emergency under 42 U.S.C. 247d (Public Health Service 08 Act); 09 (3) to date, 50 states have confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 10 confirmation of community transmission of COVID-19; 11 (4) on March 11, 2020, the commissioner of health and social services 12 certified to the governor that there was a high probability that COVID-19 presents a credible 13 threat of an imminent outbreak of the disease in the state, meeting the definition of disaster 14 under AS 26.23.900(2)(E); 15 (5) on March 11, 2020, the governor issued a declaration of a public health 16 disaster emergency under AS 26.23.020 in anticipation of the spread of COVID-19 to the 17 state; 18 (6) in the disaster declaration issued March 11, 2020, the governor found that 19 a statewide response under AS 18.15.390 was required to address the public health disaster 20 emergency and authorized the commissioner of health and social services and the adjutant 21 general of military and veterans' affairs to take all actions necessary to address the public 22 health disaster emergency; 23 (7) on March 12, 2020, the Department of Health and Social Services and the 24 governor announced that the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in an individual in 25 Anchorage; 26 (8) from March 12, 2020, to present, cases of COVID-19 continue to be 27 diagnosed across the state; 28 (9) on April 9, 2020, President Donald J. Trump approved a major disaster 29 declaration for the state to aid in COVID-19 recovery efforts; 30 (10) on November 16, 2020, the governor issued a declaration of a public 31 health disaster emergency under AS 26.23.020 in response to the ongoing statewide COVID-
01 19 outbreak; 02 (11) on December 11, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration issued an 03 emergency use authorization (EUA) to begin an immediate nationwide distribution of a 04 COVID-19 vaccine; 05 (12) on December 16, 2020, the governor issued a declaration of a public 06 health disaster emergency under AS 26.23.020 in response to the ongoing statewide COVID- 07 19 outbreak and the necessity of facilitating the receipt and statewide distribution of the 08 COVID-19 vaccine; 09 (13) on January 12, 2021, the commissioner of health and social services 10 certified, in accordance with AS 26.23.900(2)(E), that an outbreak of COVID-19 is occurring 11 in the state because of widespread community transmission; 12 (14) a statewide response under AS 18.15.390, coordinated by the Department 13 of Health and Social Services, is needed to fully address this disaster of public health and aid 14 in vaccine distribution; 15 (15) the Department of Health and Social Services' chief medical officer and 16 the commissioner of health and social services have determined that it will take months of 17 monitoring and active public health management, including statewide vaccine distribution, to 18 contain the spread COVID-19; 19 (16) the adjutant general of the Alaska organized militia has determined that it 20 may be necessary for the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, under the guidance of 21 the commissioner of health and social services, to use personnel and other resources of the 22 Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs to institute actions under AS 26.23.020, 23 including provisions to perform or facilitate performance of disaster emergency services. 24 (b) Based on the findings in (a) of this section, the legislature finds that it is in the 25 best interest of the state to extend the public health disaster emergency declaration issued by 26 the governor on January 15, 2021, and all the powers granted under AS 18.15.390 and 27 AS 26.23.020 to March 15, 2021. 28 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 29 read: 30 PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER EMERGENCY; EXTENSION OF DISASTER 31 EMERGENCY. (a) Under AS 26.23.020(c), the Alaska State Legislature extends to
01 March 15, 2021, the declaration of a public health disaster emergency issued by the governor 02 on January 15, 2021. The extension under this subsection includes an order, proclamation, or 03 regulation issued under AS 26.23.020 and an action taken by the Department of Health and 04 Social Services under the authority granted to the Department of Health and Social Services 05 under AS 18.15.390. 06 (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, if the commissioner of health and social 07 services certifies to the governor that there is no longer a present outbreak of novel 08 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or a credible threat of an imminent outbreak of COVID-19, 09 the governor shall issue a proclamation that the public health disaster emergency identified in 10 the declaration issued by the governor on January 15, 2021, no longer exists as of a date 11 determined by the governor. The certification must be based on specific information received 12 from a state or federal agency or another source that the commissioner determines to be 13 reliable. 14 (c) The governor shall submit a proclamation issued under (b) of this section to the 15 revisor of statutes, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and 16 the lieutenant governor. 17 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 18 read: 19 PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER EMERGENCY; FINANCING PLAN. (a) Under 20 AS 26.23.020(k), the Alaska State Legislature approves this financing plan for the declaration 21 of a public health disaster emergency issued by the governor on January 15, 2021, as extended 22 by sec. 2 of this Act, and provides that the following appropriations and authorizations may be 23 used to cope with the public health disaster emergency: 24 (1) the appropriations made in sec. 8, ch. 2, SLA 2020; 25 (2) the appropriations made in sec. 10, ch. 7, SLA 2020; 26 (3) the authorization made in sec. 1, ch. 8, SLA 2020, Department of Health 27 and Social Services, allowing for up to $20,000,000 in transfers between all appropriations 28 made in the Department of Health and Social Services, except for transfers from the Medicaid 29 services appropriation; 30 (4) the appropriations made in sec. 28, ch. 8, SLA 2020, Department of Health 31 and Social Services,
01 (A) of federal receipts received during the fiscal year ending June 30, 02 2021, for Medicaid services; and 03 (B) to the Department of Health and Social Services public health 04 emergency response for the purpose of responding to the novel coronavirus disease 05 (COVID-19) public health disaster emergency; 06 (5) the appropriation made in sec. 38, ch. 8, SLA 2020, to the disaster relief 07 fund under AS 26.23.300(a); 08 (6) the appropriation made in sec. 37(a), ch. 8, SLA 2020, of excess federal 09 receipts received during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021; 10 (7) the authorization made in ch. 32, SLA 2020, for expenditure of federal 11 CARES Act receipts; 12 (8) federal receipts received by any state agency for purposes of mitigating the 13 public health disaster emergency subject to use of the process prescribed in 14 AS 26.23.020(k)(2) if the legislature is not in session and, if the legislature is in session, 15 subject to a request to include the federal receipts in an existing appropriation bill; 16 (9) any future appropriations made for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2021, 17 and June 30, 2022, for the cost of responding to and mitigating the risk of the coronavirus 18 disease (COVID-19) outbreak. 19 (b) The governor may not expend more than a cumulative total of $10,000,000 of 20 state funds from the disaster relief fund under AS 26.23.020(h) - (k) or 26.23.300(b) in 21 response to the declaration of a public health disaster emergency issued by the governor on 22 January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of this Act. 23 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 24 read: 25 REPORTS. Beginning March 1, 2021, the office of management and budget shall 26 electronically submit, on the first day of the month, a report to the legislative finance division 27 that lists the total expenditures incurred by the state in its response to the public health 28 disaster emergency, including mitigating, preventing, and controlling novel coronavirus 29 disease (COVID-19). The report should include cumulative expenses incurred by category, 30 beginning March 11, 2020, and the date the governor issued the initial declaration of a public 31 health disaster emergency and should reflect changes over the last monthly reporting period.
01 The office of management and budget shall submit a final report not later than May 15, 2021, 02 or 60 days after the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the public 03 health disaster emergency no longer exists, whichever is earlier. 04 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 05 read: 06 PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING. (a) Notwithstanding any 07 other provision of law, during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health 08 disaster emergency declared by the governor on January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of 09 this Act, a professional or occupational licensing board listed in AS 08.01.010, or the director, 10 with respect to a profession regulated by the Department of Commerce, Community, and 11 Economic Development, 12 (1) may not increase licensing fees; and 13 (2) may grant a license, permit, or certificate on an expedited basis to an 14 individual who holds a corresponding license, permit, or certificate in good standing in 15 another jurisdiction to the extent necessary to respond to the public health disaster emergency; 16 a license expedited under this section expires on the earlier of 17 (A) March 15, 2021; or 18 (B) the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the 19 public health disaster emergency no longer exists. 20 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and to the extent necessary to respond 21 to the public health disaster emergency, a board listed in AS 08.01.010, the commissioner of 22 commerce, community, and economic development, or the director, as applicable, may take 23 additional action necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare, including 24 (1) temporarily waiving or modifying the continuing education requirements 25 required for licensees to renew a professional license, permit, or certificate in calendar year 26 2021; 27 (2) regulating the scope and duration of any license, permit, or certificate 28 issued under this section; 29 (3) requiring any individual granted a license, permit, or certificate under this 30 section to arrange and agree to supervision, in person or by other means, by an individual who 31 holds a license, permit, or certificate in good standing for the applicable profession or by an
01 administrator of a facility licensed under AS 47.32. 02 (c) An individual seeking or holding an expedited license, permit, or certificate under 03 this section who travels to the state from outside the state must comply with travel restrictions 04 ordered or guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 05 United States Department of Health and Human Services, that are in effect at the time the 06 individual arrives in the state. 07 (d) In this section, "director" means the director of the division in the Department of 08 Commerce, Community, and Economic Development responsible for business and 09 professional licensing. 10 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 11 read: 12 TELEMEDICINE AND TELEHEALTH. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of 13 law, during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health disaster emergency 14 declared by the governor under AS 26.23.020 on January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of 15 this Act, the provisions of AS 08.64.170 and AS 08.68.160 do not apply to a health care 16 provider who is providing treatment, rendering a diagnosis, or prescribing, dispensing, or 17 administering a prescription, excluding a controlled substance listed under AS 11.71.140 - 18 11.71.190, through telehealth as defined in AS 47.05.270(e), without first conducting an in- 19 person physical examination, if 20 (1) the health care provider is licensed, permitted, or certified to provide 21 health care services in another jurisdiction and is in good standing in the jurisdiction that 22 issued the license, permit, or certification; 23 (2) the health care services provided without an in-person physical 24 examination are within the provider's authorized scope of practice in the jurisdiction that 25 issued the provider's license, permit, or certification; 26 (3) in the event that the health care provider determines that the encounter will 27 extend beyond the scope of practice or scope of services described in this section, the health 28 care provider advises the patient that the health care provider is not authorized to provide the 29 services to the patient, recommends that the patient contact a health care provider licensed in 30 the state, and terminates the encounter. 31 (b) The amount charged by a health care provider for services provided under this
01 section must be reasonable and consistent with the ordinary fees typically charged for that 02 service and may not be more than five percent above the ordinary fees typically charged for 03 that service. A health care provider who is required to terminate an encounter under (a)(3) of 04 this section may not charge for any services provided during the encounter. 05 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the COVID-19 public health 06 disaster emergency, the commissioner of health and social services may waive any state law 07 or regulation if compliance would substantially prevent or impede the provision of health care 08 services under this section. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to abrogate authority 09 granted to the commissioner of health and social services under AS 18.15.390. 10 (d) In this section, "health care provider" has the meaning given in AS 18.15.395. 11 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 12 read: 13 FINGERPRINTING. For the duration of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) 14 public health disaster emergency declaration issued by the governor on January 15, 2021, as 15 extended by sec. 2 of this Act, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic 16 Development shall coordinate with the Department of Health and Social Services and the 17 Department of Public Safety to expedite the process for applicants under AS 08.29, AS 08.36, 18 AS 08.64, AS 08.68, AS 08.71, AS 08.72, AS 08.80, AS 08.84, and AS 08.86 to submit 19 fingerprints. 20 * Sec. 8. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 21 read: 22 MEETINGS OF SHAREHOLDERS; NOTICE OF SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS; 23 CORPORATIONS. (a) Notwithstanding AS 10.06.405, a meeting of shareholders may be 24 held by electronic communication to the extent the corporation's board authorizes and adopts 25 guidelines to govern an electronic meeting. 26 (b) Notwithstanding AS 10.06.410, a corporation that has distributed or is planning to 27 distribute, on the effective date of this Act, a proxy statement and notice of annual meeting to 28 its shareholders may renotice or notice the annual meeting so that the annual meeting may be 29 held by electronic communication authorized under (a) of this section. 30 (c) Notwithstanding AS 10.20.061 - 10.20.076, a meeting of the members of a 31 nonprofit corporation organized under AS 10.20, including meeting notice and determination
01 of a quorum, may be held by telecommunication to the extent the corporation's board adopts 02 or amends bylaws to allow for an electronic meeting. 03 (d) Notwithstanding (a) - (c) of this section and a provision of AS 10.06 or AS 10.20 04 to the contrary, a meeting, including the notice of the meeting and determination of a quorum, 05 of the shareholders of a Native corporation organized under AS 10.06 or the members of a 06 Native corporation organized under AS 10.20 may be held by electronic communication or 07 telecommunication to the extent the corporation's board of directors authorizes holding 08 meetings by electronic communication or telecommunication and adopts guidelines to govern 09 a meeting held by electronic communication or telecommunication. In this subsection, 10 "Native corporation" means a corporation organized under 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. (Alaska 11 Native Claims Settlement Act). 12 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 13 read: 14 DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE; CHARITABLE GAMING ONLINE TICKET 15 SALES. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the duration of the novel 16 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health disaster emergency declared by the governor 17 under AS 26.23.020 on January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of this Act, the Department of 18 Revenue may permit online charitable gaming ticket sales specified in (b) of this section to 19 benefit charities in the state. 20 (b) Notwithstanding AS 05.15.640, a permittee, operator, or multiple-beneficiary 21 permittee may sell tickets online for a raffle or lottery, dog mushers' contest, derby, or type of 22 classic defined in AS 05.15.690. A permittee may draw winning tickets online. 23 (c) A ticket seller may not sell a ticket online unless and until the seller verifies that, 24 at the time of sale, the purchaser is 25 (1) of legal purchasing age; 26 (2) physically present in the state; and 27 (3) not physically present within an option area where charitable gaming is 28 prohibited. 29 (d) The Department of Revenue shall establish standards for online ticket sales to 30 ensure compliance with charitable gaming laws, including 31 (1) age and location verification requirements reasonably designed to block
01 online ticket sales to a person who is 02 (A) located outside the state; or 03 (B) not of legal purchasing age; and 04 (2) appropriate data security standards to prevent unauthorized online ticket 05 sales to a person whose age and current location has not been verified. 06 * Sec. 10. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 07 read: 08 INFORMED CONSENT FOR COVID-19 VACCINES. A health care provider may 09 not administer a COVID-19 vaccine to an individual without first obtaining the informed 10 consent of the individual or, if the individual is a minor child, of a parent or guardian of the 11 minor child. 12 * Sec. 11. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 13 read: 14 PERSONAL OBJECTIONS TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF COVID-19 15 VACCINES. An individual may object to the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine based 16 on religious, medical, or other grounds. A parent or guardian of a minor child may object to 17 the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine to the minor child based on religious, medical, or 18 other grounds. A person may not require an individual to provide justification or 19 documentation to support the individual's decision to decline a COVID-19 vaccine or to 20 decline a COVID-19 vaccine for a minor child. 21 * Sec. 12. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 22 read: 23 CIVIL LIABILITY. A person may not be held liable for an action taken on or after 24 February 14, 2021, and before the effective date of this Act that complies with or does not 25 comply with an order, proclamation, or declaration adopted by the governor to respond to the 26 declaration of a public health disaster emergency as extended by sec. 2 of this Act. 27 * Sec. 13. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska enacted in sec. 37, ch. 10, SLA 2020, is 28 amended to read: 29 Sec. 37. Sections [25, 26, 28,] 29 [,] and 31 of this Act are repealed March 11, 30 2021. 31 * Sec. 14. Sections 25, 26, and 28, ch. 10, SLA 2020, are repealed on the earlier of
01 (1) March 15, 2021; or 02 (2) the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the 03 public health disaster emergency declared by the governor under AS 26.23.020 on 04 January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of this Act, no longer exists. 05 * Sec. 15. Sections 1 - 3 and 5 - 12 of this Act are repealed on the earlier of 06 (1) March 15, 2021; or 07 (2) the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the public 08 health disaster emergency declared by the governor under AS 26.23.020 on January 15, 2021, 09 as extended by sec. 2 of this Act, no longer exists. 10 * Sec. 16. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 11 read: 12 RETROACTIVITY. If this Act takes effect after February 14, 2021, this Act is 13 retroactive to February 14, 2021. 14 * Sec. 17. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).