00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 75(STA) 01 "An Act relating to national criminal history record checks for certain employees of the 02 Department of Revenue; relating to allowable absences for eligibility for a permanent 03 fund dividend; relating to electronic notice of debt collection executed on a permanent 04 fund dividend; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 12.62.400(c) is amended to read: 07 (c) To obtain a national criminal history record check for determining a 08 current or prospective employee's qualifications under AS 39.90.210, a current or 09 prospective employee's qualifications and suitability to administer the permanent 10 fund dividend program under AS 43.23, or a contractor's qualifications under 11 AS 36.30.960, the agency or the procurement officer shall submit the current or 12 prospective employee's or contractor's fingerprints to the department with the fee 13 established by AS 12.62.160. The department shall submit the fingerprints to the 14 Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain a national criminal history record check of 01 the current or prospective employee or contractor for the purpose of evaluating a 02 person's qualifications under AS 36.30.960, [AND] AS 39.90.210, or AS 43.23, as 03 applicable. In this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires, 04 (1) "agency" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290; 05 (2) "contractor" has the meaning given in AS 36.30.960; 06 (3) "employee" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 43.23.008(a) is amended to read: 08 (a) Subject to (b) and (d) of this section, an otherwise eligible individual who 09 is absent from the state during the qualifying year remains eligible for a current year 10 permanent fund dividend if the individual was absent 11 (1) receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time 12 basis; on a break or holiday from a secondary or postsecondary educational 13 institution during an academic year, not including summer break, if the 14 individual is enrolled in and attends the educational institution on a full-time 15 basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation program 16 required as a condition of the secondary or postsecondary education and the 17 individual immediately begins the education on a full-time basis after the 18 completion of the orientation; 19 (2) receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a 20 full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 21 Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state; on a break 22 or holiday from the vocational, professional, or other specific training, not 23 including summer break, if the individual is enrolled in and attends the training 24 on a full-time basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation 25 program required as a condition of the vocational, professional, or other specific 26 training and the individual immediately begins the training on a full-time basis 27 after the completion of the orientation; 28 (3) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed services 29 [ARMED FORCES] of the United States or accompanying, as that individual's 30 spouse, minor dependent, or disabled dependent, an individual who is 31 (A) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed 01 services [ARMED FORCES] of the United States; and 02 (B) eligible for a current year dividend; 03 (4) serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an 04 oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine or attending a vocational 05 program that 06 (A) trains students for a career in the United States 07 merchant marine; 08 (B) provides seagoing service that meets the requirements 09 of the United States Coast Guard for United States merchant marine 10 credentialing; and 11 (C) is approved by the United States Coast Guard; 12 (5) receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a 13 licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician who treated the 14 illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change; 15 (6) providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with 16 a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the 17 attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical 18 specialty complex; 19 (7) providing care for the individual's terminally ill family member; 20 (8) settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse, 21 sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days; 22 (9) serving as a member of the United States Congress; 23 (10) serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United 24 States Congress; 25 (11) serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other 26 location; 27 (12) accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection; 28 (13) accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason 29 permitted under (1), (2), (5) - (12), (16), or (17) of this subsection as the spouse, minor 30 dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident; 31 (14) serving as a volunteer in the federal peace corps program; 01 (15) because of training or competing as a member of the United States 02 Olympic Team or a United States national team for an Olympic sport; 03 (16) participating for educational purposes in a student fellowship 04 sponsored by the United States Department of Education or by the United States 05 Department of State; 06 (17) for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a 07 state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed 08 (A) 180 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 09 claimed 10 (i) under (3) of this subsection if the individual is not 11 claiming an absence under (1), (2), or (4) - (16) of this subsection; or 12 (ii) under (5) of this subsection if the individual is 13 not claiming an absence under (1) - (4) or (6) - (16) of this 14 subsection; 15 (B) 120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 16 claimed under (1) - (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an 17 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection but is claiming an absence under (1) 18 or (2) of this subsection; or 19 (C) 45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 20 claimed under (1) - (16) of this subsection if the individual is claiming an 21 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection. 22 * Sec. 3. AS 43.23.008(f) is amended to read: 23 (f) In [FOR PURPOSES OF (a)(7) OF] this section, 24 (1) "family member" means a person who is 25 (A) [(1)] legally related to the individual through marriage or 26 guardianship; or 27 (B) [(2)] the individual's sibling, parent, grandparent, son, 28 daughter, grandson, granddaughter, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or first cousin; 29 (2) "uniformed service" means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 30 Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, and the Commissioned Corps of the National 31 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Public Health Services. 01 * Sec. 4. AS 43.23.055 is amended to read: 02 Sec. 43.23.055. Duties of the department. The department shall 03 (1) annually pay permanent fund dividends from the dividend fund; 04 (2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations 05 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time 06 limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the 07 number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is 08 declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year; 09 (3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 10 that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon 11 reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority 12 because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on 13 behalf of the individual; 14 (4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because 15 of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to 16 establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends; 17 (5) use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under 18 AS 43.23.005(d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the 19 Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those 20 individuals; 21 (6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005(d) 22 and 43.23.048; 23 (7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian, 24 or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year 25 permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no 26 application was submitted on behalf of the individual; 27 (8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to 28 apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050(a)(2) reissued if it is not 29 collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may 30 not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued 31 must be filed; 01 (9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent 02 fund dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or 03 the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes 04 authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the 05 department shall provide the requesting agency with either 06 (A) access to the data base; or 07 (B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement 08 certifying its contents; 09 (10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the 10 (A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who 11 apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in 12 AS 11, by detecting and investigating those crimes; and 13 (B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or 14 paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or 15 paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions 16 under AS 43.23.270; 17 (11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 18 so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under 19 AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an 20 applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is 21 entitled to receive; 22 (12) submit fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public 23 Safety for a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 for the 24 purpose of determining a person's qualifications and suitability for administering 25 the permanent fund dividend program under this chapter. 26 * Sec. 5. AS 43.23.140(d) is amended to read: 27 (d) An assignment of or levy, execution, garnishment, attachment, or other 28 remedy for the collection of debt applied to a dividend for a year may not be accepted 29 by the department before April 1 of that same year. AS 09.38.080(c) and 09.38.085 do 30 not apply to a levy on a permanent fund dividend. Upon receipt of a writ of execution 31 under (a) of this section or another court order, the commissioner shall deliver to the 01 court that portion of the dividend executed on [UPON] along with the case name and 02 number. At the time payment is made to the court, the department shall send notice to 03 the court that issued the writ or order and to the individual at the address provided 04 in the individual's dividend application or the electronic mail address at which the 05 individual has consented to receive notices or documents in a verifiable manner, 06 as provided in regulations adopted by the department. The [AND TO THE 07 COURT THAT ISSUED THE WRIT OR ORDER A] notice must contain [THAT 08 CONTAINS] 09 (1) notification that all or part of the individual's dividend has been 10 seized under a writ of execution or court order; 11 (2) the name and address of the court that issued the writ or order; 12 (3) the case number for which the writ or order was issued; 13 (4) the amount seized under the writ or order; and 14 (5) notification that the individual has 30 days from the date the notice 15 is mailed in which to file with the court an objection to the seizure if a mistake has 16 been made. 17 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026.