00SENATE BILL NO. 223                                                                                                   
01 "An Act lowering the age requirement from 60 years to 55 years for purposes                                             
02 of senior housing programs; and repealing a provision relating to the interest rate                                     
03 on senior housing loans made by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation."                                                
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05    * Section 1.  FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.  (a)  The legislature finds that                                               
06   (1)  it is necessary to ensure that decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing                                    
07 is available in the state for seniors;                                                                                  
08   (2)  senior housing should be made available to as many people as possible; and                                       
09   (3)  federal law accommodates certain types of senior housing for people 55                                           
10 years of age or older under 42 U.S.C. 3607(b) (Fair Housing Act).                                                       
11  (b)  It is the purpose of this Act to standardize state and federal senior housing age                                 
12 requirements.                                                                                                           
13    * Sec. 2.  AS 18.56.799(2) is amended to read:                                                                     
14   (2)  "senior housing"                                                                                                

01   (A)  means construction or improvement undertaken primarily                                                         
02 to provide dwelling accommodations for persons  55  [60] years of age or older,                                       
03 including conventional housing, housing for frail elderly, group homes,                                                 
04 congregate housing, residential horizontal property regimes organized under                                             
05 AS 34.07, residential cooperatives organized under AS 10.15 or AS 34.08,                                                
06 residential condominiums organized under AS 34.08, and other housing that                                               
07 meets special needs of the elderly;                                                                                     
08   (B)  includes acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of land,                                                 
09 buildings, improvements, and other nonhousing facilities that are incidental or                                         
10 appurtenant to the housing described in (A) of this paragraph.                                                          
11    * Sec. 3.  AS 18.56.800 is amended to read:                                                                        
12  Sec. 18.56.800.  Declaration of purpose.  There exists in the state a serious                                       
13 shortage of decent, safe ,  and sanitary residential housing available at low or moderate                             
14 prices or rentals to persons  55  [60] years of age or older.  There also exists in the state                         
15 organizations whose purposes are to provide the kinds of housing needed to alleviate                                    
16 this shortage.  Development work to provide such housing involves substantial expense                                   
17 that is often beyond the resources of the organizations.                                                                
18    * Sec. 4.  AS 18.56.720 is repealed.