SB 217: "An Act establishing state land vouchers; relating to restricted land sales for veterans; relating to the veterans' land purchase discount; relating to the permanent fund dividend; relating to the duties of the Department of Revenue; authorizing the Department of Natural Resources to accept state land vouchers; relating to eligibility for public assistance; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 217 01 "An Act establishing state land vouchers; relating to restricted land sales for veterans; 02 relating to the veterans' land purchase discount; relating to the permanent fund 03 dividend; relating to the duties of the Department of Revenue; authorizing the 04 Department of Natural Resources to accept state land vouchers; relating to eligibility for 05 public assistance; and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 38.05.940(c) is amended to read: 08 (c) A veteran is entitled to only one discount under this section during the 09 veteran's lifetime. A veteran may apply one or more state land vouchers issued 10 under AS 43.23.018 to the one-time purchase of land using the discount under 11 this section. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.940(d) is amended to read: 13 (d) A discount under this section may be applied only to the acquisition of
01 surface rights to state land. A discount under this section may not be applied to survey 02 costs, road development costs, utility assessments, or other costs that the 03 commissioner determines are reimbursable to the state. A state land voucher issued 04 under AS 43.23.018 that is applied to a discounted purchase under this section 05 may be applied only to the acquisition of surface rights to state land and may not 06 be applied to costs ineligible for a discount under this section. 07 * Sec. 3. AS 38.95 is amended by adding new sections to read: 08 Article 8. State Land Vouchers. 09 Sec. 38.95.350. Accepting state land vouchers. The department shall accept 10 one or more state land vouchers issued under AS 43.23.018 as payment for purchases 11 of land sold under land sales contracts under AS 38.05.065, 38.05.067, and 38.05.940 12 entered into on or after January 1, 2021. The department may not accept state land 13 vouchers as payment for any rents, fees, or purchases of state land other than as 14 provided in this section. A state land voucher accepted for payment is exhausted 15 regardless of whether the purchase price of the land sold is less than the face value of 16 the voucher. A purchaser is not entitled to any refund or other credit when a state land 17 voucher is accepted for payment. Regardless of the price paid by a transferee of a state 18 land voucher to the transferor, the department shall accept the face value of the 19 voucher as payment. 20 Sec. 38.95.360. Report on state land vouchers. Before September 1 of each 21 year, the department shall report to the governor the number and value of state land 22 vouchers accepted for payment during the previous fiscal year. The department shall 23 include in the report a recommendation on whether any additional appropriation to the 24 state land disposal income fund under AS 38.04.022 is needed to account for the 25 decrease in deposits to the fund because of the acceptance of state land vouchers. 26 * Sec. 4. AS 43.23 is amended by adding a new section to read: 27 Sec. 43.23.018. Election of state land voucher instead of a monetary 28 dividend. (a) The Department of Revenue shall prepare the electronic Alaska 29 permanent fund dividend application to allow an applicant who files electronically to 30 elect to receive a single state land voucher instead of a monetary dividend. If the 31 commissioner of revenue is unable to determine an applicant's eligibility to receive a
01 permanent fund dividend under AS 43.23.015(a) during the dividend year, an election 02 to receive a state land voucher is void. An election to receive a state land voucher is 03 irrevocable. This election may not be made by any person or public agency submitting 04 an application on behalf of another individual. An assignee of the right to receive a 05 permanent fund dividend is ineligible to elect to receive a state land voucher. 06 (b) Notwithstanding the amount appropriated for the permanent fund dividend 07 in a fiscal year, each state land voucher shall have a value that is twice that of the 08 permanent fund dividend as would be calculated under AS 43.23.025 for that fiscal 09 year if 50 percent of the income available for distribution were transferred to the 10 dividend fund under AS 37.13.145(b). 11 (c) A state land voucher may be accepted as payment for the purchase of land 12 only as provided under AS 38.95.350. 13 (d) A state land voucher issued under this section does not expire. 14 (e) A state land voucher may be transferred to any person. Unless otherwise 15 provided by law or contract, a state land voucher may be transferred in the same 16 manner as other intangible property. The department may not approve or deny any 17 transfer. The department may not keep records of any transfers. An action may not be 18 brought against the state related to the transfer of a state land voucher. 19 (f) The issuance of a state land voucher by the department does not require the 20 Department of Natural Resources to enter into any land sale contract or make any land 21 available for purchase. The issuance of a state land voucher by the department is not a 22 statement as to the eligibility of any person to purchase land from the Department of 23 Natural Resources. 24 (g) The portion of a state land voucher subject to levy, execution, 25 garnishment, attachment, or any other remedy for the collection of debt shall be 26 determined under AS 43.23.140(e). The department shall issue a state land voucher for 27 the value remaining after collection. 28 * Sec. 5. AS 43.23.045 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 29 (f) Any amount remaining as a result of individual elections to receive a state 30 land voucher instead of a monetary dividend, after the application of AS 43.23.140, 31 lapses into the general fund.
01 * Sec. 6. 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 and 04 issue state land vouchers as applicable under AS 43.23.018; 05 (2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations 06 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time 07 limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the 08 number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is 09 declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year; 10 (3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 11 that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon 12 reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority 13 because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on 14 behalf of the individual; 15 (4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because 16 of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to 17 establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends; 18 (5) use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under 19 AS 43.23.005(d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the 20 Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those 21 individuals; 22 (6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005(d) 23 and 43.23.048; 24 (7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian, 25 or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year 26 permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no 27 application was submitted on behalf of the individual; 28 (8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to 29 apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050(a)(2) reissued if it is not 30 collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may 31 not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued
01 must be filed; 02 (9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent fund 03 dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or the 04 child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes 05 authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the 06 department shall provide the requesting agency with either 07 (A) access to the data base; or 08 (B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement 09 certifying its contents; 10 (10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the 11 (A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who 12 apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in 13 AS 11, by detecting and investigating those crimes; and 14 (B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or 15 paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or 16 paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions 17 under AS 43.23.270; 18 (11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 19 so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under 20 AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an 21 applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is 22 entitled to receive; 23 (12) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure 24 Act) that establish procedures and time limits for claiming a state land voucher; 25 (13) report to the Department of Natural Resources 26 (A) the number of individuals electing to receive a state land 27 voucher; and 28 (B) the number and value of state land vouchers issued. 29 * Sec. 7. AS 43.23.140(a) is amended to read: 30 (a) Except as provided in (b) and (e) of this section, 20 percent of the annual 31 permanent fund dividend payable to an individual is exempt from levy, execution,
01 garnishment, attachment, or any other remedy for the collection of debt. No other 02 exemption applies to a dividend. Notwithstanding other laws, a writ of execution upon 03 a dividend that has not been delivered to the debtor may be served on the 04 commissioner by 05 (1) certified mail, return receipt requested; or 06 (2) a civilian process server licensed by the commissioner of public 07 safety using electronic execution procedures, as provided under regulations adopted by 08 the department. 09 * Sec. 8. AS 43.23.140 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 10 (e) Notwithstanding (a) and (b) of this section, if a person elects to receive a 11 state land voucher instead of a monetary dividend, the value of the voucher may only 12 be levied, executed upon, garnished, attached, or otherwise collected as a remedy for 13 debt up to the amount available for garnishment from a monetary dividend. The 14 amount to be collected under this section shall be paid by the department, before a 15 voucher is issued, from the value determined for the individual's dividend payment 16 under AS 43.23.025. 17 * Sec. 9. AS 43.23.240 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 18 (d) In determining the eligibility of an individual under a public assistance 19 program administered by the Department of Health and Social Services in which 20 eligibility for assistance is based on financial need, the Department of Health and 21 Social Services shall consider a state land voucher issued under AS 43.23.018 as 22 income or resources received by the recipient of public assistance or by a member of 23 the recipient's household. The Department of Health and Social Services shall notify 24 all recipients of public assistance of the effects of receiving a state land voucher. 25 * Sec. 10. AS 43.23.250 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 26 (b) A program administered by the state, an instrumentality of the state, or a 27 municipality for which eligibility is based on financial need shall consider a state land 28 voucher issued under AS 43.23.018 as income or resources. 29 * Sec. 11. AS 43.23.270 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 30 (f) The provisions of this section regarding payment of permanent fund 31 dividends apply to state land vouchers issued unless context otherwise requires.