CSHB 76(FIN): "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; approving and ratifying declarations of a public health disaster emergency; 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; meetings of shareholders; and school operating funds; relating to informed consent for COVID-19 vaccines; relating to personal objections to the administration of COVID-19 vaccines; providing immunity from liability and disciplinary action for occupational licensees for exposure of clients to COVID-19; providing immunity from liability for persons engaging in business and their employees for exposure of customers to COVID-19; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 76(FIN) 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 approving and ratifying declarations of a public health disaster emergency; providing 04 for a financing plan; making temporary changes to state law in response to the COVID- 05 19 outbreak in the following areas: occupational and professional licensing, practice, 06 and billing; telehealth; fingerprinting requirements for health care providers; charitable 07 gaming and online ticket sales; access to federal stabilization funds; wills; unfair or 08 deceptive trade practices; meetings of shareholders; and school operating funds; 09 relating to informed consent for COVID-19 vaccines; relating to personal objections to 10 the administration of COVID-19 vaccines; providing immunity from liability and 11 disciplinary action for occupational licensees for exposure of clients to COVID-19; 12 providing immunity from liability for persons engaging in business and their employees
01 for exposure of customers to COVID-19; and providing for an effective date." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that 06 (1) on March 11, 2020, the governor issued a declaration of a public health 07 disaster emergency under AS 26.23.020 in anticipation of the spread of COVID-19 to the 08 state and has since issued multiple new disaster declarations for the COVID-19 outbreak; 09 (2) since the initial outbreak through the present day, the outbreak of COVID- 10 19 has resulted in serious consequences for residents of the state and the state's economy; 11 (3) many communities in the state, including the state's largest city of 12 Anchorage and the capital city of Juneau, have seen fit to impose lockdown or hunker-down 13 orders, which have severely reduced economic activity in those communities; 14 (4) lockdown orders and other pandemic-related factors have forced numerous 15 state businesses to close their doors and lay off employees or reduce service levels and 16 employee hours far below what would otherwise have been provided, to the detriment of both 17 those businesses and their hard-working employees; 18 (5) interstate and intrastate travel restrictions of varying levels of 19 restrictiveness, while intended to contain the spread of COVID-19, have resulted in further 20 reduction of economic activities in the state; 21 (6) the state has established and facilitated multiple programs to provide 22 economic assistance to struggling state residents and businesses, but the programs, while 23 providing much-needed relief, generally fall short of fully replacing regular levels of 24 voluntary economic activity; 25 (7) as a result of voluntary and government-imposed reductions of economic 26 activity, 27 (A) the state lost 29,000 jobs between October 2019 and October 2020; 28 (B) many businesses in the state have temporarily or permanently 29 closed; 30 (C) at least 45,000 students in the Anchorage School District have
01 been denied in-person education for a significant period during the pandemic; 02 (8) the shift from in-person learning to distance learning has negatively 03 affected students in the state in terms of the students' learning progression and emotional and 04 social development; 05 (9) the shift from in-person learning to distance learning has been associated 06 with increased instances of child abuse and food insecurity; 07 (10) multiple vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed and are currently 08 being distributed, allowing the state to move into a new phase of its COVID-19 recovery 09 efforts; 10 (11) due in part to the state's robust COVID-19 response efforts, the state 11 currently has the third-lowest COVID-19 fatality rate in the United States; and 12 (12) because of the diligent efforts of the state, Alaska has the highest 13 vaccination rate of all 50 states. 14 (b) Based on the findings in (a) of this section, the legislature finds that it is in the 15 best interest of the state to 16 (1) take appropriate steps to continue to contain the spread of COVID-19 and 17 to distribute COVID-19 vaccines statewide with the utmost diligence and dispatch; 18 (2) take appropriate steps to limit further harm to the state's economy, to 19 enable displaced workers in the state to return to work, and to allow students in the state to 20 rejoin in-person classes with their peers; and 21 (3) extend the public health disaster emergency declaration issued by the 22 governor on January 15, 2021, and all the powers granted under AS 18.15.390 and 23 AS 26.23.020, to September 30, 2021. 24 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 25 read: 26 PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER EMERGENCY; APPROVAL, RATIFICATION, 27 AND EXTENSION OF DISASTER EMERGENCY. (a) The declarations of a public health 28 disaster emergency issued by the governor on November 15, 2020, December 15, 2020, and 29 January 15, 2021, are approved and ratified. 30 (b) Under AS 26.23.020(c), the Alaska State Legislature extends to September 30, 31 2021, the declaration of a public health disaster emergency issued by the governor on
01 January 15, 2021. The extension under this subsection includes an order, proclamation, or 02 regulation issued under AS 26.23.020 and an action taken by the Department of Health and 03 Social Services under the authority granted to the Department of Health and Social Services 04 under AS 18.15.390. 05 (c) Notwithstanding (b) of this section, if the commissioner of health and social 06 services certifies to the governor that there is no longer a present outbreak of novel 07 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or a credible threat of an imminent outbreak of COVID-19, 08 the governor shall issue a proclamation that the public health disaster emergency identified in 09 the declaration issued by the governor on January 15, 2021, no longer exists as of a date 10 determined by the governor. The certification must be based on specific information received 11 from a state or federal agency or another source that the commissioner determines to be 12 reliable. 13 (d) The governor shall submit a proclamation issued under (c) of this section to the 14 revisor of statutes, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and 15 the lieutenant governor. 16 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 17 read: 18 PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER EMERGENCY; FINANCING PLAN. (a) Under 19 AS 26.23.020(k), the Alaska State Legislature approves this financing plan for the declaration 20 of a public health disaster emergency issued by the governor on January 15, 2021, as extended 21 by sec. 2 of this Act, and provides that the following appropriations and authorizations may be 22 used to cope with the public health disaster emergency: 23 (1) the appropriations made in sec. 8, ch. 2, SLA 2020; 24 (2) the appropriations made in sec. 10, ch. 7, SLA 2020; 25 (3) the authorization made in sec. 1, ch. 8, SLA 2020, Department of Health 26 and Social Services, allowing for up to $20,000,000 in transfers between all appropriations 27 made in the Department of Health and Social Services, except for transfers from the Medicaid 28 services appropriation; 29 (4) the appropriations made in sec. 28, ch. 8, SLA 2020, Department of Health 30 and Social Services, 31 (A) of federal receipts received during the fiscal year ending June 30,
01 2021, for Medicaid services; and 02 (B) to the Department of Health and Social Services public health 03 emergency response for the purpose of responding to the novel coronavirus disease 04 (COVID-19) public health disaster emergency; 05 (5) the appropriation made in sec. 38, ch. 8, SLA 2020, to the disaster relief 06 fund under AS 26.23.300(a); 07 (6) the appropriation made in sec. 37(a), ch. 8, SLA 2020, of excess federal 08 receipts received during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021; 09 (7) the authorization made in ch. 32, SLA 2020, for expenditure of federal 10 CARES Act receipts; 11 (8) federal receipts received by any state agency for purposes of mitigating the 12 public health disaster emergency subject to use of the process prescribed in 13 AS 26.23.020(k)(2) if the legislature is not in session and, if the legislature is in session, 14 subject to a request to include the federal receipts in an existing appropriation bill; 15 (9) any future appropriations made for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2021, 16 and June 30, 2022, for the cost of responding to and mitigating the risk of the coronavirus 17 disease (COVID-19) outbreak. 18 (b) The governor may not expend more than a cumulative total of $10,000,000 of 19 state funds from the disaster relief fund under AS 26.23.020(h) - (k) or 26.23.300(b) in 20 response to the declaration of a public health disaster emergency issued by the governor on 21 January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of this Act. 22 (c) Notwithstanding AS 26.23.050(b), the expenditure of state funds to cope with the 23 effects of the declaration of a public health disaster emergency issued by the governor on 24 January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of this Act, is limited to the appropriations and 25 expenditure authority identified in (a) and (b) of this section. 26 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 27 read: 28 REPORTS. Beginning March 1, 2021, the office of management and budget shall 29 electronically submit, on the first day of the month, a report to the legislative finance division 30 that lists the total expenditures incurred by the state in its response to the public health 31 disaster emergency, including mitigating, preventing, and controlling novel coronavirus
01 disease (COVID-19). The report should include cumulative expenses incurred by category, 02 beginning March 11, 2020, and the date the governor issued the initial declaration of a public 03 health disaster emergency and should reflect changes over the last monthly reporting period. 04 The office of management and budget shall submit a final report not later than November 30, 05 2021, or 60 days after the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the 06 public health disaster emergency no longer exists, whichever is earlier. 07 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 08 read: 09 PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING. (a) Notwithstanding any 10 other provision of law, during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health 11 disaster emergency declared by the governor on January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of 12 this Act, a professional or occupational licensing board listed in AS 08.01.010, or the director, 13 with respect to a profession regulated by the Department of Commerce, Community, and 14 Economic Development, 15 (1) may not increase licensing fees; and 16 (2) may grant a license, permit, or certificate on an expedited basis to an 17 individual who holds a corresponding license, permit, or certificate in good standing in 18 another jurisdiction to the extent necessary to respond to the public health disaster emergency; 19 a license expedited under this section expires on the earlier of 20 (A) September 30, 2021; or 21 (B) the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the 22 public health disaster emergency no longer exists. 23 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and to the extent necessary to respond 24 to the public health disaster emergency, a board listed in AS 08.01.010, the commissioner of 25 commerce, community, and economic development, or the director, as applicable, may take 26 additional action necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare, including 27 (1) temporarily waiving or modifying the continuing education requirements 28 required for licensees to renew a professional license, permit, or certificate in calendar year 29 2021; 30 (2) regulating the scope and duration of any license, permit, or certificate 31 issued under this section;
01 (3) requiring any individual granted a license, permit, or certificate under this 02 section to arrange and agree to supervision, in person or by other means, by an individual who 03 holds a license, permit, or certificate in good standing for the applicable profession or by an 04 administrator of a facility licensed under AS 47.32. 05 (c) An individual seeking or holding an expedited license, permit, or certificate under 06 this section who travels to the state from outside the state must comply with travel restrictions 07 ordered or guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 08 United States Department of Health and Human Services, that are in effect at the time the 09 individual arrives in the state. 10 (d) In this section, "director" means the director of the division in the Department of 11 Commerce, Community, and Economic Development responsible for business and 12 professional licensing. 13 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 14 read: 15 TELEMEDICINE AND TELEHEALTH. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of 16 law, during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health disaster emergency 17 declared by the governor under AS 26.23.020 on January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of 18 this Act, the provisions of AS 08.64.170 and AS 08.68.160 do not apply to a health care 19 provider who is providing treatment, rendering a diagnosis, or prescribing, dispensing, or 20 administering a prescription, excluding a controlled substance listed under AS 11.71.140 - 21 11.71.190, through telehealth as defined in AS 47.05.270(e), without first conducting an in- 22 person physical examination, if 23 (1) the health care provider is licensed, permitted, or certified to provide 24 health care services in another jurisdiction and is in good standing in the jurisdiction that 25 issued the license, permit, or certification; 26 (2) the health care services provided without an in-person physical 27 examination are within the provider's authorized scope of practice in the jurisdiction that 28 issued the provider's license, permit, or certification; 29 (3) in the event that the health care provider determines that the encounter will 30 extend beyond the scope of practice or scope of services described in this section, the health 31 care provider advises the patient that the health care provider is not authorized to provide the
01 services to the patient, recommends that the patient contact a health care provider licensed in 02 the state, and terminates the encounter. 03 (b) The amount charged by a health care provider for services provided under this 04 section must be reasonable and consistent with the ordinary fees typically charged for that 05 service and may not be more than five percent above the ordinary fees typically charged for 06 that service. A health care provider who is required to terminate an encounter under (a)(3) of 07 this section may not charge for any services provided during the encounter. 08 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the COVID-19 public health 09 disaster emergency, the commissioner of health and social services may waive any state law 10 or regulation if compliance would substantially prevent or impede the provision of health care 11 services under this section. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to abrogate authority 12 granted to the commissioner of health and social services under AS 18.15.390. 13 (d) In this section, "health care provider" has the meaning given in AS 18.15.395. 14 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 15 read: 16 FINGERPRINTING. For the duration of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) 17 public health disaster emergency declaration issued by the governor on January 15, 2021, as 18 extended by sec. 2 of this Act, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic 19 Development shall coordinate with the Department of Health and Social Services and the 20 Department of Public Safety to expedite the process for applicants under AS 08.29, AS 08.36, 21 AS 08.64, AS 08.68, AS 08.71, AS 08.72, AS 08.80, AS 08.84, and AS 08.86 to submit 22 fingerprints. 23 * Sec. 8. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 24 read: 25 MEETINGS OF SHAREHOLDERS; NOTICE OF SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS; 26 CORPORATIONS. (a) Notwithstanding AS 10.06.405, a meeting of shareholders may be 27 held by electronic communication to the extent the corporation's board authorizes and adopts 28 guidelines to govern an electronic meeting. 29 (b) Notwithstanding AS 10.06.410, a corporation that has distributed or is planning to 30 distribute, on the effective date of this Act, a proxy statement and notice of annual meeting to 31 its shareholders may renotice or notice the annual meeting so that the annual meeting may be
01 held by electronic communication authorized under (a) of this section. 02 (c) Notwithstanding AS 10.20.061 - 10.20.076, a meeting of the members of a 03 nonprofit corporation organized under AS 10.20, including meeting notice and determination 04 of a quorum, may be held by telecommunication to the extent the corporation's board adopts 05 or amends bylaws to allow for an electronic meeting. 06 (d) Notwithstanding (a) - (c) of this section and a provision of AS 10.06 or AS 10.20 07 to the contrary, a meeting, including the notice of the meeting and determination of a quorum, 08 of the shareholders of a Native corporation organized under AS 10.06 or the members of a 09 Native corporation organized under AS 10.20 may be held by electronic communication or 10 telecommunication to the extent the corporation's board of directors authorizes holding 11 meetings by electronic communication or telecommunication and adopts guidelines to govern 12 a meeting held by electronic communication or telecommunication. In this subsection, 13 "Native corporation" means a corporation organized under 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. (Alaska 14 Native Claims Settlement Act). 15 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 16 read: 17 DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE; CHARITABLE GAMING ONLINE TICKET 18 SALES. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the duration of the novel 19 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) public health disaster emergency declared by the governor 20 under AS 26.23.020 on January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of this Act, the Department of 21 Revenue may permit online charitable gaming ticket sales specified in (b) of this section to 22 benefit charities in the state. 23 (b) Notwithstanding AS 05.15.640, a permittee, operator, or multiple-beneficiary 24 permittee may sell tickets online for a raffle or lottery, dog mushers' contest, derby, or type of 25 classic defined in AS 05.15.690. A permittee may draw winning tickets online. 26 (c) A ticket seller may not sell a ticket online unless and until the seller verifies that, 27 at the time of sale, the purchaser is 28 (1) of legal purchasing age; 29 (2) physically present in the state; and 30 (3) not physically present within an option area where charitable gaming is 31 prohibited.
01 (d) The Department of Revenue shall establish standards for online ticket sales to 02 ensure compliance with charitable gaming laws, including 03 (1) age and location verification requirements reasonably designed to block 04 online ticket sales to a person who is 05 (A) located outside the state; or 06 (B) not of legal purchasing age; and 07 (2) appropriate data security standards to prevent unauthorized online ticket 08 sales to a person whose age and current location has not been verified. 09 * Sec. 10. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 10 read: 11 INFORMED CONSENT FOR COVID-19 VACCINES. A health care provider may 12 not administer a COVID-19 vaccine to an individual without first obtaining the informed 13 consent of the individual or, if the individual is a minor child, of a parent or guardian of the 14 minor child. 15 * Sec. 11. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 16 read: 17 PERSONAL OBJECTIONS TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF COVID-19 18 VACCINES. An individual may object to the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine based 19 on religious, medical, or other grounds. A parent or guardian of a minor child may object to 20 the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine to the minor child based on religious, medical, or 21 other grounds. A person may not require an individual to provide justification or 22 documentation to support the individual's decision to decline a COVID-19 vaccine or to 23 decline a COVID-19 vaccine for a minor child. 24 * Sec. 12. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 25 read: 26 SCHOOL OPERATING FUNDS. (a) Notwithstanding AS 14.17.505(a), a school 27 district may accumulate in a fiscal year an unreserved portion of its year-end fund balance in 28 its school operating fund, as defined in regulation by the Department of Education and Early 29 Development, in any amount. 30 (b) Notwithstanding AS 14.17.505(b), the unreserved portion of the year-end 31 operating fund balance of a school district for the preceding fiscal year may not be used to
01 reduce the state aid paid to that school district in the current fiscal year. 02 * Sec. 13. AS 08.02 is amended by adding a new section to read: 03 Sec. 08.02.022. Licensee liability for client exposure to COVID-19. (a) A 04 licensee is immune from disciplinary action under this title for sickness, death, 05 economic loss, and other damages suffered by a client of the licensee from exposure to 06 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the course of the licensee's practice of the 07 licensee's trade or profession. 08 (b) To qualify for immunity under this section, a licensee must have been 09 practicing the licensee's trade or profession in substantial compliance with the 10 applicable federal, state, and municipal laws and health mandates in effect at the time 11 of the client's exposure to COVID-19. 12 (c) Immunity under this section does not apply to exposure to COVID-19 13 resulting from the gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct of a 14 licensee. 15 (d) Immunity under this section is in addition to any other immunity from 16 liability provided under state or federal law. 17 (e) In this section, "licensee" has the meaning given in AS 08.01.110. 18 * Sec. 14. AS 45.45 is amended by adding a new section to read: 19 Sec. 45.45.940. Business and employee liability for customer exposure to 20 COVID-19. (a) A person who engages in business and an employee of that person 21 when working in the business are immune from civil liability for sickness, death, 22 economic loss, and other damages suffered by a customer from exposure to novel 23 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while patronizing the business. 24 (b) To qualify for immunity under this section, the person engaging in 25 business must have been operating the business in substantial compliance with the 26 applicable federal, state, and municipal laws and health mandates in effect at the time 27 of the customer's exposure to COVID-19. 28 (c) Immunity under this section does not apply to exposure to COVID-19 29 resulting from the gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct of a 30 person engaging in business or an employee of that person. 31 (d) Immunity under this section is in addition to any other immunity from
01 liability provided under state or federal law. 02 * Sec. 15. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska enacted in sec. 37, ch. 10, SLA 2020, is 03 amended to read: 04 Sec. 37. Sections [25, 26, 28,] 29 [,] and 31 of this Act are repealed March 11, 05 2021. 06 * Sec. 16. Sections 25, 26, and 28, ch. 10, SLA 2020, are repealed on the earlier of 07 (1) September 30, 2021; or 08 (2) the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the 09 public health disaster emergency declared by the governor under AS 26.23.020 on 10 January 15, 2021, as extended by sec. 2 of this Act, no longer exists. 11 * Sec. 17. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 12 read: 13 APPLICABILITY. Sections 13 and 14 of this Act apply to novel coronavirus disease 14 (COVID-19) exposure occurring on or after February 15, 2021. 15 * Sec. 18. (a) Sections 1 - 3 and 5 - 11 of this Act are repealed on the earlier of 16 (1) September 30, 2021; or 17 (2) the date the governor determines, under sec. 2 of this Act, that the public 18 health disaster emergency declared by the governor under AS 26.23.020 on January 15, 2021, 19 as extended by sec. 2 of this Act, no longer exists. 20 (b) Section 12 of this Act is repealed June 30, 2023. 21 * Sec. 19. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 22 read: 23 RETROACTIVITY. (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, this Act is 24 retroactive to February 14, 2021. 25 (b) Section 2(a) of this Act is retroactive to November 15, 2020. 26 * Sec. 20. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).