CSSB 85(L&C): "An Act relating to national criminal history record checks for certain employees of the Department of Revenue; relating to permanent fund dividends; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 85(L&C) 01 "An Act relating to national criminal history record checks for certain employees of the 02 Department of Revenue; relating to permanent fund dividends; and providing for an 03 effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 12.62.400(c) is amended to read: 06 (c) To obtain a national criminal history record check for determining a 07 current or prospective employee's qualifications under AS 39.90.210, a current or 08 prospective employee's qualifications and suitability to administer the permanent 09 fund dividend program under AS 43.23, or a contractor's qualifications under 10 AS 36.30.960, the agency or the procurement officer shall submit the current or 11 prospective employee's or contractor's fingerprints to the department with the fee 12 established by AS 12.62.160. The department shall submit the fingerprints to the 13 Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain a national criminal history record check of 14 the current or prospective employee or contractor for the purpose of evaluating a
01 person's qualifications under AS 36.30.960, [AND] AS 39.90.210, or AS 43.23, as 02 applicable. In this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires, 03 (1) "agency" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290; 04 (2) "contractor" has the meaning given in AS 36.30.960; 05 (3) "employee" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 43.23.008(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) Subject to (b) and (d) of this section, an otherwise eligible individual who 08 is absent from the state during the qualifying year remains eligible for a current year 09 permanent fund dividend if the individual was absent 10 (1) receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time 11 basis; on a break or holiday from a secondary or postsecondary educational 12 institution during an academic year, not including summer break, if the 13 individual is enrolled in and attends the educational institution on a full-time 14 basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation program 15 required as a condition of the secondary or postsecondary education and the 16 individual immediately begins the education on a full-time basis after the 17 completion of the orientation; 18 (2) receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a 19 full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 20 Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state; on a break 21 or holiday from the vocational, professional, or other specific training, not 22 including summer break, if the individual is enrolled in and attends the training 23 on a full-time basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation 24 program required as a condition of the vocational, professional, or other specific 25 training and the individual immediately begins the training on a full-time basis 26 after the completion of the orientation; 27 (3) serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of the 28 United States or accompanying, as that individual's spouse, minor dependent, or 29 disabled dependent, an individual who is 30 (A) serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of 31 the United States; and
01 (B) eligible for a current year dividend; 02 (4) serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an 03 oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine or attending a vocational 04 program that 05 (A) trains students for a career in the United States 06 merchant marine; 07 (B) provides seagoing service that meets the requirements 08 of the United States Coast Guard for United States merchant marine 09 credentialing; and 10 (C) is approved by the United States Coast Guard; 11 (5) receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a 12 licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician who treated the 13 illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change; 14 (6) providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with 15 a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the 16 attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical 17 specialty complex; 18 (7) providing care for the individual's terminally ill family member; 19 (8) settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse, 20 sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days; 21 (9) serving as a member of the United States Congress; 22 (10) serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United 23 States Congress; 24 (11) serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other 25 location; 26 (12) accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection; 27 (13) accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason 28 permitted under (1), (2), (5) - (12), (16), or (17) of this subsection as the spouse, minor 29 dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident; 30 (14) serving as a volunteer in the federal peace corps program; 31 (15) because of training or competing as a member of the United States
01 Olympic Team or a United States national team for an Olympic sport; 02 (16) participating for educational purposes in a student fellowship 03 sponsored by the United States Department of Education or by the United States 04 Department of State; 05 (17) for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a 06 state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed 07 (A) 180 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 08 claimed 09 (i) under (3) of this subsection if the individual is not 10 claiming an absence under (1), (2), or (4) - (16) of this subsection; or 11 (ii) under (5) of this subsection if the individual is 12 not claiming an absence under (1) - (4) or (6) - (16) of this 13 subsection; 14 (B) 120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 15 claimed under (1) - (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an 16 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection but is claiming an absence under (1) 17 or (2) of this subsection; or 18 (C) 45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 19 claimed under (1) - (16) of this subsection if the individual is claiming an 20 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection. 21 * Sec. 3. AS 43.23.055 is amended to read: 22 Sec. 43.23.055. Duties of the department. The department shall 23 (1) annually pay permanent fund dividends from the dividend fund; 24 (2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations 25 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time 26 limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the 27 number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is 28 declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year; 29 (3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 30 that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon 31 reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority
01 because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on 02 behalf of the individual; 03 (4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because 04 of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to 05 establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends; 06 (5) use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under 07 AS 43.23.005(d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the 08 Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those 09 individuals; 10 (6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005(d) 11 and 43.23.048; 12 (7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian, 13 or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year 14 permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no 15 application was submitted on behalf of the individual; 16 (8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to 17 apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050(a)(2) reissued if it is not 18 collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may 19 not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued 20 must be filed; 21 (9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent 22 fund dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or 23 the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes 24 authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the 25 department shall provide the requesting agency with either 26 (A) access to the data base; or 27 (B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement 28 certifying its contents; 29 (10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the 30 (A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who 31 apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in
01 AS 11, by detecting and investigating those crimes; and 02 (B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or 03 paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or 04 paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions 05 under AS 43.23.270; 06 (11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 07 so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under 08 AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an 09 applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is 10 entitled to receive; 11 (12) submit fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public 12 Safety for a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 for the 13 purpose of determining a person's qualifications and suitability for administering 14 the permanent fund dividend program under this chapter. 15 * Sec. 4. AS 43.23.140(d) is amended to read: 16 (d) An assignment of or levy, execution, garnishment, attachment, or other 17 remedy for the collection of debt applied to a dividend for a year may not be accepted 18 by the department before April 1 of that same year. AS 09.38.080(c) and 09.38.085 do 19 not apply to a levy on a permanent fund dividend. Upon receipt of a writ of execution 20 under (a) of this section or another court order, the commissioner shall deliver to the 21 court that portion of the dividend executed upon along with the case name and 22 number. At the time payment is made to the court, the department shall send notice to 23 the court that issued the writ or order and to the individual at the address provided 24 in the individual's dividend application or the electronic mail address at which the 25 individual has consented to receive notices or documents in a verifiable manner, 26 as provided in regulations adopted by the department. The [AND TO THE 27 COURT THAT ISSUED THE WRIT OR ORDER A] notice must contain [THAT 28 CONTAINS] 29 (1) notification that all or part of the individual's dividend has been 30 seized under a writ of execution or court order; 31 (2) the name and address of the court that issued the writ or order;
01 (3) the case number for which the writ or order was issued; 02 (4) the amount seized under the writ or order; and 03 (5) notification that the individual has 30 days from the date the notice 04 is mailed in which to file with the court an objection to the seizure if a mistake has 05 been made. 06 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 07 read: 08 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The commissioner of revenue may adopt 09 regulations necessary to implement the changes made by this Act. The regulations take effect 10 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the law 11 implemented by the regulation. 12 * Sec. 6. Section 5 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 13 * Sec. 7. Except as provided in sec. 6 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2024.