HB 258: "An Act establishing a statewide spay and neuter assistance fund; establishing the statewide spay and neuter assistance program; relating to municipal control of feral domestic dogs and cats; relating to companion animal spay and neuter special request registration plates; relating to contributions from permanent fund dividends; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 258 01 "An Act establishing a statewide spay and neuter assistance fund; establishing the 02 statewide spay and neuter assistance program; relating to municipal control of feral 03 domestic dogs and cats; relating to companion animal spay and neuter special request 04 registration plates; relating to contributions from permanent fund dividends; and 05 providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 03.55 is amended by adding new sections to read: 08 Article 3. Statewide Spay and Neuter Assistance Fund and Program. 09 Sec. 03.55.200. Statewide spay and neuter assistance fund. (a) The 10 statewide spay and neuter assistance fund is established as a separate account in the 11 general fund. The fund consists of 12 (1) program receipts from the special request companion animal spay 13 and neuter plates issued under AS 28.10.421(d)(28);
01 (2) donations to the fund; 02 (3) federal or private funding that may be available to the state to 03 support spay and neuter services; and 04 (4) interest earned on money in the fund. 05 (b) The department shall administer the fund in accordance with the 06 provisions of AS 03.55.200 - 03.55.240. 07 (c) The legislature may appropriate money from the fund to the department to 08 implement AS 03.55.200 - 03.55.240 and to pay the costs of administering the fund. 09 (d) Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund. 10 Sec. 03.55.210. Statewide spay and neuter assistance program; eligibility. 11 (a) The statewide spay and neuter assistance program is established in the department. 12 (b) The program shall provide direct reimbursement to a participating 13 veterinarian, veterinary clinic, animal shelter, or nonprofit organization in the state 14 that provides a spay or neuter surgery or presurgical examination or administers 15 required vaccinations 16 (1) without charge or at a reduced rate to a pet belonging to a 17 household in the state with an annual family or household income equal to or less than 18 130 percent of the most recent poverty guidelines for the state set by the United States 19 Department of Health and Human Services; or 20 (2) to a feral domestic dog or cat in accordance with a municipal 21 ordinance permitting the trapping, spaying or neutering, vaccination, and release of 22 feral domestic dogs and cats. 23 (c) The department shall adopt regulations to carry out the program, including 24 establishing 25 (1) a process for verifying whether a pet owner qualifies as an eligible 26 household under (b)(1) of this section; 27 (2) a fee reimbursement process and standard reimbursement rate 28 schedule of up to 80 percent of the prevailing rates for the services covered by the 29 program. 30 Sec. 03.55.220. Statewide spay and neuter assistance fund and program 31 awareness and education. The department shall promote public awareness of the
01 fund and the program and educate the public about the dangers of uncontrolled 02 breeding of domestic dogs and cats. The department shall publish a list of providers 03 that participate in the program on the department's Internet website. 04 Sec. 03.55.230. Annual report. The department shall submit an annual report 05 to the legislature on or before the first day of each regular session of the legislature 06 that details, for the preceding year, the number and type of services provided under the 07 program and the program revenue and expenditures. The department shall deliver the 08 report to the senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives and 09 notify the legislature that the report is available. 10 Sec. 03.55.240. Definitions. In AS 03.55.200 - 03.55.240, 11 (1) "department" means the Department of Environmental 12 Conservation; 13 (2) "fund" means the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund 14 established under AS 03.55.200; 15 (3) "program" means the statewide spay and neuter assistance program 16 established under AS 03.55.210. 17 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read: 18 (a) The Board of Game may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 19 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 20 (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 21 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval 22 of the legislature; 23 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 24 game; 25 (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 26 capture, taking, and transport of game, including regulations, consistent with resource 27 conservation and development goals, establishing means and methods that may be 28 employed by persons with physical disabilities; 29 (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size 30 limitations on the taking of game; 31 (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur
01 bearing animals, predators, or other categories; 02 (6) methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to control predation 03 and competition among game in the state; 04 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 05 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of game; 06 (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of 07 native or exotic game or their eggs, unless the action is permitted under an 08 ordinance adopted under AS 29.35.052; 09 (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game 10 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 11 between registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed; 12 (10) regulating sport hunting and subsistence hunting as needed for the 13 conservation, development, and utilization of game; 14 (11) taking game to ensure public safety; 15 (12) regulating the activities of persons licensed to control nuisance 16 wild birds and nuisance wild small mammals; 17 (13) promoting hunting and trapping and preserving the heritage of 18 hunting and trapping in the state. 19 * Sec. 3. AS 28.10.181 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 20 (pp) Special request companion animal spay and neuter plates. Upon 21 application by the owner of a motor vehicle, the department may design and issue 22 registration plates representing the statewide spay and neuter assistance program 23 established under AS 03.55.210. The department may disapprove the issuance of 24 registration plates under this subsection when the requested plates are a duplication of 25 an existing registration. 26 * Sec. 4. AS 28.10.421(d) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 27 (28) special request companion animal spay and neuter plates 28 registered under AS 28.10.181(pp) ............................ $100 29 plus the fee required for that vehicle under (b), (c), (h), or (i) of this section; the fee 30 required by this paragraph shall be collected only on the first issuance of and the 31 replacement of the special request plates; the commissioner shall separately account
01 for the fees received under this paragraph that the department deposits into the general 02 fund; notwithstanding (g) of this section, the annual estimated balance in the account 03 that is in excess of the cost of issuing special request plates may be appropriated by 04 the legislature into the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund established in 05 AS 03.55.200. 06 * Sec. 5. AS 29.35 is amended by adding a new section to read: 07 Sec. 29.35.052. Feral domestic dog and cat populations. As a means of 08 controlling the feral domestic dog and cat population in a municipality, a municipality 09 may adopt an ordinance that allows feral domestic dogs and cats to be captured, 10 possessed, and transported for the purpose of spaying or neutering and vaccinating the 11 animal before release. 12 * Sec. 6. AS 37.05.146(c) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 13 (88) statewide spay and neuter assistance fund (AS 03.55.200). 14 * Sec. 7. AS 43.23.130(a) is amended to read: 15 (a) Notwithstanding AS 43.23.200, the Department of Revenue shall prepare 16 the electronic Alaska permanent fund dividend application to allow an applicant who 17 files electronically to direct that money be subtracted from the dividend payment and 18 contributed to the crime victim compensation fund (AS 18.67.162), the peace officer 19 and firefighter survivors' fund, the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund 20 (AS 03.55.200), or one or more of the educational organizations, community 21 foundations, or charitable organizations that appear on the contribution list contained 22 in the application. A contribution to the crime victim compensation fund, the peace 23 officer and firefighter survivors' fund, the statewide spay and neuter assistance 24 fund, or [TO] an organization may be $25, $50, $75, $100, or more, in increments of 25 $50, up to the total amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is 26 entitled to receive. If the total amount of contributions elected by an applicant exceeds 27 the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is entitled to receive, 28 contributions shall be deducted from the dividend in the order of priority elected by 29 the applicant on the application until the entire amount of the dividend that the 30 applicant is entitled to receive is allocated for contribution. The electronic dividend 31 application form must include notice that seven percent of the money contributed will
01 be used for administrative costs incurred in implementing this section, and money 02 from the dividend fund will not be used for that purpose. 03 * Sec. 8. AS 43.23.130(b) is amended to read: 04 (b) The department shall list each educational organization, community 05 foundation, or charitable organization eligible under (c) and (d) of this section, each 06 university campus that applies under (l) of this section, the crime victim compensation 07 fund, [AND] the peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund, and the statewide spay 08 and neuter assistance fund on the contribution list. The department shall maintain an 09 electronic database for the contribution list that is accessible to the public and that 10 permits searches by organization or fund name, geographic location, and type. The 11 department shall provide a statement of the contributions made by an individual that is 12 suitable for federal income tax purposes to each individual who elects to contribute 13 under (a) of this section. 14 * Sec. 9. AS 43.23.130(m) is amended to read: 15 (m) In addition to the application fee in (f) of this section, the department shall 16 withhold a coordination fee from each organization, foundation, or university campus 17 that receives contributions under this section in the immediately preceding dividend 18 year. The coordination fee for an organization, foundation, or university campus that 19 receives contributions under this section shall be seven percent of the amount of 20 contributions reported by the department under (j) of this section for the organization, 21 foundation, or university campus for the immediately preceding dividend year. The 22 coordination fee shall be separately accounted for under AS 37.05.142 and shall be 23 accounted for separately from the application fee collected under (f) of this section. 24 The annual estimated balance in the account maintained under AS 37.05.142 for 25 coordination fees collected under this subsection may be appropriated for costs of 26 administering this section. The department may not withhold a coordination fee for 27 contributions to the crime victim compensation fund, [OR] the peace officer and 28 firefighter survivors' fund, or the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund. 29 * Sec. 10. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 30 read: 31 REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. The Department of Environmental Conservation shall
01 submit the first annual report required by AS 03.55.230, enacted by sec. 1 of this Act, on or 02 before January 18, 2028. 03 * Sec. 11. This Act takes effect January 1, 2027.