02/27/2025 03:15 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB87 | |
| HB30 | |
| HB75 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 30 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 87 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 81 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 75 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 27, 2025
3:16 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Ashley Carrick, Chair
Representative Andi Story, Vice Chair
Representative Rebecca Himschoot
Representative Ky Holland
Representative Elexie Moore
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Sarah Vance
Representative Kevin McCabe
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Carolyn Hall
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 87
"An Act establishing the month of March as Women's History
Month."
- HEARD & HELD
HOUSE BILL NO. 30
"An Act establishing the office of entrepreneurship; relating to
new businesses in the state; relating to reports concerning
procurements by agencies; and relating to initial business
license fees for new businesses in the state."
- HEARD & HELD
HOUSE BILL NO. 75
"An Act relating to national criminal history record checks for
certain employees of the Department of Revenue; relating to
allowable absences for eligibility for a permanent fund
dividend; relating to the confidentiality of certain information
provided on a permanent fund dividend application; relating to
electronic notice of debt collection executed on a permanent
fund dividend; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSHB 75(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 81
"An Act restricting the release of certain records of
convictions; and providing for an effective date."
- BILL HEARING CANCELED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 87
SHORT TITLE: WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) HALL
02/10/25 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/10/25 (H) STA
02/22/25 (H) STA AT 1:00 PM GRUENBERG 120
02/22/25 (H) <Bill Hearing Canceled>
02/25/25 (H) STA AT 3:15 PM GRUENBERG 120
02/25/25 (H) Heard & Held
02/25/25 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/27/25 (H) STA AT 3:15 PM GRUENBERG 120
BILL: HB 30
SHORT TITLE: OFFICE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) HOLLAND
01/22/25 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/10/25
01/22/25 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/22/25 (H) STA, L&C
02/22/25 (H) STA AT 1:00 PM GRUENBERG 120
02/22/25 (H) Heard & Held
02/22/25 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/27/25 (H) STA AT 3:15 PM GRUENBERG 120
BILL: HB 75
SHORT TITLE: PERM FUND; EMPLOYMENT; ELIGIBILITY
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) BYNUM
01/31/25 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/31/25 (H) STA, L&C
02/18/25 (H) STA AT 3:15 PM GRUENBERG 120
02/18/25 (H) Heard & Held
02/18/25 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/22/25 (H) STA AT 1:00 PM GRUENBERG 120
02/22/25 (H) Heard & Held
02/22/25 (H) MINUTE(STA)
02/27/25 (H) STA AT 3:15 PM GRUENBERG 120
WITNESS REGISTER
SERENA ALLEN, CEO/Cofounder
AirVitalize
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 30.
GABRIEL LOW, CEO/Founder
Remote Hands
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 30.
PETER WARDEN, Former Director
Startup Accelerator
Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 30.
Kyle Dufrane, Co-owner
Remote Hands
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 30.
MARK LAMBERT, Representing self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 30.
NORRIS KRUEGER, Representing self
Ecosystem Builder
Boise, Idaho
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 30
JAY BYAM, CEO
Karetorium
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 30.
TREVOR SHAW, Staff
Representative Jeremy Bynum
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions related to HB 75.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:16:55 PM
CHAIR ASHLEY CARRICK called the House State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:16 p.m. Representatives Moore,
Holland, Himschoot, Story, and Carrick were present at the call
to order.
HB 87-WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
3:18:07 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that the first order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 87, "An Act establishing the month of March as
Women's History Month."
3:18:25 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND commented that he thoroughly enjoyed the
committee's previous hearing on HB 87 [2/25/25] by historian
David Reamer, who did a wonderful job outlining success stories
of Alaskan Women.
3:18:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT commented that she also appreciated the
presentation and opined that it could have gone on longer since
it was only a small fraction of the Alaskan Women that warrant
praise. She encouraged support for HB 87.
3:19:09 PM
CHAIR CARRICK, after ascertaining that there were no further
comments or questions, set an amendment deadline and announced
that HB 87 was held over.
HB 30-OFFICE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
3:19:44 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 30, "An Act establishing the office of
entrepreneurship; relating to new businesses in the state;
relating to reports concerning procurements by agencies; and
relating to initial business license fees for new businesses in
the state."
3:20:08 PM
CHAIR CARRICK opened public testimony on HB 30.
3:20:29 PM
SERENA ALLEN, CEO/Cofounder, AirVitalize, testified in support
of HB 30. She said that her company is a Fairbanks company that
pulls pollution from the air, and it wishes to expand to remove
air pollution worldwide. She said that she has completed most
of the innovation programs in Alaska and was named the "High
North Young Entrepreneur" in 2024 by the Arctic Congress. She
said that like many start-ups in Alaska, AirVitalize is at risk
of leaving the state.
MS. ALLEN commented on the difference between a start-up and a
small business. She said that a small business is a staple of
Alaska, and the owners are "entrepreneurs by nature." However,
a start-up is something that scales into a global entity that
brings billions of dollars to a region. She said there is not
an opportunity to grow and expand in Alaska at this point. She
said that in start-ups there is a term known as "The Valley of
Death." This is when someone has an idea, a concept has been
proven, but before a business can get to scaling, there isn't
the resources available to test the technology. She said this
is where AirVitalize is currently. She said that testing for
the company was done in Los Angeles where it was able to get
$70,000 to manufacture locally and test the product. She said
that there has been no money available for product testing in
Fairbanks. She proceeded to describe various Alaskan based
start-ups that left the state due to lack of resources. She
said that her own intern from last summer is looking for
opportunities out-of-state due to the lack of start-up
infrastructure in Alaska. She said this matters because
innovation is a cornerstone for building a resilient economy.
She said that HB 30 will help start-ups avoid the "Valley of
Death" and help Alaska diversify its economy beyond "just oil
and gas."
3:23:25 PM
GABRIEL LOW, CEO/Founder, Remote Hands, testified in support of
HB 30. He said that Remote Hands was in Juneau for the
Innovation Summit, an event focused on start-ups and innovation.
He said that he has always been an educator and had a background
working with various science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) programs in rural areas of the state. He also said that
he had associations with Upward Bound. He said that there is an
opportunity gap in Alaska's rural locations and often products
and services require expensive flights to get there. He said
Remote Hands connects rural communities with these products and
services. He said that he never thought about Remote Hands as a
start-up until he attended a start-up weekend in Anchorage. He
said this event changed his life and he was now looking at
scaling. He said that after a market evaluation, Remote Hands
had an opportunity to be a global entity. He said he has
received considerable support in the Anchorage start-up
ecosystem and having a statewide Office of Entrepreneurship that
would coordinate and bring resources together would be helpful.
3:26:20 PM
PETER WARDEN, Former Director, Startup Accelerator, Alaska
Fisheries Development Foundation, testified in support of HB 30.
He said that he is part of the Alaska start-up ecosystem in a
few ways. He spent the last 16 months as the director of the
Startup Accelerator with the Alaska Fisheries Development
Foundation and left that role to pursue other innovation ideas.
He said that he recently attended the Innovation Summit in
Juneau and had the pleasure of meeting several entrepreneurs.
He said that part of his background was building programs and
getting them funded. He said that this came with learning about
all the challenges associated with building an entrepreneurial
program in Alaska. He said that part of this process was
looking at "reverse engineering" to determine what works in
other places and what would work in Alaska. He said that
bringing products and services to the state comes with unique
Alaska challenges, including the geography alone. He said
hosting more start-up weekends across the state means navigating
logistical challenges and would require a proper fit to the
hosting community. He said that he really supports HB 30 and
thinks that it would help Alaska catch up to the rest of the
country when it comes to attitudes towards innovation and
support for innovation.
3:28:46 PM
Kyle Dufrane, Co-owner, Remote Hands, testified in support of HB
30. He said that he met the other cofounder of Remote Hands at
a start-up weekend. He said that without the start-up weekend,
the business would have never happened. He said that being an
entrepreneur is something he thought about for years but there
was never an avenue or direction to find the resources. He said
that he had learned about the start-up weekend from an informal
channel.
3:30:03 PM
MARK LAMBERT, representing self, testified in support of HB 30.
He said that he was a four-time start-up founder/CEO and two of
these companies he has taken from just an idea to something with
market sales. He said that his last company was a software
company which ended up being based out of San Diego and was
acquired by a third-party in 2019. He said in 2022 he got
involved in the start-up ecosystem where he had the honor of
being the mentor and resident for the gBETA startup accelerator,
which is Alaska's leading startup accelerator. He said he was
also involved with Techstars and chaired the tech investment arm
of the NuFund Venture Group. He said that most of the last few
years had been spent getting start-ups ready. His last company
was founded in Alaska and because of the lack of resources and
capital availability, the company moved to San Diego. He said
that this was a transformative experience for him because
everything he struggled to find in Alaska was easily found in
San Diego. This included access to capital or centralized
resource guiding which he found from an entity called "Start-up
San Diego." He said this put him in contact with people who
helped his business get off the ground. He said that this was
foundational to the growth of the company. He said that none of
this value was captured by Alaska. He said that since returning
to Alaska he has cofounded another company that is venture
backed, and it has successfully raised capital and nearly all of
it has been outside of Alaska. He said that during investor
meetings, the common question he has received is when he plans
on moving the company out of Alaska, even though two of the co-
founders live in the state and the headquarters is based there.
He said that if Alaska wants to build the start-up ecosystem,
then the state will have to support and grow it itself. He said
HB 30 is the single biggest thing the state could do to build
this ecosystem.
3:33:28 PM
NORRIS KRUEGER, Leadership Council, Ecosystem Builder, testified
in support of HB 30. He said that he has been able to work with
global policy people and was both a scholar and educator in
entrepreneurship. He said that he is passionate about helping
people build a start-up ecosystem and said that this is an
important topic and other states and countries have been trying
this. He said that simply listening was powerful and that
entrepreneurs want to be heard. He said that the previous
testimonies were a powerful signal that it is time to coordinate
and advance this topic. He said that the start-up climate often
needs a referee and the Office of Entrepreneurship that is
proposed under HB 30 could do this. He said that every year,
companies have fewer jobs, and this includes every state and
region. He said the new jobs are coming from start-ups and
having a vehicle to help start-ups is critical.
3:38:37 PM
JAY BYAM, CEO, Karetorium, testified in support of HB 30. He
said that Karetorium started five years ago and began
participating in the start-up ecosystem four years ago after
discovering its existence. He said that Karetorium has involved
itself in every single program throughout the state and has
jumped from one program to another. The phases involved
customer feedback, investment acquisition, and other assistance
to achieve start-up milestones. The business is now profitable
and has six full-time employees. He said other start-ups do not
go through the phases in such an elegant fashion. He said that
an Office of Entrepreneurship proposed under HB 30 would be able
to centralize start-up activities.
3:40:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked if Mr. Byam could describe
Karetorium in greater detail. He said it is a great example of
a start-up that is more than just an Anchorage based business.
The software company captures images of processing facilities to
allow for facilitated remote support, something that can support
rural locations in Alaska and decrease maintenance costs. He
said that it provides solutions to not only Alaska's challenges
but with potential applications across the globe.
3:43:16 PM
MR. BYAM said that Karetorium is an online platform that makes
three-dimensional (3D) models of infrastructure. He said that a
lot of the work in Alaska has been to build out various
infrastructure in rural locations. By doing this, off-site
experts can use 3D modeling to coordinate with others how to
maintain these facilities. He said that starting out in Alaska
was beneficial because it made their company adjacent to
potential users of this product. He said it allowed the company
to legitimize themselves on a small scale for later scaling into
other sectors. He said that when Karetorium mentions that it is
based out of Alaska, it surprises people.
3:46:07 PM
CHAIR CARRICK, after ascertaining that there were no additional
questions, closed public testimony on HB 30.
3:46:42 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked about an amendment deadline for HB
30.
3:46:52 PM
CHAIR CARRICK set an amendment deadline and announced that HB 30
was held over.
3:47:19 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 3:47 p.m. to 3:49 p.m.
HB 75-PERM FUND; EMPLOYMENT; ELIGIBILITY
3:49:53 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that the final order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 75, "An Act relating to national criminal
history record checks for certain employees of the Department of
Revenue; relating to allowable absences for eligibility for a
permanent fund dividend; relating to the confidentiality of
certain information provided on a permanent fund dividend
application; relating to electronic notice of debt collection
executed on a permanent fund dividend; and providing for an
effective date."
CHAIR CARRICK after ascertaining that there were no questions or
comments on HB 75, entertained amendments.
3:50:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY moved to adopt the Amendment [Amendment 1]
to HB 75, labeled 34-LS0475\N.2, Nauman, 2/25/25, which read as
follows:
Page 2, line 30:
Delete "armed forces"
Insert "uniformed services [ARMED FORCES]"
Page 3, line 2:
Delete "armed forces"
Insert "uniformed services [ARMED FORCES]"
Page 4, following line 23:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 3. AS 43.23.008(f) is amended to read:
(f) In [FOR PURPOSES OF (a)(7) OF] this section,
(1) "family member" means a person who is
(A) [(1)] legally related to the individual
through marriage or guardianship; or
(B) [(2)] the individual's sibling, parent,
grandparent, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter,
uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or first cousin;
(2) "uniformed service" means the Army,
Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space
Force, and the Commissioned Corps of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Public
Health Services."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
3:50:52 PM
CHAIR CARRICK objected for the purpose of discussion.
3:51:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY noted that Amendment N.2 was drafted
because of an experience from a constituent who was denied an
appeal for the permanent fund dividend (PFD) because uniform
service members were not included in the allowable absence
statute. She specified that this included uniformed service
members associated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Commissioned Officer Corps and the United
States Public Health Service Officer Corps. She said that only
those affiliated with the armed forces were currently allowed
for PFD qualification. She said that this constituent was on a
NOAA boat doing research for several months, and when she went
to the PFD office, she was denied a PFD. She said that these
positions are uniformed, qualify for the Veterans Affairs (VA),
can enroll in higher education using the Government Issue (GI)
bill, and have other privileges like the armed services. She
said that when looking at the amendment, it changes "armed
forces" to "uniformed services", and she clarified that armed
forces were included with uniformed services.
3:53:34 PM
CHAIR CARRICK asked if Peace Corps volunteers were already
included for PFD eligibility.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY responded that there are 16 subsections in
statute regarding eligibility and the Peace Corps are eligible.
3:54:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked if the definition was changed just
for a section related to training or provides guidance for the
PFD program in general.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY responded that it has to do with Alaska
Statute (AS) 43.23.008.
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND asked for clarification, and if AS
43.23.008 was specifically related to training exemptions or a
statute that provides broader definitions as it relates to the
PFD.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY said that her understanding is that looking
at the amendment, it would change uniform service definitions.
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND said that he was surprised how important
the United States Public Health Service Officer Corps was in
Alaska. He asked if Representative Story could summarize where
these individuals are found in Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY responded that many of them are in rural
locations and serve the communities and many go overseas to
provide medical support during times of need.
3:57:25 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE said that she had a question about the
definitions. She asked whether armed service members get
coverage for anyone in their family. She said she was confused
about the qualifications regarding exemptions.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY clarified that these provisions already
existed in statute and the amendment would add only the bold,
[underlined] language of [paragraph] 2.
CHAIR CARRICK said that the statute currently says that one of
the allowable exemptions is providing care for terminally ill
family members and settling the estate of a family member. She
said that adding the uniformed service members would add to this
section.
3:59:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY said that she spoke with the prime sponsor
of HB 75, Representative Bynum, she offered her understanding
that he was supportive of the Amendment [1].
3:59:36 PM
TREVOR SHAW, Staff, Representative Jeremy Bynum, Alaska State
Legislature, said that they had a good conversation with both
Representative Story and district constituents. He said that
the amendment was presented well, and Representative Bynum
supported it.
4:00:00 PM
CHAIR CARRICK removed her objection. There being no further
objection, [Amendment 1] was adopted.
4:00:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY moved to report HB 75, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes and to authorize Legislative Legal Services to make
any necessary technical or conforming changes. There being no
objection, CSHB 75(STA) was reported out of the House State
Affairs Standing Committee.
4:01:10 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 4:01 p.m. to 4:03 p.m.
4:03:49 PM
CHAIR CARRICK discussed upcoming committee scheduling and
agenda.
4:04:20 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 4:04
p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 30 Support LTR Kartorium 2.25.25.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 30 |
| HB 30 Support LTR Health TIE 1-30-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 30 |
| HB 30 Support LTR Gener8tor 2-19-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 30 |
| HB 87 Written Testimony 2-27-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 87 |
| HB 75 Amendment N.2.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 75 |
| HB 75 Written Testimony 2-22-25.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 75 |
| HB 75 State Affairs Follow-Up Memo 02.24.2025.pdf |
HSTA 2/27/2025 3:15:00 PM |
HB 75 |