05/02/2025 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE

             HB 156-DISCLOSURE OF WAGE INFORMATION                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:18:01 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FIELDS announced that the  first order of business would                                                               
be  HOUSE  BILL  NO.  156,  "An Act  relating  to  disclosure  of                                                               
information   regarding  employee   compensation  by   employers,                                                               
employees, and applicants for employment."                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
3:18:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GENEVIEVE  MINA,  Alaska  State  Legislature,  as                                                               
prime sponsor,  presented HB  156.  She  gave a  prepared sponsor                                                               
statement  [included  in  the  committee  file],  which  read  as                                                               
follows [original punctuation provided]:                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     Despite  a   growth  in  infrastructure   and  resource                                                                    
     development  projects,  Alaska  employees  struggle  to                                                                    
     hire workers due to a  pervasive labor shortage. HB 156                                                                    
     seeks to improve Alaska's  competitive labor market and                                                                    
     strengthen   the  workforce   by  standardizing   fair,                                                                    
     transparent hiring practices.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     HB  156 helps  streamline  the  application process  by                                                                    
     requiring   employers   to   post   information   about                                                                    
     compensation, including a salary  or salary range. This                                                                    
     allows  the  applicant  and  employer  to  expend  less                                                                    
     energy and  resources recruiting and  interviewing only                                                                    
     to  discover the  pay does  not meet  the needs  of the                                                                    
     potential employee.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     It  also  removes  salary history  from  the  interview                                                                    
     process, allowing  the employer and applicant  to focus                                                                    
     on their  qualifications, thus ensuring those  who join                                                                    
     and return  to the  workforce are  paid based  on their                                                                    
     current abilities and potential.  It also improves wage                                                                    
     gaps   related  to   race,   gender,  and   educational                                                                    
     attainment.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     Additionally,  HB 156  aligns  state  law with  Federal                                                                    
     protections,  ensuring workers  in  Alaska are  clearly                                                                    
     empowered to  engage in  wage discussions  without fear                                                                    
     of  retaliation.  Federal  law,  through  the  National                                                                    
     Labor  Relations  Act,  protects  employees'  right  to                                                                    
     discuss  their wages  and  working  conditions. HB  156                                                                    
     prohibits  an  employer  from  retaliating  against  an                                                                    
     employee or  applicant for  refusing to  disclose their                                                                    
     or wage history.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     HB 156 seeks to promote  a more equitable and efficient                                                                    
     hiring    process   across    Alaska.   By    enhancing                                                                    
     transparency and  consistency in  employment practices,                                                                    
     HB 156  will strengthen the state's  ability to attract                                                                    
     qualified  applicants, retain  a stable  workforce, and                                                                    
     assist employers in addressing ongoing staffing needs.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:22:59 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE COULOMBE asked what might happen if an employer                                                                  
would like to pay a potential employee outside of the posted                                                                    
salary range after interviewing them, more or less.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MINA  replied  that salary  negotiations  between                                                               
employer and potential employee could  still happen under HB 156.                                                               
She clarified  that her intent would  be to avoid a  situation in                                                               
which "someone  is expected to be  hired at $20 an  hour and then                                                               
it turns out  they're getting paid $15 an hour."   She emphasized                                                               
that  she  did  not  want  the proposed  legislation  to  be  too                                                               
prescriptive and  suggested that  transparency was  important for                                                               
both the employer and prospective employees.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE COULOMBE  asked whether  employers are  allowed to                                                               
go above a posted salary range under HB 156.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MINA  responded yes.   She noted that  an employer                                                               
would not  be required to  set a range  and noted that  one could                                                               
set a "floor" salary.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  COULOMBE  stated   that  in  workplace,  exposing                                                               
salary  could be  "sticky".   She  asked if  there were  concerns                                                               
regarding privacy issues in the workplace.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MINA  suggested that  tension regarding  salary in                                                               
the workplace  already existed, as employees  were not prohibited                                                               
from currently discussing wages.   She asserted that transparency                                                               
would  allow for  deliberate conservation  and create  more trust                                                               
between an employer  and their employees, rather  than creating a                                                               
"rumor mill."                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
3:26:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FIELDS  stated that America's failure  to disclose wages                                                               
was well  documented.  He  spoke to  the gender wage  gap, noting                                                               
that women were more likely to  drop out of workforce when having                                                               
children,  due to  lack of  childcare and  lack of  paid parental                                                               
leave.  He asked how HB 156 might address this issue.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MINA asserted  that HB 156 would  help address the                                                               
gender wage gap.   She stated that a lack  of transparency allows                                                               
employers  to pay  employees differently.   She  noted that  wage                                                               
gaps most  significantly impact women  and individuals  of color.                                                               
She  also  noted  that  HB 156  would  additionally  prohibit  an                                                               
employer from asking about an  individual's salary history, which                                                               
would  necessitate  that  an  employer  looks  at  a  prospective                                                               
employees quality,  rather than  what they had  been paid  in the                                                               
past.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR   FIELDS  requested   information  regarding   Iceland's                                                               
achievements  on  closing the  gender  wage  gap and  their  laws                                                               
regarding  wage transparency.    He commented  that the  business                                                               
community in Iceland fully embraced wage transparency.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:29:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SADDLER  asked what  role  a  previous pay  level                                                               
should play in the hiring process.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MINA  offered  her belief  that  an  individual's                                                               
previous salary  or hourly  pay should  not affect  an employer's                                                               
decision to hire.  She  noted that employer-employee negotiations                                                               
could  also entail  conversations about  benefits, not  just pay.                                                               
She  shared concerns  that discussions  regarding salary  history                                                               
could allow  an employer  to pay a  prospective employee  a lower                                                               
rate, had they been paid at a lower rate at previous jobs.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER  called capitalism a "dog  eat dog world,"                                                               
noting that the market determines the  pay rates.  He stated that                                                               
he could see  the benefit of HB 156 in  state government but does                                                               
not see how productive it might be in private business.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:32:04 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FIELDS  noted that  many highly  successful capitalistic                                                               
countries require wage transparency.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
3:32:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   MINA  stated   that  there   was  a   compelling                                                               
government interest  in free market in  addressing discrimination                                                               
in  the workplace.   She  asserted  that transparency  correlates                                                               
with pay equity and helps individuals thrive financially.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:32:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  COULOMBE  shared   many  concerns  about  telling                                                               
private  business  what  they  should  do.    She  asserted  that                                                               
businesses would do what was best for themselves.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
3:33:38 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MIKAYLA  WILSON,  Staff,  Representative Genevieve  Mina,  Alaska                                                               
State  Legislature,  replied  that they  received  comments  from                                                               
private   businesses  primarily   in   favor   of  the   proposed                                                               
legislation.  She  said that they would pass the  comments to the                                                               
committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
3:34:19 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  BURKE   commented  that   she  worked   in  human                                                               
resources  in both  public and  private sectors,  and all  of her                                                               
former employers utilized  the central ideas of  HB 156 regarding                                                               
wage transparency.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
[HB 156 was held over.]