Legislature(2025 - 2026)BUTROVICH 205
03/25/2025 03:30 PM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): All Alaska Pediatric Patrnership | |
| SJR15 | |
| SCR2 | |
| SB95 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 95 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SCR 2 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SJR 15 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 95-CHILD CARE: ASSISTANCE/GRANTS
4:39:39 PM
CHAIR DUNBAR announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 95
"An Act relating to the child care assistance program and the
child care grant program; and providing for an effective date."
4:40:26 PM
SONJA KAWASAKI, Senate Majority Legal Council, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, presented an overview of SB 95 and
offered advice. She stated that the legislation would reenact
certain provisions of Senate Bill 189 (2024) related to child
care assistance, providing a procedural fix to ensure the
program remains in effect regardless of a pending lawsuit. The
lawsuit challenges Senate Bill 189 under Alaska's single-subject
rule, art. II, sec. 13, Constitution of the State of Alaska, but
reenacting the provisions would give the child care assistance
program a separate statutory existence and could render the
lawsuit moot. The case is currently in motion, with the
plaintiff having filed for summary judgment and the court
awaiting a response.
CHAIR DUNBAR asked if the committee passes SB 95 without
amendments, will it strengthen the case for mootness, and would
amending it weaken that effort.
4:42:55 PM
MS. KAWASAKI replied that enacting SB 95 in the same form as the
relevant parts of Senate Bill 189 would allow the lawsuit
parties to present clear arguments and enable the court to more
efficiently determine mootness.
4:43:22 PM
SENATOR HUGHES asked whether alternating between "child care"
and "day care" in SB 95 creates any issues or affect the
lawsuit.
4:43:45 PM
MS. KAWAKSAI deferred the question to Mr. Anderson.
4:43:54 PM
EVAN ANDERSON, Staff, Representative Zack Fields, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, answered questions and provided a
sectional analysis for SB 95. He replied that the bill
intentionally reenacts former statutes, alternating between "day
care" and "child care," as a repeated mechanism to implement the
legislative changes.
4:44:35 PM
SENATOR HUGHES asked if the definition of child care in SB 95,
Section 28, is narrow enough.
4:45:15 PM
SENATOR TOBIN stated that a previously released legal memo
helped clarify the definition of child care, though it may not
be included in the current bill packet.
4:45:38 PM
SENATOR HUGHES asked if the definition was adequate.
4:45:44 PM
SENATOR TOBIN replied in the affirmation.
4:46:05 PM
MR. ANDERSON paraphrased the sectional analysis for SB 95:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Section 1. Amends AS 47.05.030(a). This is a
conforming change.
Section 2. Amends AS 47.05.030(a). Corrects the
terminology in existing statute from "day care" to
"child care."
Section 3. Amends AS 47.05.085(a). This is a
conforming change.
Section 4. Amends AS 47.05.085(a). Corrects the
terminology in existing statute from "day care" to
"child care."
Section 5. Amends AS 47.25.001(a). This is a
conforming change.
Section 6. Amends AS 47.25.001(a). Changes the maximum
monthly household income for eligibility to 105
percent of the Alaska Median Income, adjusted for
family size. Also replaces "day care" with "child
care."
Section 7. Amends AS 47.25.011. This is a conforming
change.
Section 8. Amends AS 47.25.011. Corrects the
terminology in existing statute from "day care" to
"child care."
Section 9. Amends AS 47.25.021. This is a conforming
change.
Section 10. Amends AS 47.25.021. Corrects the
terminology in existing statute from "day care" to
"child care."
Section 11. Amends AS 47.25.031. This is a conforming
change.
Section 12. Amends AS 47.25.031. Corrects the
terminology in existing statute from "day care" to
"child care."
Section 13. Amends AS 47.25.041. This is a conforming
change.
4:47:04 PM
MR. ANDERSON continued with the sectional analysis for SB 95:
Section 14. Amends AS 47.25.041. Establishes that the
parent or guardian contribution rate for child care
shall not exceed 7 percent of the family monthly
income.
Section 15. Amends AS 47.25.051(a). This is a
conforming change.
Section 16. Amends AS 47.25.051(b). Corrects the
terminology in existing statute from "day care" to
"child care."
Section 17. Amends AS 47.25.071(b). This is a
conforming change.
Section 18. Amends AS 47.25.071(b). Corrects the
terminology in existing statute from "day care" to
"child care."
Section 19. Amends AS 47.25.051. Requires the
Department to procure a cost-of-care study to set
subsidy rates.
Section 20. Amends AS 47.25.071(b). This is a
conforming change.
Section 21. Amends AS 47.25.071(b). Sets a designation
as a "quality child care facility" as the minimum
standard for the Department to issue grants. Also
corrects the terminology in existing statute from "day
care" to "child care."
Section 22. Amends AS 47.25.071(g). This is a
conforming change
Section 23. Amends AS 47.25.071(g). Requires
prioritization of children from low-income families
when filling available spaces in the facility.
Section 24. Amends AS 47.25.071(h). This is a
conforming change
Section 25. Amends AS 47.25.071(h). Directs the
department to promulgate regulations for criteria used
to designate a facility as "quality."
4:48:19 PM
MR. ANDERSON continued with the sectional analysis for SB 95:
Section 26. Amends AS 47.25.071. Allows the Department
to provide grants to the highest-performing and
highest-quality child care facilities in the state,
and prohibits a child care facility receiving state
grants from denying a child acceptance based on
disability or socioeconomic status.
Section 27. Amends AS 47.25.095(2). This is a
conforming change.
Section 28. Amends AS 47.25.095(2). Adds a definition
of "child care."
Section 29. Amends AS 47.25.095(3). Updates the
definition of "child care facility" to include "day
care.
Section 30. Amends AS 47.25.095(3). Updates the
definition of "child care facility" to include
establishments recognized by the federal government
for the care of children.
Section 31. Amends AS 47.25.095. This is a conforming
change.
Section 32. Repeals Section 31. This is a conforming
change
Section 33. This is a conforming change.
Section 34. Repeals uncodified law associated with the
passage of SB 189 from the 33rd Session. This is a
conforming change.
Section 35. Codifies that the Department shall receive
federal approval for the state plan for the child care
assistance program.
Section 36. Sets a retroactive effective date to July
23, 2024.
Section 37. Sets an effective date for Section 6 as
January 1, 2026, pending approval by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Section 39. All other sections of the bill take effect
immediately.
4:49:31 PM
STEPHANIE BERGLUND, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Thread,
Anchorage, Alaska, testified by invitation on SB 95 and read the
following:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Thank you Mr. Chair and members of the committee for
hearing SB 95.
My name is Stephanie Berglund, CEO of Thread- Alaska's
Child Care Resource and Referral organization. Thread
is a 39-year-old nonprofit, providing services
statewide to strengthen access to affordable and high-
quality early childhood education, with focus on child
care. We serve more than 10,000 families, 2,000 early
educators, and over 400 early childhood education
programs each year.
4:49:57 PM
MS. BERGLUND continued with her testimony of SB 95:
Today I am testifying on behalf of Thread but want to
share that we are also proud members of the Alaska
Early Childhood Advocacy Group in support of SB 95.
The Alaska Early Childhood Advocacy Group is a group
of nine non-profits from across the state that have
joined together to advocate for increased investment
and improved policies to support Alaska's children and
families.
The child care sector is fragile. It's long been a
sector with institutional deficiencies- for decades
but has seen increased challenges over the last five
years.
Since 2020, we have seen over 25 percent of the
licensed child care programs close across the state
and of those that are open, they are not able to serve
all the children they would like due to staff
shortages. Thread anticipates more child care programs
closing if we do not see sustainable and meaningful
investment from the state for child care. The child
care workforce is struggling due to low wages and few
benefits at the same time when there is high
competition for qualified workers in Alaska.
Currently, fewer families can access affordable and
quality child care services than ever before.
When we don't have a strong child care sector, we see
our economic infrastructure struggle. Businesses are
not able to recruit and retain quality employees and
families are not able to participate in the workforce
as they want. Our most recent research and data
conducted in partnership with the Alaska Chamber and
the Mckinley Group has shown that businesses are
greatly impacted by families struggling with child
care- including poor attendance and loss in
productivity. Child care challenges for working
families resulting in absences and employee turnover
cost businesses an estimated $152M/annually. When
Alaskans can't work, they don't have the financial
security to support their families, they aren't able
to achieve their self-sufficiency goals and aren't
able to contribute to the economy. This not only
stifles the quality of life for families, but this
also stalls Alaska's growth.
4:51:51 PM
MS. BERGLUND continued with her testimony of SB 95:
SB95 adds needed support for child care and
strengthens the child care assistance and subsidy
programs. While there are many areas of the child care
system that need support, SB95 aims to strengthen
child care assistance by allowing more families
(earning up to the 105 percent of median household
income) to participate in the program and creating
flexibility in child care resources with aim to
support child care programs with the targeted supports
they need.
Changes in child care assistance are needed.
Currently, too few families participate in the program
as they don't qualify or can't access resources under
the current structure. Families utilizing child care
assistance pay a co-pay for services in addition to
the cost differential of tuition fees.
These and other barriers are impacting family's
ability to participate in the workforce. Just over
half of families (51 percent) report that household
members' ability to be employed or work more hours was
impacted by quality, availability, or cost of child
care. This is a large change from the same survey
conducted in 2019, where only 22 percent of families
surveyed reported that child care barriers are
impacting their ability to be employed or work as much
as they would like. This is a 29 percent increase in
families not able to work due to child care. These
findings underscore the need for child care change to
strengthen our collective workforce and economy. This
bill would also create a program to partner with
businesses to create incentives and support them with
developing onsite or near site child care.
4:53:18 PM
MS. BERGLUND continued with her testimony of SB 95:
[Original punctuation provided.]
One lever of change is through SB95 and increasing
Child Care Assistance access and capping copayments
required for families. This bill will allow more
families to qualify and thus allow more families
access to quality child care.
Additionally, child care businesses are currently
reimbursed at child care assistance program rates set
by a market rate survey that is based on the amount
child care businesses charge for care, not what it
actually costs to provide quality care and education.
This creates an unstable foundation for the child care
system. Thread encourages policy makers to keep moving
toward the true cost of care to be used in conjunction
with market rate prices in policy and fiscal planning
for child care supports. Considering the true cost of
providing child care in our policies will inform a
more stable child care system.
SB95 is a great and necessary step for supporting
family's affordability.
Thread is endorsing SB95 as it is a key step toward
more affordable access to care for families. Thread
encourages legislators to consider and pass this bill
this session as it was already passed with strong
support last session. This positive change for the
child care sector cannot come soon enough.
I appreciate the sponsor for bringing this bill
forward and thank the chair and committee for
considering this bill.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify and thank you
for your time and support for the young children and
families in Alaska.
4:54:58 PM
JEN GRIFFIS, Vice President, Policy and Advocacy, Alaska's
Children Trust, Anchorage, Alaska, testified by invitation on SB
95. She read the following:
[Original punctuation provided.]
As the statewide lead organization focused on the
prevention of child abuse and neglect, ACT supports
policies that increase economic security for families
and provide foundational early education support for
children. Senate Bill 95 does both by increasing
access to quality, affordable child care for Alaska's
families.
As you know, the policies in SB95 were originally
found in HB89, which passed the legislature last May
as part of SB189. My task today is to walk the
committee through the legislative process of this bill
over the past two years.
Early childhood advocates, including the nine member
organizations of the Alaska Early Childhood Advocacy
Group, as well as representatives from the business
community and the administration, worked closely with
legislators on the development and passage of HB89
during the last legislative session.
HB89 was sponsored by Rep. Julie Coulombe and had 15
co-sponsors, including members from both the majority
and minority caucuses. It also had the strong support
of advocates including Alaska Children's Trust,
thread, Alaska Chamber of Commerce and child care and
after school providers from across the state.
The bill had two hearings in the House Health and
Social Services committee in March and April of 2023
and was moved out of committee with unanimous Do Pass
recommendations. It received one hearing in House
Finance before the end of the session.
The sponsor met with the administration and advocates
during the interim and information from those meetings
was incorporated into an updated version of the
legislation which was introduced in House Finance at
the beginning of the 2024 session.
4:56:38 PM
MS. GRIFFIS continued with her testimony of SB 95:
In January and February of 2024 the legislation, the
legislation was heard in House Finance where it passed
out of committee, where it quickly moved to the House
floor and passed the House 35 to 5 on February 28,
2024.
After being introduced in the Senate, the legislation
was heard in Senate Health and Social Services three
times in March and April where it received some
amendments before being moved out of committee. The
bill was then referred to Senate Finance, where it
received one hearing.
On the final day of the session May 15 2024 the
language from HB89 was amended into SB189 on the floor
of the House. This bill passed the House 33 to 7, was
transmitted to the Senate and passed the Senate 17 to
3. It was not vetoed by the Governor and became law on
October 9, 2024. The funding in the fiscal note was
included in the Governor's budget that was released in
December 2024.
Alaska Children's Trust, along with our partner
organizations in the Alaska Early Childhood Advocacy
Group, remain supportive of the policies of HB89 which
are now represented in SB95. We appreciate the
opportunity to share more about this legislation and
are happy to answer any questions.
4:58:10 PM
CHAIR DUNBAR held SB 95 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SHSS Presentation IECMH 2025.03.25.pdf |
SHSS 3/25/2025 3:30:00 PM |
|
| SCR 2 Version A 3.12.25.pdf |
SHSS 3/25/2025 3:30:00 PM |
SCR 2 |
| SCR 2 Sponsor Statement 3.13.25.pdf |
SHSS 3/25/2025 3:30:00 PM |
SCR 2 |
| SB 95 Supporting Documents- Historic Document Packet.pdf |
SFIN 4/25/2025 9:00:00 AM SHSS 3/25/2025 3:30:00 PM |
SB 95 |
| SB 95 Sectional Analysis 3.25.25.pdf |
SFIN 4/25/2025 9:00:00 AM SHSS 3/25/2025 3:30:00 PM |
SB 95 |
| SJR 15 Version A 3.19.25.pdf |
SHSS 3/25/2025 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 15 |
| SJR 15 Sponsor Statement 3.25.25.pdf |
SHSS 3/25/2025 3:30:00 PM |
SJR 15 |