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.]