HJUD - 2/10/95 CSHB 4(STA) PERMANENT FUND DIVIDEND ELIGIBILITY Number 440 ROD MOURANT, Legislative Aide to Representative Pete Kott, presented the sponsor statement for CSHB 4(STA). It reads as follows: "This legislation would remedy a problem as a result of a recent court ruling. That ruling declared spouses of a Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) recipient from being considered eligible to receive a dividend if they were accompanying an eligible spouse out of state on an allowable absence. "This legislation would allow individuals who accompany an eligible spouse out of state on an allowable absence to retain their eligibility for a PFD if that was the only reason that they would have been disallowed. "This correction applies retroactively to January 1, 1994, the first time the Permanent Fund Dividend Division disallowed dividends for that reason. It makes provision for those individuals to receive the previously denied dividend. "I encourage you to support this legislation." Number 530 JUDY ERICKSON, Juneau resident, described her ex-husband's experience with his permanent fund dividend. He was denied his dividend because of an unexpected absence outside of Alaska, due to a medical emergency. He has lived in Juneau for years, and maintains a home here. He can only get his experimental treatment for advanced kidney cancer in Seattle. Because they have two children, it is very important for him to go through any kind of treatment he can, to prolong his life. His wife has been denied her PFD also because her staying in Seattle with him was not an allowable absence. He is on pain medication 24 hours a day, should not drive, needs constant care, and he needs her there to help. He already has tremendous medical expenses and it does not seem right to withhold her dividend because of this. Number 555 THOMAS WILLIAMS, Director, Permanent Fund Dividend Division, Department of Revenue, introduced Nancy Jones, who will be the new director starting next Thursday. He said the department strongly supports the reinstatement of the "piggyback" allowable absence, which had been available in the past, up until the inadvertent conflict between statute and regulation; which caused the regulation to fall, as ruled by the court a little over a year ago. He said they have taken steps to append applications so they can be easily identified, should corrective legislation be enacted. Then they can go ahead and pay folks who would have received their dividends had it not been for this regulation conflict. Number 650 REPRESENTATIVE FINKELSTEIN asked Mr. Williams if it would be practical and manageable for the Permanent Fund Dividend Division to hold people's dividends, and then gave them to the people when they returned to the state. MR. WILLIAMS answered there was a mechanism by which that could work. We could administer a system that would hold the dividends of anyone who was absent for 180 consecutive days during the qualifying year, until they returned and lived in the state for 90 days, basically qualifying for dividends during that time. Number 700 REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY moved to adopt draft F of the committee substitute. Hearing no objection, CSHB 4, version F was adopted. Number 780 REPRESENTATIVE CON BUNDE said he would like to see some future exploration on the possibility of holding juveniles' dividend checks until they turn 18. REPRESENTATIVE TOOHEY made a motion to pass the bill from committee with individual recommendations and the zero fiscal note. Seeing no objection, it was so ordered.