House Finance Committee advances PFD restoration for wrongfully convicted

The Alaska House Finance Committee voted Tuesday to advance legislation that would restore Permanent Fund Dividends to individuals who were wrongfully convicted and incarcerated.

Senate Bill 167 would reinstate PFDs for Alaskans whose convictions have been vacated, reversed, or dismissed. The committee adopted an amendment doubling the application deadline from one year to two years after exoneration, then advanced the bill with individual recommendations.

State Senator Scott Kawasaki, the bill sponsor, told the committee the measure addresses a gap in wrongful conviction compensation. About two dozen states have wrongful conviction compensation programs. One of the things a person is deprived of if they are wrongfully convicted and then incarcerated is a permanent fund dividend, he said.

State Representative Jamie Allard introduced the amendment to extend the filing deadline. She told the committee she chose two years to balance giving applicants adequate time while ensuring funds remain available for dividend payments.

State Representative Alyse Galvin asked why the committee chose two years instead of three, noting that the After Innocence program had suggested a three-year window. Galvin said she supported keeping the narrow scope given how few people the bill will impact. It likely will not have a big effect on the overall PFD, she said.

Kawasaki acknowledged the bill would make more people eligible for the dividend, which would lower the amount each Alaskan receives. But he said the bill has a narrow scope.

Discussion during committee and earlier Senate consideration touched on how the bill relates to forfeited dividends and restorative justice funding. State Senator Mia Costello raised questions about whether the bill affects the Restorative Justice Account, noting that statute directs forfeited dividends to the Violent Crimes Compensation Board and the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program. Kawasaki clarified that the bill is independent of those funding streams and simply makes wrongfully convicted individuals eligible to receive dividends they would have been entitled to had they not been incarcerated.

The committee also considered but did not adopt a second amendment that would have expanded allowable absences for transportation industry workers to 210 days, a provision unrelated to the bill's narrow purpose of restoring dividends to the wrongfully convicted. Representative Jeremy Bynum withdrew that amendment after discussion.

House Finance Committee Co-Chair Neal Foster said the bill moved out of committee as amended with individual recommendations and an attached fiscal note. The committee authorized legislative legal staff to make technical and conforming changes as necessary.