Senate Floor Session, 5/19/26. 6pm

Will the Senate please come back to order? Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that we move back up the calendar to messages from the governor. Without objection. Madam Secretary.

Executive proclamation stating under the authority of Article 2, Section 9, and Article 3, Section 17, Constitution of the State of Alaska, and in the public interest, I call the 34th Legislature of the State of Alaska into its second special session in Juneau, Alaska, in the legislative chambers on May 21st at 10:00 a.m. to consider passage of bills on subjects germane to the title of the following bill while the bill was under consideration by the 34th Legislature during the second regular session. HB 381, relating to the taxation of certain natural gas pipeline property relating to municipal taxation limitations. Establishing an alternative volumetric tax on natural gas throughput and relating to the allocation of revenue from the alternative volumetric tax, dated this 19th day of May, 3:51 PM, signed Mike Dunleavy, Governor. Those are all the messages from the governor this evening, Mr. President. Thank you, Madam Secretary.

Senator Giesel. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the Senate return to the consideration of the Mr. Speaker, I move to amend the calendar at House Bill 28.

A brief— Will the Senate come back to order, please? Senator Geisel. Mr. President, I withdraw my motion. Thank you. Madam Secretary.

Under messages from the House, a message dated May 19th stating the House has passed and is transmitting for consideration CS for House Joint Resolution number 46, Community and Regional Affairs, by the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee, recognizing the sovereign decisions of the communities of Kipnuk, and Quinhillinghok to relocate in the wake of the devastation caused by Typhoon Halong, affirming the right of Alaska Native communities to self-determination and urging full state and federal support for relocation of those communities. I think at this time I'm returning H.R. 46 To the Finance Committee. I have no further messages from the House this evening, Mr. President. Thank you, Madam Secretary.

Please read the next item on today's calendar.

Senator Giesel. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the Senate return to the consideration of the calendar starting with HB 28. Thank you. Madam Secretary, please read the next item.

Senate CS for CS for House Bill number 28, Finance, an act relating to education, relating to reimbursement of school district energy costs, relating to Correspondence Study Program materials, relating to substitute teaching, relating to the qualifications of school board members, relating to school consolidation, relating to the required local contribution made by a city or borough school district for public school funding, relating to reemploying retired members of the Teachers Retirement System at regional resource centers, establishing a teacher student loan repayment pilot program, providing for an effective date before the Senate in third reading on final passage. Amendment number 1 will not be offered. There are amendments number 2 and number 3 by Senator Bjorkman on members' desks. Thank you, Senator Bjorkman. Thank you, Mr. President.

I move amendment number 3. First, you need to move—.

Oh, apologies—. Back to second reading. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent to return to second reading. Thank you. Hearing no objection, House Bill 28 is back in second reading.

We'll stay there until we have considered all the amendments. Senator Dunbar, and now you can move Amendment Number 2, I believe. Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Bjorkman here. I move Amendment Number 3.

Thank you, Mr. President. Amendment number 3 adjusts the growth rate limit of the rural— I'm sorry, the required local contribution. And you might ask yourself, what is a required local contribution? Well, required local contribution is a way through our state education funding formula that essentially functions as a mandated state property. Tax is calculated by 2.65 mils on the full value determination, which is a little different than how property assessments typically are taxed at a local level.

Folks might be familiar with this process. So when full value determination is figured out, first you take all of the assessed value that normally would get taxed— business property, homes, vacant land— that's your regular assessment base. Then on top of that, you have all of your personal property, and all the value of that property is also added into the full value determination. And then on top of that are these special assessment criteria, which I've not heard a great explanation of what these assessment criteria are, but I don't know if it's voodoo economics or something else the state assessor does to come up with this assessment criteria that ultimately adds up to the full value determination. Determination.

The state mandates that property tax rate be 2.65 mills, and that's set by the state assessor. There's no local control over that mill rate. It's a state-mandated property tax. So what happens with the required local contribution? Well, when property values rise, and this oftentimes happens now because— not necessarily because of economic growth, but because snowbirds are coming to Alaska.

Folks without families are coming to Alaska, and they are driving up the value of our properties. If this were families moving to our communities, if these were people with kids, this wouldn't be so much of an issue because those kids would be in our schools, Mr. President, and they would allow for more funding. But what we're seeing across Alaska is property values are going up. Because the price is being inflated by folks that want to get a little bit of Alaska in their own lives as retirees or as snowbirds. That's not so good for our kids in school because as that required local contribution goes up, every dollar that it goes up, state aid goes down.

It's a direct relationship. So what that means, for example, last year we raised the BSA and there were massive headlines. That said we have an historic BSA increase. But Mr. President, when the check arrived at our local school districts and our superintendents and principals and teachers went to cash that check, it was actually less money than we had funded K-12 education before. And that occurred because of this one function.

I greatly appreciate in the bill that there is a 5% cap on the growth rate of required local contribution. I am thankful for that, but I think that we can do a little better. Our current law does shift significant cost from the state onto local municipalities, and that's unlimited. What I would like to see in this amendment, Mr. President, is that we limit it down a little bit closer to what average inflation is CPI, not all the way there, but kind of splitting the difference between your average property valuation inflation and CPI so that people can identify that, yes, we accept as local municipalities that we have some skin in the game and some cost shift will still happen under the bill before you with this amendment. That will absolutely happen because people have the ability to pay.

Should that ability to pay, and should the state's responsibility— we have a constitutional duty here in the state of Alaska to establish and maintain a system of public schools— how much should we ask our municipal school districts, and only our municipal school districts, to pay? That's what this amendment does. It simply says, hey, we're okay shifting some cost, but not so much, not so much that we are delivering less dollars than we otherwise would. It preserves educational opportunities for kids in classrooms. It preserves smaller class sizes.

It preserves school opportunity for school districts to have a little bit more time before they choose to close schools, Mr. President. And that's what I would like to do with this amendment, is say we're okay with shifting a little bit of cost, but maybe not so much. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Bjornholm. Senator Keele.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in opposition to the amendment, not because there's no problem here. I think the offer of the amendment has identified a real problem. But because this is not a good solution and rewriting the education funding formula on the floor is not a good idea. So a couple of first little clarifications.

The required local contribution is not a state property tax. It is an amount, it's calculated based on property value just as was described. But a borough, municipality, city can pay that with anything they want. We've got one that pays it with raw fish tax. Some use sales tax.

Some, you know, use other resource revenues. Varies.

But that is how it's calculated. That's a fair description. And the problem we have, Mr. President, the problem of the cost shift to local governments is really a problem of the BSA being flat, of our education funding not going up. We all know that we raised the base student allocation by a record amount last year, but the dollar increase over the year before amounted to $20 a kid. It's about 0.3%.

And so when we talk about the cost shifting a little bit, it's because our funding of schools hasn't kept up, not because our formula is fundamentally broken, Mr. President. What we have, unfortunately, in this amendment is something that recuts the pie. It shifts our formula and who pays for what, and it does it to the benefit of some and unfortunately to the long-term detriment of others. That's not the intent. Nobody is trying to rob any school, but it is an effect.

So, um, I'm in a little bit of a pickle, Mr. President. I have the school district in the town we're in. We have sales and property taxes. We pay required local contribution. I have a couple other school districts, one of which might get some benefit from this amendment.

One of which certainly won't because they pay the alternate required local contribution. It's a complex formula. Another reason we maybe shouldn't rewrite it on the floor at, uh, 7:30 at night on day 120.

But I've got an REAA as well, and the problem we have with this amendment is that when we shift the balance because education funding is not keeping up, we have a problem with the next slug of money we put into our schools.

The next time we or our successors in these jobs get together and figure out, okay, we can scrounge up, we can find, we can prioritize X million dollars in the budget to put into our schools, a little bit more of that goes to urban and a little bit less of that goes to rural. And the time after that, it's gonna happen again. And the time after that, it's gonna happen again. Mr. President, it's not an immediate, instantaneous minus to one and plus to another, but over the long term, this recuts the pie.

We did this once before, Mr. President. Well, we didn't, but there was—. Oh, mercy—. 20-Something years ago, I think, there was a senator who was very frustrated. That there was a cost shift happening in education funding.

The BSA was not going up, but property values were growing in their community. And so they set a base year for full and true value, and they said after that, only half of the growth in your community's total taxable property counts towards your required local contribution. Interesting, Mr. President, back then It wasn't a 2.65 mil equivalent, it was a 4 mil equivalent. Well, what happened? Some communities grew fast.

Thank goodness, God bless, good for them. But some communities did not grow quickly. And so the effective rate, the effective millage that they were required to put into their schools stayed high. It stayed close to 4 mils. Communities that grew really fast Now, maybe they had a lot of homes being built, maybe they had a brand new cruise ship dock, maybe they had a new LNG regasification facility, whatever it was, right?

Whatever was built in that community, that bumped up their property value, and only half went in. Same thing this does, different mechanism, same curve, different slope on it. So after a few years, where did we find ourselves? With some municipalities paying in an equivalent of about 2.8 mils required and some paying at about 3.8, almost 3.9.

Now, it happened that we found an opportunity to invest in our schools and to fix this growing disparity within and among urban Alaska, to say nothing of what it was doing to rural school funding. And so the legislature, several years later, boosted school funding and dropped everybody a little bit and set the new required local contribution at 2.65 mils.

Flat. Level. Fair across the state. So we do have a problem, Mr. President. The maker of the amendment is not wrong.

We are shifting costs over time because education funding is not keeping up. That's the fix. Rewriting the formula on the floor, benefiting some parts of the state to the detriment of others. I'd love it if the way we funded schools was to say, what's the right BSA number, and just found the cash wherever we found it from. But that's not the reality of government budgeting.

We put it all together, we balance all the obligations and priorities. Education is a high priority, but there's not unlimited money for it. I wish there was. So when we find that amount, we put that into our formula. We rewrite the formula on the fly after 7:00 PM on day 121.

We're advantaging some, we're disadvantaging others. And within my district, Mr. President, I got a no-win vote here. I'm going to come down in favor of holding off for now. We've got an education funding task force. We've got work to do.

I'm going to vote no. I hope you'll join me. Thank you, Senator Kiehl. Is there further discussion? Senator Tobin.

Thank you, Mr. President. I, too, rise in opposition. And that's not because I don't want my municipality and municipalities across Alaska to receive additional funding. But the underlying bill is an education reform bill. It is not a municipal funding piece of legislation.

What the amendment attempts to do is reduce the cap that we painstakingly planned out with our Senate Finance members. We modeled it. We understood what the consequences will be of making this policy choice. At 2%— or excuse me, at 3.5%, I don't know what the impact will be to our budget. I don't know if that leads to an unsustainable supplantation of state funds for municipal funds.

I don't know what the impact will be to federal impact aid, as I recently just learned that required local contribution is tied to to federal impact aid and our ability to deduct that for education purposes. I have no idea if this will violate the Equal Protection Clause in our Constitution. I do have legal memos that say when we do provide some school districts with a monetary advantage of others, it is a violation of equal protection. I don't know those things because we have not had time to thoroughly vet this policy. This is why we shouldn't be writing an education funding bill at day 120 in the final hours of session.

This is a big policy call. It's a very big one. And that's why we have a task force in education funding that is working with local partners and stakeholders to have solid conversations about what is fairness when it comes to funding our education systems. Now, a few days ago, I did listen to the constitutional minutes talking about the shared responsibility of supporting our public schools, ensuring that we all have skin in the game. And what our constitutional delegation talked about was equity and fairness.

Well, unfortunately, I think this proposal at 3.5% violates the intent of our constitutional delegates when we divorce that relationship between local funding and its responsibility to our schools, what we do is have less engagement with parents. We have less engagement of community. We have less oversight, which does lead to worse education outcomes. Now, I hope we increase state funding for our schools. We increase the BSA, and I do not want us to be working to inflation adjust that and not ensuring that we are allowing inflation to erode our local school funding sources.

5% Was modeled. It is prudent. It allows for smoothing when there are volatility and spikes in property assessed values. And I think in the future, if this body determines that an additional percentage decrease is prudent and reasonable or required, we will take the time and due consideration to vet that policy thoroughly in committee. This is not the last attempt at ensuring we have fair and equitable funding formula.

That is what the task force is focused on. That is what our education policy committees work toward. That's what the finance table works on. I think it's time for us to work on ensuring that we pass good public policy, and that is the underlying bill. I urge members to join me in voting no.

Thank you, Senator Tobin. Is there additional discussion? Senator Hoffman. Thank you, Mr. President. Permission to read?

Without objection, so ordered. I have a letter here from the Alaska Council on School Administrators. Their headline is— their underlining of their statement says, "Leadership, Unity, Advocacy for Public Education." I might read one paragraph on a letter from their executive director. Regarding this topic. It says, a— ACSA appreciates the thoughtful approach to the proposed 5% cap on the growth of the required local contribution.

This represents a more moderate effort to provide municipalities with greater budget predictability while recognizing the need to carefully evaluate potential long-term impacts on the adequacy and equity of education funding across districts. I would agree that we should not be rewriting the formula. I participated many hours in budget audit when the last rewrite was made, and that is a proper place to to review the information and make these long-term impact decisions on our schools. I would strongly recommend that the members of this body reject Amendment No. 3.

Thank you, Senator Hoffman. Senator Yunt. Thank you, Mr. President. Good evening, and thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak briefly in support of this amendment. I'm not speaking in support maybe because I don't recognize the fact that this is a complicated issue.

I do. This is a very complicated issue and it's going to take time to flush out. What I need to speak about is how it affects my community in the 4 years that I spent on the assembly working on our budget every year. So last year we increased the BSA by $20, right? That should have led to more money in my community.

It was $20 more than it had been the year prior. Unfortunately, my community received $3,289,000 less this year from the state than we did last year, right? That's a tough pill to swallow. And so I am grateful that the 5% is in there. I understand that this would affect different communities in different ways, but also, you know, I hope that everybody understands the frustration when you live in a community like my own some of the bigger ones like Anchorage and Fairbanks and Kenai Peninsula Borough.

So, um, I'm going to vote yes. I, I think we got a lot of work to do in the future and hopefully flush through this in a timely manner. But, uh, thank you again. Thank you, Senator Yount. Is there further discussion?

Senator Stedman. Thank you, Mr. President. Well, I've got 14 school districts, so I get a smorgasbord of About everything, I think. Well, a couple things to remember here. A lot of our schools are losing population, kids, and that affects the dollars coming into the school if you look at just total dollars going in.

But the disparity in some communities that are growing, the real estate is growing faster than the BSA. That's what we're talking about tonight for those at home are watching. A lot of communities are more stagnant. And we have a relatively stagnant BSA relative to growth of a lot of our other communities. They don't have this issue.

But we do want to have full value reflected. And some communities, maybe they grow at 10% for a year and then 15% next year. And if you have the number too low, you never catch up. So you got to catch up sometime. That's why when we first looked at some of these numbers, we were— that are down at the 2%, 2.5% range, and at Finance we looked at different ranges and settled in on 5%.

So we could have get caught up in the fast-growing communities over a period of a few handful of years to their assessed values, unless they grow, you know, 10% for forever, which is probably unlikely. Some of our communities stay flat for decades. So with that, Mr. President, I think that this amendment should not be adopted, and we can look at this, as mentioned earlier by the senator from Juneau, through the analysis and study over the next year or so as we look at adjustments to our formula. And as a quick note, I do appreciate the little history of when we faced a similar issue 2 decades ago and we really had a mess where we had, after several years, we had some communities paying at 4 mills and some communities had under 3. And we ended up settling, time we got the politics put together, we settled up on 2.65 mills.

But I had several communities at that time that were 4 mills. And there's a big difference. And it was the growing communities with the lower 3. That was Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Matsu area. The communities I represented that lost their pulp mills, they were stuck at 4 mills.

So anyway, just appreciate that little history lesson because we don't want to repeat those type of mistakes. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Steadman. Is there additional discussion? In wrap-up, Senator Bjorkman.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate the discussion on the floor. It's worthy, and I have enjoyed talking to people about this issue. It's worth pointing out that to increase the BSA in order to overcome this problem requires a very, very large BSA increase that is in no way pragmatically possible because, as the senator from Bethel pointed out earlier today, we don't have the funds to do that. So then is the answer that we take our state responsibility that's constitutionally mandated and say, hey, I don't want to meet my obligation to the Constitution as the State of Alaska.

Municipalities, you do it.

That's why folks have said, "No, we're not into that. We're not into the state passing the buck and shifting all of this cost onto local municipalities. We think you should do less of that, State of Alaska." That's why this concept is supported by municipalities from all across the state, including the Alaska Municipal League, the Borough of Kodiak, the Mat-Su Borough, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Kenai Peninsula Borough, and many others who recognize that the cost shift that is recognized in the bill before us is damaging to their communities. The Municipality of Anchorage had to have a special ballot measure on their ballot because of this very function of an increasing required local contribution. The state, through this function that's called out and recognized as legitimate with the 5% cap here in the bill, that unlimited RLC growth defunded Anchorage schools, helped cause the closure of schools like Campbell STEM.

And Lake Otis Elementary.

Many kids displaced. My own children, Mr. President, their school might close next year— not next school year, but next budget process soon because of functions like this one. Our schools, they may be losing students. Last fiscal year, the Kenai Peninsula School District We lost about $700— it was a little less than that, but $700,000 due to declining enrollment. The revenue loss to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District because of increase to the required local contribution was $3.6 million.

Those two numbers aren't close.

What I'm asking to do in this amendment It's to just cost shift a little bit less. It was brought up that 4 districts around the state pay an alternate required local contribution at 45%. That's true. Those districts are not harmed. Those districts would benefit from this provision.

Ledge Legal modeled that for me, and they said they would benefit. Also, what Ledge Legal modeled is I asked them specifically, Does this provision, capping the required local contribution, does it hurt any district's funding for next year? Will any district get less money because of that? The answer was no. I also asked Ledge Legal, can you model for me, would, if capping the required local contribution meant that all districts all over the state gave to the maximum allowable, would we fail disparity?

The answer again, Mr. President, was no. And that was at 2%. That was at 2%. I'm asking for 3.5% here.

The past action that we— that the legislature took, the past action that the legislature took that dealt with the full value determination was breathtakingly larger than this small adjustment. Only allowing a 50% increase to the full value determination, that is orders of magnitude larger than a 3.5% cap. It's no wonder that things got out of balance so quickly under that system. I recognize that. In my conversations with with the co-chairs, I expressed to them, I said, hey, that was, that was a mistake.

This is a very small adjustment. I asked Legislative Finance— not Legal, I'm sorry, I misspoke earlier— Legislative Finance, what would this amendment do to the fiscal note? Again, the fiscal note is experienced by defunding our local schools less. It's about a $2.1 million change.

As we think about what has happened with our— I like to listen to the Constitutional Convention, listen to the minutes too. They talked about all kinds of stuff. It was immensely fascinating. But the words in the Constitution, they're pretty clear. It's the state's responsibility to establish and maintain a system of public education.

I want to make sure the state is meeting its obligation and not passing the buck. And so many dollars onto our local munis. 3.5%, I think, is a modest adjustment. I urge members to vote yes. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Bjorkman. If you are ready for the question, question being, shall the Senate adopt Amendment Number 3? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote?

The Secretary will announce the vote. 10 Yeas, 10 nays. And so by a vote of 10 yeas to 10 nays, Amendment Number 3 has failed to pass the Senate.

Brief at ease.

Will the Senate come back to order, please? We are in second reading of Senate CS for CS-Rouseville 28 Finance. Madam Secretary, there is an Amendment Number 4 by Senator Bjorkman on members' desks. Thank you, Senator Bjorkman. Mr. President, I move Amendment 4.

As an objection, I Please explain your amendment, Senator Dunbar. I'm sorry, Senator Bjorkman. Thank you, Mr. President. Exact same concept. The only reason I'm offering this amendment is I think it might pass.

Thank you, members. Thank you. Is there further discussion? Senator Hoffman. Thank you, Mr. President.

I did not go over the what financial cost will be to the state at 5%. And it is substantial. It's not $1 million here, $1 million there. The first year in FY '27 that we have in the operating budget to pay for this program in FY '27 is $9.9 million.

The fiscal note that we have shows it growing to over $23 million by FY31 at 5%. And astonishingly, in the year FY35, this cost to the state of Alaska to assist these communities, which I support, will cost the state $41.6 million. Instead of disrupting the formula, I think members should realize the financial impacts to this— that this piece of legislation does and vote no. Thank you, Senator Hoffman. Is there further discussion?

In wrap-up, Senator Bjorkman. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I think it's worth pointing out that the fiscal impact is experienced simply because it's foregone revenue that the state is experiencing because it's shifting cost. You're defunding municipal school districts, and the state would save money as a result of that function of defunding municipal school districts. That what— that's what develops the fiscal note.

It's a speculative fiscal note assuming that property values continue to increase. They may not, and they have not. If we look at data from AML, property values go up in spikes, and then they settle out and flatten out. We've seen that in multiple presentations from them. I appreciate the concern and looking at the speculative nature about what property values may or may not do, but the fiscal note and fiscal impact is entirely developed from the assumptions that the state is going to continue to make someone else pay for its responsibility.

I urge members to vote yes.

Thank you, Senator Bjorkman. If you are ready for the question. The question being, shall the Senate adopt Amendment Number 4? Senators may proceed to vote.

The Secretary will lock the roll. Do any Senators wish to change their vote? The Secretary will announce the vote. 11 Yeas, 9 nays. And so by a vote of 11 yeas to 9 nays, Amendment Number 4 has passed the Senate.

Madam Secretary, I have no further amendments. That bill's— that brings the bill back before the Senate in third reading on final passage. Thank you. Senator Tobin. Well, thank you, Mr. President.

I'm very proud and excited to be carrying HB 28, which is an incredible piece of legislation. We've been calling it the school minibus, which really is about how the state supports its public education system across Alaska. As we do many things to support our teachers, we do many things in this legislation to ensure that we have good public policy that aligns with evidence and prudent steps in ensuring that our students are protected in the classroom. And one of the most transformational things that's included in the legislation before you is we establish a state energy grant program. Program, which, although subject to appropriation, takes a 3-year average of all of the energy expenditures in our brick-and-mortar schools and pays that for the schools.

Now, it's crazy how we are able to ensure that we get adequate funding into our schools that maybe is inside the formula, but sometimes it is out, because we recognize our school districts do not receive PCE, and yet they still need to keep their facilities warm. Their buildings illuminated, and especially right now with the volatility in the energy and fuel market, this will have a transformational effect on our education system. One of the pieces of HB 28 that I absolutely adore is the creation of a 3-year pilot teacher student loan forgiveness program. We know that the best way to attract high-quality educators is to ensure that they are fairly inadequately compensated. While that is a local control issue, this bill provides a mechanism that for those educators who are working in STEM-related fields, special education, or English language learners will receive one-third of their student loans forgiven each year for 3 years, up to $5,000 each year.

That particular portion of this legislation uses the Higher Education Investment Fund I think it's going to give us some really great data on how we can find mechanisms and incentives to ensure we get high-quality educators into our classroom. Now, one of the more interesting pieces that I think you'll see in this legislation was an amendment that was added in the Senate finance table. It was sponsored by the senator from the Tok area, and this ensures something really important. We want to guarantee that those folks who are elected elected to serve on our school boards are held to a really high standard. And in this policy today, there is some particular stipulations that ensures to the qualifications of those members.

There was some young students who brought this to our attention. They championed this policy, the resolutions on this policy, and now because of their work, their civic engagement, that policy is going to become law. I'm quite excited about that. I think this bill has everything in it and it is an exciting piece of transformational policy for our communities. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Senator Tobin. Senator Wielechowski. Thank you, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as a cross-sponsor. Without objection, Senator Wielechowski was shown as cross-sponsor along with Senator Dunbar, Senator Kawasaki, Senator Bjorkman, Senator Cronk, and on this side, Senator Gray Jackson, Senator Giesel, Senator Clayman, Senator Steadman, and Stevens.

Further discussion at this time? Senator Cronk. Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to speak briefly about sections 4 and 5. I appreciate the members of the Finance Committee and members of this body for supporting these sections.

I really did want to highlight two students, Holly Beeman and Jeffrey Alseth from T.O.A.P., who came up with these two ideas. And they were, you know, in the Alaska Association of Student Government, and they went there and worked it and got resolutions passed and brought that to our attention. And so I just want to give them a shout-out. And, you know, I think it's a real good highlight of letting people know outside this building, and even students, that we actually listen to them, we care about what they're saying, and I appreciate having this. Bill because I, I think it highlights the fact that we are listening here, our students.

So thank you. Thank you, Senator Cronk, for the discussion. And Senator Yunt.

Thank you, Mr. President. I, uh, I want to rise today and, and, um, give my full support for this legislation. I cannot tell you how excited I am. My district last year spent between $6.3 and $6.4 million $1.2 million on natural gas and electricity alone. Those, those have been rising every year for our community.

I do look forward to the day that, that the state pays for the energy related to all of our schools. I understand that how lucky we are compared to many parts of Alaska. We, we got natural gas, and, and I understand that a lot of Alaskans don't have that, right? So we're very lucky. But, uh, I look forward to the state picking up the tab on that in the future.

There's a lot of other wonderful pieces of legislation in here. Um, it's— I think it's going to be a massive win for all of our districts. I want to speak specifically in regards to inflation. For the last 10 years or so, right, inflation's been somewhere around 36%. Okay, inflation and education spending in the state of Alaska has been nowhere even close to that.

My assembly at the local level um, has outpaced inflation by $1,999,000 at the local level. We've kept up with inflation in the last 10 years and exceeded it by just shy of $2 million. But the state of Alaska is somewhere in my community around $36 to $42 million shy of inflation. It's a big dent. We've got schools shutting down, we've got schools getting combined.

I understand my school board is making some of the toughest decisions I could ever imagine making, way harder decisions than I had to make while on the assembly or that I've had to make here. I'm very sympathetic to my school board members. They're— all 7 of them are absolutely fantastic. Um, I, I think this legislation is going to help, help ease that pain for them in, in, uh, in many ways, and I'm looking forward to hitting green. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Senator Yount. Is there further discussion? And wrap up, Senator Tolman, if you are ready for the question. The question being, shall Senate CS for CS for House Bill 28 Finance, as amended in the Senate, pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote? The secretary will announce the vote. 17 Yeas, 3 nays. And so by a vote of 17 yeas to 3 nays, Senate CS for CS for House Bill 28 Finance amended in the Senate has passed the Senate.

Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the vote on the bill be considered the vote on the effective date clause. Thank you. Hearing no objection, the effective date clause has been adopted. Thank you, Secretary.

That brings the title change SCR 21 before the Senate on final passage. Thank you. If you are ready for the question, the question being, shall the title change resolution SCR 21 pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote? The secretary will announce the vote. 20 Yeas, 0 nays. And so by a vote of 20 yeas to 0 nays, the title change resolution SCR 21 has passed the Senate.

Madam Secretary, please read the next item on today's calendar. CS for House Bill 96, Labor and Commerce, amended, an act establishing the Home Care Employment Standards Advisory Board relating to payment for personal care services and providing for an effective date before the Senate in third reading on final passage. Thank you, Senator. You want to carry the bill? Good evening, Mr. President.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to share with you tonight HB 96, an act establishing the Home Care Employment Standards Advisory Board. What would this legislation do if it went into law? Two very very specific things, Mr. President. First and foremost, it's going to create a stakeholder advisory board including agency representation to advise the Department of Health on payment rates and workforce conditions with biannual reports and public testimony built into the process. Secondly, it's going to establish a wage pass-through floor requiring that at least 70% of the funding go to the actual employees that do the work.

This will continue until 2027. Starting in 2027, and by the year 2030, we'll ensure that 80% of the funding go to the employees, the ones that are actually doing the work. I think everybody in here could agree that we don't want a bunch of bloat and waste, uh, and fraud in areas of government. We've seen a lot of that nationwide this year specifically, and the best way to prevent that is to make sure that the funds are going to the people actually doing the work. Mr. President, I'm going to give you two statistics.

One is fantastic and one worries me to death. One, in the— by the year 2050, the state of Alaska, our senior population who lives to be 85 or older, is expected to grow by about 500%. This is fantastic news. We're living longer. The bad news is, is we got to take care of our seniors.

We can't just leave them out there to dry. The state of Alaska currently is the second least likely state in America for seniors to retire. The family nucleus is strongest when our grandparents are staying in Alaska. I'm proud to say that in my 6 years of being elected, 4 on the assembly and 2 here now, my number one priority tied with K-12 education has been how we take care of our seniors and how we, how we try to pass legislation to keep them living in the state of Alaska. Our grandkids need them.

And I'm looking forward to this legislation hopefully becoming law. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Senator. Is there further discussion? If you are ready for the question, question being, shall CS for House Bill 96, Labor and Commerce, amended Pass the Senate.

Senators may proceed to vote.

The Secretary will lock the roll. Do any Senators wish to change their vote? The Secretary will announce the vote.

Nay.

Briefed at ease.

Will the Senate come back to order, please? Um, the question being is, shall CS for House Bill 96, Labor and Commerce Amended, pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote? The secretary will announce the vote. 19 Yeas, 1 nay. And so by a vote of 19 yeas to 1 nay, CS for House Bill 96, Labor and Commerce Amended, has passed the Senate.

Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the vote on the bill be considered the vote on the effective date clause. Thank you. Hearing no objection, And the effective date clause has been adopted. Madam Secretary, will you please read the next item on today's calendar?

Senate CS for CS for House Bill 126, Labor and Commerce, an act relating to the reinstatement of Native village corporations relating to proxy solicitations of share— to shareholders of corporations organized under state law under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and providing for an effective date before the Senate in third reading on final passage. Senator Bjorkman, did you have your— no, okay, you don't want to speak that. No, okay, we'll give Senator Gray Jackson the opportunity to carry the bill. Thank you, thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I'm honored to carry this bill this evening on behalf of the representative from the other body.

HB S. 126 addresses two important issues related to Alaska Native corporations. First, the bill allows an involuntarily dissolved Native corporation to reinstate as the same corporation, thereby retaining its assets. This issue arises periodically when a local Native corporation fails to submit required paperwork to the Division of Corporations, Business, and Professional Licensing. Under current law, when a corporation does not meet cannot meet the reporting requirements, it may be involuntarily dissolved. HB 126 connects this problem— corrects this problem by allowing these corporations to reinstate without losing their original corporate identity or assets.

Second, the bill amends AS 4555-139 relating to corporate reporting requirements. The bill removes outdated language referencing, referencing corporations with at least $1 million in assets. This position is unnecessary because all Alaska Native corporations exceed that threshold, making the language effectively irrelevant. In addition, the bill clarifies that small village corporations with fewer than 500 original shareholders at the time of incorporation remain exempt from the reporting requirements of the statute. Specifically, the bill replaces the term 500 persons with 500 shareholders.

When this statute was originally enacted, the legislature's intent was to exempt small corporations with fewer than 500 shareholders. However, over the— over time, some of these corporations have exceeded the 500-person threshold because shares are often inherited and divided among multiple family members following shareholders' deaths. So as a result, the number of individual persons holding shares increases even though the total number of outstanding shares in the corporation remains unchanged. HB 126, it makes a simple clarifying change to ensure that the law reflects the legislature's intent. So I respectfully ask the body to, um, vote yes on this, uh, bill along with me.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Gray Jackson. Is there discuss— Discussion.

If you are ready for the question, question being, shall Senate CS for CS for House Bill 126, Labor and Commerce, pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

Senator Gray Jackson.

Thank you. The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote? The secretary will announce the vote. 20 Ayes, Nays.

And so by a vote of 20 yeas and 0 nays, Senate CS for CS for House Bill 126, Labor and Commerce, has passed the Senate. Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the vote on the bill be considered the vote on the effective date clause. Hearing no objection, the effective date clause has been adopted. Madam Secretary.

That brings the title change, SCR 13, before the Senate on final passage. Thank you. If you are ready for the question, the question being: Shall the title change resolution SCR 13 pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote? The secretary will announce the vote. 20 Yeas, 0 nays. And so by a vote of 20 yeas and 0 nays, the title change resolution SCR 13 HB 13 has passed the Senate.

Madam Secretary, please read the next item on today's calendar.

House Bill 244, an act relating to certified nurse aide training and providing for an effective date, before the Senate in third reading on final passage. Senator Gray Jackson. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm also honored to carry House Bill 244 on behalf of the member from District House. I also want to recognize the tremendous work that this member has done this session to ensure that this legislation continued moving forward and ultimately reached, uh, this stage of the process.

This legislation addresses an important issue facing Alaska's aging population. I introduced the bill prior to the Board of Nursing adopting regulations intended to achieve the same goals as this legislation. The board has continued working thoughtfully to consider and implement these— those regulations, but because of the administration's 2025 regulation freeze, that process has taken additional time. In the meantime, a representative from District 27 took the lead and worked incredibly hard to advance this bill through the legislation— through the legislature this year as another path forward to ensure that this important training can still be put into place. I'm thrilled to know that this important policy may now be recognized in Alaska state statutes.

House Bill 244 recognizes the need for nurses in Alaska to receive training on the signs and symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Early detention of these devastating conditions can improve the quality of life for individuals and families navigating these challenges. As Alaska Alaska's population continues to age, this is an issue that should matter to all of us. I'm sure that many of us in this chamber have witnessed the impact dementia and Alzheimer's can have on loved ones and families. I certainly have.

Throughout the committee process, the bill has received broad support from industry leaders and advocates, advocates who emphasize how meaningful this training would be supporting Alaska's aging community. This is a common This is a common-sense measure that supports Alaskans across the state, from individuals living with these conditions to families and caregivers who stand beside them every day. I respectfully ask for your support of House Bill 244, and I'm proud to support this meaningful legislation that can make a difference in the lives of Alaskans. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Gray Jackson.

Is there further discussion? Seeing none, if you are ready for the question, question being, shall House Bill 244 pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote? The secretary will announce the vote. 20 Yeas, 0 nays. And so by a vote of 20 yeas, 0 nays, House Bill 244 has passed the Senate.

Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the vote on the bill be considered the vote on the effective date clause. Hearing no objection, the effective date clause has been adopted. Madam Secretary, please read the next item on today's calendar. CS for House Bill 249, Labor and Commerce, an act relating to the transfer of a vehicle to an insurance company, before the Senate in third reading on final passage.

Thank you. Senator Yount. Good evening, Mr. President. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to share with you tonight House Bill 249, an act relating to the transfer of a title to an insurance company. Currently, as it sits today, this process requires a notary.

It's as old and archaic as— well, I won't mention it. The process is outdated. If we pass HB 249 tonight, it would enable us to use electronic signatures to handle this process. Unfortunately, right now it takes a long time to get this process done. There's circumstances where people are physically incapable of going and getting a notary.

There's times when people live in other states. There's individuals in the military. You could go on and on and on and on. So what this does, Simply put, is it makes life easier for both the business world and us individually if we're ever in this position, which hopefully we're not. So I, uh, I ask that everybody please support this amazing piece of legislation.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator. Yet, is there further discussion?

If you are ready for the question, the question being, shall CS for House Bill 249, Labor and Commerce, pass the Senate? Senators Senators, you may proceed to vote.

The Secretary will lock the roll. Do any Senators wish to change their vote? The Secretary will announce the vote. 20 Yeas, 0 nays. So by a vote of 20 yeas, 0 nays, CS for House Bill 249, Labor and Commerce, has passed the Senate.

Madam Secretary, please read the next item on today's calendar.

Senate CS for CS for House Bill number 278, State Affairs, an Act Establishing the Alaska-Ireland Trade Commission and Providing for an Effective Date, before the Senate in third reading on final passage. Thank you. Senator Merrick. Thank you, Mr. President. My mom used to say there are two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.

But our relationship with Ireland should be about more than just one day a year where we wear green and enjoy corned beef and giant cabbage. I'm pleased to carry this bill today on behalf of the sponsor from District 15 in Anchorage and Senator Daley, Ireland's Senate President, who we had the pleasure of welcoming to the Capitol earlier this session. It was truly an honor to be asked to serve as Senate co-chair of the Alaska chapter of the American Irish State Legislators Caucus, and I'm proud to help continue building this relationship here at home. House Bill 278 would make Alaska the 26th state to establish a trade commission with Ireland, with about 20 more states moving in the same direction. The Ireland-Alaska Trade Commission would include 9 members, 5 appointed by the governor and 2 from each chamber of the legislature.

Importantly, it requires no state funding. Members serve on a volunteer basis, and the commission can accept private donations and grants to to support its work. The goal is simple: strengthen collaboration and innovation in key areas like industry, public policy, and culture. Even with our informal partnership so far, Alaska has already been able to see meaningful engagement in areas like seafood, tourism, and technology. This bill takes the next step in creating a formal pathway to expand those opportunities.

Mr. President, this is a smart, forward-looking investment in Alaska's future, one that strengthens our global partnerships without adding pressure to the state budget. I respectfully ask for your support and maybe even the lucky green button. Thank you, Senator Merrick. Is there further discussion? Please go ahead, Senator Kaufman.

My dear departed mother is whispering in my ear to cross-sponsor this piece of legislation. Without objection, so ordered, Senator Kaufman. Along with Senator Cronk, Senator Kawasaki, Senator Merrick, Senator Yat, Senator Olson, Senator Tobin. And over here we'll have Senator Gray Jackson, Senator Rauscher, Senator Clayman, Senator Tilton, Senator Steadman, and Senator Stevens. Thank you.

Further discussion? If you are ready for the question, the question being, shall Senate CS for CS for House Bill 278, State Affairs, pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll. Do any senators wish to change their vote? The secretary will lock the roll and announce the vote. 20 Ayes, 0 nays. Thank you.

By a vote of 28 yeas, 0 nays, Senate CS for CS for House Bill 278, State Affairs, has passed the Senate. Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the vote on the bill be considered the vote on the effective date clause. Hearing no objection, the effective date clause has been adopted. Madam Secretary, please read the next item on today's calendar.

CS for House Bill 16, State Affairs, an act requiring a group supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot proposition in a state or local election to maintain an address in the state. Amending campaign contribution limits for state and local office. Directing the Alaska Public Offices Commission to adjust campaign contribution limits for state and local office once each decade beginning in 2031. Relating to campaign contribution reporting requirements. Relating to administrative complaints filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Relating to state election expenditures and contributions made by a foreign-influenced corporation or foreign national and providing for an effective date before the Senate in third reading on final passage.

Order, please. Madam Secretary, there is an Amendment Number 1 by Senator Wilkowski on members' desks. Thank you, Senator Wilkowski. Thank you, Mr. President. Move and ask unanimous consent to go back to second reading for the purpose of offering a specific amendment.

And without objection, so ordered. Senator Wilkowski, move Amendment Number 1.

Hearing no objection, the amendment number 1 has been adopted.

I have no further amendments. That brings the bill back before the Senate in third reading on final passage. I brief at ease.

Holding this, uh, for the next legislative day.

A brief at ease.

May the Senate come back to order, please. If there is no further discussion, if you are ready for the question, the question being, shall CS for House Bill 16, State Affairs, amended in the Senate, pass the Senate? Senators may proceed to vote.

The secretary will lock the roll.

Do any— mine isn't working.

Refit these.

Well, the Senate, come back to order, please. We will avoid the roll and try that again. The question being, shall Senate CS For House Bill 16, State Affairs Divided, in the Senate, passes Senate. Senators may proceed to vote.

Senator Stedman, the Secretary will lock the roll. Do any Senators wish to change their vote? The Secretary will announce the vote. 12 Yeas, 8 nays. And so by a vote of 12 yeas, 8 nays, Senate CS for CS for House Bill 278, State Affairs, has passed the Senate.

Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move the effective date clause. Without objection, so ordered.

Brief at ease.

To order, please. Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move the effective date clause. The, um, a brief at ease.

Will the Senate come back to order, please? With less than 14 votes, the question before you is, shall the effective date be adopted? Senators may proceed to vote.

Thank you. The Secretary will lock the roll. Do any Senators wish to change their vote? The Secretary will announce the vote. 20 Ayes, 0 nays.

And so by a vote of 20 ayes to 0 nays, The effective date has been approved.

Briefings.

Well, let's send it back to order, please. Madam Majority Leader.

Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the Senate adopt the first supplemental calendar. Thank you. Hearing no objection, the first supplemental calendar is before the Senate. Madam Secretary, please read the first item on today's supplemental calendar.

Chair. House Bill 246 by Representatives Josephson, Allard, Bynum, Story, Hemmschulte, Galvin. An act relating to allocations for the Special Education Service Agency and providing for an effective date. The Finance Committee considered the bill. Previous fiscal notes.

Signing do pass: Senators Olson, Steadman, Hoffman. Co-chairs: Senators Cronk, Merrick, Keele. Signing no recommendation: Senator Kaufman, Discussion. I have no amendments. House Bill 246 will advance to third reading on our next legislative calendar.

Madam Secretary, please read the next item on our calendar, on the supplemental calendar.

CS for House Bill 302, Labor and Commerce, by the House Labor and Commerce Committee, an act relating to travel insurance and providing for an effective date. The Transportation Committee considered the bill, recommended it be replaced with the Transportation Senate Committee Substitute, new title with SCR 28. New zero fiscal notes, signing do pass, Senator Bjorkman, Chair Senator Keele, signing no recommendation, Senators Steadman, Tobin. There is a Transportation Senate Committee Substitute. Thank you.

Senator Bjorkman. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous consent that the Senate Transportation Committee Substitute for House House Bill 302 be adopted in lieu of the original bill. Thank you. Senator Bjorkman, would you please explain the changes?

Absolutely. The committee substitute for HB 302 makes the following changes. It adds new sections 4 through 8 to the bill, comprised of language from Senate Bill 185, which passed this body by a vote of 20 to 0. The provisions added to House Bill 302 lower costs by allowing insurers to cover preventative tools and programs that would make the person or their property less costly to insure. This would include offerings of things for free under specific situations like smoke detectors, water monitors, carbon monoxide sensors, as well as wellness programs, heart rate monitors, and many other things.

There's no fiscal change to the bill. Thank you, Senator Bjorkman. Hearing no objection, the Senate Transportation Committee substitute has been adopted, and this bill will advance to third reading on our next legislative calendar. Madam Secretary, please read the next item on our supplemental calendar.

House Bill 262, by the House Rules Committee by request, an act increasing the number of Superior Court judges in the Third Judicial District and providing for an effective date The Finance Committee considered the bill, previous fiscal note, signing do pass, Senator Hoffman, co-chair Senators Merrick, Keele. Signing no recommendation, Senators Olson, Steadman, co-chairs Senators Kaufman, Cronk. I have no amendments. Thank you. House Bill 262 will advance to third reading on our next legislative calendar.

Madam Secretary, please read the next item on today's supplemental calendar.

House Bill 14 by Representatives Stapp, Johnson, Schraggy, an act repealing programs for catastrophic illness assistance and medical assistance for chronic and acute medical conditions. The Health and Social Services Committee considered the bill, new zero fiscal note, signing no recommendation. Senator Dunbar chair, signing do pass. Senators Myers, Klayman, Kiesel, Tobin. The Finance Committee considered the bill previous zero fiscal note signing do pass.

Senator Hoffman, co-chair. Senators Cronk, Merrick signing a recommendation. Senator Olson, co-chair. Senators Kaufman, Kiel. I have no amendments.

Thank you. House Bill 14 will advance to third reading on our next legislative calendar. Madam Secretary, please read the next item on today's supplemental calendar.

CS for House Bill Number 39, Education, by the House Education Committee, an act relating to public school students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Finance Committee considered the bill. Previous zero fiscal notes. Signing do pass: Senator Hoffman, co-chair. Senators Kaufman, Cronk, Merrick, Keel.

Signing no recommendation: Senators Olson, Steadman, co-chairs. I have no amendments. Thank you. This bill will advance to third reading on our next legislative calendar. Madam Secretary?

There are no further items to consider on today's daily calendar. Under unfinished business, Senator Clayman. Thank you, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous consent to take up reconsideration of House Bill 239, the public safety consolidated bill, and ask that that be taken up on a same-day basis. Thank you, Senator Clayman.

Layman, hearing no objection, we are under reconsideration of the bill, House Bill 239. Is there discussion?

If you are ready for the question, the question being, shall Senate CS for CS for House Bill 239 finance passed the Senate on reconsideration. Senators may proceed to vote.

The Secretary will lock the roll. Do any Senators wish to change their vote? The Secretary will announce the vote. 20 Ayes, 0 nays. And so by a vote of 20 ayes, 0 nays, Senate CS for CS for House Bill 239 Finance has passed the Senate on reconsideration.

And Madam Majority Leader, we have an effective date. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the vote on reconsideration of the bill be considered the vote on the effective date clause. Hearing no objection, the effective date clause has been adopted. Senator Hoffman. Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Mr. President, I move the following bill be waived from the Senate Finance Committee: CSFRS Joint Resolution 46 CRA, recognizing the sovereignty decisions of the communities of Kipnuk and Kugilanak to relocate in the wake of devastation caused by Typhoon Tulang, affirming the rights of Alaskan Native communities to self-determination, and urge the full state and federal support for the relocation of these communities. I think without objection, so ordered. Senator Hoffman, under unfinished business, Senator Gray Jackson. Thank you, Mr. President.

I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as excused from the call of the Senate on 3 occasions. The first is Monday, June 1st, for personal business, and then Wednesday, June 10th through the 16th, for state business, and lastly, Tuesday, July 7th through the 11th for state business. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Jackson. Without objection, so ordered.

Senator Kawasaki. Thank you, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as a cross-sponsor on House Bill 246 regarding CISA. HB 246, uh, you will be shown as a cross-sponsor along with Senator Cronk, Senator Tobin, Senator Yunt, um, very well, and Senator Please go ahead, Senator Kawasaki. Thank you, Mr. President.

I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as a co-sponsor on Senate Bill 21, the Work and Save program. SB 21, you will be shown. Anyone else on that? Senator Yunt, please continue. Senator Kawasaki.

And thank you. Finally, I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown, or to, to be shown as excused and not subject to a call call on May 27th and 28th for state personal business. Without objections, so ordered. Thank you, Senator Kawasaki. Under unfinished business, Senator Yunt.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as a cross-sponsor of HB 96, Home Care Advisory Board. Without objections, so ordered. Along with Senator Crocker, Senator Kawasaki, uh, Senator Tobin— I'm sorry, Senator Dunbar and Senator Olson and Senator Clayman.

Under unfinished business, please continue, Senator Yant. I apologize, Mr. President, I have two more if that's okay. So I move and ask unanimous consent to be added as a cross-sponsor of House Bill 244, CNA training. Without objection, sorted along with Senator Dunbar, Senator Cronk, Senator Kawasaki, Senator Bjorkman, and Senator Clayman, and Senator Rauscher, and Senator Tilton. Further unfinished business?

Finally, I'd like to move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as a cosponsor of HB 278, the Alaska Ireland Trade Commission. Thank you. Without objection, so ordered. Additional unfinished business, Senator Senator Dunbar. Thank you, Mr. President.

I apologize, I was a little slow on the uptake. Um, I also would like to be—. I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as a cross-sponsor on HB 246 related to allocations for the Special Education Service Agency. Without objection, so ordered. Uh, Senator Dunbar, you're not slow, we're all slow.

It's almost 9 o'clock. Senator Cronk. Thank you, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous consent to be shown as a cross- as a sponsor on House Bill 249, transfer of vehicle to insurance company. House Bill 249, Senator Cronk, along with over on this side Senator Tilton and Senator Kaufman and Senator Yant.

Okay. Senator Hoffman. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that I be excused from the call of the Senate on August 7th through August 31st for personal and state Without objection, so ordered, Senator Hoffman. Additional unfinished business at this time? Are there committee announcements?

Are there other announcements?

And are there special orders?

Senator Clayman. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I ask permission of the President to speak on this topic. Topic of staff. Without objection, so ordered.

Senator Clayman. Thank you, Mr. President. One of the privileges I've had throughout my service in the legislature is some of the wonderful staff that have worked with me. And every now and then they get news that is both exciting and also for me somewhat, somewhat a sad moment. So I have two staff that have been with me for a number of years.

First, Brianna Kakarik first came to me as a session, as a session-only hire when I was in the House and— or in the other body and then helped with campaign efforts and then has been working with me far longer than she ever expected for somebody that's actually a constituent and her family doesn't live far from ours. She's been a real gem to have in the office, always very, very dedicated, always very practical, sometimes providing me with very sound advice of some things I just really shouldn't do, but she's got a great, great care for her family, great care for our community, and has done great service for me in the legislature and I think for the whole legislative body. And she told me a couple of weeks ago that this was her last session, and so I want to thank Brianna Kakar for the tremendous work that she has done for my office, but also I think really working with people throughout the legislature. And then the second staff member, Carly Dennis, who's been with me for a few years and she started applying last year to go to the poetry— master's poetry in Master of Fine Arts at University of Alaska Fairbanks. And I knew when she was applying and she even got me to write a recommendation for the effort, I knew that this would be her last session as well.

And it's always great news when folks are going on to whatever comes next in their lives and it's super exciting for me. I will have this new challenge of filling their positions because they've done such great work and both bring care for our community, care for our state, and just a real dedication to their work. So I want to thank both Carly and Brianna for their work and service in my office. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Clayman.

Under special orders, Senator Gray Jackson. Thank you, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous consent to speak on leadership that lifted us all. Without So over to Senator Gray Jackson. Thank you, Mr. President.

I'll start off by saying I know it's late for us, but I needed to seize this opportunity today to say a few words because we don't know what tomorrow will bring. And I'd like for all of you to join me in honoring our Senate president for more than 20 years of service to the people of Alaska. What has always stood out to me the most is his steady leadership. Even during difficult moments, He led and continued to lead with integrity, fairness, and respect for every member of this body. He understands that leadership is not about power.

It's about lifting others up and making people feel valued. On a personal note, since I joined this body in 2019, he has been more than a leader to me. He has been a mentor, a supporter, and a true friend. Over the last 4 years as Senate President, he has always made sure that I had a seat me at the table, and for that I'm grateful. He believed in me, encouraged me, and trusted me with leadership roles that allowed me to grow and better serve my district.

I will never forget that kindness or that confidence. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Rita. Behind every great public servant is often an incredible partner, and Rita has been exactly that. She has always been gracious, warm, and supportive, and I know many of us feel fortunate to know and love her as well. To both of you, thank you for your friendship, your service, and the example you have set for all of us.

Your impact on this institution and me personally will not be forgotten. You will be deeply missed. I also would like to have the honor of speaking about the senator from District S. After joining the Senate in 2019, like many new legislators, I was told early on, Oh, you need to reach out to Senator Hoffman. And I reached out to him and I said hi, and he looked at me and said, yeah, what do you want? Anyway, that was— it turned out to be some of the best advice I could have ever received.

As the longest-serving member of the Senate, he brought wisdom, experience, and a deep understanding of Alaska that simply cannot be taught. He is thoughtful, steady, and incredibly respected. While he may be quiet at times, those of us who who know him also know that he has a great sense of humor that always seems to appear at just the right moment. What I admire most is his unwavering dedication to the people he serves. As an Alaska Native leader, he's worked tirelessly for his communities and for all Alaskans, always carrying that responsibility with dignity and humility.

And I also want to recognize his amazing wife, Lillian. Together they are such a warm and gracious couple, and I feel fortunate to know them both. Thank you for your service, your leadership, your kindness, and the example you have set for all of us. This Senate and this state is better because of you. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Gray Jackson. Senator Keele. Thank you, Mr. President. I move and ask unanimous Senator Whitehouse requests consent for the special privilege of the floor to speak on 60. Without objection, so ordered.

Mr. President, 60 years ago, uh, my mother graduated from Barnard College. It was a time when women were not admitted to Columbia. You had to be admitted to the women's college, Barnard. I got a note today on this paper, which is roughly the Barnard Columbia blue. School colors.

Today, just about noon, when we were here on the floor, our younger daughter walked across the stage of Radio City Music Hall to get her Barnard Columbia diploma. Excuse me.

And Mom got my seat.

Proud as can be, Mr. President. Sometimes it's a little bit of a sacrifice to do this work. And the speaker before me mentioned 2 of the 19 fine people I get to do it alongside. Mr. President, that said, y'all are no substitute.

Thank you, Senator Kiehl. Congratulations. Additional special orders at this time? Seeing none, Madam Majority Leader, brief at ease.

All the senators come back to order, please. Madam Majority Leader. Mr. President, I move and ask unanimous consent that the Senate extend an adjournment until 11:00 AM tomorrow. That's Wednesday, May 20th, 2026. Hearing no objection, the Senate is adjourned.