House Floor Session, 5/20/26, 6pm

Will the House please come back to order. We are in the process of concurring with a number of bills that have arrived on our desks. From the other body, and I will ask the majority leader if he could reach into the limbo file and get us underway on that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the members go into the limbo file to take up House Bill 173.

The member from District 38 will explain the changes made by the other body. Hearing no objection, House Bill 173 is before the body. Representative Jimmy, if you are ready and able, we would turn to you to explain the changes in House Bill 173.

Brikadis.

Will the House please come back to order. I'm going to ask Mr. Majority Leader if we could start with a different bill. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I withdraw that previous motion to pull up 173. We'll come back to that.

Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the members go into limbo file to take up House Bill 13. House Bill 13. The member from District 20 will explain the changes made by the other body. Hearing no objection, House Bill 13 is before the body. Representative Gray.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Permission to read? Permission granted. So, a reminder to the body, House Bill 13 offers 5 different optional property tax exemptions that municipalities can implement if they choose to. The Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee added language to reduce the interest payments municipalities refund taxpayers from a flat 8% to 3 percentage points above the 12th Federal Reserve District rate in effect on January 2nd in the year of payment when the overpayment is not the fault of the taxpayer.

This version also eliminates the interest payments municipalities shall refund taxpayers who overpay due to taxpayer error. I'll just put that into words for you. The way the law is currently right now, if you overpay your property tax you automatically get your property tax back with 8% added. It was a very secure investment, but they're fixing that so you cannot purposely overpay your property tax and get 8% back. The other change, the Senate State Affairs Committee version added language, a new section that removed the $10,000 cap on exemptions for firefighters and medical volunteers.

The committee also added hazmat volunteers as a responder that a municipality may elect to provide an exemption. Those are the changes, and I recommend a yes vote.

Was there a brief at ease, Culper?

Will the House please come back to order. We have House Bill 13 before the body in discussion. Representative Elam. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to point out one other section that I think the sponsor of the bill may have missed is that there's a firefighter exemption in here for some volunteers.

And so, oh, maybe I missed that. But anyhow, I appreciate him including that language, and I do support the changes. Thank you.

Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the House concur in the Senate amendments to committee substitute for House Bill 13, State Affairs, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for House committee substitute for House Bill 13, State Affairs, and recommend the members vote yes. Are you ready for the question? No, 3 patties please.

3 Patties.

Will the House please come back to order. Mr. Majority Leader, I think you had already— you had read the motion.

And I'm going to call for the question.

Are you ready for the question? The question being, shall the House concur in the Senate changes to committee substitute for sponsor substitute for House Bill 13, Community and Regional Affairs, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for committee substitute for sponsor substitute for House Bill 13, State Affairs? Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 30 Yeas, 9 nays. With a vote of 30 yeas to 9 nays, the House has concurred with the changes to House Bill 13.

Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent at the roll call and the passage of the bill to consider the roll call and effective date clause.

Hearing no objection.

I'm not seeing an effective date. I don't believe we had one, but we have one now. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, the title change resolution for House Bill 13, be taken up as a special order of business. Without objection. Are you ready for the question?

The question being, shall Senate Concurrent Resolution 14 pass the House? Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. 5 Votes to 39 yeas, 0 nays.

SCR 14 has passed the House. Mr. Majority Leader, at ease.

At ease.

Will the House please come back to order. Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the members go into limbo file to take up House Bill 110. The member from District 17 will explain the changes made by the other body.

Hearing no objection, House Bill 110 is before for the body. Representative Fields. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, there are many changes in this bill. So last year we passed HB 110, uh, the member from Umed's bill to enter Alaska into an interstate compact for licensure of social workers.

What was going on at the same time is we were considering the Department of Health's award for Rural Health Transformation Program grants. So I introduced a separate piece of legislation, HB 351, to enact the 4 compacts for which there was no pending legislation. Those 4 compacts were Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, Physician Assistant Licensure Compact, EMS Licensure Compact, Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, or PSYPACT. We went through the committee process and heard input on those. We heard no opposition from Alaskans to these 4 compacts, and in fact, we heard support.

So what the other body did is the other body essentially rolled my bill, HB 351, into HB 110, meaning that it is now 5 compacts, aka the Compactibus. And the other body added in the Labor and Commerce co-chair's bill on respiratory therapists. So with the bill before you, if passed, we will have enacted all but one of the compacts contemplated under RHTP. And although the scoring process is very opaque, I think it positions us well as we go into the next round of RHTP. And again, all the compacts you are considering today and the respiratory licensure were 100% supported in public input.

Thank you. Representative McCabe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I like this bill. I think it's needed for RHTP.

And I just— I guess I have a question, or I have to frame it as a question, because it's missing the nurse compact. And I would like to know in very clear, cogent reasons, and all the nurses in my district who constantly call me and ask me, including some in my family, where this is, would like to know why we didn't put that in here. It could have easily been done. So that is a question that I would like a cogent answer to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Representative Gray. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the changes to my bill, and I'd also like to just add that on the floor of the other body, language was added to establish the Rural Health Transformation Program Advisory Council in the Department of Health that had been removed from the bill, but on the Senate floor just a little while ago They added that back in, and I support the changes. Thank you. Brief at ease.

Brief at ease.

Will the House please come to order and wrap up. Representative Fields. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, to answer my friend's question from Big Lake, Like I said, the bill before us has all the compacts to which no opposition was expressed by Alaskans. The NLC, the remaining compact, had a lot of opinions on both sides.

I actually tried to establish a path forward by introducing a compromise bill that had both the NLC, no union busting, required nurses to join the Alaska— to get an Alaska nurse license, which is necessary to avoid a death spiral in nurse license fees. For Alaskans. There continued to be, I would just say, a lot of controversy among stakeholders, and that's why we were not able to resolve that particular compact this year. Are you ready for the question? The question being, shall the House concur in the Senate changes to House Bill 110?

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of you, Mr. Majority Leader. My apologies. No, we're both racing. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the Senate amendments to House Bill 110 amended, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for House Bill 110 Finance amended Senate, and recommend the members vote yes.

Okay, ready for the question? The question being, shall the House concur in the Senate changes to House Bill 110 amended, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for committee substitute for House Bill 110 Finance amended Senate? Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll?

Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? Representative Vance. Nay to yay. From nay to yay.

Representative McCabe from nay, T.A. Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change their vote? I believe we've covered that. Will the clerk please announce the vote?

39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, the House has concurred with the title changes to House Bill 110. Move and ask unanimous consent to the roll call and the passage of the bill. Be considered the roll call vote on the effective date clause. Hearing no objection, the effective date clause has been adopted.

Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that Senate Concurrent Resolution 25, the title change resolution for House Bill 110, be taken up as a special order of business. Without objection. Are you ready for the question?

Question being shelved. Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 passed the body. Members may proceed to vote.

Representative Kopp.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, the title change resolution SCR 25 has been adopted.

Mr. Majority Leader.

Will the House please come back to order. Mr. Majority Leader.

Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the members go into the limbo file to take up House Joint Resolution 18. The member from District 15, will explain the changes made by the other body. Representative Costello. Mr. Speaker, this is a resolution that is in support of the natural gas pipeline. The changes in the Senate included, instead of referring to the project as the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas Project, they replaced that with State Natural Gas Pipeline.

In addition, the reference to the Trump administration was changed to the federal administration, and then they added language regarding the spur line to Fairbanks. I encourage the members to support the changes.

Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House concur in the Senate amendments to committee substitute for House Joint Resolution 18 Resources amended, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for committee substitute for House Joint Resolution 18 Resources, and recommend the members vote yes. Are you ready for the question? The question being, shall the House concur in the Senate changes to committee substitute for House Joint Resolution 18, Resources, amended, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for House Joint Resolution 18, Resources?

Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas, 0 nays, the House has concurred with the changes to HJR 18.

Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the roll call vote on the passage of the bill be considered the roll call vote on the effective date clause. Once again, we've added another effective date clause. We're getting good at this.

Excellent. We like that. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that Senate Concurrent Resolution 18, the title change resolution for House Joint Resolution 18, be taken up as a special order of business. Without objection. Are you ready for the question?

And the question being, shall Senate Concurrent Resolution 18 pass the body? Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, the title change resolution SCR 18 has been adopted.

Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the members go into the limbo file to take up House Bill 73. The member from District 19 will explain the changes made by the other body. Representative Ruppersch.

I'm sorry, that's— The House, please come back to order. Representative Mina. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other body made a very complex change to the complex care bill. They changed the effective date from July 1st, 2026 to July 1st, 2027.

I urge yes on concurrence. Any discussion? Reps in advance. Mr. Speaker, it has been quite some time since the body has seen this bill, and this is one that I know fills an important gap. I've heard from people in my district— daughter with schizophrenia, but she didn't have any other conditions and never qualified.

But this bill addresses people who fall through the cracks. So if our Chair of Health could really restate what this bill is doing, I think that would be helpful since it's been more than a year since we've heard it. Thank you. Well noted, Representative Vance. In wrap-up, Representative Mina.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'm happy to answer the question from the representative from Homer. What this bill does is it is part of a broader initiative by the Department of Health to help address a gap related to behavioral health. Right now, if you have a behavioral health condition, it's really hard to get access to home and community-based services. The individuals that are usually at, uh, group homes or assisted living homes within the middle of this continuum of care are primarily people who have physical disabilities, but it's hard to qualify for those homes if you have a cognitive issue such as with behavioral health issues. And so the Department of Health has this initiative to figure out how to create a new type of home for complex care.

This is just the first part of that initiative where they're creating a new licensure type for complex care residential homes, similar to assisted living homes. And in the aftermath of this bill, if it were to become law, the department would continue to figure out what type of services and providers would be part of these homes, and then also the reimbursements and type of payment to be able to pay providers for these services. Thank you. Mr. Majority Leader.

Speaker, I move that the House concur in the Senate amendments to committee substitute for House Bill 73 Finance, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for committee substitute for House Bill 73 Finance, and recommend the members vote yes. Are you ready for the question? The question being, shall the House concur in the Senate changes to committee substitute for House Bill 73 Finance, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for for Committee Substitute for Hospital 73 Finance. Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, The House has concurred with the changes to House Bill 73.

I move and ask unanimous consent that the roll call on the passage of the bill be considered the roll call on the effective date clause. Hearing no objection, the effective date clause has been adopted. Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the members go into the limbo file to take up House Bill 173.

The member from District 38 will explain the changes made by the other body. Hearing no objection, Representative Jimmy. Mr. Speaker, permission to read? Permission granted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Senate Finance Committee and the full Senate made the following changes to HB 173, which lets Alaska join the Occupational Therapist Licensure Compact. It now updates the OT scope and practices to let the OTs help people cope with their physical limitations, not just restore and rehabilitate people. That matches what OT do already. It also lets the Department of Public Safety run background checks for the OT, PT, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists. And it gives the OT and PT board an executive administrator so that they can do regulation updates and recruit OTs and PTs to the state.

I ask for your concurrence.

Seeing no further discussion, Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House concur in the Senate amendments to committee substitute for House Bill 173, Labor and Commerce, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for committee substitute for House Bill 173, Finance, amended Senate, and recommend the members vote yes. Are you ready for the question? The question being, shall the House concur in the Senate changes to committee substitute for House Bill 173, 173, Labor and Commerce, thus adopting Senate Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for House Bill 173, Finance, amended Senate.

Members may proceed to vote.

The clerk, please lock the roll. Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, the House has concurred with the changes to House Bill 173.

We have a title change before us.

Mr. Speaker, I move that— ask unanimous consent that Senate Concurrent Resolution 27, the title change resolution for House Bill 173, be taken up as a special order of business. Without objection. Are you ready for the question? The question being, shall Senate Concurrent Resolution 27 pass the body?

Members You may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. With a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, SCR 27 has passed the body.

Mr. Mayor, Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that the members go into the limbo file to take up House Concurrent Resolution 4. The member from District 24 will explain the changes made by the other body. Representative Sadler. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Not a whole bunch to express, but just because I've learned how to pronounce it, myositis is a rare autoimmune disease that attacks people's own muscles. The resolution is designed to build awareness nationally so that it can be recognized, diagnosed, treated. The only change is that we passed— it was in a form last year, May 2025. This would change it to May 2026. The only change.

I recommend concurrence. Mr. Majority Leader. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House concur in the Senate amendments to House Concurrent Resolution 4, thus adopting Senate committee substitute for House Concurrent Resolution 4, Health and Social Services, and recommend the members vote yes. Are you ready for the question?

The question being, shall the House concur in the Senate changes to House Concurrent Resolution 4, thus adopting Senate Committee Substitute for House Concurrent Resolution 4, Health and Social Services? Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, HCR 4 has passed the body.

Move—. There's a title change resolution, I believe. Yeah. Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that Senate Concurrent Resolution 16, the title change resolution for House concurrent resolution 4 be taken up as a special order of business? Without objection.

Are you ready for the question? The question being, shall Senate concurrent resolution 16 pass the body? Members may proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll? Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 39 Yeas, 0 nays. By a vote of 39 yeas to 0 nays, SCR 16 has passed the body.

And that, I believe, completes the work. We do have one more item to take care of before we will go at ease, waiting for the concurrences from the other body. Representative Moore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move to rescind action on House House Bill 13, please.

Hearing no objection, we will get the board configured and the measure will come back before the body. Representative Moore, what— could you restate that again? There's been so many of these. I would like to rescind action on House— on my concurrence vote for House Bill 13.

A brief adieu.

Will the House please come back to order? There was no objection. I failed to properly state that.

So, Mr. Majority Leader, if you are ready to do that again. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I move that the House concur in the Senate amendments to Committee Substitute for House Bill 13 State Affairs thus adopting Senate Committee Substitute for House Committee Substitute for House Bill 13 State Affairs; recommend members vote yes? Are you ready to ask question being shall the house concur on committee substitute or sponsor's substitute of HB 13 Community Regional Affairs thus adopting senate committee substitute from committee substitute for sponsor's substitute for SB 13 state affairs—members may report back when they're done voting! We will now proceed to vote.

Will the clerk please lock the roll?

Does any member wish to change his or her vote? Will the clerk please announce the vote? 32 Yeas, 7 nays. By a vote of 32 yeas to 7 nays, the House has agreed with the changes to House Bill 13. We do have a title change resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I move and ask unanimous consent that Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, the title change resolution for House Bill 13, be taken up as a special order of business.

Told that it's a formality, so we don't have to do this change, this adoption of the title change. We've done that previously. Apparently that's still in effect. Effect. So that brings us to the work that we have before the body.

At this time, we will stand at ease to the call of the chair.