[{"_1":2,"_105":-5,"_106":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,85,95],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6283318,"mediaKeyId","2588983-467636adfccc903f2c44ac6c308902ac","parentId",2588983,"title","Committee hears bill to require earlier court review for foster children admitted to psychiatric hospitals","audioSeconds",4549,"startMs",4556000,"endMs",6890,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2588983-467636adfccc903f2c44ac6c308902ac&start=4556&end=6","thumbnailUrl","https://d352y6ypj4mjo3.cloudfront.net/AudioPlaceholder.png","articleUrl","/articles/6283318/Alaska/Committee-hears-bill-to-require-earlier-court-review-for-foster-children-admitted-to-psychiatric-hospitals","mediaUrl","author","Alaska Legislature","date","2025-03-12T00:00:00Z","article","House Bill 36, introduced and heard in the House Finance Committee on March 12, would require expedited court review for foster children in Alaska state custody who are admitted to acute psychiatric hospitals. Sponsor Representative Andrew Grama said the measure is a legislative response to an Alaska Supreme Court ruling that found lengthy hospital stays without timely judicial review violated due process.

The bill requires the Office of Children Services and other parties to be notified within 24 hours of a foster-child admission to an acute psychiatric facility. A judicial review hearing would be required within seven days of notification; if necessary the court may grant a single seven‑day extension (14 days total) to allow parties to assemble. If the court determines continued hospitalization is necessary, the statute would require a judicial review at least once every 30 days thereafter. The bill also defines \"acute psychiatric hospital\" in statute and authorizes two‑way video conferencing for hearings to facilitate timely participation by all parties.

Sponsor staff Kyle Johansen explained the bill’s structure to the committee and said the definition of an acute psychiatric hospital was pulled from the court’s framing in prior litigation. He said the bill also amends an annual report to the legislature to add the number of children placed in out‑of‑state residential facilities. The bill includes a direct court-rule amendment that would require appointment of counsel for children in covered circumstances, a step staff and court staff said is already commonly practiced but not always mandatory.

Court official Nancy Mead explained the judiciary believes it can generally meet the proposed seven‑day hearing timeline; video conferencing is already an available tool but requires facility cooperation (suitable rooms, security and equipment). Deputy Director Kim Swisher of the Office of Children Services told the committee the department already notifies parties promptly under existing practice and that the department expects little operational impact from codifying the 24‑hour notification practice.

Fiscal notes: The Alaska Court System submitted a zero fiscal-impact estimate. OCS submitted a fiscal note to cover the Department of Law’s representation costs for additional hearings; OCS estimated approximately 110 hearings per year and used an estimated Attorney General hourly rate in its calculation. OCS staff told the committee Medicaid would likely see savings if hospital stays shorten, but those Medicaid savings would not directly reduce OCS’s legal representation costs and were not included in the OCS fiscal note.

Questions from members included how many acute psychiatric facilities accept child admissions (staff said one facility commonly accepts transfers but the bill is written to cover any facility accepting such admissions), origin of the bill’s timeframes (the sponsor said seven days reflected stakeholder input and nursing staff observations that 72 hours is often too short and 30 days is too long), and whether Alaska retains jurisdiction when children are housed out of state (court staff said Alaska retains jurisdiction for children in Alaska custody).

Next steps: The committee set HB36 aside for further hearings; sponsors indicated they will return with invited testimony and additional materials.","mediaType","Audio","parentTitle","03/12/2025 02:39 PM House FIN","oneSentenceSummary","House Bill 36 would require 24‑hour notification and a court hearing within seven days (with one seven‑day extension possible) for foster children admitted to acute psychiatric hospitals; the House Finance Committee heard the bill March 12.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature Alaska, Alaska","taxId",78559,"location","Alaska","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":50,"_51":82,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":83,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":84,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6283333,"House Finance adopts committee substitutes updating FY26 operating and mental-health budgets",1834,183000,2017000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2588983-467636adfccc903f2c44ac6c308902ac&start=183&end=2017","/articles/6283333/Alaska/House-Finance-adopts-committee-substitutes-updating-FY26-operating-and-mental-health-budgets","The House Finance Committee adopted committee substitute 1 (CS1) versions of House Bill 53, the FY26 operating budget, and House Bill 55, the mental-health budget, during its March 12 meeting in Juneau.

Committee staff member Alexander Schroeder told members the CS1 documents incorporate subcommittee recommendations and a set of technical and governor-proposed amendments. Schroeder said the statewide total in the combined CS1 for operating bills is $14,557,770,900, with an unrestricted general fund total of $7,508,463,300 and federal receipts of $4,077,298,000. He said the change from the government draft to CS1 produced a statewide total increase of $44,993,900 (about 0.3%).

The committee removed a provision that would have given the Office of Management and Budget transfer authority of up to $5,000,000 within departments in order to address facility operations and maintenance. Schroeder said that language, which cited Alaska statute 37.07.020(e), had been removed because it would have undermined the legislature’s intent that appropriated facility funds be used for facilities and maintenance. \"If the language we removed in this committee substitute had remained in the bill, it would undermine the legislature's intent,\" Schroeder said.

Schroeder briefly reviewed other CS1 changes: deletion of a section on job reclassifications that would have required departments to absorb those costs (allowing departments instead to pursue supplemental requests if needed); a placeholder for Department of Agriculture line items pending executive action; a governor amendment reauthorizing multi‑year appropriations; and extensions to last year’s fisheries disaster relief spending window. He also described language additions and technical fixes affecting actuarial treatment of the AlaskaCare employer contribution rate, power cost equalization references, and several statutory designated-program receipts and account totals.

Staff and members discussed several line items Schroeder flagged as potentially in flux, including a proposed reappropriation from an emerging energy technology fund that staff said may no longer exist and a governor amendment to reauthorize funds for Alaska Pioneers’ Homes. Schroeder said the drafters had adopted amended language where possible and noted the committee substitute would be the working draft going forward.

Committee chairs then moved and adopted CS1 for each bill as the committee working document. The transcript records motions to adopt CS1 for House Bill 53 and for House Bill 55; committee chairs removed objections after staff explanation and CS1 versions were made the working drafts for further hearings and testimony.

Why this matters: The CS1s set the finance committee’s working versions of the two largest operating bills the committee will consider and reflect subcommittee decisions and negotiated technical edits. Changes such as removing OMB transfer authority and the job-reclassification provision alter how departments will be expected to manage facility funding and personnel cost pressures; other edits establish multiyear spending windows and technical formula fixes that determine appropriation amounts.

Staff said the CS1s will go forward for public testimony; the committee adopted CS1 for HB53 and HB55 as its working documents for further hearings and fiscal review.","The House Finance Committee adopted committee substitute 1 for House Bill 53 (FY26 operating budget) and for House Bill 55 (mental-health budget) on March 12, naming those CS1 documents its working drafts.",{"_33":86,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":87,"_41":88,"_43":89,"_45":90,"_47":91,"_49":50,"_51":92,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":93,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":94,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6283323,"Committee moves bill to repeal duplicative vessel registration, transfers derelict-vessel fund balance to general fund",800,3760000,4560000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2588983-467636adfccc903f2c44ac6c308902ac&start=3760&end=4560","/articles/6283323/Alaska/Committee-moves-bill-to-repeal-duplicative-vessel-registration-transfers-derelict-vessel-fund-balance-to-general-fund","The House Finance Committee voted to move House Bill 31 out of committee on March 12 after a hearing that reviewed the bill’s fiscal notes. Representative Louise Stutes (District 5) sponsored the bill, saying it removes duplicative registration requirements created by 2018 legislation and repeals the Derelict Vessel Prevention Program Fund.

Representative Stutes told the committee that Senate Bill 92 (2018) unintentionally required U.S. Coast Guard documented commercial fishing vessels — which already report ownership information annually through the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) — to register with the Division of Motor Vehicles every three years. House Bill 31 would remove that redundant DMV registration requirement for active commercial vessels and repeal the derelict-vessel fund and the department duties tied to that fund, transferring the fund balance to the general fund.

Agency fiscal notes submitted to the committee: CFEC Commissioner Glenn Hite said CFEC expects no net operational effect or additional cost. Kathy Wallace, acting director of the Division of Motor Vehicles, said roughly 4,716 vessels would qualify for the exemption and estimated a DMV revenue reduction of $37,728 over the three-year DMV registration cycle. Aaron Timian of the Department of Natural Resources said the Derelict Vessel Prevention Program Fund had a balance of about $1.2 million, most of which derived from a settlement and about $220,000 from DMV fee collections; he warned that DNR would no longer have that dedicated funding available for vessel-removal work if the fund were repealed.

Sally Cox at the Department of Commerce said the department expected no fiscal impact. Committee members debated timing and history — the bill is largely unchanged from a version that passed the legislature the prior session but was vetoed for timing — and staff supplied control codes for fiscal documents. Representative Bynum moved the committee report (34-LS-0326/A with attached fiscal notes); the chairs noted no objections and the bill report was signed and moved from the committee for further action.

Why this matters: The bill affects how the state collects ownership data and funds derelict-vessel removal. Repealing the derelict vessel fund would transfer an existing dedicated balance to the general fund and remove a discrete funding source DNR has used for vessel-removal actions; DMV revenues would decline modestly if exemptions are enacted.

Next steps: The committee moved HB31 from committee with accompanying fiscal notes and recommendations; the committee report was prepared and circulated for signatures.","House Bill 31 would remove DMV registration for USCG-documented commercial fishing vessels that already hold CFEC licenses and repeal the Derelict Vessel Prevention Program Fund; the committee moved the bill out with fiscal notes on March 12.",{"_33":96,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":97,"_41":98,"_43":99,"_45":100,"_47":101,"_49":50,"_51":102,"_53":-5,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":103,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":104,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6283328,"Committee hears bill to add a faculty regent to University of Alaska Board of Regents",1545,2257000,3802000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2588983-467636adfccc903f2c44ac6c308902ac&start=2257&end=3802","/articles/6283328/Alaska/Committee-hears-bill-to-add-a-faculty-regent-to-University-of-Alaska-Board-of-Regents","House Bill 10, which would add a tenured faculty regent to the University of Alaska Board of Regents for a two-year term, received its introductory hearing in the House Finance Committee on March 12.

Sponsor Representative Ashley Kerrick introduced the measure via staff after she was called to another meeting. Staff explained the bill would expand the 11-member board by one seat — creating a 12-member regents board while creating a two‑year faculty regent seat selected after a nomination process by faculty senates. \"Adding 1 faculty member would provide better representation to this important constituency,\" staff said in the sponsor statement.

Chad Hutchinson, state director for government relations at the University of Alaska system, presented the fiscal note. He said the university estimated travel costs for the additional regent at about $4,000 in FY26 (roughly $1,000 per meeting, assuming four in-person board meetings), and that the system’s historic average number of traveling regents is nine. Hutchinson said the board currently averages travel-related costs of approximately $36,000 per year for members who travel.

Committee members questioned term length (the bill sets the faculty regent’s term at two years while most non-student regents serve longer terms under the current structure), the effect of adding an even number of voting members on quorum and voting outcomes, and whether the faculty regent would face conflicts of interest when the board considers faculty contracts or personnel matters. Sponsor staff said the faculty-regent nominee list would come from campus faculty senates and that longstanding expectations and recusal practice apply to stakeholder regents.

Committee staff and members also noted existing faculty governance structures, including campus faculty senates and a statewide Faculty Alliance, and that student regent seats are already voting positions. Representative Ashley Kerrick and her staff said they would provide additional materials and letters of support the committee requested.

Next steps: The committee set the bill aside for later consideration and scheduled follow-up materials and testimony. No committee vote was taken at the March 12 introductory hearing.","Lawmakers heard sponsor testimony on House Bill 10, which would add one tenured faculty member — serving a two-year term — to the University of Alaska Board of Regents. The committee received sponsor background, a short fiscal note from the university and questions about quorum, term length and conflict-of-interest protections.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Committee hears bill to require earlier court review for foster children admitted to psychiatric hospitals

House Finance adopts committee substitutes updating FY26 operating and mental-health budgets

Committee moves bill to repeal duplicative vessel registration, transfers derelict-vessel fund balance to general fund

Committee hears bill to add a faculty regent to University of Alaska Board of Regents