[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-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",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6063150,"mediaKeyId","3270672-4d44e4b5f8bb175a7debac7d9fcef773","parentId",3270672,"title","Senate Finance adopts CS for Senate Bill 64 after technical changes; fiscal note shows $338,800 FY27 cost","audioSeconds",893,"startMs",1480000,"endMs",2373000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3270672-4d44e4b5f8bb175a7debac7d9fcef773&start=1480&end=2373","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3270672-4d44e4b5f8bb175a7debac7d9fcef773/thumbnail_1480000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6063150/Alaska/Senate-Finance-adopts-CS-for-Senate-Bill-64-after-technical-changes-fiscal-note-shows-338800-FY27-cost","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6063150-a00e7cd071d4ca4d2ecd07d64774ccae/orig.mp4?Expires=1771193796&Signature=IE6rmrZIWlL6UU-eu5MB9XCG6r67mpjEcGzv0o0dmVcKH9HTsS2MP6oKnxXdx7fcWly8ZIjArm~9M11xz56zg5CFXkOv40Sn0PTau12Vd28ZdzW57WjFdG-HqyrzUq4puMH7cjLSCqFQmpbxFOiBKdgn6zn-1IbQeXrB45kGxjjThfibMLpsayGVdBQ1l~GenNCzVvO~0DHgwBEuKW~bLu-Tx2~XxQgSRB4vCiVzR3k98od3Fqn25URfs7MzBLrFBGLisMvhlgg2L3oRU8jB~Pz4m2cuzyXtmmYFG~hZc3KVkRIJUOvpj1A9P~jnELAxsk4MAxFnciIN4jdwKjypOA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Alaska Legislature","date","2025-05-09T00:00:00Z","article","The Senate Finance Committee adopted a committee substitute for Senate Bill 64, an elections bill that incorporates sponsor amendments and technical changes and moves to the next committee of referral with an attached fiscal note. The CS was adopted with no sustained objection after committee discussion.

“Good morning … Our office prepared several amendments to address concerns raised in conversations with various senators,” David Dunsmore, staff to Senator Bill Wilkowski (State Senator for East Anchorage), told the committee while summarizing the work‑draft CS.

Dunsmore summarized provisions removed and added in the finance CS. Removed provisions include sections related to electronic signatures, a provision on moving between house districts immediately before an election, and municipal public‑official financial disclosure changes. Added or revised provisions include requirements to codify and require data sharing between the Department of Revenue’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) Division and the Division of Elections for voter registration and residency confirmation; an obligation for the Division of Elections to notify the public and the legislature within 14 days of a data breach of confidential election data that occurs before certification; and provisions allowing voters to opt out of voter registration through the PFD application process.

Other changes Dunsmore described: the inactivity period that triggers voter‑roll cleanup was changed from “two general elections” to 28 months; review of the master voter register was changed to annual from every two years; a rural community liaison’s collaboration list was narrowed to municipalities and tribes; language assistance was clarified to be provided “to the extent practicable” consistent with federal law; recency for documentary ID (utility bills, bank statements, paychecks, government checks) was shortened from 90 days to 60 days; risk‑limiting audit procedures will be required by regulation during the state review board process; and the bill will require ballot‑tracking systems to be purchased from domestic companies and to use multi‑factor authentication for voter verification.

Senator Wilkowski described the bill as the product of bipartisan work, saying, “It is … a bipartisan bill in my opinion, that will clean up our voter rolls,” and said the CS addresses rural and military voters who in some districts had ballots not counted during the last election. Committee members asked whether the CS creates statewide vote‑by‑mail (it does not) and whether the Lieutenant Governor’s Office and Division of Elections had been involved; Dunsmore said the sponsor’s office worked extensively with the Lieutenant Governor’s staff and Division of Elections staff, taking their input into account.

The committee reviewed an updated fiscal note for the CS from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), component 21 (Division of Elections). The fiscal note shows an FY27 operating cost of $338,800 UGF, one permanent position and five temporary positions, and recurring costs leveling to roughly $290,100 in subsequent years. Committee members were told the change to annual master‑register review likely increases operating cost from the prior approach and was informally estimated to be roughly $60,000 a year on a biannual basis by staff discussion.

Senator Kiel moved adoption of the CS as the working document and later moved that the committee report out the CS with the attached fiscal note and individual recommendations. An initial objection to the report was raised and then withdrawn after the objectioner said more time may be needed to review the CS and to coordinate with the minority leader; no sustained objection remained and the CS was reported to the next committee of referral (rules) with the fiscal note attached.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","05/09/2025 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE","oneSentenceSummary","The Senate Finance Committee adopted a committee substitute for Senate Bill 64, incorporating sponsor amendments that change voter‑roll maintenance, add data‑sharing between the PFD and Division of Elections, and require domestic ballot‑tracking vendors with multi‑factor authentication.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature Alaska, Alaska","taxId",78559,"location","Alaska","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6063154,"Senate Finance hears FY26 bargaining amendments totaling $84.5 million, UGF $35 million",911,492000,1403000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3270672-4d44e4b5f8bb175a7debac7d9fcef773&start=492&end=1403","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3270672-4d44e4b5f8bb175a7debac7d9fcef773/thumbnail_492000.jpg","/articles/6063154/Alaska/Senate-Finance-hears-FY26-bargaining-amendments-totaling-845-million-UGF-35-million","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6063154-5508c7bebbb82a69e04f00645d301218/orig.mp4?Expires=1771193796&Signature=bkY5lYqwubeDJOYpZ6po1oPDHLy91UaoV2IQ8MG-WM5wk3XgdhqifvH3qYRubt3~hmsxIvqFe9iPABmos-hBxcGY4PQVz6ygneY~kxeq6csUmfw9QSojwVkD4DEGaYPxar50ISZpVpQYk~4jVgYYnCHDsl20WAntSJLDKOdNM3pO1Q-JTsCcS3aq9AsdQum4xak2fdRILqKsqGF~JYROsYi9vkXDzqXApPCWgNe27UC9Z6gailNtaBbFo48opUpX36IlYFo~ZLDobGfofrEcMJGJLf373pTUzzPePe5AxMVLoqWPEW1TJw9oC-DiNIaaIkEzc95URLcX9DQbC4mKcA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Alaska Senate Finance Committee received a presentation on Tuesday on fiscal year 2026 budget amendments to implement recently negotiated collective-bargaining agreements between the state and three unions.

“These amendments represent the contractual bargaining agreements that were reached … between the state of Alaska and the following organizations,” Lacey Sanders, director of the Office of Management and Budget for the governor, told the committee as she summarized the transmitted FY26 operating and mental health budget amendments.

Sanders told the committee the three bargaining units in the transmittals were the Alaska State Employees Association (General Government Unit, GGU), the Confidential Employees Association (CEA) and the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA). The amendments presented for FY26 total $84,500,000 in all funds, with $35,000,000 in unrestricted general funds (UGF). Sanders said the GGU submission was $80,500,000 (about $33,400,000 UGF) and the CEA and MEBA items totaled $4,000,000 (about $1,600,000 UGF).

Committee members pressed administration witnesses about what would happen if positions currently paid from non-UGF sources proved to be supported by “hollow receipts” during the fiscal year. Sanders said agencies develop a personal services module after the budget is adopted to align positions with funding sources; if federal or other receipts disappear, agencies would evaluate whether the functions continue or whether a supplemental appropriation would be needed in a later year. “If it was a federal receipt and that federal program is no longer being funded, that function may have to end,” she said.

Deputy Attorney General Corey Mills clarified a question about pay increases in the GGU agreement, saying the package’s lump-sum and base increases produce a practical overall pay increase of about 3 percent in the first year. Mills and Sanders both said the negotiated increases are distinct from a separate statewide salary study; Mills said the salary study was not used as the baseline for negotiations.

Senator Gary Stedman (Senator Stedman) and others asked whether the salary-study findings—cited by the committee as showing classes of employees with compensation below market—would prompt additional adjustments or future requests to the committee. Sanders said the salary study and labor negotiations are separate processes and that the administration will review the study and may return with recommendations at a later time; no further commitment was made.

No committee motion or vote on a budget appropriation occurred during the presentation; the item on the agenda was for transmittal of the bargaining amendments and committee questions and discussion. Committee members expressed concern about the overall fiscal outlook for FY27 and the potential that supplemental requests or future budget actions will be required to address positions whose funding sources become unavailable.

The committee then moved on to its next agenda item, Senate Bill 64 (elections).","The Alaska Senate Finance Committee received presentations on FY26 budget amendments to cover recently negotiated collective-bargaining agreements with GGU, CEA and MEBA, including $84.5 million in all-funds and $35 million in unrestricted general funds; no formal appropriation vote was taken.","actionData","errors"]

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Senate Finance adopts CS for Senate Bill 64 after technical changes; fiscal note shows $338,800 FY27 cost

Senate Finance hears FY26 bargaining amendments totaling $84.5 million, UGF $35 million