House committee sets amendment deadline for HB 30, debates Office of Entrepreneurship and procurement study

Juneau — The Alaska House Finance Committee on May 12 set an amendment deadline for House Bill 30, the Office of Entrepreneurship, and heard testimony and questions about provisions that would target roughly 5% of the state's economic development investments to startups and change a Department of Administration procurement report that carries an estimated $500,000 fiscal impact.

Representative Kai Holland, sponsor of HB 30 and a member of the House representing District 9, told the committee the bill would "put a small portion, about 5%, of its economic development investments specifically targeted into supporting startups." Holland also told the panel the state's current economic development line item is not funded: "The current economic development line item allocation in the budget this year and last year is exactly $0.00 dollars," and he said several key economic development positions remain unfilled after being transferred to the governor's office.

Why it matters: Supporters say targeted state support could help nascent firms grow and retain workers in Alaska, while opponents and staff raised concerns about the fiscal impact of a procurement impact study proposed in the bill. Cameron Ebersold, legislative staff on the record to the committee, told members the bill would modify a procurement report produced by the Department of Administration to identify whether businesses less than five years old receive state contracts; that change is associated with a $500,000 impact in the department's fiscal note. Ebersold described two reports contained in the bill and said the procurement-report change could be removed by amendment to avoid the study's cost.

Committee discussion and public testimony focused on the procurement study and the bill's reporting requirements. Representative Josephson asked whether the annual report on page 4 would be struck; Holland referred the detailed drafting question to Ebersold, who clarified the bill contains two reports and that the procurement-report modification — the source of the $500,000 fiscal note — would be eliminated by the proposed change. Representative Galvin expressed general support for investing to generate new revenue streams and for the bill's intent to foster growth in technology and other sectors.

Public testimony included Jacqueline Summers, identified as executive director of Health Testbed Innovation Enterprises in Anchorage, who said she has conducted informal interviews in Alaska's entrepreneurship ecosystem and that "this sector is really important for our development of ideas and solving problems" before adding, "I really strongly support both of these bills." The committee closed public testimony and set an amendment deadline for HB 30 of Thursday, May 15, 2025, at 5 p.m.; the chair also signaled staff would likely prepare a committee substitute (CS) or incorporate the sponsor's amendment language.

Discussion versus decision: The committee took no final vote on HB 30. It set an amendment deadline (a procedural direction) and discussed possible language changes to remove the procurement study that generated the large fiscal note. No formal adoption or enactment occurred during the meeting.

Next steps: Members may file amendments by the May 15 deadline; staff indicated a CS may be assembled to present a cleaned-up draft for a future hearing.