House Finance advances HB56, boosts Deaf Navigator funding and trims $500,000 from statehood defense

The Alaska House Finance Committee on April 1 voted 6–5 to report House Bill 56 (the fast‑track supplemental) out of committee and spent the remainder of the morning considering amendments to operating bills, notably funding for a Deaf Navigator Program, accounting changes for personal‑services payments, and the statehood defense appropriation.

The committee’s action on HB56 came after a short roll call. The motion to move House Bill 56 out of committee passed by a 6–5 vote; Representatives Hannon, “Jimmy,” Galvin, Shrogy, Foster and Co‑Chair Josephson voted yea; Representatives Bynum, Stapp, Johnson, Allard and Tomaszewski voted no. Co‑Chair Josephson opened the meeting by calling the panel to order: “I call this being of the House Finance Committee to order.”

Why it matters: Advancing HB56 clears the supplemental to the next stage of the legislative process and frees the committee to continue marking up the operating budget. Several adopted amendments alter how the department budgets and funds services that affect rural and vulnerable Alaskans.

Deaf Navigator Program increase adopted (amendment 63) An amendment to add funding for the Deaf Navigator Program was adopted by the committee 7–4. The amendment was offered initially as a $75,000 increment and then amended on the floor to a larger one‑year increase. Committee discussion and sponsor remarks described the program as operating through HOPE Community Resources and serving deaf and hard‑of‑hearing (DHH) Alaskans statewide, including rural areas. The transcript states the program “receives an annual grant of a hundred and 35,000 through the Department of Health Division of Senior and Disabilities Services” and that advocates asked for a $100,000 increase; the amendment as adopted reflected the committee’s larger one‑year increment after floor conceptual changes. Representative Ballard urged making the increment recurring; the chair and staff clarified that the adopted amendment is a one‑year increment and does not change the base operating amount. Representative Ballard said the funding is needed so “individuals know that the, deaf and hard of hearing community is in need of this in order for it to to continue on.”

OMB to itemize premium pay (amendment 65) The committee unanimously adopted an amendment directing the Office of Management and Budget to show premium pay (overtime, bonuses, standby and other specialty pay) in a way that makes those amounts visible outside aggregated personal‑services rollups. Alexi Painter of the Legislative Finance Division told the committee that there are multiple ways to provide the detail — for example, budgeting overtime tied to a PCN (position control number) or creating a separate premium‑pay allocation — and said the request is manageable: “I think it's manageable to show the overtime in some form in the budget.” The amendment is intent language directing clearer accounting rather than prescribing a single technical approach.

Statehood defense funding cut (amendment 66) After extended debate, the committee adopted amendment 66 by a 6–5 vote to reduce the statehood defense appropriation by $500,000. Committee members who opposed the cut warned that litigation workload remains high and that existing carryforward balances are not a reliable indicator of future billing needs. Representative Josephson, sponsor of the decrement, argued the state’s litigation posture may ease under the new federal administration and that multi‑year carryforward funds available to the Department of Law meant the cut was reasonable. Opponents cited recent and ongoing litigation and the department’s prior testimony about a sustained burn rate; Representative Tomaszewski said litigation counts had roughly doubled over recent years and urged caution. Roll call votes show yes: Representatives Hannon, Galvin, “Jimmy,” Foster, Shrogy and Josephson; no: Representatives Tomaszewski, Bynum, Johnson, Stapp and Allard.

Other package actions: agriculture positions, parks funding and tabling - The committee adopted a bundled change (amendments 76 and 79) to move the Division of Agriculture back into the Department of Natural Resources and to remove two positions that had been transferred in the governor’s proposed reorganization. Committee discussion confirmed the effect was to restore the pre‑amendment organizational structure; a conceptual amendment to eliminate the positions entirely was debated and members voted the concept through earlier in the sequence. The bundled amendment (as amended on the floor) was adopted without further objection.

- The committee considered a bundled proposal pairing a partial reallocation of unappropriated vehicle‑rental‑tax receipts (funding originally earmarked in subcommittee for new state park cabins) with three park ranger positions for Chugach State Park, Haines State Park and Valdez area parks. That bundled package (treated as a single item) failed on a 2–9 vote. The vehicle‑rental tax statute and long practice of using that revenue for tourism‑related purposes, plus concerns about paying ongoing payroll from a variable revenue source, were central to the debate.

- A motion to table amendment 74 (restore base funding for the Alaska State Defense Force) was adopted 6–5, which left the subcommittee reduction in place for now.

Committee process and next steps Committee members repeatedly noted the fiscal constraints under discussion and raised questions about how multi‑year appropriations and carryforwards should be interpreted when litigation or emergency needs spike. Department and Legislative Finance witnesses took several questions from members; Rob Carpenter (Legislative Finance) and Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore appeared on the record to answer budget and litigation‑related questions, respectively. The committee adjourned at 11:28 a.m. and planned to reconvene at 1:30 p.m. to continue marking up the operating budget.

Votes at a glance: selected actions from the April 1 hearing — reported outcomes and tallies - Motion: Move House Bill 56 (fast‑track supplemental) out of committee — Outcome: approved; tally 6 yea, 5 nay (yeas: Hannon; “Jimmy”; Galvin; Shrogy; Foster; Josephson; nays: Bynum; Stapp; Johnson; Allard; Tomaszewski). - Amendment 63 (increase for Deaf Navigator Program; initially $75,000 then floor‑amended to larger one‑year increment) — Outcome: adopted; tally 7 yea, 4 nay (committee recorded 7–4). - Amendment 65 (require OMB/agency budgets to itemize premium pay/overtime as identifiable lines) — Outcome: adopted unanimously (no recorded nays). - Amendment 66 (reduce statehood defense appropriation by $500,000) — Outcome: adopted; tally 6 yea, 5 nay (yeas: Hannon; Galvin; “Jimmy”; Foster; Shrogy; Josephson; nays: Tomaszewski; Bynum; Johnson; Stapp; Allard). - Amendment 68 — Outcome: not adopted; tally 5 yea, 6 nay. - Amendment 74 (restore Alaska State Defense Force base funding) — Motion to table adopted; tally 6 yea, 5 nay (tabled). - Amendments 76 and 79 (transfer Division of Agriculture back into DNR; remove two transferred positions) — Outcome: adopted as amended on the floor. - Bundled amendments 77 and 78 (reallocate vehicle rental tax receipts from cabin construction to three park rangers / related park support) — Outcome: not adopted; tally 2 yea, 9 nay.

What the committee did not decide The committee left in place several subcommittee reductions and recorded that some conceptual amendments (including proposals to permanently add funding to base operations) were discussed but not enacted. Members repeatedly requested better, position‑level and program‑level detail from agencies to inform final decisions.

Key quotations from the hearing "I call this being of the House Finance Committee to order." — Co‑Chair Josephson at opening "I think it's manageable to show the overtime in some form in the budget." — Alexi Painter, Legislative Finance Division, on itemizing premium pay "The deaf and hard of hearing community is in need of this in order for it to to continue on." — Representative Ballard, speaking for the Deaf Navigator increment "The department is anticipating that the costs for the statehood defense cases will have a spike in the short term before we expect to see them go down." — John Skidmore, Deputy Attorney General, on litigation workload

Ending note: Committee members scheduled reconvening at 1:30 p.m. to continue the operating budget markup; several items adopted in the morning are likely to affect departmental line‑items and supplemental requests as the bill moves forward.