House committee advances bill to fund Alaska 988 crisis services

The House Health and Social Services Committee advanced House Bill 138 on a voice vote Thursday after hearing from Caroline, Alaska’s 988 lifeline center, and staff from the Department of Revenue’s Tax Division. The motion to move HB 138 from committee carried with no recorded objections.

The bill would create a funding mechanism intended to support statewide crisis call and response services linked to 988. Caroline Executive Director Susanna Marchuk told the committee Caroline handled just under 40,000 crisis contacts last year, employs 38 Alaskans across two locations (Fairbanks and Wasilla), resolves about 98% of crisis calls without needing law enforcement or 911 response, provides 24/7 follow-up contacts for crisis calls, and partners with tribal health providers and regional crisis lines.

Marchuk said HB 138 is “a lifeline” and urged passage to stabilize funding as demand for crisis services grows. Committee members pressed Marchuk on how callers outside urban areas are connected to outpatient services; she said access varies by location, that the call center provides repeated follow-up until the crisis resolves or higher‑level care is engaged, and that staff sometimes coordinate repeated contacts or emergency air transport when needed.

Tax-division Deputy Director Brandon Spanos answered committee questions about administration. He said the tax division’s excise tax group is the more appropriate administrator for the proposed surcharge than the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), and described municipal administration and FCC oversight for the 911 surcharge as part of the current landscape. Committee staff also noted drafting language in the bill intended to avoid creating a constitutionally protected dedicated fund: subsection h states “Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund,” and subsection g (page 3, lines 13–15) says the legislature “may appropriate.” The sponsor and staff told the committee they plan to request a legal memo to confirm that structure.

Members discussed the bill’s effective date, and the sponsor indicated a desire to move the bill’s effective date from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026; staff said that change would be pursued in the next committee of referral. With no public testimony offered in the room or on the line, the committee moved HB 138 to its next committee of referral, House Labor and Commerce, with individual recommendations and an attached fiscal note.

The committee’s action was procedural; no implementation details beyond the bill text and staff testimony were adopted at the hearing. Follow-up items identified in committee included: obtaining the requested legal memo on dedicated‑fund language; clarifying where municipal and unorganized area 911 administration sits; and confirming the chosen effective date in the next committee.