House Finance accepts subcommittee closeouts; rejects state takeover of 404 permits, reallocates VPSO funding

The Alaska House Finance Committee on March 10 accepted final closeout reports from six House Finance subcommittees and approved most agency budget items while rejecting several proposals and redirecting funds for other priorities.

Co-chair Josephson called the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m. and subcommittee staff walked the committee through each department’s closeout report, presenting fund totals, position counts and the subcommittees’ accept/deny actions. The committee accepted the bulk of governor-proposed items across the Office of the Governor, the Legislature, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), with several notable exceptions and reallocations.

The subcommittee for the Office of the Governor, presented by Bridal Anderson, staff to Representative Neil Foster, reported that it accepted the governor’s proposed items for that office, including a $175,800 transfer of unrestricted general funds tied to Administrative Order 356 and a replacement of $7,400 in interagency receipt authority with unrestricted general funds. The office’s reported fund totals and position counts were presented by Anderson to the committee.

For the Legislature, Anderson told the committee the subcommittee accepted the Legislative Budget and Audits and Legislative Council budgets and approved two late adjustments: a $210,200 other‑funds governor amendment correcting a restorative‑justice account distribution calculation, and a $15,400 increase in program receipts to reflect higher Wells Fargo lease revenues. Subcommittee staff and Director Lehi Paynter of the Legislative Finance Division explained several personnel classification changes that reflect moving some 11‑month positions to 12‑month status and a temporary increment in the ethics office to clear a backlog after staff turnover.

The Department of Revenue closeout, also presented by Bridal Anderson, accepted the department’s transactions for tax and treasury functions, the Alaska Retirement Board, the Permanent Fund Division, child support enforcement and administrative support. The subcommittee accepted a new structure for the Alaska Sustainable Energy Corporation and transferred $457,000 of unrestricted general funds to that allocation in response to earlier legislation creating a “green bank” function. The subcommittee declined a request to collapse Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) operation appropriations into a single appropriation, retaining the multi‑part structure and recommending creating a minimal Anchorage office appropriation in the future.

The Department of Environmental Conservation subcommittee, presented by Tim Clark, staff to Representative Hannon, adopted the governor’s items except for one: the panel rejected a request to appropriate $1,450,000 to begin the state’s assumption of Clean Water Act Section 404 dredge‑and‑fill permitting from the federal government. Clark said the department argued the state would gain “local knowledge” and industry certainty if it assumed primacy, but the subcommittee noted the $1.45 million was only an initial amount and that costs historically could ramp much higher. Clark also reported the subcommittee added one environmental program specialist 3 position to strengthen cruise ship compliance inspections and approved a $40,000 increment to cover higher costs for laboratory mice used to detect paralytic shellfish poisoning after a supplier closure.

The Department of Public Safety closeout, presented by Rachel Gunn, staff to Representative Neli Unangag Jimmie, approved most governor requests while making targeted reductions and reallocations. The subcommittee reestablished the Talkeetna post but applied a 25% reduction in personnel services funding for the four state troopers and one criminal justice technician assigned to that post to align funding with the post’s planned summer opening and actual staffing timeline. The subcommittee adjusted a vehicle request for crime scene response in Palmer to fund one transit van (not two), reduced planned personnel service funding for a wildlife trooper to match a later deployment timeline, and denied a governor amendment that would have targeted support services for five village public safety officers (VPSOs) in the Northwest Arctic Borough. Instead, the subcommittee reallocated funds to bring 10 VPSOs online statewide (five from an earlier action and five from the current package) and set aside roughly $400,000 for support services and housing that can be used where most needed.

In the Department of Fish and Game closeout, Keenan Miller, staff to Representative Neli Unangag Jimmie, said the subcommittee accepted the majority of the governor’s items but made several adjustments: converting a $300,000 one‑time Southeast ground‑fish assessment increment to a two‑year temporary increment, adding one‑time sonar and Kuskokwim River monitoring increments, reducing test‑fishery receipt authority by $500,000 in one region, and replacing $65,000 of state funds with federal funds for hatchery construction match. The subcommittee denied two funding requests because they were tied to Senate Bill 189, which “remains under legal challenge,” and forwarded intent language directing the department to prepare a detailed report of all public fees, their inception dates, revenue and expenditures for the prior 10 years, to be submitted to the finance co‑chairs and Legislative Finance Division by Dec. 20, 2025.

Committee members asked detailed questions during the hearing: Representative Galvin asked for context on the transfer tied to Administrative Order 356; Representative Stapp and Director Paynter discussed the conversion of 11‑month positions to 12‑month positions in legislative staffing; and Representative Johnson and others pressed department staff on the magnitude and potential escalation of costs for assuming Section 404 permitting authority from the federal government. Tim Clark told the committee he could not recall “specific examples of woefully delayed decisions” by federal officials administering that 404 program, and he warned the initial state appropriation could be only the beginning of larger costs.

The committee recessed several times for procedural matters and to allow staff to retrieve reports. Co‑chair Josephson thanked subcommittee chairs and staff for completing six closeouts within a 38‑day span and noted the full House Finance Committee will next meet the same afternoon to consider Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 and hear public testimony. The March 10 meeting adjourned at 9:20 a.m.

Votes at a glance: the subcommittees’ actions were reported as accepted or denied rather than recorded roll‑call votes; where the transcript records an explicit subcommittee decision it is reflected above (accepted/denied/reallocated).