DCCED seeks positions for disaster recovery grants; community assistance fund distribution projected at $20M

The Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development told the House subcommittee it is adding positions to handle a growing portfolio of federal disaster recovery awards and that staffing needs are driven by federal compliance and public‑involvement requirements.

Administrative Services Director Hannah Lager said the department is adding capital improvement project receipts and two positions to the Division of Community and Regional Affairs to staff disaster recovery grants, and that a vacant position was transferred from another division to support that work. Lager explained the funding approach: "These federal awards require higher staffing load than we had previously assigned to them" and many awards are multi‑year, citing an award tied to the 2018 Anchorage earthquake that remains active.

Legislators asked whether positions would be reevaluated if federal funds stop; Lager said the department would "absolutely reevaluate" and would not be able to continue the positions without federal funding. Representative Mears asked about the community assistance fund capitalization and distribution mechanics; Lager said a projected $20,000,000 distribution is planned at the beginning of FY2027 and that the $14,000,000 requested in the budget will be deposited in FY2027 and distributed at the beginning of FY2028 under the statutory formula that takes the fund balance as of June 30, divides it by three, then applies a population formula.

Committee members requested a fuller list of grants and public posting when NTIA (federal partner) approvals are complete; department staff said those lists are or will be publicly available once federal approvals are finalized. The subcommittee flagged interest in continuing oversight and deeper discussion of disaster‑related spending and staffing in future meetings.