Committee hears support for SB 181 to streamline data sharing with University of Alaska; privacy questions remain
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Summary
SB 181 would authorize the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to share more detailed workforce and program data with the University of Alaska for evaluation and research under written agreement. University and ISER witnesses supported the bill; department staff acknowledged confidentiality protections and committee members pressed for clarity on scope and privacy. The committee held the bill and set an amendment deadline of April 7.
Sen. Gary Stevens introduced Senate Bill 181 as a data‑sharing measure that emerged from the joint legislative task force evaluating Alaska’s seafood industry. The bill would authorize the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to share certain workforce and program information with the University of Alaska under a written agreement for program evaluation, improvement, educational outreach and public policy research.
Chad Hutchison, state director for government relations at the University of Alaska, told the committee the university “strongly support[s] SB 181,” saying reduced barriers to data access lower operating costs for university research and improve the evidence base for state policy.
Dr. Brett Watson, an economist at the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), testified SB 181 would streamline access to Department of Labor data that is more specific and timely than many federal products and that ISER has experience handling sensitive data and IRB protocols.
Dan Robinson, research chief at the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, said existing Alaska statute contains rigid protections for employer‑specific and individual data submitted for unemployment insurance programs, but SB 181 would allow sharing with a trusted partner under written agreement while maintaining required confidentiality protections used in other states.
Committee members asked detailed questions about the breadth of the bill’s sharing authority, who at the university would access the data, and why the written‑agreement language was being changed; staff said the provision was similar to prior bills but deferred privacy‑mechanics questions to agency experts. The committee received no public testimony and voted to hold SB 181 for further consideration, setting an amendment deadline of Tuesday, April 7 at noon.
