PERM FUND; EMPLOYMENT; ELIGIBILITY, the official text

00Enrolled HB 75
01Relating to national criminal history record checks for certain employees of the Department of 
02 Revenue; relating to allowable absences for eligibility for a permanent fund dividend; relating 
03 to electronic notice of debt collection executed on a permanent fund dividend; and providing 
04 for an effective date. 
05 _______________ 
06 * Section 1. AS 12.62.400(c) is amended to read: 
07 (c) To obtain a national criminal history record check for determining a 
08 current or prospective employee's qualifications under AS 39.90.210, a current or 
09 prospective employee's qualifications and suitability to administer the permanent 
10 fund dividend program under AS 43.23, or a contractor's qualifications under 
11 AS 36.30.960, the agency or the procurement officer shall submit the current or 
12 prospective employee's or contractor's fingerprints to the department with the fee 
13 established by AS 12.62.160. The department shall submit the fingerprints to the 
14 Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain a national criminal history record check of

01 the current or prospective employee or contractor for the purpose of evaluating a 
02 person's qualifications under AS 36.30.960, [AND] AS 39.90.210, or AS 43.23, as 
03 applicable. In this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires, 
04 (1) "agency" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290; 
05 (2) "contractor" has the meaning given in AS 36.30.960; 
06 (3) "employee" has the meaning given in AS 39.90.290. 
07 * Sec. 2. AS 43.23.008(a) is amended to read: 
08 (a) Subject to (b) and (d) of this section, an otherwise eligible individual who 
09 is absent from the state during the qualifying year remains eligible for a current year 
10 permanent fund dividend if the individual was absent 
11 (1) receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time 
12 basis; on a break or holiday from a secondary or postsecondary educational 
13 institution during an academic year, not including summer break, if the 
14 individual is enrolled in and attends the educational institution on a full-time 
15 basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation program 
16 required as a condition of the secondary or postsecondary education and the 
17 individual immediately begins the education on a full-time basis after the 
18 completion of the orientation; 
19 (2) receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a 
20 full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 
21 Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state; on a break 
22 or holiday from the vocational, professional, or other specific training, not 
23 including summer break, if the individual is enrolled in and attends the training 
24 on a full-time basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation 
25 program required as a condition of the vocational, professional, or other specific 
26 training and the individual immediately begins the training on a full-time basis 
27 after the completion of the orientation; 
28 (3) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed services 
29 [ARMED FORCES] of the United States or accompanying, as that individual's 
30 spouse, minor dependent, or disabled dependent, an individual who is 
31 (A) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed

01 services [ARMED FORCES] of the United States; and 
02 (B) eligible for a current year dividend; 
03 (4) serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an 
04 oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine or attending a vocational 
05 program that 
06 (A) trains students for a career in the United States 
07 merchant marine; 
08 (B) provides seagoing service that meets the requirements 
09 of the United States Coast Guard for United States merchant marine 
10 credentialing; and 
11 (C) is approved by the United States Coast Guard; 
12 (5) receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a 
13 licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician who treated the 
14 illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change; 
15 (6) providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with 
16 a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the 
17 attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical 
18 specialty complex; 
19 (7) providing care for the individual's terminally ill family member; 
20 (8) settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse, 
21 sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days; 
22 (9) serving as a member of the United States Congress; 
23 (10) serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United 
24 States Congress; 
25 (11) serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other 
26 location; 
27 (12) accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection; 
28 (13) accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason 
29 permitted under (1), (2), (5) - (12), (16), or (17) of this subsection as the spouse, minor 
30 dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident; 
31 (14) serving as a volunteer in the federal peace corps program;

01 (15) because of training or competing as a member of the United States 
02 Olympic Team or a United States national team for an Olympic sport; 
03 (16) participating for educational purposes in a student fellowship 
04 sponsored by the United States Department of Education or by the United States 
05 Department of State; 
06 (17) for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a 
07 state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed 
08 (A) 180 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 
09 claimed 
10 (i) under (3) of this subsection if the individual is not 
11 claiming an absence under (1), (2), or (4) - (16) of this subsection; or 
12 (ii) under (5) of this subsection if the individual is 
13 not claiming an absence under (1) - (4) or (6) - (16) of this 
14 subsection; 
15 (B) 120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 
16 claimed under (1) - (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an 
17 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection but is claiming an absence under (1) 
18 or (2) of this subsection; or 
19 (C) 45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 
20 claimed under (1) - (16) of this subsection if the individual is claiming an 
21 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection. 
22 * Sec. 3. AS 43.23.008(f) is amended to read: 
23 (f) In [FOR PURPOSES OF (a)(7) OF] this section, 
24 (1) "family member" means a person who is 
25 (A) [(1)] legally related to the individual through marriage or 
26 guardianship; or 
27 (B) [(2)] the individual's sibling, parent, grandparent, son, 
28 daughter, grandson, granddaughter, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or first cousin; 
29 (2) "uniformed service" means the United States Army, Navy, Air 
30 Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force, the National Oceanic and 
31 Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, and the

01 Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service. 
02 * Sec. 4. AS 43.23.055 is amended to read: 
03 Sec. 43.23.055. Duties of the department. The department shall 
04 (1) annually pay permanent fund dividends from the dividend fund; 
05 (2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations 
06 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time 
07 limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the 
08 number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is 
09 declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year; 
10 (3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 
11 that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon 
12 reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority 
13 because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on 
14 behalf of the individual; 
15 (4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because 
16 of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to 
17 establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends; 
18 (5) use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under 
19 AS 43.23.005(d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the 
20 Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those 
21 individuals; 
22 (6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005(d) 
23 and 43.23.048; 
24 (7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian, 
25 or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year 
26 permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no 
27 application was submitted on behalf of the individual; 
28 (8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to 
29 apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050(a)(2) reissued if it is not 
30 collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may 
31 not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued

01 must be filed; 
02 (9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent 
03 fund dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or 
04 the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes 
05 authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the 
06 department shall provide the requesting agency with either 
07 (A) access to the data base; or 
08 (B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement 
09 certifying its contents; 
10 (10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the 
11 (A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who 
12 apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in 
13 AS 11, by detecting and investigating those crimes; and 
14 (B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or 
15 paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or 
16 paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions 
17 under AS 43.23.270; 
18 (11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) 
19 so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under 
20 AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an 
21 applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is 
22 entitled to receive; 
23 (12) submit fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public 
24 Safety for a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 for the 
25 purpose of determining a person's qualifications and suitability for administering 
26 the permanent fund dividend program under this chapter. 
27 * Sec. 5. AS 43.23.140(d) is amended to read: 
28 (d) An assignment of or levy, execution, garnishment, attachment, or other 
29 remedy for the collection of debt applied to a dividend for a year may not be accepted 
30 by the department before April 1 of that same year. AS 09.38.080(c) and 09.38.085 do 
31 not apply to a levy on a permanent fund dividend. Upon receipt of a writ of execution

01under (a) of this section or another court order, the commissioner shall deliver to the 
02 court that portion of the dividend executed on [UPON] along with the case name and 
03 number. At the time payment is made to the court, the department shall send notice to 
04 the court that issued the writ or order and to the individual at the address provided 
05 in the individual's dividend application or the electronic mail address at which the 
06 individual has consented to receive notices or documents in a verifiable manner, 
07 as provided in regulations adopted by the department. The [AND TO THE 
08 COURT THAT ISSUED THE WRIT OR ORDER A] notice must contain [THAT 
09 CONTAINS] 
10 (1) notification that all or part of the individual's dividend has been 
11 seized under a writ of execution or court order; 
12 (2) the name and address of the court that issued the writ or order; 
13 (3) the case number for which the writ or order was issued; 
14 (4) the amount seized under the writ or order; and 
15 (5) notification that the individual has 30 days from the date the notice 
16 is mailed in which to file with the court an objection to the seizure if a mistake has 
17 been made. 
18 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026.