advocacy, on the menu, state policy

On the Menu 02.13.26

February 17, 2026

By Rachel Lord, Advocacy and Policy Director, AFPC

This week was Food Security Week in Juneau – it was an inspiring and powerful opportunity to connect with legislators and fellow advocates from across the state working in many facets of our food systems. This will be a fairly short OTM, I’m still traveling home and did not keep up with all the things happening over the last five days! But we’ll run through the links so you can check out slide presentations and watch hearings of interest.

A few things to keep an eye out for next week:

  • Tuesday 2/17 – (H) Health & Social Services – 3:15PM, a pending House Joint Resolution (HJR) regarding the Rural Health Transformation Program
  • Wednesday 2/18 – (H) Finance – 1:30PM, the rescheduled H.R.1 SNAP/Medicaid implementation presentation by Department of Health
  • Thursday 2/19 – (H) Tribal Affairs – 8AM, Understanding the Dual-Management Regulatory Framework of Subsistence in Alaska: How Federal Statutes Impact Alaska Native Subsistence Rights and Uses by Ben Mallott,  President; Joe Nelson, Board Co-Chair; and Geoff Toy, Staff Attorney, Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN)
  • Thursday, Noon Lunch & Learn – Subsistence Workshop by Ben and Geoff from AFN
  • Thursday, (H) Health & Social Services (FinSub) – 3:20PM, presentation from Dept. of Health on HR1, Medicaid and SNAP: Timing, Impact on Coverage, and Departmental Impact on Preparation, Budget Implications of Rural Health Transformation Program

Updates

HB 296 – Ag Leases

Rep. Donna Mears introduced a companion bill to SB 208, regarding leasing state lands for agricultural purposes. The language is the same as the current SB 208, we anticipate a committee substitute (CS) for both with amendments. HB 296 was referred to Resources and Finance.

SB 200 – Farm & Ag land assessments

SB 200 had a hearing with public & invited testimony on Tuesday in Senate Community & Regional Affairs. After Sen. Bjorkman and staff gave an overview of the bill, the committee opened public testimony and heard from Rita Jo Schultz, Secretary of the South Peninsula Chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau & co-owner of Alaska Perfect Peony in support of the bill. Invited testimony in support of the bill was provided by Amy Seitz, Policy Director at the Alaska Farm Bureau and Margaret Adsit, Lands Program Coordinator for the Alaska Farmland Trust. You can watch the hearing here. The bill will be heard again next Tuesday, Feb. 17.

UAF Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension

Jodie Anderson, Director UAF Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension and Jenn Wagaman, Director of Cooperative Extension, gave a presentation. on Monday in House Resources (presentation/video). Jodie presented again on Thursday in the Senate Special Committee on Arctic Affairs (presentation/video).

Rural Health Transformation Program – Department of Health

There was a webinar midweek on the funding application process, and on Thursday there was a joint hearing with the House and Senate Health & Social Services Committees on the Rural Health Transformation Program. Watch the hearing here. Keep up with all of the moving pieces at the RHTP webpage at the Department of Health. 

Alaska Food Policy Council & Dr. Mike Jones, ISER

We had the opportunity to give a presentation to House Tribal Affairs on Tuesday morning. Robbi and I were joined by Tikaan Galbreath – Co-Vice Chair of our Board & Chief Operating Officer at First Alaskans Institute to talk about AFPC, followed by  Dr. Mike Jones from UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research talking about aviation supply chains for fresh foods and medicines to off-road Alaska. (AFPC Presentation/ISER Presentation/Video)

Overview of Alaska’s Agriculture Industry

On Wednesday in Senate Labor & Commerce was a presentation on Alaska’s Agriculture Industry by Alaska Farm Bureau, Alaska Farmland Trust, and Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Mining, Land, and Water. Included in the presentation were farmers Emily Garrity (Twitter Creek Gardens), Tarn Coffey (Coffey Farm), and Ken Hoffman (Mat-Su Microgreens). (presentation/video)

Food Bank of Alaska

The Food Bank of Alaska gave an update, including information on their Food Is Medicine work, on Thursday morning to the House Tribal Affairs Committee (presentation/video).

No Changes This Week:

Check out our bill tracker here to see all the food policy bills we are tracking, and where they are in the legislative process.

Budget

No budget updates this week!

Alaska State Budget Resources

Upcoming Public Testimony

No public testimony on our tracked bills next week

Remember – things can (and often will) change! If there is a bill you’re particularly interested in, text the bill number (ie. HB202) to 559-245-2529 and you’ll get text alerts when its status changes!

Hearings can be watched on Gavel/KTOO, and you can check out our calendar of hearings for bills we are watching here.