advocacy, on the menu, state policy

On the Menu 02.20.26

February 20, 2026

By Rachel Lord, Advocacy and Policy Director, AFPC

We spent time this week debriefing and catching up from Food Security Week (stay tuned for a blog recap next week!). Again there weren’t many hearings on the bills we’re tracking in Juneau, but there were a number of interesting presentations related to our food systems.

Next week, SB 187 is scheduled for a hearing with public testimony next Wednesday, 2/25 at 3:30PM in Senate Education. The bill would prohibit a list of 7 food additives from school nutrition/meals. We’re putting together a policy brief on it, but in the meantime you can read a few articles about similar actions across the country here and here. There are also a number of documents uploaded in BASIS to provide more background from the sponsor.

The House Finance Subcommittees will start their close outs next week, and the Senate Finance Committee is starting to take public testimony on the state budget on Thursday, Feb 26. See the Public Testimony below for more information on when to testify!

Updates

SB 200 – Farm & Ag land assessments

SB 200 had a hearing Tuesday in Senate Community & Regional Affairs. Staff presented a “Committee Substitute” (CS) for consideration. The language in the CS would allow farmland that is not actively in production but still part of the farm (i.e. a windbreak) to also be included in the farm use assessment. There were no questions or objections from the committee, and the CS was both adopted and moved from committee. It is next to Senate Resources. You can watch the very short hearing here.

HJR 22 – Rural Health Transformation Program

This House Joint Resolution was introduced on Wednesday. From the full bill title, HJR 22 is “Expressing commitment to the rural health transformation program and articulating priorities for the program; acknowledging the critical health care challenges facing rural areas of the state; urging action by the Governor and the Alaska delegation in Congress to continue to advocate for the state’s interests and advance the rural health transformation program; and expressing legislative intent to enact comprehensive legislation relating to the rural health transformation program and the state’s medical care and critical health care needs.” It was referred to Health & Social Services, and will be heard on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 3:15 PM with invited and public testimony.

Presentation: Understanding the Dual-Management Regulatory Framework of Subsistence in Alaska, Alaska Federation of Natives

On Thursday in House Tribal Affairs was a presentation by the Alaska Federation of Natives on Alaska Native Subsistence rights and uses. It ran just over two hours, and provided an excellent overview of an incredibly complex space. They noted this two hour presentation was whittled down from nine hours! Presenting from AFN was President Ben Mallot, Board Co-Chair Joe Nelson, and Staff Attorney Geoff Toy. This is an excellent primer on Alaska’s subsistence management framework, the tensions in dual management, the legal background, and so much more. See the presentation here, and watch the hearing here.

Lunch & Learn: Subsistence Workshop

This lunchtime presentation was sponsored by Rep. Neal Foster, and was presented by staff and Board members from the Alaska Federation of Natives. Board co-chair Joe Nelson gave a quick introduction, sharing the importance of increasing the “baseline IQ on subsistence” as the federal and state governments continue to wrestle through lawsuits with “Native folks being stuck in the middle.” Following a legal overview, AFN President Ben Mallot shared their commitment to moving forward with a better solution. Towards the end, there was some discussion about previous legislative efforts (see HJR 22 from last session), and the ongoing need for education of both legislators and Alaskans across the state. AFN’s annual convention will be Oct. 22-24, 2026 in Anchorage! You can see their presentation here (it’s the same as the Tribal Affairs slidedeck), and watch the workshop here.

Presentation: HR1, Medicaid and SNAP: Timing, Impact on Coverage, and Departmental Impact on Preparation, Budget Implications of Rural Health Transformation Program

Presented on Thursday to the House Finance Health & Social Services Subcommittee by Emily Ricci, Deputy Commissioner; Betsy Wood, Associate Director; and Deb Etheridge, Director, Division of Public Assistance. Highlights include differences between work requirement exemptions and different affected populations for Medicaid and SNAP from H.R. 1 (the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed last summer by Congress), the State’s “good faith waiver” to delay some of the implementation, and more. The entire discussion (including Medicaid changes) was important and interesting, but you can focus on SNAP and RHTP here and check out the slide deck here.

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

The Governor released his “amended budget” on Tuesday this week. You can see the proposed changes to his original proposed budget on the Office of Management and Budget website. Remember, these are still all proposals from the Governor. The legislature continues their budget discussions, and the final version will be something passed by the legislature and signed after any vetoes by the Governor (he can strike money out, but can’t add money back in to the legislature’s approved budget).

A few food systems related items of note in the Operating Budget changes are from the Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance (see a table with all of the changes here):

  • An increase to account for the SNAP administrative cost shift from the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress (H.R.1). The Department estimates that overall cost to be around $10.6M. The budget increase is for just under $8M, which in Thursday afternoon’s hearing with the House Finance Subcommittee, they noted was due to the timing of the change not accounting for a full year.
  • An $11.3M requested increase of state money (“UGF” = Unrestricted General Fund) for supporting operational costs for software and technology for SNAP and other public assistance program services. This is matched by $9.8M in federal funds.
  • $3.7M of UGF plus another $4.3M of federal funds for maintaining the DPA Virtual Call Center (VCC). The narrative talks about the federal waiver to allow Alaska to outsource call center functions to contractors (“non merit staff”=not state employees), and the overall importance of the VCC and how it shouldn’t be discontinued.
  • Federal receipt authority (i.e. legislative approval to get federal funds for services) for additional $4.5M in WIC grants.

Also in the Department of Health is a request for a multi-year authority to accept federal Rural Health Transformation Program funds in the amount of $272M. The description outlines that the department is expecting this amount annually for five years, for a total of $1.36 billion.

Also of note, unfortunately, is the lack of Market Matching funds in the updated capital budget. Our partners at the Alaska Farmers Market Association have been working hard to secure a final investment from the state for the hugely successful program that matches SNAP and WIC at Alaska’s farmers markets and farm stands. There was hope that the Governor would include this in his original budget, or in this updated version. It’s now up to the legislature to decide what happens next (see budget testimony opportunities next week below!). You can hear more in this KUAC story that aired Thursday on Alaska Public Media: ‘Farmers, advocates push for renewal of program that doubles SNAP’s buying power at farmers markets’.

Alaska State Budget Resources

Upcoming Public Testimony

HJR 22 – Rural Health Transformation Program

Tuesday, Feb. 24, House Health & Social Services, 3:15 PM

SB 187 – Prohibiting certain food additives in school meals 

Wednesday, Feb. 25, Senate Education, 3:30 PM

State Budget at Senate Finance

They will start with people at the Legislative Information Offices listed, and then to the “Offnets” – everyone calling in from home (call this number: (844) 586-9085).

Thursday, Feb. 26, 9 AM (Juneau, Southeast, Prince William Sound, Kodiak, Offnets) sign up by 10:15 AM

Thursday, Feb. 26, 1:30 PM (Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue, Utqiagvik, Unalaska, Dillingham, Offnets) sign up by 2:45 PM

Friday, Feb. 27, 9 AM (Fairbanks, Interior, Copper River Valley, Offnets) sign up by 9:45 AM

Friday, Feb. 27, 1:30 PM (Anchorage, Mat-Su Valley, Kenai Peninsula) sign up by 2:45 PM

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. If you’re interested in testifying but don’t know where to start, you can check out our simple “Tips for Testifying” document here.