advocacy, on the menu, state policy

On the Menu 04.24.26

April 24, 2026

By Rachel Lord, Advocacy and Policy Director, AFPC

This week was light on bill hearings, but it was a big week on the floors of both the House and Senate. The Senate heard, discussed, and unanimously passed the capital budget (SB 214) over to the House. In the House, there were hours-long sessions on multiple bills, including HB 25 – prohibiting take-out styrofoam containers at restaurants. HB 25 passed the House on Tuesday after an hour where nearly every member spoke to the bill. The vote was 25-15, with some minority members joining the majority in support. The bill moves next to the Senate, where it is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday in State Affairs. 

We have sent in support to both House Finance (for the capital budget) and Senate Finance (for the operation budget) for the inclusion of funding for the Market Match program – Alaska’s only statewide nutrition incentive program (find them here). We’ll be following along with the budget discussions, keeping our eyes on this, as well as funding for food banks and the Division of Public Assistance. There are hearings all week for the capital budget in House Finance, and operating budget hearings starting Tuesday in Senate Finance. 

On Monday morning, SB 187 is up in House Education, and SB 208 will be heard in Senate Finance (Happy Birthday to Farm Bureau’s Amy Seitz!). On Wednesday, SB 130 is up in the morning in House Finance, with public testimony Wednesday afternoon starting at 4:30 PM on the capital budget (SB 214). I’ll be in Washington DC next week with colleagues from the Food Bank of Alaska, attending the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference and meeting with the Congressional Delegation. OTM will still come out at the same time next week, but expect slightly lighter coverage of hearings as I’ll be in travel mode – feel free to email me highlights while I’m out of state! And stay tuned for a blog post on the ongoing Farm Bill negotiations in DC.

Check out our food systems calendar for relevant hearings and presentations, and always check akleg.gov for the most up-to-date information.

Updates

SB 208 – Agricultural land leases

Senate Resources heard SB 208 last Friday afternoon. Laura Achee, staff to Sen. Bjorkman, gave a brief overview of the bill. There were no questions and the committee moved the bill unanimously. It lasted for less than 3 minutes, and you can watch it here. SB 208 next heads to Senate Finance, where it is scheduled for a hearing on Monday morning.

SB 187– Prohibiting Food Dyes in School Meals

SB 187 was brought up for third reading during Monday’s Senate Floor session. Sen. Wielechowski gave an overview of the bill, including details on each of the synthetic food dyes in the legislation. There was no discussion, and the bill passed unanimously. You can see the short process here. On Tuesday the bill was read over to the House, and referred to a single committee – House Education, where it is scheduled for a Monday morning hearing. 

HB 356 – Requirements and permits for certain commercial fishing vessels

Introduced by Rep. Vance this January, HB 356 had its first hearing on Thursday in House Fisheries. Rep. Vance provided an overview of the bill, with an interest in supporting small scale commercial fishermen. The bill would exempt certain boats to process their own fish onboard, exempting them from the Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) food safety laws, and reduce and streamline permitting. Rep. Vance noted she considers this bill a “working document”, and talked about it as a “dialogue” with ADEC. There were questions around the definition of “micro-fisheries”, different vessel size classes and harvest amounts, existing direct market licenses in statute, application of tenders vs. harvesters, the definition of “low risk” fisheries species, understanding of the health and safety standards and proposed exemptions, and the definition of rural coastal communities. Rep. Kopp noted that this would not exempt fishermen from federal regulations, but attempt to stop additional regulations. There was conceptual appreciation for the bill, but ultimately a lot of unanswered questions on the details. The bill was held for a future hearing. You can listen to the hearing 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

On Tuesday, the Senate passed the capital budget (SB 214). Senator Cathy Tilton offered an amendment to add the Alaska Farmers Market Association’s $750,000 Market Match funding request to the budget – thank you Sen. Tilton! She provided an overview of the successful and important program. Sen. Stedman rose in opposition to the amendment, noting that it’s a good program but that it should be within the operating budget. He did note the capital budget is a longer-term appropriation versus the one-year appropriations of the operating budget, but still felt that was the appropriate place for this appropriation. Sen. Cronk spoke to the value of the program, and his support for the amendment. Sen. Myers also spoke in support of the amendment, recalling visits to his office in February and talks about food security. He and Sen. Tilton both spoke of the expectation this is the final round of state funding for the program. Sen. Dunbar shared agreement with Sen. Stedman, noting his support for markets but believes this kind of thing should be in the operating budget. He also expressed frustration with the stalling of his bill to adopt the federal Summer EBT program in Alaska (you can read our policy brief on SB 13 here). The final vote on the amendment failed 6-12 with Sens. Cronk, Kaufman, Myers, Rasucher, Tilton, and Yundt voting yes (Sen. Olson was excused and Sen. Kawasaki was absent). You can watch the amendment discussion here. The final capital budget was passed unanimously, and then passed out of the Senate and over to the House. 

On Thursday, House Finance took up the capital budget. David Scott, staff to Sen. Stedman provided an overview of the Senate’s capital bill. Rep. Galvin asked for more information about the Department of Health’s Information Systems project, which will be followed up on by staff. There is a hearing scheduled for Friday morning, and another seven hearings scheduled for next week on the capital budget. On Wednesday, April 29 at 4:30PM there is public testimony scheduled. We will be back with more coverage of the capital budget in next week’s OTM. You can send your thoughts to house.finance@akleg.gov. 

Meanwhile, the operating budget (HB 263) is starting its journey in the Senate after passing the House last week. Senate Finance introduced a Committee Substitute (CS) for the operating budget on Wednesday. The CS keeps $2M for emergency food purchases at food banks and food pantries. It still cuts $8M for the Division of Public Assistance Virtual Call Center. The operating budget is scheduled for hearings in Senate Finance on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. You can email your feedback to senate.finance@akleg.gov. 

Read our letters in support of Market Match funding in either the operating or capital budgets: Senate Finance, Operating Budget / House Finance, Capital Budget. 

Alaska State Budget Resources

Upcoming Public Testimony

SB 187 – Prohibiting Food Dyes in School Meals
House Education
Monday, April 27, 8 AM
Email house.education@akleg.gov

SB 208 – Agricultural Land Leases
Senate Finance
Monday, April 27, 8 AM
Email senate.finance@akleg.gov 

SB 214 – Capital Budget
House Finance
Wednesday, April 29, 4:30 PM
Email house.finance@akleg.gov

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!

You can also see the list of public testimony options at the state website here: https://akleg.gov/pages/testify.php 

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.