advocacy, on the menu

On the Menu 4.25.2025

By Rachel Lord, Advocacy and Policy Director, AFPC

This was another fairly short week of policy coverage in Juneau. Which is great, since I’ve been down with the plague ALL WEEK. I’m starting to feel better, but only just barely – stay healthy, everyone! The last day of the 121 day session is May 21 – that means there are only four more On The Menus coming your way (time flies when we’re having fun, right?!). The budget, especially education funding and the large structural deficit in Alaska, continues to challenge legislators. There are a lot of hearings up next week for bills we’re following, and many of them with public testimony. So get ready for a busy week next week.  

We are shifting to sending OTM only to those specifically signed up for OTM! Please sign up here if you haven’t already done so! 

The bills below are ones that are food systems-related. AFPC doesn’t have a position on most legislation, but if we do we will be sure to note that whenever we talk about the bill. Also, our hearing summaries are just that – summaries. For the full scoop, check out the linked videos! As always, please let us know if we’ve missed or misrepresented something, or if there’s an issue you think we should be tracking – email Rachel (advocacy@alaskafoodpolicycouncil.org).

Remember, you will be able to see all the bills we’re watching and read AFPC policy briefs as they are posted on our website. In our session preview, you can read brief summaries of most of the bills below. Hearings can be watched on Gavel/KTOO, and you can check out our calendar of hearings for bills we are watching here. Finally, if you’re interested in testifying but don’t know where to start, you can check out our simple “Tips for Testifying” document here. 

Updates:

SJR 12– NOAA Buoy Outages

Senate Joint Resolution 12 was introduced by Senator Dunbar in late February. After our April Advocacy Working Group meeting, where concerns were raised by members about the increased unreliability of marine weather forecasts, I’m going to add this to OTM for tracking. Reviewing the sponsor statement, this was catalyzed by chronic outages of the Seal Rocks Buoy in Prince William Sound. The resolution has a letter of support from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, highlighting the critical importance of weather buoy data in ensuring navigational safety of oil tankers through the Sound. AFPC recognizes that our coastal communities rely on weather data for safe transportation and access to marine food resources. Similar to our support for improving the aviation weather systems, we strongly support the stable operations of our marine weather systems. 

SJR 12 passed the Senate in early April and was referred to the House Transportation committee. SJR 12 had its first hearing on Tuesday, April 22.  Sen. Dunbar gave a brief overview of the resolution. The committee heard invited testimony from John Guthrie, Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council (PWSRCAC) in strong support of the resolution. Rep. McCabe asked who maintains the weather buoys, and Mr. Guthrie answered that the NOAA National Buoy Data Center is responsible for maintenance; when timing works out, they contract with the Coast Guard. Robert Archibald, also from the PWSRCAC, spoke next and also in support of the resolution. There is a lot of similarity between the issues being seen here with the NOAA buoys and marine weather systems and the aviation weather system outages with the FAA.  It was discussed that funding is necessary, and further conversation included asking the USCG to maintain the buoy. Chair Carrick asked for more information about the number of NOAA buoys across the state, and how many are experiencing critical outages. With that, the committee held the resolution. You can watch the hearing here. 

HB 30 – Office of Entrepreneurship

HB 30 was introduced on January 22 by Rep. Holland (Anchorage). It was originally referred to the House State Affairs and Labor & Commerce committees, and had a referral for House Finance added. HB 30 was first heard on Feb. 22, and moved out of State Affairs on March 11. HB 30 was heard in House Labor & Commerce on March 17, and moved out of committee on March 23. House Finance was added as a committee of referral to HB 30, and it was heard on Thursday. I’m not going to cover the hearing, but you can find the video here.

HB 34 – Alaska Innovation Council

HB 34 was introduced on January 22 by Rep. Holland (Anchorage). It is referred to the House State Affairs and Labor & Commerce committees. AFPC doesn’t have a position on this bill, but we are lightly tracking it and thinking about possible impacts on new food systems businesses.

HB 34 was first heard in the House Labor & Commerce Committee on Monday, February 10, and again on February 14 and February 24. The committee substitute (CS) for HB 34 was moved out of committee on February 24. HB 34 was heard on Thursday afternoon in House Finance. I am not going to be covering this, but you can find the video here. 

No Changes From Last Week:

HB 140 /SB 128 Department of Agriculture (AFPC Supports)

HB 140 and SB 128 were introduced after the Governor’s Executive Order 136 failed (you can review the rundown in the OTM from March 21, and read an Alaska Beacon article here). I haven’t yet dug into the full text of both, but I believe they are currently pretty much identical to one another, and substantively identical to the Governor’s EO (with a handful of conforming changes that don’t change the substance of the proposal).  Both bills were referred to their respective Resources and Finance Committees, and their first hearings took place the last week of March. You can read our overview and AFPC’s position here. 

HB 140 had its first hearing in House Resources on March 26. SB 128 was first heard on March 28 and was heard again in Senate Resources April 11 where the committee passed amendments to include a Division of Mariculture, a Division of Food Security, and to clarify the role of the commissioner. 

HB 60 / SB 67 – Procurement Preference for Agricultural and Fisheries Products.

These bills were introduced by the Governor on January 22 (House) and January 24 (Senate). You can read our Policy Brief here. SB 67 was last heard on Feb. 7 in Senate Resources. The House Fisheries Committee heard HB 60 on February 6 and for the second time Tuesday, February 11 where it was passed out of committee with no amendments. The bill was heard in the House Labor & Commerce on February 21, and again on April 4.

SB 13/HB 154 – Summer EBT

SB 13 was introduced on January 22 by Senator Dunbar (Anchorage). It is referred to the Senate Education and then Finance committees. HB 154 was introduced by Rep. Mears on March 24 and is co-sponsored by Rep. Fields. It is referred to House Social Services and then Finance. It hasn’t yet been scheduled for a hearing. Read our policy brief here. 

SB 13 was heard in Senate Education on March 5 and on April 9, when it was moved out of committee with one amendment. It now awaits scheduling in Senate Finance.

HB 111/SB 108 – Finfish Farms and Products

These bills were introduced by the governor on Friday, February 21, and February 24. HB 111 was referred to House Fisheries and Resources committees. SB 108 was referred to Senate Resources and then Finance. Significant opposition has been voiced from across the legislature, as well as from Alaskans around the state. Meanwhile, others have expressed interest in further exploring fish farming opportunities to support Alaska’s food security and independence. Alaska has a rich seafood industry and a growing mariculture industry. We have a long history of protecting wild fish harvest, with a strong international brand. You can read our policy brief here. We have also received a copy of the 1990 Alaska Finfish Farming Task Force Report, which you can find here.

SB 108 was heard for the first time with invited and public testimony on Monday, March 10 in Senate Resources. The bill was set aside with public testimony open. HB 108 was heard on April 10 for the first, and probably last time in House Fisheries.

HB 125 – Membership on the Board of Fisheries

HB 125 was introduced on March 5 by Representative Jimmie and is co-sponsored by Reps. Foster, Kopp, and Burke. It amends the membership of the Board of Fisheries to specify sector representation from Board members. It is referred to House Fisheries and then Resources. It was heard in House Fisheries on March 18, March 25, on April 8 when it was amended and moved out of committee. HB 125 now awaits scheduling in House Resources. You can read AFPC’s letter of support for HB 125 here.   HB 125 is scheduled for a hearing with public testimony on Monday, April 28 at 1PM in House Resources, and another hearing on Friday, May 2 at 1PM.

 

HB 135 – Duties of ASMI board/Meaning of seafood

HB 135 and SB 131 were introduced Friday, March 14 by the Governor. HB 135 is referred to House Fisheries and then Resources. SB 131 is referred to Senate Resources and then Finance. The bill has two sections, and adds ‘aquatic farm products as defined in AS 16.40.199’ to the definition of seafood as it relates to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. It also clarifies, to be consistent with this expanded definition of seafood, that their work covers the handling of seafood from the moment of capture or harvest (that’s the added language!) to final distribution. HB 135 was heard with invited and public testimony on March 27. SB 131 was heard on April 9.  SB 131 will be heard on Friday, May 2 in Senate Resources at 3:30 PM with public testimony.

HB 25 – Disposable container ban for restaurants

HB 25 was introduced on January 22 by Rep. Josephson (Anchorage). It was referred to the House State Affairs and Labor & Commerce committees. HB 25 was heard in House State Affairs on Tuesday, Feb. 18, Feb. 20, and Feb. 25 where it was moved out of committee. HB 25 was then heard in House Labor & Commerce (L&C), first on March 5 and again on March 14. On March 28, Rep. Hall signed on as a co-sponsor. On April 7, Reps. Burke and Hannan signed on as additional co-sponsors. 

HB 12 – School Food for All Alaskan Kids (AFPC Supports)

Read our policy brief here.  Introduced on January 22 by Rep. Dibert (Fairbanks), HB 12 is referred to the House Education and then Finance committees. Thanks to Representative Edgmon, Burke, and Galvin for signing on to HB12 as co-sponsors. HB 12 was heard for the first time in House Education on Monday, February 24. HB 12 is scheduled for a hearing with public testimony on Monday, April 28 at 8AM in House Education.

Budget:

Capital Budget Updates (SB 57): The Senate’s capital budget was passed over to the House. BASIS shows hearings next week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday starting at 1:30 PM, pending referral.

Operating Budget Updates (HB 53): Senate Finance took up the operating budget on Thursday morning, reviewing and adopting the committee substitute – a drastically cut down budget relative to the House’s version – as their working version.

The supplemental budget (HB 56), for additional funds requested through the rest of this fiscal year, is still waiting to be heard in Senate Finance. 

Alaska’s financial footing has been tenuous for a long time, with competing expectations and understandings of the role of the state government, what to pay for, and how to do it. 

More state budget resources:

Upcoming Public Testimony:

HB 12 – School Food for All Alaskan Kids

Monday, April 28

House Education, 8:00 AM

HB 125 – Membership on the Board of Fisheries

Monday, April 28

House Resources, 1:00 PM

SJR 12 – NOAA Buoy Outages

Tuesday, April 29

House Transportation, 1:00 PM

SB 131 – Duties of ASMI board/Definition of seafood 

Friday, May 2

Senate Resources, 3:30 PM

Remember these can change quickly!

Keep an eye on all public testimony opportunities here.

There are 3 ways you can testify:

Email committee: Spreadsheet of Committee email addresses

Testify from your local LIO: https://akleg.gov/lios.php

Call in from your phone: 1-844-586-9085