advocacy, on the menu

On the Menu 5.9.2025

By Rachel Lord, Advocacy and Policy Director, AFPC

Wednesday, May 21 is the 121st day of the legislature. We’re quickly nearing the finish line of year one for this two-year session, and the last OTM will be Friday, May 23. I was in Washington DC for most of the week, and look forward to providing a recap from the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference! Back home, it was a light food-focused week in Juneau. 

We send 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:

HB 125 – Membership on the Board of Fisheries

HB 125 was introduced on March 5 by Representative Jimmie. It has picked up a lot of co-sponsors: Reps. Foster, Kopp, Burke, Dibert, Story, and Allard. 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. You can read AFPC’s letter of support for HB 125 here.  

HB 125 was heard for the first time in House Resources on April 28. The committee heard the bill again on Friday, May 2 starting with public testimony. Chuck Derrick, Chitina Dipnetters Association, testified in frustration that personal use fisheries are not included in the representation on the Board through this bill and offered support of amendments proposed by Rep. Rauscher. Karen Linnell, Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission, testified in support of the bill as written. She noted that personal use fishing requires a sport fish license, and those interests would be covered by the sport fish seats. Mark Richards, Resident Hunters of Alaska, testified in support of the bill and encouraged a similar effort for the Board of Game. He noted that the seats will still be politicized, and the biggest change needed is to require adherence to the Alaska Constitution on behalf of Alaskan residents. Rod Arno, Alaska Outdoor Council, thanked Rep. Jimmie for the bill and also spoke in support of one of the amendments to include personal use fisheries representation. Craig Chythlook, Native Peoples Action, spoke in favor of the bill. He shared the importance of tribal representation, co-management, and concerns about the definition of “science” and the need to acknowledge Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Nancy Hillstrand, Pioneer Alaska Fisheries, testified for the need for stronger ecological management of fisheries and strengthening the language in the bill around the science and management representation to protect all fisheries. Jim Simon, Salcha, testified in support of the bill in its current form. He shared that if personal use fisheries were given a dedicated seat, it should come from the sport fish seats.

Chair Burke noted that they were going to take amendments today, but they ran out of time with five amendments received. They set the bill aside, and intend to take up amendments first thing on Monday, May 5 at 1PM. You can watch the hearing here.

 

HB 135 / SB 131 – 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 and last Friday May 2 in Senate Resources.

During the May 2 hearing, they started with a brief recap from Greg Smith, ASMI Communications Director. Sen. Dunbar moved amendment 1, which would include the term ‘mariculture’ instead of ‘aquatic farm product’ within this bill to shift the statute to match the language in the industry. There was additional discussion surrounding the confusion of wording in the proposed amendment and the amendment was passed.

The committee then took public testimony, starting with Robert Venables, Southeast Conference. He shared support of the bill, and considered that opposition was only from people who were concerned about being charged assessments. Jason Lessard, Alaska Mariculture Alliance, spoke to the diverse views of the AMA membership but the ultimate general support for the bill. He said there is a lot of work to be done to work through the details. Sen. Myers asked about the opposition within the AMA membership, and Jason shared that there is difference of opinion across sector lines with the more established oyster farms generally not supporting and the newer kelp farms supporting. 

Sen. Dunbar noted for the record that farmed finfish products are not part of this legislation. Farmed finfish are not legal in the state, they won’t be legalized in the state and there’s no public interest in changing that, and that this bill and ASMI understand that farmed finfish products are not on the table here in any way. With that, they moved the bill, as amended, out of committee and it next heads to Senate Finance. You can watch the hearing here. 

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. 

After moving successfully through the Senate, and through the House committee process, SJR 12 was on the House Floor this week, introduced on Wednesday. It is in its third reading on the House Floor today. 

No Changes From Last Week:

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, Galvin, and Himschoot for signing on to HB12 as co-sponsors. HB 12 was heard for the first time in House Education on Monday, February 24 and again on April 28. There is terrific public support for the bill, and also a lot of critical details and finances to figure out. HB 12 was held for further discussion.

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 April 24. Rep. Foster joined the bill as a co-sponsor.

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 April 24 in House Finance.

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 and Dibert. It is referred to House Social Services and then Finance. It hasn’t yet been scheduled for a hearing. 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. Read our policy brief here. 

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 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. 

Budget:

Capital Budget Updates (SB 57): The Senate’s capital budget was passed over to the House, where the Finance committee has been taking public testimony and holding hearings all week.

Operating Budget Updates (HB 53): The Senate passed their version of the state’s operating budget for the next fiscal year (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026) on Wednesday this week. It will now go to the House, which will likely result in a Conference Committee where members from each body will meet privately to compromise somewhere in between the House and Senate versions of the budget.

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:

There are no public testimony opportunities published for next week at this time.

Remember – things can change quickly as we near the end of session!

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