The proposed bill establishes a behavioral health crisis services surcharge of $0.98 per month for each wireless telephone number and local exchange access line for wireline telephones in Alaska. Local exchange and wireless telephone companies are required to bill and collect this surcharge from their customers, ensuring that no customer is charged more than once for the same line or number. The bill outlines the responsibilities of these companies in terms of billing, remittance of collected surcharges to the state, and the conditions under which they may pursue collection of unpaid surcharges. Additionally, the bill specifies that the Regulatory Commission of Alaska will not consider the surcharge as revenue for the telephone companies.

The collected surcharges will be deposited into a newly established Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund, which will be used to support various initiatives related to behavioral health crisis services, including the operation of a three-digit number for reporting crises, recruitment and training of personnel, and public awareness campaigns. The bill clarifies that the fund is not a dedicated fund and allows for annual appropriations to be made to the Department of Health for these purposes. The effective date for the implementation of this act is set for July 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
SB0196A, AM SB 196, introduced 05/19/2025: