Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

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                        SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 117
                          IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
                          THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
     BY SENATOR BEGICH
     Introduced: 2/5/20
     Referred: State Affairs, Finance
                                                  A BILL
                                        FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
 "An Act relating to disbursement of the permanent fund dividend."
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
   * Section 1. AS 43.23.055 is amended to read:
                  Sec. 43.23.055. Duties of the department. The department shall
                           (1) annually pay permanent fund dividends from the dividend fund in
         twice-yearly installments;
                           (2) subject to AS 43.23.011 and (8) of this section, adopt regulations
         under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) that establish procedures and time
         limits for claiming a permanent fund dividend; the department shall determine the
         number of eligible applicants by October 1 of the year for which the dividend is
         declared and pay the dividends by December 31 of that year;
                           (3) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act)
         that establish procedures and time limits for an individual upon emancipation or upon
         reaching majority to apply for permanent fund dividends not received during minority
         because the parent, guardian, or other authorized representative did not apply on
     SB0117B                                          -1-                                   SSSB 117
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       behalf of the individual;
                        (4) assist residents of the state, particularly in rural areas, who, because
       of language, disability, or inaccessibility to public transportation, need assistance to
       establish eligibility and to apply for permanent fund dividends;
                        (5)    use a list of individuals ineligible for a dividend under
       AS 43.23.005(d) provided annually by the Department of Corrections and the
       Department of Public Safety to determine the number and identity of those
       individuals;
                        (6) adopt regulations that are necessary to implement AS 43.23.005(d)
       and 43.23.048;
                        (7) adopt regulations that establish procedures for the parent, guardian,
       or other authorized representative of a disabled individual to apply for prior year
       permanent fund dividends not received by the disabled individual because no
       application was submitted on behalf of the individual;
                        (8) adopt regulations that establish procedures for an individual to
       apply to have a dividend disbursement under AS 37.25.050(a)(2) reissued if it is not
       collected within two years after the date of its issuance; however, the department may
       not establish a time limit within which an application to have a disbursement reissued
       must be filed;
                        (9) provide any information, upon request, contained in permanent
       fund dividend records to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or
       the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes
       authorized under law; if the information is contained in an electronic data base, the
       department shall provide the requesting agency with either
                               (A) access to the data base; or
                               (B) a copy of the information in the data base and a statement
              certifying its contents;
                        (10) establish a fraud investigation unit for the purpose of assisting the
                               (A) Department of Law in the prosecution of individuals who
              apply for or obtain a permanent fund dividend in violation of a provision in
              AS 11, by detecting and investigating those crimes; and
     SSSB 117                                        -2-                                       SB0117B
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                              (B) commissioner to detect and investigate the claiming or
               paying of permanent fund dividends that should not have been claimed by or
               paid to an individual and to impose the penalties and enforcement provisions
               under AS 43.23.270;
                       (11) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act)
       so that contributions under AS 43.23.130 are given a priority over donations under
       AS 43.23.230 if the total amount of contributions and donations elected by an
       applicant exceeds the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is
       entitled to receive.
    SB0117B                                     -3-                                  SSSB 117
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Statutes affected: 
SB0117A, AM SB 117, introduced 05/01/2019: 43.23.055
SB0117B, AM SSSB 117, introduced 02/05/2020: 43.23.055