Four new bills become law in Alaska, two with governor’s signature

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has signed a bill expanding the exemptions that allow some Alaskans who are absent from the state to receive Permanent Fund dividends.

House Bill 75, from Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, was one of four bills that became law last week.

“We were pleased to see that it was signed into law,” said Bynum on Tuesday.

Bynum was elected to the House in 2024, and HB 75 was his first bill. It also was the first bill from the House’s Republican minority caucus to become law this year.

The governor did not hold a signing ceremony, and the governor’s office did not issue a statement about the signing of that bill or three others that he signed last week. 

Official notices were published by the clerks for the Legislature on Monday.

“Having a little bit of fanfare would have been kind of a nice thing, but at the end of the day, it’s really more about what the bill is going to do and how it is going to help Alaskans,” Bynum said.

Under HB 75, Alaskans who are absent from the state while undergoing training for the U.S. merchant marine will not have that absence count against them when considering eligibility for the Permanent Fund dividend. 

College students who take holiday breaks away from Alaska also will not have those absences count against them, and members of the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps and the Public Health Service commissioned corps will not lose PFD eligibility if deployed out of state.

The PFD department also will be able to conduct fingerprint background checks of its employees.

In addition to HB 75, Dunleavy allowed Senate Bill 80 and Senate Bill 137, renewing some of the state’s professional licensing boards and the state parole board, to become law without his signature.

He also signed Senate Bill 152, which names the airport in Ruby after longtime local pilot Harold Esmailka.

• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.