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HB0295b -1- CSHB 295(STA)
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CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 295(STA)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY THE HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Offered: 3/25/26
Referred: Finance
Sponsor(s): REPRESENTATIVES MCCABE, Fields, Himschoot, Vance
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to allowable absences for eligibility for a permanent fund dividend; 1
and providing for an effective date." 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
* Section 1. AS 43.23.008(a) is amended to read: 4
(a) Subject to (b) and (d) of this section, an otherwise eligible individual who 5
is absent from the state during the qualifying year remains eligible for a current year 6
permanent fund dividend if the individual was absent 7
(1) receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time 8
basis; on a break or holiday from a secondary or postsecondary educational institution 9
during an academic year, not including summer break, if the individual is enrolled in 10
and attends the educational institution on a full-time basis before and after the break or 11
holiday; or in an orientation program required as a condition of the secondary or 12
postsecondary education and the individual immediately begins the education on a 13
full-time basis after the completion of the orientation; 14
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CSHB 295(STA) -2- HB0295b
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(2) receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a 1
full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 2
Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state; on a break or 3
holiday from the vocational, professional, or other specific training, not including 4
summer break, if the individual is enrolled in and attends the training on a full-time 5
basis before and after the break or holiday; or in an orientation program required as a 6
condition of the vocational, professional, or other specific training and the individual 7
immediately begins the training on a full-time basis after the completion of the 8
orientation; 9
(3) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed services of 10
the United States or accompanying, as that individual's spouse, minor dependent, or 11
disabled dependent, an individual who is 12
(A) serving on active duty as a member of the uniformed 13
services of the United States; and 14
(B) eligible for a current year dividend; 15
(4) serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an 16
oceangoing vessel of the United States Merchant Marine or attending a vocational 17
program that 18
(A) trains students for a career in the United States Merchant 19
Marine; 20
(B) provides seagoing service that meets the requirements of 21
the United States Coast Guard for United States Merchant Marine 22
credentialing; and 23
(C) is approved by the United States Coast Guard; 24
(5) receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a 25
licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician who treated the 26
illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change; 27
(6) providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with 28
a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the 29
attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical 30
specialty complex; 31
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HB0295b -3- CSHB 295(STA)
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(7) providing care for the individual's terminally ill family member; 1
(8) settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse, 2
sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days; 3
(9) serving as a member of the United States Congress; 4
(10) serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United 5
States Congress; 6
(11) serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other 7
location; 8
(12) accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection; 9
(13) accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason 10
permitted under (1), (2), (5) - (12), (16), or (19) [(17)] of this subsection as the spouse, 11
minor dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident; 12
(14) serving as a volunteer in the federal peace corps program; 13
(15) because of training or competing as a member of the United States 14
Olympic Team or a United States national team for an Olympic sport; 15
(16) participating for educational purposes in a student fellowship 16
sponsored by the United States Department of Education or by the United States 17
Department of State; 18
(17) serving as a pilot or a required flight crew member for a 19
United States airline certified as an air carrier by the Federal Aviation 20
Administration; in this paragraph, "required flight crew member" means an 21
individual who is required by federal law or regulation to be assigned to an 22
aircraft for the operation being conducted by the aircraft; 23
(18) serving as a flight attendant if the individual holds a flight 24
attendant certificate of demonstrated proficiency from the Federal Aviation 25
Administration; 26
(19) for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a 27
state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed 28
(A) 180 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 29
claimed 30
(i) under (3) of this subsection if the individual is not 31
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CSHB 295(STA) -4- HB0295b
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claiming an absence under (1), (2), or (4) - (18) [(4) - (16)] of this 1
subsection; or 2
(ii) under (5) of this subsection if the individual is not 3
claiming an absence under (1) - (4) or (6) - (18) [(6) - (16)] of this 4
subsection; 5
(B) 120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 6
claimed under (1) - (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an 7
absence under (4) - (18) [(4) - (16)] of this subsection but is claiming an 8
absence under (1) or (2) of this subsection; or 9
(C) 45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 10
claimed under (1) - (18) [(1) - (16)] of this subsection if the individual is 11
claiming an absence under (4) - (18) [(4) - (16)] of this subsection. 12
* Sec. 2. AS 43.23.008(b) is amended to read: 13
(b) An individual may not claim an allowable absence under (a)(1) - (18) 14
[(a)(1) - (16)] of this section unless the individual was a resident of the state for at 15
least six consecutive months immediately before leaving the state. 16
* Sec. 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2027. 17