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HB345 • 2026

AG COOPERATIVES: WORKERS' COMP.

An Act exempting members of an agricultural cooperative from the Alaska Workers' Compensation Act.

Labor
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
REPRESENTATIVE MOORE
Last action
2026-02-23
Official status
(H) CRA
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about the definition of an 'agricultural cooperative' beyond what is necessary to implement the exemption. The candidate explanation's additional definitions and conditions were removed as unsupported.

Exempting Agricultural Cooperative Members from Workers' Compensation

This act removes agricultural cooperative members from coverage under Alaska's Workers' Compensation Act.

What This Bill Does

  • Removes agricultural cooperative members from the list of people covered by Alaska’s Workers’ Compensation Act.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Members of agricultural cooperatives in Alaska

Terms To Know

Agricultural Cooperative
An organization that markets or buys products for its members and shares profits based on their contributions.
Workers' Compensation Act
The law in Alaska that provides benefits to workers who are injured or become ill due to their job.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not specify the impact on non-member employees of agricultural cooperatives.
  • Does not address how this exemption will affect insurance coverage for cooperative members.
  • The bill does not provide details about enforcement mechanisms.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-23 1688

    (H) REFERRED TO COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

  2. 2026-02-23 1688

    (H) CRA, L&C

  3. 2026-02-23 1688

    (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS

Official Summary Text

AG COOPERATIVES: WORKERS' COMP.
An Act exempting members of an agricultural cooperative from the Alaska Workers' Compensation Act.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB0345a -1- HB 345
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HOUSE BILL NO. 345

IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA

THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION

BY REPRESENTATIVE MOORE

Introduced: 2/23/26
Referred: Community and Regional Affairs, Labor and Commerce

A BILL

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED

"An Act exempting members of an agricultural cooperative from the Alaska Workers' 1
Compensation Act." 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
* Section 1. AS 23.30.230(a) is amended to read: 4
(a) The following persons are not covered by this chapter: 5
(1) a part-time babysitter; 6
(2) a cleaning person; 7
(3) harvest help and similar part-time or transient help; 8
(4) a person employed as a sports official on a contractual basis and 9
who officiates only at sports events in which the players are not compensated; in this 10
paragraph, "sports official" includes an umpire, referee, judge, scorekeeper, 11
timekeeper, organizer, or other person who is a neutral participant in a sports event; 12
(5) a person employed as an entertainer on a contractual basis; 13
(6) a commercial fisherman, as defined in AS 16.05.940; 14
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(7) an individual who drives a taxicab and whose compensation and 1
written contractual arrangement is as described in AS 23.10.055(a)(13), unless the 2
hours worked by the individual or the areas in which the individual may work are 3
restricted except to comply with local ordinances; 4
(8) a participant in the Alaska temporary assistance program 5
(AS 47.27) who is engaged in work activities required under AS 47.27.035 other than 6
subsidized or unsubsidized work or on-the-job training; 7
(9) a person employed as a player or coach by a professional hockey 8
team if the person is covered under a health care insurance plan provided by the 9
professional hockey team, the coverage is applicable to both work-related and 10
nonwork-related injuries, and the coverage provides medical and related benefits as 11
required under this chapter, except that coverage may not be limited to two years from 12
the date of injury as described under AS 23.30.095(a); in this paragraph, "health care 13
insurance" has the meaning given in AS 21.12.050; 14
(10) a person working as a qualified real estate licensee who performs 15
services under a written contract that provides that the person will not be treated as an 16
employee for federal income tax or workers' compensation purposes; in this 17
paragraph, "qualified real estate licensee" means a person who is required to be 18
licensed under AS 08.88.161 and whose payment for services is directly related to 19
sales or other output rather than the number of hours worked; 20
(11) a transportation network company driver who provides a 21
prearranged ride or is otherwise logged onto the digital network of a transportation 22
network company as a driver; [AND] 23
(12) a person employed as an independent contractor; a person is an 24
independent contractor for the purposes of this section only if the person 25
(A) has an express contract to perform the services; 26
(B) is free from direction and control over the means and 27
manner of providing services, subject only to the right of the individual for 28
whom, or entity for which, the services are provided to specify the desired 29
results, completion schedule, or range of work hours, or to monitor the work 30
for compliance with contract plans and specifications, or federal, state, or 31
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municipal law; 1
(C) incurs most of the expenses for tools, labor, and other 2
operational costs necessary to perform the services, except that materials and 3
equipment may be supplied; 4
(D) has an opportunity for profit and loss as a result of the 5
services performed for the other individual or entity; 6
(E) is free to hire and fire employees to help perform the 7
services for the contracted work; 8
(F) has all business, trade, or professional licenses required by 9
federal, state, or municipal authorities for a business or individual engaging in 10
the same type of services as the person; 11
(G) follows federal Internal Revenue Service requirements by 12
(i) obtaining an employer identification number, if 13
required; 14
(ii) filing business or self-employment tax returns for 15
the previous tax year to report profit or income earned for the same 16
type of services provided under the contract; or 17
(iii) intending to file business or self-employment tax 18
returns for the current tax year to report profit or income earned for the 19
same type of services provided under the contract if the person's 20
business was not operating in the previous tax year; and 21
(H) meets at least two of the following criteria: 22
(i) the person is responsible for the satisfactory 23
completion of services that the person has contracted to perform and is 24
subject to liability for a failure to complete the contracted work, or 25
maintains liability insurance or other insurance policies necessary to 26
protect the employees, financial interests, and customers of the person's 27
business; 28
(ii) the person maintains a business location or a 29
business mailing address separate from the location of the individual 30
for whom, or the entity for which, the services are performed; 31
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(iii) the person provides contracted services for two or 1
more different customers within a 12-month period or engages in any 2
kind of business advertising, solicitation, or other marketing efforts 3
reasonably calculated to obtain new contracts to provide similar 4
services; and 5
(13) a person who is a member of an agricultural cooperative; in 6
this paragraph, "agricultural cooperative" means a cooperative that is organized 7
and operated for the purpose of 8
(A) marketing agricultural products of members of the 9
cooperative or of other producers of agricultural products, and providing 10
a member with the proceeds of product sales, less the necessary marketing 11
expenses, based on either the quantity or the value of the products 12
furnished by the member; or 13
(B) purchasing agricultural supplies and equipment for the 14
use of members or other persons, and providing the supplies and 15
equipment to the members at actual cost, plus necessary expenses. 16