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SB0117A -1- SB 117
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SENATE BILL NO. 117
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY THE SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Introduced: 3/5/25
Referred: Labor and Commerce, Finance
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act renaming the State Commi ssion for Human Rights the Alas ka State 1
Commission for Civil Rights; rel ating to removal of commissione rs of the Alaska State 2
Commission for Civil Rights; rel ating to reports from the Alask a State Commission for 3
Civil Rights; relating to the def inition of 'employer' for the purposes of the Alaska State 4
Commission for Civil Rights; and relating to local civil rights commissions." 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 6
* Section 1. AS 18.80.010 is amended to read: 7
Sec. 18.80.010. Creation . There is created in the office of the governor an 8
Alaska [A] State Commission for Civil [HUMAN] Rights. 9
* Sec. 2. AS 18.80.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 10
(b) The governor may remove a commissioner from office for cau se. For 11
purposes of this subsection, cause includes incompetence, negle ct of duty, and 12
misconduct in office, and public sta tements and public or priva te actions that 13
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undermine the commission's work or violate this chapter. To rem ove a commissioner 1
for cause, the governor shall provide a copy of the charges to the commissioner and 2
offer an opportunity for the commissioner to be publicly heard in person, or by 3
counsel, in the commissioner's defense, upon not less than 10 d ays' notice. If a 4
commissioner is removed for cause , the governor shall file with the lieutenant 5
governor a complete statement of all charges made against the c ommissioner and the 6
governor's findings based on the charges, together with a compl ete record of the 7
proceedings. 8
* Sec. 3. AS 18.80.150 is amended to read: 9
Sec. 18.80.150. Annual report. Each year, the [ THE] commission shall 10
review all data [REPORT ANNUALLY TO THE GOVERNOR] on civil rights 11
problems the commission [IT] has encountered in the preceding year [,] and produce 12
a report by November 15 of each year on those problems. The rep ort may include 13
recommendations for [RECOMMEND] legislative action. [THE COMMISSION 14
SHALL PROVIDE THE LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS AGENCY WITH 40 COPIES 15
OF THE REPORT DURING THE WEEK PRECEDING THE CONVENING OF 16
THE ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION FOR LIBRARY DISTRIBUTION.] The 17
commission shall make [COPIES OF] the report available to the p ublic electronically 18
and notify the governor and the legislature that the report is available. 19
* Sec. 4. AS 18.80.220 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 20
(e) In an action brought under (a)(1) of this section, it is an affirmative defense 21
that 22
(1) the employer is a religi ous corporation, association, educ ational 23
institution, or society that hire s employees of a particular re ligion to perform work 24
connected with carrying on the co rporation, association, educat ional institution, or 25
society and its activities; and 26
(2) the employee is hired to engage in activities that are ecc lesiastical, 27
spiritual, or religious, and the employee's job responsibilitie s include furthering the 28
study or advancement of religion. 29
* Sec. 5. AS 18.80.290(a) is amended to read: 30
(a) The legislative body of a municipality may, by ordinance o r resolution, 31
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authorize the establishment of membership in and support of a l ocal civil [HUMAN] 1
rights commission. The number and qualifications of the members of a local 2
commission and their terms and method of appointment or removal shall be as 3
determined by the legislative body, except that a member may no t hold office in a 4
political party. 5
* Sec. 6. AS 18.80.300(2) is amended to read: 6
(2) "commission" means the Alaska State Commission for Civil 7
[HUMAN] Rights; 8
* Sec. 7. AS 18.80.300(5) is amended to read: 9
(5) "employer" means a person, including the state and a polit ical 10
subdivision of the state, who ha s one or more employees in the state but does not 11
include an organization [A CLUB] that is exclusively social [,] or a fraternal and [, 12
CHARITABLE, EDUCATIONAL, OR RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION OR 13
CORPORATION, IF THE CLUB, ASSOCIATION, OR CORPORATION] is not 14
organized for private profit; 15
* Sec. 8. AS 18.80.300(7) is amended to read: 16
(7) "executive director" means the executive director of the Alaska 17
State Commission for Civil [HUMAN] Rights; 18
* Sec. 9. AS 24.60.039(b) is amended to read: 19
(b) If a person files a compla int with the committee under AS 24.60.170 20
alleging a violation of this section, the committee may refer t he complainant to the 21
Alaska State Commission for Civil [HUMAN] Rights and may defer its consideration 22
of the complaint until after the complainant establishes to the satisfaction of the 23
committee that the commission has completed its proceedings in the matter. 24
* Sec. 10. AS 39.50.200(b)(13) is amended to read: 25
(13) Alaska State Commission for Civil [HUMAN] Rights 26
(AS 18.80.010); 27
* Sec. 11. AS 44.62.330(a)(42) is amended to read: 28
(42) Alaska State Commission for Civil [ H U M A N ] R i g h t s , w h e r e 29
procedures are not otherwise expressly provided in AS 18.80; 30