[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":44,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6321565,"mediaKeyId","2349916-16539ef2f1dbd475b3bf60b2b89d0c2f","parentId",2349916,"title","Senate committee reports bill extending Board of Veterinary Examiners to 2031; motion carried without objection","audioSeconds",0,"startMs",5177000,"endMs","viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2349916-16539ef2f1dbd475b3bf60b2b89d0c2f&start=5177&end=5177","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2349916-16539ef2f1dbd475b3bf60b2b89d0c2f/thumbnail_5177000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6321565/Alaska/Senate-committee-reports-bill-extending-Board-of-Veterinary-Examiners-to-2031-motion-carried-without-objection","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6321565-21ec2db260cb500917fbd8fb593f8889/orig.mp4?Expires=1771101322&Signature=BUqDnqPitH4EauYeh80d5k68ONBkpkL7qFRlaRXx5mCfsWwefePh~Okls~gzAfKB81b6K2nkRyOrNcQ-GOeKUedOKlTYIIjm-RNSG6ssXye0dyJ6HctVljoiWrJrqzPgooOmejTLW5DdYon3CoaXBtZw4oR6edoBO2oIRp5uKALcpCHK~ADTl34ZoKyPNxOYXOUpCUk9Qk1O862~00c3JFwMXE92MZm5HIB5-HSFzeQZycpXQUZK1lcltCCPZzNI3MUg63ZVmFsSqASeBdtjtrgibBZVbjj-E25-qy8YLqaHD0MjySE~6YOhIgtOyDcbut0~xD9LdG6LRoWi5Xh2zw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Alaska Legislature","date","2025-02-19T00:00:00Z","article","Staff to Senator Bjorkman, Matthew Churchill, gave a brief recap of Senate Bill 98 on Feb. 19, reminding the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee that the bill seeks to extend the statutory termination date of the State Board of Veterinary Examiners by six years to June 30, 2031.

Churchill said committee members had heard invited testimony on Feb. 17 from board members and stakeholders, and he noted interested parties present in the hearing room. After opening the floor for public testimony for SB 98 and hearing none, a committee member moved to report SB 98, version 34 LS0577A.alpha, from committee with individual recommendations and the attached fiscal note. The motion was adopted without objection; the committee clerk reported the bill \"moves from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note.\" The transcript records no roll-call vote; the motion carried by voice with no objection recorded.

No further committee discussion or questions were recorded on the bill at the Feb. 19 meeting, and the committee adjourned. The committee noted it will reconvene on Feb. 24.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate LABOR & COMMERCE 02/19/2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee voted to report Senate Bill 98 (version 34 LS0577A.alpha) out of committee with individual recommendations and an attached fiscal note. The bill would extend the termination date of the State Board of Veterinary Examiners to June 30, 2031.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature Alaska, Alaska","taxId",78559,"location","Alaska","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_46":81,"_48":82,"_50":83,"_52":84,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":85,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":86,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6321570,"Senate committee adopts amendment to cap small-dollar loan APR at 36%; supporters and industry representatives testify",1446,3698000,5144000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2349916-16539ef2f1dbd475b3bf60b2b89d0c2f&start=3698&end=5144","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2349916-16539ef2f1dbd475b3bf60b2b89d0c2f/thumbnail_3698000.jpg","/articles/6321570/Alaska/Senate-committee-adopts-amendment-to-cap-small-dollar-loan-APR-at-36-supporters-and-industry-representatives-testify","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6321570-78fc6d5ff1fcbc4d5b8d92dda81cdfdc/orig.mp4?Expires=1771101322&Signature=OWVaLoBUnWopVniE2lwvFnbApP2VX0bCTU8YyShjvcrRctOuaKTHkwCdyJ92CzPnwwTOfim1Svq5DuwU69T8c4BGWlbpt3zKmZ06zgtZCuNNNDdWhyqkdM7lt719khec2thiF8edbX4QSDI~~rAON-ZBZD6~cP5xwADtoKrh8G3SMAWiMDqIBoJZxyZ9Bv5Sw~5LuHNg02sStR9ZynJSTR62MxyRlN183VVSOVpLZ0Q~4o6RnUuIIyX9TV-2fnigU1-ZBcoxdU7Tyb44UMhPnuZs4vomMO6TlQYu54F~fi8BROlXLJTb51EHV6~NLbUiHzWhtPFrPJe2m9I-ioiefw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Senator Forrest Dunbar, sponsor of Senate Bill 39, told the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Feb. 19 that the bill would align payday lending with existing limits for other small-dollar loans by setting a 36% annual percentage rate cap for loans under $25,000 and closing a statutory carve-out that allows higher APRs for payday lenders.

Dunbar said the adopted amendment, A.alpha.1, changes the bill into the version that came out of prior work last session and reflects the negotiated approach the sponsor and advocates preferred. \"This amendment changed it into that final version, that myself and the advocates prefer,\" Dunbar said during the hearing.

The committee adopted amendment A.alpha.1 after a motion and a brief objection for purposes of discussion; the objection was removed and the amendment was adopted by voice without a roll-call tally recorded in the transcript. The motion to adopt was made on the record as \"I move amendment A.alpha.1 to Senate Bill 39.\" (mover recorded in the hearing transcript; no recorded roll-call vote in the transcript.)

Testimony at the hearing came from consumer advocates and industry representatives with differing emphases. Trevor Storrs of the Alaska Children’s Trust urged passage, citing research that financial strain contributes to child abuse and neglect and saying payday loans can trap families in cycles of debt. He said the trust “offers its strong support for Senate Bill 39.”

Claire Lutke, economic justice lead for the Alaska Public Interest Research Group (ALASKA PIRG), provided data and context: she said Alaska research shows the average payday loan APR was 421% (2023 data cited), that 62% of payday lending in an earlier year was online, and that borrowers in Alaska take an average of about 4.5 payday loans per year. Lutke highlighted federal protections in the Military Lending Act for active-duty service members and urged extending similar protections to veterans and other Alaskans.

Ashley Erisman of the American Fintech Council testified in support of a 36% cap, saying the fintech industry supports a framework that preserves access to small-dollar credit while protecting consumers and that certain fintech-bank partnerships can offer lower-cost alternatives.

Committee members asked questions about renewal terms, the risk that tighter state caps would shift borrowers to out-of-country online lenders, and whether banks or credit unions could fill the short-term, small-dollar credit need under a 36% cap. Dunbar said the intent is to close an Alaska-specific statutory loophole and pointed to experiences in other states where regulated short-term credit under a cap remains available locally.

The hearing produced no recorded committee vote on final passage of SB 39; committee members agreed to continue consideration after invited testimony. Senator Dunbar asked that staff provide a sectional review of the amended bill at a future hearing and noted he hopes the industry will continue to operate under the new limits while providing safer products for Alaskans.","Senate Labor and Commerce heard Senate Bill 39 on Feb. 19, 2025; an amendment (A.alpha.1) was adopted to reflect the negotiated final version, the bill's sponsor said. Testimony included consumer advocates, fintech representatives and public-interest groups; no final committee vote on the bill was recorded at the hearing.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_46":93,"_48":94,"_50":95,"_52":96,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":97,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":98,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":73},6321575,"Division director outlines Alaska workers' compensation system, cites no-fault structure and focus on return to work",3205,417000,3622000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2349916-16539ef2f1dbd475b3bf60b2b89d0c2f&start=417&end=3622","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2349916-16539ef2f1dbd475b3bf60b2b89d0c2f/thumbnail_417000.jpg","/articles/6321575/Alaska/Division-director-outlines-Alaska-workers-compensation-system-cites-no-fault-structure-and-focus-on-return-to-work","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6321575-9b77dd4c9da61aafdfbd7abea39cb3fe/orig.mp4?Expires=1771101322&Signature=T98kLK1t~xA7Z-hy411Kg2YqVghm2Zwanurvl1ZIX5C9D-byNhSU8bdV6lKCozPHhpXx2FpmvepcGiajXnXwBJQV7m14JMHG5asKAOyp3Vj11N1LhAz6F1kv6u4hhl9V~EwCiPMISpgRaGuI10WGCY8eDNHbls6Q4mmdrdU3zVHkehK-i3qgcvTbcHc-txC0TKW6uuKf0HKj9BH5tOZMXgWmYcuClB5efFNWRcuY-vecpSzQN~wmP9QGeJhDNiP9XptB44sahNXBuPayz-nu9uRmmAHnU0qt-wUHsuNQgRch-X6SKhV1QZo~WL~KbXVOoXeKDQ89lmGygFYuooQ9JA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Charles Collins, director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, told the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Feb. 19 in Juneau that Alaska’s workers’ compensation system is a state-run, no-fault framework designed to deliver “quick, efficient, fair and predictable” medical and indemnity benefits to injured workers.

Collins said the statutory definition of a work-related injury — ‘‘an illness or death that arises out of or in the course of employment’’ — drives the division’s approach to claims handling and mirrored the division’s internal motto. He described workers’ compensation as a social insurance system that places primary responsibility for payment on employers while aiming to get injured workers back to employment.

Alaska’s system, Collins said, pays medical benefits and wage-replacement benefits and includes reemployment services to help injured workers return to the workforce. He described key program elements: a toll of first reports of injury, an adjudication process that includes informal pre-hearing conferences and formal hearings before a three-member panel (a hearing officer and one labor and one industry panel member), a second independent medical evaluation process when medical evidence conflicts, investigator staff who pursue uninsured-employer and fraud referrals, a Fishermen’s Fund administered separately for commercial fishermen, and a benefit guarantee fund that covers claims where employers lack coverage.

Collins provided data from the division’s recent annual report: roughly 17,000 first reports of injury in the latest year cited, about 3,800 lost-time injuries, 5,000–6,000 contested matters that go beyond informal resolution, 123 formal hearings in 2023 and 68 mediations. He said the division retains claim records for 60 years and that some files remain open for medical benefits for decades.

Collins described changes enacted in recent years: statutory and program changes addressing permanent impairments and reemployment, the creation of a \"stay-at-work/return-to-work\" benefit implemented this year with a coordinator (named in testimony as Grace Morfield), and the Garrett benefit guarantee fund and other legislative updates. He also said the division has worked with a medical services review committee to reduce medical reimbursement rates; an Oregon study cited Alaska moving from the top five highest-cost states into the middle of the pack for workers’ compensation medical costs.

On procedural points, Collins summarized the typical claim path: medical care first, a first report of injury, payment of routine medical bills, and then a separate track where disputes lead to pre-hearing conferences, discovery and possibly mediation or formal hearing. He emphasized that settlements addressing future medical care receive board scrutiny and that attorneys are typically paid by the employer when the employee prevails, limiting direct attorney fees for claimants.

Committee members asked about specific practices. Collins said the division provides language assistance through contract interpreters and internal staff and that immigrant workers who are legally employed in Alaska are covered by workers' compensation. He clarified that cases remain in the division’s records for up to 60 years and, while a settled case is rarely reopened, it remains part of the database in case new evidence arises.

Collins described workload and staffing pressures: the division was operating with fewer hearing officers than ideal and said it can take time for new hearing officers to gain experience for complex claims. He closed by inviting committee members to meet the board and attend board meetings in Anchorage.

The committee paused the presentation at about 2:27 p.m.; Collins said he planned to return for additional briefing at a later meeting.","Charles Collins, director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, gave an overview of Alaska's workers' compensation system to the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Feb. 19, detailing the no-fault framework, claim handling, reemployment programs and caseload statistics.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Senate committee reports bill extending Board of Veterinary Examiners to 2031; motion carried without objection

Senate committee adopts amendment to cap small-dollar loan APR at 36%; supporters and industry representatives testify

Division director outlines Alaska workers' compensation system, cites no-fault structure and focus on return to work