Protecting Your Rights: Serving West Anchorage

April 16, 2026

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

This week, the House passed an operating budget with much-needed funding for public school maintenance, a $1,500 dividend, and a $200 million deficit.

And the Senate passed Senate Bill 252, which will make important updates to the Uniform Commercial Code in Alaska to align our digital assets laws with other states.

Please read on for more information.

The House Passes the Operating Budget

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the operating budget. The House’s operating budget includes a $1,500 Permanent Fund dividend, which was heavily debated. The operating budget also includes roughly $158 million in one-time funding for public school maintenance. The budget also includes $11 million dedicated to student transportation. The budget designates $55 million for fire suppression and $38 million for disaster relief. More than $33 million is allocated to combat rising Medicaid rates, and another $23 million for the Department of Corrections.

It will now be sent to the Senate for further consideration. The budget passed the House with 21 votes in favor and 19 votes against it, which aligns with caucus lines. The House voted against funding the budget through the Constitutional Budget Reserve. This vote currently leaves the budget in an $180 million deficit.

Senate Bill 252: the Uniform Commercial Code

On Monday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 252 to update the Uniform Commercial Code in Alaska.

The Uniform Commercial Code, or the UCC, is a set of rules governing commercial transactions that has been adopted in nearly identical form by all 50 states. Because the UCC has been universally adopted, businesses can enter into contracts with confidence that the terms will be enforced in the same way by the courts of every American jurisdiction. First drafted in 1951, Pennsylvania was the first state to adopt the UCC in 1953, and every other state adopted it within the next 20 years. Alaska adopted the Uniform Commercial Code in 1967.

As commerce evolves, the Uniform Law Commission and the American Law Institute periodically recommend amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code. Senate Bill 252 incorporates amendments recommended by the Uniform Law Commission and the American Law Institute in 2018 and 2022.

The 2022 amendments create a new chapter governing “Controllable Electronic Record, or CERs.” Examples of CERs are virtual currencies, non-fungible tokens, and electronic promises to pay. The updated law will help stimulate economic activity by providing legal certainty to these increasingly common transactions.

The 2018 amendments resolve a potential conflict governing secured transactions in which a partnership or LLC is pledged as collateral. If interest in a business is used to secure a loan and default occurs, business partners could be forced into business with a stranger. The 2018 amendments resolve this by separating an economic interest in a governance interest and ensuring that only the economic interest is transferable, not the governing interest.

16 other states have adopted the 2018 amendments and 32 other states have adopted the 2022 amendments. It is critical that Alaska adopt these updates to the Uniform Commercial Code to keep our statutes aligned with the best practices used in the rest of the country. Adopting these amendments will promote commercial activity for emerging technologies and will provide a clear framework for our business community. It will help ensure that Alaska is open and ready for business.

Farewell to our Intern, Aspen French

This week is our intern Aspen French's last week at the Capitol. Aspen joined our office in January through the Ted Stevens Legislative Internship program, which connects college students with legislative offices for 90 days during session. There were 12 interns this year: three from UAF, three from UAS, and six from UAA. Six interns joined House offices and six joined Senate offices.

Aspen is from Fairbanks and is a junior at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, majoring in Justice with a minor in Pre-Law. Separated from her women's hockey team, Aspen joined the Legislative Bowling League here and played every Thursday with her team, "The Bad Bowlers' Transformation Project."

It was a pleasure to work with Aspen this session. During her time here, she assisted with office tasks, wrote citations for notable Alaskans, learned about the Senate Judiciary committee, performed constituent outreach, conducted research on crime legislation, and presented a bill about drivers who fail to stop after causing an injury in a traffic accident.

We are grateful for Aspen's hard work and dedication and wish her all the best in her last year of school and future career in law!

If you know someone who might be interested in the Legislative Internship program for next year, you can find more information here. Applications close November 1st.

Community Events

Anchorage Transportation Fair

When: Wednesday, April 22th from 3:00 to 7:00 PM

Where: Alaska Airlines Center, Main Arena (3550 Providence Dr.)

Learn about road, rail, pedestrian, air, and safety projects being planned and designed in Anchorage! Stop by anytime between 3-7p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center, Main Arena. This is a free event for the public to learn about featured projects from the Alaska Department of Transportation, Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska Railroad, and more. To get there by bus, ride routes 10, 20, or 55.

For more information on the event and featured projects, click here.