Alaska governor signs insurance overhaul bill and three others into law

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed four bills into law on Tuesday, including two related to child care, one addressing big-game hunting, and one that updates the state’s insurance laws.

Senate Bill 96 creates a tax credit program that rewards companies that offer child care programs for their workers. 

Senate Bill 95 raises the income limit for families eligible to receive state child care aid, expanding the number of people who may receive it. It also allows the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to distribute grants to the highest-quality child care centers in the state, as determined by whether a center is part of the state’s ranked system.

The Legislature passed both bills last year, but each were stymied by a lawsuit that challenged the way that lawmakers combined bills in an effort to pass them more speedily. The Alaska Constitution limits bills to a single subject.

The governor’s signature on Senate Bill 97 creates a hunting concession program for big-game hunting guides. The federal government already sells hunting concessions on federal land, and SB 97, drafted with the help of the state’s Big Game Commercial Services Board, implements a similar system for state land.

Dunleavy also signed Senate Bill 132, the state’s omnibus insurance bill. That lengthy measure includes changes to the way the state handles pharmacy benefit managers, middlemen who manage prescription drug benefits on behalf of insurance plans.

The bill also expands the types of health insurance that employers can offer their workers, requires financial reporting by insurers, includes consumer protection improvements and makes changes for nonresident insurance adjusters in Alaska.