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--- version:HB 258+++ version:(document, no version)@@ -1,388 +1,62 @@- The Alaska State Legislature+ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE- menu+Representative Will Stapp+District 32: East Fairbanks, Fort Wainwright, Badger- Home+Rep.Will.Stapp@akleg.gov- Senate+1+Staff Contact: Elizabeth Rexford+(907) 465-3004+Elizabeth.Rexford@akleg.gov+Session – January-April:+State Capitol Rm 500+Juneau, AK 99801- Current Members+907-465-3004+Interim – May-December:+1292 Sadler Way Rm. 323+Fairbanks, AK 99701- Past Members+907-452-1088+Sponsor Statement+HB 258 Statewide Spay and Neuter Assistance Program+ (34-LS1229\I)- By Session+House Bill 258 establishes a statewide spay and neuter assistance program and fund to+help address animal overpopulation in Alaska in a proactive, cost-effective, and humane+way.- Alphabetical+Across the state, communities, particularly rural and underserved areas, face ongoing+challenges related to uncontrolled dog and cat populations. These challenges affect+public safety, animal welfare, municipal budgets, and local shelters, which are often+overwhelmed by the costs of animal control and care. HB 258 is intended to reduce+these pressures by supporting preventative services rather than relying solely on+reactive enforcement.- House+The bill creates a Statewide Spay and Neuter Assistance Fund to support spay and+neuter services through grants or partnerships with veterinarians, nonprofits, and local+organizations. The program is designed to be voluntary and flexible, allowing services+to be targeted where the need is greatest and where access to veterinary care is limited.- Current Members+HB 258 also establishes special request companion animal spay and neuter license+plates and allows for voluntary Permanent Fund Dividend contributions to support the+program. These funding mechanisms are intended to minimize reliance on general+funds and allow Alaskans who care about animal welfare to directly support solutions.- Past Members+By reducing unintended litters, HB 258 aims to:- By Session+• Lower long-term animal control and sheltering costs,+• Improve public health and safety,+• Reduce strain on local governments and nonprofits, and+• Promote responsible pet ownership statewide.- Alphabetical+2+Staff Contact: Elizabeth Rexford+(907) 465-3004+Elizabeth.Rexford@akleg.gov- Bills & Laws-- Bills-- All Introduced-- Actions by Date-- Awaiting Actions-- Bills sent to Conf Committee-- Bills in Committee-- Governor's Vetoes-- Passed Legislation-- Prefile Bill Summary-- Requestor Summary-- Statistics-- Sponsor Summary-- Subject Summary-- Laws-- Constitution-- Constitutional Convention Files-- Statutes-- Executive Orders - Current-- Executive Orders - Historical-- Administrative Code-- Journals-- Session Laws & Resolves-- Session Laws & Resolves 2025-- Session Laws & Resolves 2026-- 1981 - Previous Year Session Law-- 1983 - Previous Year Legislative Resolves-- Tools-- Statute Information Retrieval System-- Bill Tracking Management Facility-- Past Legislatures (Archives)-- Committees-- Hearing Schedule-- Standing Committees-- Finance Committees-- Special Committees-- Joint Committees-- Conference Committees-- Other Committees-- Minutes-- Publications-- Get Started-- Information Offices-- Legislative Affairs-- Legislative Agencies-- Links-- Legislative Branch-- Executive Branch-- Judicial Branch-- Alaska Delegation--Home--Bill & Laws--Bills--HB 258 Detail--FullText-- txt--HB 258: "An Act establishing a statewide spay and neuter assistance fund; establishing the statewide spay and neuter assistance program; relating to municipal control of feral domestic dogs and cats; relating to companion animal spay and neuter special request registration plates; relating to contributions from permanent fund dividends; and providing for an effective date."--00 HOUSE BILL NO. 258-01 "An Act establishing a statewide spay and neuter assistance fund; establishing the-02 statewide spay and neuter assistance program; relating to municipal control of feral-03 domestic dogs and cats; relating to companion animal spay and neuter special request-04 registration plates; relating to contributions from permanent fund dividends; and-05 providing for an effective date."-06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:-07 * Section 1. AS 03.55 is amended by adding new sections to read:-08 Article 3. Statewide Spay and Neuter Assistance Fund and Program.-09 Sec. 03.55.200. Statewide spay and neuter assistance fund. (a) The-10 statewide spay and neuter assistance fund is established as a separate account in the-11 general fund. The fund consists of-12 (1) program receipts from the special request companion animal spay-13 and neuter plates issued under AS 28.10.421(d)(28);--01 (2) donations to the fund;-02 (3) federal or private funding that may be available to the state to-03 support spay and neuter services; and-04 (4) interest earned on money in the fund.-05 (b) The department shall administer the fund in accordance with the-06 provisions of AS 03.55.200 - 03.55.240.-07 (c) The legislature may appropriate money from the fund to the department to-08 implement AS 03.55.200 - 03.55.240 and to pay the costs of administering the fund.-09 (d) Nothing in this section creates a dedicated fund.-10 Sec. 03.55.210. Statewide spay and neuter assistance program; eligibility.-11 (a) The statewide spay and neuter assistance program is established in the department.-12 (b) The program shall provide direct reimbursement to a participating-13 veterinarian, veterinary clinic, animal shelter, or nonprofit organization in the state-14 that provides a spay or neuter surgery or presurgical examination or administers-15 required vaccinations-16 (1) without charge or at a reduced rate to a pet belonging to a-17 household in the state with an annual family or household income equal to or less than-18 130 percent of the most recent poverty guidelines for the state set by the United States-19 Department of Health and Human Services; or-20 (2) to a feral domestic dog or cat in accordance with a municipal-21 ordinance permitting the trapping, spaying or neutering, vaccination, and release of-22 feral domestic dogs and cats.-23 (c) The department shall adopt regulations to carry out the program, including-24 establishing-25 (1) a process for verifying whether a pet owner qualifies as an eligible-26 household under (b)(1) of this section;-27 (2) a fee reimbursement process and standard reimbursement rate-28 schedule of up to 80 percent of the prevailing rates for the services covered by the-29 program.-30 Sec. 03.55.220. Statewide spay and neuter assistance fund and program-31 awareness and education. The department shall promote public awareness of the--01 fund and the program and educate the public about the dangers of uncontrolled-02 breeding of domestic dogs and cats. The department shall publish a list of providers-03 that participate in the program on the department's Internet website.-04 Sec. 03.55.230. Annual report. The department shall submit an annual report-05 to the legislature on or before the first day of each regular session of the legislature-06 that details, for the preceding year, the number and type of services provided under the-07 program and the program revenue and expenditures. The department shall deliver the-08 report to the senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives and-09 notify the legislature that the report is available.-10 Sec. 03.55.240. Definitions. In AS 03.55.200 - 03.55.240,-11 (1) "department" means the Department of Environmental-12 Conservation;-13 (2) "fund" means the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund-14 established under AS 03.55.200;-15 (3) "program" means the statewide spay and neuter assistance program-16 established under AS 03.55.210.-17 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read:-18 (a) The Board of Game may adopt regulations it considers advisable in-19 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for-20 (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the-21 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval-22 of the legislature;-23 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of-24 game;-25 (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit,-26 capture, taking, and transport of game, including regulations, consistent with resource-27 conservation and development goals, establishing means and methods that may be-28 employed by persons with physical disabilities;-29 (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size-30 limitations on the taking of game;-31 (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur--01 bearing animals, predators, or other categories;-02 (6) methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to control predation-03 and competition among game in the state;-04 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management,-05 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of game;-06 (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of-07 native or exotic game or their eggs, unless the action is permitted under an-08 ordinance adopted under AS 29.35.052;-09 (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game-10 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations-11 between registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed;-12 (10) regulating sport hunting and subsistence hunting as needed for the-13 conservation, development, and utilization of game;-14 (11) taking game to ensure public safety;-15 (12) regulating the activities of persons licensed to control nuisance-16 wild birds and nuisance wild small mammals;-17 (13) promoting hunting and trapping and preserving the heritage of-18 hunting and trapping in the state.-19 * Sec. 3. AS 28.10.181 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:-20 (pp) Special request companion animal spay and neuter plates. Upon-21 application by the owner of a motor vehicle, the department may design and issue-22 registration plates representing the statewide spay and neuter assistance program-23 established under AS 03.55.210. The department may disapprove the issuance of-24 registration plates under this subsection when the requested plates are a duplication of-25 an existing registration.-26 * Sec. 4. AS 28.10.421(d) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:-27 (28) special request companion animal spay and neuter plates-28 registered under AS 28.10.181(pp) ............................ $100-29 plus the fee required for that vehicle under (b), (c), (h), or (i) of this section; the fee-30 required by this paragraph shall be collected only on the first issuance of and the-31 replacement of the special request plates; the commissioner shall separately account--01 for the fees received under this paragraph that the department deposits into the general-02 fund; notwithstanding (g) of this section, the annual estimated balance in the account-03 that is in excess of the cost of issuing special request plates may be appropriated by-04 the legislature into the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund established in-05 AS 03.55.200.-06 * Sec. 5. AS 29.35 is amended by adding a new section to read:-07 Sec. 29.35.052. Feral domestic dog and cat populations. As a means of-08 controlling the feral domestic dog and cat population in a municipality, a municipality-09 may adopt an ordinance that allows feral domestic dogs and cats to be captured,-10 possessed, and transported for the purpose of spaying or neutering and vaccinating the-11 animal before release.-12 * Sec. 6. AS 37.05.146(c) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:-13 (88) statewide spay and neuter assistance fund (AS 03.55.200).-14 * Sec. 7. AS 43.23.130(a) is amended to read:-15 (a) Notwithstanding AS 43.23.200, the Department of Revenue shall prepare-16 the electronic Alaska permanent fund dividend application to allow an applicant who-17 files electronically to direct that money be subtracted from the dividend payment and-18 contributed to the crime victim compensation fund (AS 18.67.162), the peace officer-19 and firefighter survivors' fund, the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund-20 (AS 03.55.200), or one or more of the educational organizations, community-21 foundations, or charitable organizations that appear on the contribution list contained-22 in the application. A contribution to the crime victim compensation fund, the peace-23 officer and firefighter survivors' fund, the statewide spay and neuter assistance-24 fund, or [TO] an organization may be $25, $50, $75, $100, or more, in increments of-25 $50, up to the total amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is-26 entitled to receive. If the total amount of contributions elected by an applicant exceeds-27 the amount of the permanent fund dividend that the applicant is entitled to receive,-28 contributions shall be deducted from the dividend in the order of priority elected by-29 the applicant on the application until the entire amount of the dividend that the-30 applicant is entitled to receive is allocated for contribution. The electronic dividend-31 application form must include notice that seven percent of the money contributed will--01 be used for administrative costs incurred in implementing this section, and money-02 from the dividend fund will not be used for that purpose.-03 * Sec. 8. AS 43.23.130(b) is amended to read:-04 (b) The department shall list each educational organization, community-05 foundation, or charitable organization eligible under (c) and (d) of this section, each-06 university campus that applies under (l) of this section, the crime victim compensation-07 fund, [AND] the peace officer and firefighter survivors' fund, and the statewide spay-08 and neuter assistance fund on the contribution list. The department shall maintain an-09 electronic database for the contribution list that is accessible to the public and that-10 permits searches by organization or fund name, geographic location, and type. The-11 department shall provide a statement of the contributions made by an individual that is-12 suitable for federal income tax purposes to each individual who elects to contribute-13 under (a) of this section.-14 * Sec. 9. AS 43.23.130(m) is amended to read:-15 (m) In addition to the application fee in (f) of this section, the department shall-16 withhold a coordination fee from each organization, foundation, or university campus-17 that receives contributions under this section in the immediately preceding dividend-18 year. The coordination fee for an organization, foundation, or university campus that-19 receives contributions under this section shall be seven percent of the amount of-20 contributions reported by the department under (j) of this section for the organization,-21 foundation, or university campus for the immediately preceding dividend year. The-22 coordination fee shall be separately accounted for under AS 37.05.142 and shall be-23 accounted for separately from the application fee collected under (f) of this section.-24 The annual estimated balance in the account maintained under AS 37.05.142 for-25 coordination fees collected under this subsection may be appropriated for costs of-26 administering this section. The department may not withhold a coordination fee for-27 contributions to the crime victim compensation fund, [OR] the peace officer and-28 firefighter survivors' fund, or the statewide spay and neuter assistance fund.-29 * Sec. 10. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to-30 read:-31 REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. The Department of Environmental Conservation shall--01 submit the first annual report required by AS 03.55.230, enacted by sec. 1 of this Act, on or-02 before January 18, 2028.-03 * Sec. 11. This Act takes effect January 1, 2027.--Welcome to-The Alaska State Legislature--This web site is the place to track bills, locate and contact your legislators, and access committee information. Questions? Try our help wizard or call 907-465-4648.--SMS Bill Tracking-- Text a bill number (ex: HB1) to 559-245-2529 to enroll in text alerts. You will receive an enrollment confirmation and instructions on how to stop receiving the alerts.--WHO REPRESENTS ME??--FIND--Quick Links--Infobases--Districts--FAQ--Legislative Information Offices--Legislative Affairs Agency--Public Opinion Messages--Legislative Links--Finance--Audit--Ombudsman--100 Years Centennial--Office of Victims' Rights--Statutory Reporting--Ethics--LB&A--senate--Majority--Minority--house--Majority--Minority-- Disclaimer / Credits- Webmaster- Accessibility- Mobile Apps-- Copyright © 2026 Alaska Legislature, All Rights Reserved.--Disclaimer / Credits--Webmaster--Accessibility+This legislation takes a preventative, fiscally responsible approach to an issue that+affects communities throughout Alaska. By investing in spay and neuter services, the+state can reduce downstream costs while improving outcomes for animals and the+people who care for them.
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