The 34th Alaska Legislature may not convene until January 21, but some lawmakers, including Nikiski Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, are already getting to work with prefiled bills. Bjorkman has introduced three pieces of legislation, two of which are initiatives he sponsored last session.
One bill, S.B. 29, aims to establish a permanent executive administrator position for the Big Game Commercial Services Board, which currently shares an administrator with the Board of Marine Pilots. Bjorkman argues that the position needs to be secured in state law to streamline the regulatory process.
Last year’s version of the bill passed the Senate Resources Committee but never made it to the Senate Finance Committee, with an estimated annual cost of $185,000.
Another bill, S.B. 30, seeks to expand the benefits of the state’s free pass for disabled veterans at state parks. Currently, the pass needs to be renewed annually and only covers developed campsites.
The proposed bill would make the pass valid for life and extend coverage to more facilities, such as restrooms and parking lots. This bill also passed the Senate Resources Committee last year but never reached the Finance Committee.
The third bill, S.B. 35, seeks to classify workers for delivery services like DoorDash and Instacart as independent contractors, aligning them with rideshare drivers who are already classified as such.
The bill aims to resolve inconsistencies in state law and ease the regulatory burden for workers in the gig economy, with support from the Alaska Chamber of Commerce.
Bjorkman emphasized that these bills are not prioritized and that more legislation is likely to come in the future. A second round of prefiled bills is expected to be released next week.
Full details about the upcoming session and prefiled bills can be found on the Alaska Legislature’s website.