Committee adopts substitute for senior grants/dividend raffle bill that reallocates raffle proceeds and increases payments

The committee adopted the committee substitute for HB255 on March 19, a package of changes the sponsor and staff said would increase senior benefits and reallocate proceeds from a proposed permanent fund dividend raffle.

Thatcher Brower, staff director to the committee, explained the CS eliminates a proposed endowment fund and directs raffle distributions as follows: 37.5% to the Alaska Senior Benefits payment program (AS 47.45.0301–.0309), 25% to the Senior Citizen Grants Dividend Raffle, and 37.5% to the Department of Health for distributions aligned with the bill's aims. Section 8 would raise senior benefit payment amounts by $50 per income bracket, subject to appropriation, and section 9 would repeal the program's 2034 sunset. Staff estimated the change in section 8 could produce a fiscal note upward of about $6 million given roughly 20,000 recipients.

The committee voted to adopt the CS as the working document after discussion; Representative Prox initially objected but removed the objection after clarification about donor funding and how the CS aligns with the original bill. Committee members asked agency staff about current benefit payouts and the Division of Public Assistance' practices; Courtney Enright (legislative liaison, Department of Health) confirmed statute currently specifies a maximum written amount and that the department is paying the full amount at present, with a supplemental budget request noted.

The committee set the CS aside later to proceed with other agenda items and planned additional follow-up as needed.