Senate Finance Committee adopts substitute for SB196 to exempt discounted phone service from behavioral health surcharge

The Alaska Senate Finance Committee adopted a finance committee substitute for Senate Bill 196 on May 5 that exempts discounted wireless and wireline telephone service provided to qualifying low-income consumers from a behavioral health crisis surcharge and sets an effective date of July 1, 2026.

Liz Harpold, staff to Senator Olson and the Senate Finance Committee, told the committee: "What the CS does is it adds an exemption to surcharge for the wireless and wireline telephones that are provided at a discounted rate to qualifying low income consumers, as well as updating the effective date to 07/01/2026." The committee adopted the substitute with no recorded roll-call vote after objections were removed.

Senator Stedman moved the committee substitute for SB196 as the committee's working document; following Harpold's explanation and a lack of questions from committee members, Senator Hoffman announced the CS was adopted and the bill was set aside. Ms. Rosaro, identified in the hearing as the acting deputy director for the Division of Behavioral Health, was invited to the table but committee members had no questions during this session.

The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript. The adoption was announced verbally in committee and no amendments or changes beyond the CS language described by Harpold were recorded in the hearing. Next steps for SB196 were not specified during the May 5 meeting.

The committee convened and concluded its business the same morning and set HB184 for further consideration under separate action.