Alaska House Bill HB138

Alaska 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/17/25
• Refer: 3/17/25
• Report Pass: 5/2/25
• Refer: 5/2/25
• Refer: 5/13/25

Caption

Beh. Health Crisis Surcharge & Fund

Summary

HB 138 establishes a new statewide behavioral health crisis services surcharge of 98 cents per month on each wireless telephone number and each local exchange access line for wireline telephones. Telephone companies would be required to bill, collect, and remit the surcharge to the state, while keeping a small administrative allowance for collection costs. The bill also limits the surcharge to one charge per wireless number or wireline access line and caps liability for customers with more than 100 local exchange access lines at 100 lines. The revenue would be deposited into a newly created behavioral health crisis services fund in the general fund, with the legislature authorized to appropriate the annual estimated balance to the Department of Health for behavioral health crisis purposes. The bill specifies that the money may support Alaska’s 988 suicide and behavioral health crisis line, crisis response services, workforce recruitment and retention, specialized training, public education, data collection and quality improvement, and fund administration and oversight. The act would take effect July 1, 2026.

Impact

HB 138 amends Alaska statutes in AS 43.98 to add a new surcharge framework for telecommunications customers and to create a behavioral health crisis services fund within the general fund. It imposes new billing, remittance, reporting, and limited audit obligations on local exchange and wireless telephone companies, while expressly limiting the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s jurisdiction over the surcharge. The bill would also create a new revenue stream for behavioral health crisis services, including 988-related infrastructure and operations, if appropriated by the legislature.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be framed as a public-safety and behavioral-health funding proposal rather than a controversial policy change. The sponsor list and committee referral suggest active legislative support, and the bill’s stated purpose is to strengthen crisis response capacity, workforce, and 988 services. No vote record or committee transcript was provided, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment beyond the bill’s supportive framing.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are the new monthly surcharge on telephone customers and the administrative burden placed on carriers to collect and remit the fee. Some stakeholders may also question whether a telecommunications surcharge is the appropriate funding mechanism for behavioral health services, especially because the bill says the fund is established in the general fund but also states that nothing in the section creates a dedicated fund. Another possible issue is the bill’s treatment of the surcharge as outside RCA revenue jurisdiction, which may draw regulatory or industry scrutiny.