Alaska Senate Bill SB196

Alaska 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 5/19/25
• Refer: 5/19/25
• Refer: 3/23/26

Caption

Beh. Health Crisis Surcharge & Fund

Summary

SB 196 creates 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 established behavioral health crisis services fund within the general fund. The legislature could appropriate money from that fund to the Department of Health for a broad range of behavioral health purposes, including operating and improving Alaska’s 988 crisis line, providing crisis services, recruiting and training behavioral health staff, supporting culturally and linguistically competent services, suicide prevention, public awareness, data collection, and fund administration. The bill is set to take effect July 1, 2025.

Impact

SB 196 would amend Alaska’s revenue and telecommunications statutes to impose a new monthly surcharge on both wireless and wireline telephone service and to create a separate behavioral health crisis services fund in the general fund. It would also assign collection and remittance duties to telephone companies, limit Regulatory Commission of Alaska jurisdiction over the surcharge, and authorize legislative appropriations from the fund to the Department of Health for behavioral health crisis-related programs and 988 system support.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the measure appears to be framed as a public-health funding proposal rather than a controversial regulatory change. The bill’s stated purpose suggests support for crisis response, suicide prevention, and behavioral health workforce needs, which are typically presented as broadly beneficial public services. No formal vote history or transcript evidence is available here to indicate opposition or support levels.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are the new monthly surcharge on telephone customers, the use of a fee on communications services to fund behavioral health programs, and the administrative burden placed on telephone companies to collect and remit the charge. Another possible issue is that the bill says the fund is established in the general fund but also states that nothing creates a dedicated fund, which could raise questions about how protected the revenue would be and how appropriations would be managed. No specific objections or supporters are identified in the provided record.