Month: May 2026

The University of Alaska will be required to provide advance notice before increasing student fees and an itemized list of fees charged to students and families under new legislation passed by the Alaska Legislature. 

The legislation, House Bill 176, passed the Alaska House in February and the Senate over the weekend, across bipartisan lines. The bill now heads to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for consideration.

Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks, sponsored the bill and said it seeks to increase transparency.

“While the fee categories and the amount of the consolidated fee are required to be published online, it is often extremely difficult to find the amount allocated to each category,” she said in a statement introducing the bill. “Students can see the general categories their fees pay for, but they usually do not see the dollar amount paid for each service, such as student activities or recreation.”

If approved by the governor, the bill would also require the Board of Regents to provide 30 days of notice before increasing student fees or new fees are introduced. 

Sen. Rob Myers, R-North Pole, sponsored the companion bill in the Senate. 

“The bill is rooted in a simple principle: students deserve to know exactly what they’re paying for. Greater transparency leads to greater accountability, and accountability builds trust in our institutions. At a time when the cost of higher education continues to rise, students and families deserve clear and accessible information about how their money is being spent,” he said on the Senate floor on Sunday. 

If approved by the governor, the changes to university fee disclosures would be enacted in July 2027.

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The Alaska Legislature approved new legislation to ensure greater oversight for Alaska youth in psychiatric facilities, including increased protections for foster youth.

One bill would shorten the deadline for foster youth to receive court hearings after being institutionalized and another would increase reporting requirements for youth in psychiatric institutions, among other provisions.

Lawmakers approved a bill that would shorten the deadline for court hearings for foster youth from 30 days to seven days of being admitted, following high-profile news reports, lawsuits and federal investigations around foster youth languishing for weeks, or even years, in psychiatric facilities. The bill requires youth to have a court appointed attorney, and to have subsequent case reviews by the court every 30 days. 

The Alaska House passed House Bill 36 unanimously last year, and the Senate approved the proposal on Saturday by a vote of 19 to 1, with Sen. Rob Yundt, R-Wasilla absent. The bill now moves to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for consideration. 

Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, sponsored the legislation in the Senate and called the legislation part of an effort to address a dark chapter in Alaska history.

“For too long, these placements have occurred with insufficient oversight, limited recourse for the children involved and inadequate advocacy on their behalf,” he said Saturday. “House Bill 36 helps ensure meaningful due process protections for those in foster care.”

The issue was at the center of a lawsuit, Kwinhagak v. State, which reached the Alaska Supreme Court. It focused on the case of a 14-year-old Alaska Native foster youth from Sitka who was hospitalized in North Star Behavioral Health in Anchorage and went 46 days before a court held a hearing on her hospitalization. In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled the time was “far too long to satisfy due process.”

Dunbar quoted the ruling, in part, on the Senate floor. “In its opinion, the court stated, ‘There is no doubt the children in OCS custody are at substantial risk of being hospitalized for longer than they need, or when they do not need to be hospitalized at all,’” he said. “Clarifying the legal protections for a vulnerable population of children in state custody is of the utmost importance.”

The bill also creates a new state license for treatment foster homes, to provide treatment services through Medicaid for youth with medical, behavioral or developmental conditions. Proponents of the bill said it would help create more home-based care, and align with national standards.  

Another bill unanimously passed by the Senate on Saturday, House Bill 52, would enact requirements that aim to increase oversight and transparency, and reduce risk of abuse or neglect for all Alaska children in psychiatric facilities. The House approved the bill in April.

Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, pointed to a 2022 U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found that Alaska children are institutionalized at high rates, in part due to a lack of community-based services. “These findings demonstrate an urgent need for transparency and parent guardian involvement at the psychiatric hospitals that serve Alaskan youth with behavioral health care needs,” Claman said on Saturday. 

The legislation — now also on Gov. Dunleavy’s desk — would require all Alaska minors in psychiatric facilities have access to confidential communication with parents or legal guardians for two hours per week. The facility must facilitate that communication. 

The bill would require the Alaska Department of Health to conduct unannounced inspections of psychiatric facilities in the state twice a year, including interviews with at least half of the minor patients, and make an annual report to the Legislature. 

All facilities would be required to report their use of seclusion or restraints on minors — including physical, mechanical or chemical restraints — to the state each year, and to minors’ parents or legal guardians within 72 hours. “Chemical restraint” would be defined in the law as a medication used to control the behavior or restrict the freedom of a patient, not a medication used to treat an underlying psychiatric illness.

Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks and the bill’s sponsor, highlighted Alaska’s unique history, and particular legacy of trauma for Alaska Native children forced into institutional settings.

“The institutionalization of children with behavioral health challenges can last weeks, months, or even years,” Dibert said in a statement introducing the bill. “Such long-term placement is devastating for all families and is especially traumatic for Alaska Native families who experienced the harm of family separation when the government forcibly removed their loved ones and sent them to boarding schools.”

Lawmakers in the House amended the bill to include a requirement for the state to conduct wellness checks on youth when conducting facility inspections. If inspectors found incidents of abuse or neglect, they would be required to report them to parents or guardians, state authorities and law enforcement. Members of the Senate Finance Committee removed the provision citing confidentiality concerns and pointed to mandated reporting requirements for instances of abuse already in place. Some members of the all-Republican minority opposed the changes, and voted against the bill. 

The House voted to approve the changes made by the Senate by a vote of 26 to 14, and passed the bill on Sunday. 

If approved by the governor, the bill would be enacted in July 2027. 

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