Governor Mike Dunleavy signed two pieces of legislation into law at the Alaska State Fair recently. House Bill 298 establishes the Alaska Food Strategy Task Force and a forgivable loan program, and House Bill 347 allows confidentiality of certain records related to animals.
Rep. Liz Snyder is the sponsor of HB 298:
“We take the task force who is made up of individuals on the ground, on the water, doing the work every day who know way more about food issues than we do here in this body. They make the recommendations. It can come to the existing Food and Farm Caucus where they can look at those recommendations from a holistic standpoint, consider it within the realm of what’s happening here in the legislature, and addressing some of the concerns, and then move it on to the special committee.”
HB 298 creates the Alaska Food Strategy Task Force, which aims to improve food security for the long-term benefit of Alaska’s communities, economy, and environment. It also establishes forgivable loan programs for farm development and improvement and meat processing facilities.
Rep. George Rauscher is the sponsor of HB 347:
“The proposed legislation would make the selected information from which livestock producers must disclose to the state of Alaska confidential and not subject to public disclosure resulting in protection from livestock producers’ proprietary interests. The Department of Environmental Conservation is still able to release information to other government officials regarding disease outbreaks to protect human and animal health. It would also encourage animal owners to voluntarily test their animals as they would have the assurance that the results are made public, but the owner/business, in particular, animal, would be considered confidential under state law.”
HB 347 addresses the need to protect Alaska’s farming community when testing for and to contain a virus outbreak. The legislation ensures results are accessible while respecting the privacy and safety of the owners by redacting names and locations.
Click here for more information on the pieces of legislation.