The Alaska House has approved a bill setting up dedicated funding for the Alaska Legal Services Corporation.
In a 38-1 vote on Monday morning, the House approved House Bill 154, brought forward by Rep. Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham and a member of the House Majority. HB 154 states that up to 25 percent of all filing fees charged by the Alaska Court System may be deposited into the state’s Civil Legal Services Fund.
That fund pays for attorneys to represent Alaskans who otherwise can’t afford assistance in civil litigation. Alaska Legal Services, founded in 1966, is a nonprofit dedicated to providing that assistance, and it’s the organization that most often represents poor Alaskans in civil cases.
While the state is legally obligated to provide a defense in criminal court cases, resources for civil court cases are harder to come by.
“They serve a wide gamut of low-income Alaskans,” Edgmon said of Alaska Legal Services.
What does the corporation provide?
“Just a whole range of services … to needy Alaskans who otherwise wouldn’t have that representation in a civil court,” Edgmon said.
The fund was designed to be filled with punitive damages collected by the state, but Alaska has not collected any damages in the past four years. It has filled the gap with state general funds, but lawmakers are beginning to move state programs away from relying on general funds, which are earned through tax revenue.
Rep. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, was the lone ‘no’ vote. Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, was absent.
HB 154 now goes to the Alaska Senate for approval.
In separate business Monday, the House approved House Concurrent Resolution 17, a nonbinding letter to the governor urging him to make state land available for the testing and operation of unmanned drones. The resolution passed the House 33-6, but not before a series of attempted amendments.
Generally speaking, the amendments would have asked for the state to only allow drone operations in such ways that don’t violate Alaskans’ privacy.
One amendment, which failed 13-26, was brought by Rep. Andy Josephson and would have asked the governor to restrict drone use in state parks.
After that amendment failed, Rep. Sam Kito III, D-Juneau was among the votes against the main resolution. Rep. Cathy Muñoz, R-Juneau, and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka, voted for the resolution.
It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com or 419-7732.
