HB 278 Alaska House · 34th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act establishing the Alaska-Ireland Trade Commission; and providing for an effective date.

HB 278 establishes the Alaska-Ireland Trade Commission within the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. The commission, composed of five governor-appointed members serving two-year terms, aims to advance trade, investment, and academic exchanges between Alaska and Ireland. It must submit a report to the legislature by the 35th session's first meeting detailing its activities and recommendations. This procedural bill creates a new state body to foster economic partnerships without changing existing laws or imposing new taxes.

Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Vetoed

Jul 2026

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Vetoed Jul 3, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

CSHB 278(STA) → Enrolled HB 278 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was finalized into its enrolled version, which significantly altered the composition of the new Alaska-Ireland Trade Commission. The most important change is that the commission now includes two members from the House of Representatives and two from the Senate, in addition to the five members appointed by the Governor. This shift moves the commission from being solely an executive body to a bipartisan legislative-executive partnership.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include legislative representation on the commission, changing it from an executive-only agency to a body with direct input from both chambers of the state legislature.

ELIGIBILITY

Commission membership was changed from five members appointed solely by the Governor to a mix of five Governor appointees, two House members, and two Senate members.

REQUIREMENT

The term lengths for members appointed by the Governor were updated to specify staggered three-year terms, while members appointed by the legislative leaders serve two-year terms.

Internal references to subsections regarding funding and reporting were updated to reflect the new letter designations (g) and (i) instead of the original (f) and (h).

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jul 3, 2026

Vetoed

(H) VETOED BY GOVERNOR 6/24/26

lower

May 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

(S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) AS AMENDED

upper

May 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

(S) PASSED Y20 N-

upper

May 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

(S) STA SCS ADOPTED UC

upper

May 12, 2026

Committee

(S) FIN REFERRAL WAIVED

upper

May 11, 2026

Committee

(S) FIN REFERRAL ADDED AFTER STA

upper

May 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

(S) Moved SCS CSHB 278(STA) Out of Committee

upper

May 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

(S) Moved CSHB 278(STA) Out of Committee

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)

lower

Mar 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) PASSED Y40

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) STA CS ADOPTED UC

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) Moved CSHB 278(STA) Out of Committee

lower

1 primary · 23 co-sponsors