Updated: March 24, 1999

HB 142 proposes amendments to current statutes to allow nationally accredited educational vocational institutions to benefit from cash donations that are currently only available to regionally accredited two and four year schools.

Under Alaska statutes, some fisheries businesses may receive a tax credit by making cash contributions to educational institutions. Floating fisheries businesses receive the credit against the fisheries resource landing tax and processors receive the tax credit against the fisheries business tax. These cash contributions benefit both the recipients and donors. The recipients benefit from additional monies for education-especially important in these times of declining revenue dollars. Donors benefit because they can target jobs and institutions that are vital to their operations and receive a tax credit. The contributions are applied as a credit against the tax due.

Currently only regionally accredited, two-year or four-year, public or private, institutions can receive these cash contributions. HB 142 proposes amendments to the fisheries resource landing tax education credit (AS 43.77.045) and the fisheries business education credit (AS 43.75.018). The bill extends the ability to receive donations to nationally or regionally accredited vocational institutions such as AVTEC. The Alaska Department of Revenue disqualified $140,000 in donations to AVTEC in the past two years because of the wording in the current statute. This bill would remedy this problem and allow for additional revenue sources for postsecondary institutions.