SB 71 Summary

• Authorizes an additional registration fee not exceeding $50 for special vehicle registration plates celebrating the arts, collected only on first issuance, with the Alaska State Council on the Arts determining the specific fee amount in regulation.

• Directs excess annual revenue from arts celebration plate fees to be appropriated by the legislature to a newly established Alaska arts and cultural investment fund.

• Creates the Alaska arts and cultural investment fund in the general fund, consisting of legislative appropriations, donations, and interest, which the council shall administer without further appropriation authority.

• Assigns the Alaska State Council on the Arts new duties to manage relocation, disposition, and exchange of public artworks, administer the new investment fund, and manage legal counsel arrangements.

• Changes council authority to hold arts plate design competitions from mandatory to discretionary, allowing the council to conduct competitions with public voting to select winning designs and potentially compensate winning artists.