Bill > HB97

This bill introduces several significant changes to Alaska's criminal and labor laws, focusing on theft, human trafficking, and wage theft. The legislation establishes a new crime of "organized theft" for coordinated theft activities, creates detailed definitions and penalties for wage theft with three different degrees of severity, and modifies existing laws related to human trafficking by expanding the definitions and increasing penalties. For human trafficking, the bill adds a new third-degree offense for providing services or resources that promote trafficking, and allows for property forfeiture in such cases. The wage theft provisions define multiple scenarios as criminal offenses, with penalties ranging from misdemeanors to felonies based on the value of unpaid wages. The bill also aggregates theft values across multiple incidents to determine the severity of the crime, and adds provisions for additional damages and legal cost reimbursement for employees who are victims of wage theft. Key changes include classifying human trafficking in the first degree as an unclassified felony, establishing new sentencing guidelines, and expanding the definition of theft to include more specific scenarios. The bill is set to take effect on July 1, 2025, and will apply to offenses and claims committed or brought on or after that date.

Budget and Finance, Justice

https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/34?Root=HB97