The Alaska Legislature has voted to allow teenagers as young as 18 to serve alcohol in the state.
On Wednesday, the Alaska House of Representatives voted 32-8 to pass Senate Bill 15, which lowers the minimum alcohol-serving age in restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, resorts and similar businesses. The minimum age to serve alcohol at a bar or sell it at a package store remains 21.
A separate provision of the bill requires alcohol-serving businesses to post a sign stating that alcohol causes cancer. Another late-added section also allows members of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars to attend each other’s social clubs.
The House’s vote follows a 19-0 vote by the Alaska Senate in February and sends the bill back to the Senate for a concurrence vote. That’s typically an uncontroversial act that asks the Senate to agree with minor changes to the bill that were made in the House.
If the Senate concurs with the House changes, the bill will go to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for final approval.
“I am hopeful for concurrence,” said Sen. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River and the bill’s sponsor.
SB 15 is almost identical to House Bill 189, which passed the Legislature last year. HB 189 was one of five bills vetoed by Dunleavy because they were passed by the House after the legal end of the regular session.
“This one passed literally two minutes after midnight and was vetoed for that reason,” said Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, who carried the bill on the House floor.
Speaking before Wednesday’s vote, Fields called SB 15 a “jobs bill” that will help employers hire for Alaska’s busy summer tourist season.
Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage, spoke in favor of the bill. She worked as a waitress while growing up in Anchorage, and as a teenager, she earned half of what her older coworkers did because she couldn’t serve alcohol, she said.
“I was living on my own, paying my own way through college, and I was at Simon and Seafort’s and many of the restaurants that you all are familiar with, and because I couldn’t serve alcohol, I made much less money, and so I think this gives those of us who are trying to make it on their own an opportunity to make money and also get good training and supervision about how to be safe while serving,” she said.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, has advocated the cancer-warning section of the bill for three years and spoke in support of that segment.
“This bill is not telling anyone what they should or shouldn’t do. It’s simply informing Alaskans about a medical fact long established, the simple way to lower your risk of cancer is to choose not to drink alcohol,” he said.
None of the bill’s opponents spoke against the bill before the final vote.
Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, voted in favor of the bill last year but was among the eight “no” votes in the House this year.
Vance said that after thinking about the bill over the past few days, she supports the current over-21 drinking age and doesn’t think it makes sense to tell Alaskans that they can serve alcohol but not drink it.
“It felt like we’re putting a moral juxtaposition for those in that age range, and it’s just not fair,” Vance said.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
