---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act relating to the duties of the commissioner of natural resources; relating to agriculture; relating to the noncommercial transfer of seed; and relating to community seed libraries."
description: "An Act relating to the duties of the commissioner of natural resources; relating to agriculture; relating to the noncommercial transfer of seed; and relating to community seed libraries."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ak"
legislature: "Alaska Legislature"
session: "30"
identifier: "HB 197"
citation: "Alaska HB 197 (30)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["AGRICULTURE", "REGULATIONS", "REGULATORY ACTIONS", "RESOURCES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["JOHNSTON"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 40
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-03-24"
last_action: "2018-11-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a6d90e06-ee65-435d-ac4b-06760874e195"
source_url: "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/30?Root=HB197"
source_hash: "5cdaf00a6da6bcdcc41de125c7d87759b12994fd8c99383e460827c5925e1dc7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ak"]
---

# Alaska HB 197 (30) — An Act relating to the duties of the commissioner of natural resources; relating to agriculture; relating to the noncommercial transfer of seed; and relating to community seed libraries.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB0197A** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/30?hsid=HB0197A)
2. **HB0197B** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/30?hsid=HB0197B)
3. **HB0197C** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/30?hsid=HB0197C)
4. **HB0197Z** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/30?hsid=HB0197Z)

## Votes

- Shall CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 197(FIN) "An Act relating to the duties of the commissioner of natural resources; relating to agriculture; relating to the noncommercial transfer of seed; and relating to community seed libraries" pass the Senate? — **20–0** (pass) · upper
- Shall CSHB 197(FIN) pass the House? — **37–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- JOHNSTON — primary (person)
- Birch — cosponsor (person)
- Gara — cosponsor (person)
- Guttenberg — cosponsor (person)
- Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- Josephson — cosponsor (person)
- Kawasaki — cosponsor (person)
- Kito — cosponsor (person)
- Kopp — cosponsor (person)
- Millett — cosponsor (person)
- Pruitt — cosponsor (person)
- Sullivan-Leonard — cosponsor (person)
- Tarr — cosponsor (person)
- Tilton — cosponsor (person)
- Tuck — cosponsor (person)
- Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Wool — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-03-24** Read the first time - REFERRALS `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-03-24** Referred to Resources and Finance `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-31** Cosponsors added: WILSON
- **2017-04-26** Cosponsors added: KOPP
- **2017-05-03** RES RPT CS(RES) NT 6DP 3NR
- **2017-05-03** RES Do Pass: BIRCH, TALERICO, WESTLAKE, JOHNSON, RAUSCHER, TARR `committee-passage`
- **2017-05-03** RES No Recommendation: PARISH, DRUMMOND, JOSEPHSON
- **2017-05-03** Fiscal Note 1: No fiscal impact (Natural Resources)
- **2018-04-04** FIN RPT CS(FIN) NT 8DP 2NR 1AM
- **2018-04-04** FIN Do Pass: GARA, WILSON, GUTTENBERG, GRENN, ORTIZ, THOMPSON, SEATON, FOSTER `committee-passage`
- **2018-04-04** FIN No Recommendation: PRUITT, TILTON
- **2018-04-04** FIN Amend: KAWASAKI
- **2018-04-04** Fiscal Note 2: No fiscal impact (Natural Resources)
- **2018-04-04** Cosponsors added: GARA, GUTTENBERG, KAWASAKI
- **2018-04-09** RULES TO CALENDAR 4/9/2018
- **2018-04-09** Read the second time `reading-2`
- **2018-04-09** FIN CS ADOPTED UC
- **2018-04-09** ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UC
- **2018-04-09** Read the third time CSHB 197(FIN) `reading-3`
- **2018-04-09** PASSED Y37 N1 E2 `passage`
- **2018-04-09** Cosponsors added: BIRCH, MILLETT, KITO, JOSEPHSON, TILTON, WOOL, TUCK, TARR, PRUITT
- **2018-04-09** TRANSMITTED TO (S)
- **2018-04-09** VERSION: CSHB 197(FIN)
- **2018-04-10** Read the first time - REFERRALS `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-04-10** Referred to Resources `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-17** RES RPT 4DP 2NR
- **2018-04-17** RES Do Pass: GIESSEL, BISHOP, COGHILL, MEYER `committee-passage`
- **2018-04-17** RES No Recommendation: WIELECHOWSKI, STEDMAN
- **2018-04-17** Fiscal Note 2: No fiscal impact (Natural Resources)
- **2018-04-18** RULES TO CALENDAR 4/18/2018
- **2018-04-18** Read the second time `reading-2`
- **2018-04-18** ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UC
- **2018-04-18** Read the third time CSHB 197(FIN) `reading-3`
- **2018-04-18** PASSED Y20 N- `passage`
- **2018-04-18** RETURN TO (H), TRANSMIT TO GOV NEXT
- **2018-04-18** VERSION: CSHB 197(FIN)
- **2018-04-26** MANIFEST ERROR(S)
- **2018-11-07** 1:54 PM 8/15/18 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-11-07** Signed into law 8/20 CHAPTER 87 SLA 18 `executive-signature`
- **2018-11-07** EFFECTIVE DATE(S) OF LAW 11/18/18

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a6d90e06-ee65-435d-ac4b-06760874e195`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Alaska legislature records).