(JUNEAU) - The Alaska House of Representatives approved House Bill 256 by a vote of 35 to one on Thursday. Sponsored by the House Finance Committee, HB 256 maintains the amount of transfer funds from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation at $103 million a year for Fiscal Years 2003 through 2006.

"Without this adjustment, the AHFC transfer to the General Fund would drop more than $26 million from Fiscal Year 2003 to Fiscal Year 2004," House Finance Co-Chair Bill Williams (R-Saxman) said. "As the Governor and the Legislature find a balance between expenditures and revenues, we need the fiscal certainty and stability this bill provides."

HB 256 protects AHFC's bond ratings by giving certainty to the fund. Beginning in FY 2007, a set percentage of the corporation's net income will transfer to the General Fund. In FY 2007, 95-percent of AHFC's net earnings will go to the General Fund. By FY 2009, and in the fiscal years to follow, 75-percent of the net earnings will go to the fund. The percentage arrangement will resemble the plans currently followed by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and the Alaska Student Loan Corporation.

"The state must take advantage of its capital ventures in its time of need and must protect the future of those investments at the same time," Williams said. "This is responsible utilization of a resource that we have right now, and, protection of that resource for the future."

HB 256 moves to the Senate.

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