Johnny Nicholai speaks about suicide prevention at the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
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Alaska youth and advocates are calling on lawmakers to create a statewide fund for suicide prevention by charging a small fee on Alaskans’ monthly phone bills.
The nation’s Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is 988. It’s the easy-to-remember number to call that was launched in 2022 to give immediate help and resources for people who are struggling with mental health issues such as depression, substance use and suicidal ideation.
At the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, advocates and youth gathered to speak about the importance of supporting suicide prevention measures like 988 in the state. According to the Alaska Department of Health, Alaska has the highest rates of youth suicide in the nation and the second-highest rates of adult suicide. But statewide funding for prevention has been unreliable in the past.
“I’ve traveled hundreds of miles to be here today because I want to be a voice for those I have lost to suicide,” Jacob Nicholai told the crowd.
He traveled all the way from the isolated village of Toksook Bay in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta to speak at the rally with the Alaska chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“I’ve lost a couple of people to suicide. It made me feel like my family was broken,” he said. “Losing a loved one through suicide is hard. It can feel like a part of you is gone.”
Nicholai and other youth were in Juneau specifically to advocate for House Bill 138 and Senate Bill 196, which were introduced in the Alaska Legislature last session. The bills would establish a monthly surcharge for wireless and landline numbers in Alaska. The money generated from it would go toward creating a dedicated Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund for Alaska.
The cost would be 98 cents a month for individual users, but in turn, it is estimated to generate between $6 to 8 million annually toward enhancing the state’s capacity to respond to mental health emergencies. The proposed surcharge would support critical prevention services like the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline operations — which the state funds a portion of — along with mobile crisis teams and crisis stabilization centers in the state.
Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, sponsored the bill in the House. For her, supporting suicide prevention is extremely personal — her father died by suicide when she was a child.
“As a survivor of suicide loss, I didn’t understand what he had been going through when I was a kid and why he had ended his life,” she said. “I didn’t understand why he never talked about it.”
She said prioritizing suicide prevention and creating a sustainable funding source for resources in the state could save lives.
“The most important thing is to talk about it. Talk saves lives. 988 saves lives and supporting our crisis system saves lives,” she said. “The way that we are currently funding that crisis system has been a patchwork. It’s been unreliable.”
Both House Bill 138 and Senate Bill 196 have yet to advance from committee and it’s unclear if they will have enough support to advance in the Legislature this year.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available to call, text or chat by dialing 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. You can be connected to community resources by calling 2-1-1.