Agency for Alaska's mentally ill tests legal limits with $40 million real estate investment
The board of the $600 million state government trust charged with caring for Alaska's mentally ill has purchased tens of millions of dollars of Outside real estate as investments, in apparent defiance of state law.
Since 2011, the Alaska Mental Health Trust has invested $39 million in seven commercial properties — two in Anchorage, three in Texas, and one each in Utah and Washington. That's in spite of a state law that requires the trust's cash assets to be invested through the Alaska Permanent Fund.
The four trustees who form the majority bloc of the divided, seven-member board say they have legal authority to make the investments based in part on the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act, passed by U.S. Congress in 1956 — when Alaska was still a U.S. territory. But there's no publicly available legal opinion supporting their position, and the trust's board chair, Russ Webb, refused to turn over advice from an attorney that outlines the legal basis for the investments and which might also cite the legal risks.
The trust says it's paused its investment program and is cooperating with a review by Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth.
Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2017/01/02/agency-for-alaskas-mentally-ill-tests-legal-limits-with-40-million-real-estate-investment/