Bill

S. 254 (119th): Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act or the ARTIST Act This act prohibits states from imposing bans on marine mammal products produced by Alaska Natives

Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act or the ARTIST Act This act prohibits states from imposing bans on marine mammal products produced by Alaska Natives. Specifically, states may not prohibit the interstate commerce, importation, sale, transfer, trade, barter, or possession of marine mammal ivory, marine mammal bone, or baleen legally produced by an Alaska Native as an authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and clothing.

house · Substantive

Rankings updated October 26, 2026, 11:44 AM ET · Votes through September 30, 2026
Exported candidates: 719 | Filings on file, by office: H: 5838 | P: 1467 | S: 1567. These counts include every filing for that office, so they are larger than the ranked list. One person can have more than one filing. Non-voting delegates are left out.

Recorded summary

The ARTIST Act would bar states from banning marine mammal ivory, bone, or baleen that an Alaska Native legally produces as an authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and clothing. States could not prohibit the interstate commerce, importation, sale, transfer, trade, barter, or possession of such items.

federal_preemptionindigenous_traditionunclearwildlife_policy

Theological note: The bill touches the protection of Alaska Native cultural practice and craft tradition, which can be read as a matter of honoring lawful inheritance and livelihood. It also raises stewardship questions about marine mammals and about federal displacement of state wildlife authority. These are issues of prudential governance rather than a direct moral act, so the bill is relevant for tracking but is not a final candidate judgment.

How this bill is scored

Recorded votes

Roll 193 · 3-Jun-2026 2:16 PM · On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass · Passed

Yea 404 · Nay 14 · Other 12

Yea

Nay

Other

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