# 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.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: federal_preemption. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: indigenous_tradition. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: unclear. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: wildlife_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 193: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The measure protects a culturally rooted, lawful Alaska Native craft tradition and narrows state bans on that practice, which is a real good. It also preempts state wildlife and commerce regulation for marine mammal products and carries conservation concerns, so it combines a prudential-to-good aim with legitimate policy disputes rather than directly advancing or restraining a named moral evil.
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.

## Recorded votes

Roll 193: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Yea 404 · Nay 14 · Other 12.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/s-254-119/