00 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 29                                                                                     
01 Objecting to the Department of Administration's settlement with certain employees                                       
02 of the Alaska marine highway system.                                                                                    
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the labor relations section in the Department of Administration determined                                     
05 after investigation that several employees of the Alaska marine highway system had                                      
06 intentionally defrauded the state of approximately $800,000 between 1990 and 1994 by                                    
07 claiming to be state residents for purposes of receiving the cost-of-living differential that is                        
08 available only to state residents; and                                                                                  
09  WHEREAS these acts of deception are punishable under state law as criminal fraud;                                      
10 and                                                                                                                     
11  WHEREAS the Department of Administration, labor relations section, and the Marine                                      
12 Engineers Benevolent Association, which represents these employees, have entered into a                                 
13 settlement agreement requiring the employees to reimburse the state for less than 15 cents on                           
14 the dollar for the extra compensation they claimed and received; and                                                    
01  WHEREAS the settlement terms provide that no offending employee will be                                                
02 prosecuted for these offenses and that the offending employees may continue to work for the                             
03 marine highway system without suspension, so long as they do not reoffend; and                                          
04  WHEREAS the Department of Administration did not consult with or inform the state                                      
05 legislature or the general public before it entered into negotiations with the bargaining                               
06 organization or agreed to these settlement terms; and                                                                   
07  WHEREAS the settlement appears excessively lenient given the intentional fraud                                         
08 alleged against the employees;                                                                                          
09  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature declares that the settlement                                          
10 reached between the Department of Administration and the Marine Engineers Benevolent                                    
11 Association on behalf of certain employees of the Alaska marine highway system is wholly                                
12 unacceptable to the people of the state; and be it                                                                      
13  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports all efforts to                                             
14 dissolve or void the settlement; and be it                                                                              
15  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that the Attorney                                          
16 General appoint a special investigator to conduct an investigation into the actions and                                 
17 decisions of the Department of Administration and report to the President of the Senate and                             
18 the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than April 15, 1996, concerning the                                
19 results of that investigation.