00 CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 5(FIN) 01 Establishing a task force to make recommendations regarding a new design for the 02 official seal of the State of Alaska. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the official seal of the state was designed in 1910 by federal and 05 territorial officials long before Alaska became a state, and it emphasizes primarily the natural 06 beauty of the state and its abundance of natural resources; and 07 WHEREAS the seal should reflect the place and people who now call it home; and 08 WHEREAS the seal should ideally depict not only the diversity of its natural 09 resources but also the diversity of its human resources; and 10 WHEREAS the seal should include recognition of the many Native cultures of 11 Alaska, as recommended recently by the Governor's Commission on Tolerance; and 12 WHEREAS, in order to ensure that the official seal represents modern Alaska and its 13 diverse peoples, the seal should be redesigned through a process that involves many different 14 segments of the population, including school children; and 15 WHEREAS the Department of Education and Early Development administers the 16 public school system and the state's historical library, and the Alaska State Council on the 01 Arts operates within that department; and 02 WHEREAS the Alaska Historical Commission in the Department of Natural 03 Resources includes members who have backgrounds in history, architecture, and archeology 04 and are very familiar with both the natural and cultural heritage of the state; and 05 WHEREAS the Alaska Native Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization that is 06 headed by a board of directors drawn from Alaska Native corporations and civic and business 07 groups who are guided by a 30-member academy composed of Native elders and tradition 08 bearers from diverse Native peoples, including Athabaskan, Yup'ik and Cup'ik Eskimo, 09 Inupiaq, Aleut, Alutiiq, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian; 10 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature establishes in the legislative 11 branch the Task Force on the State Seal whose mission is to gather input from the citizens of 12 Alaska about what the official state seal should look like and to make recommendations to the 13 legislature about a proposed new design for a new official seal for the state; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor is respectfully requested to appoint to the 15 task force 16 (1) two representatives of the Department of Education and Early 17 Development; and 18 (2) two representatives of the Alaska Historical Commission in the 19 Department of Natural Resources; and be it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature respectfully requests the Pioneers of 21 Alaska to appoint one member to the task force; and be it 22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature respectfully requests the board of 23 directors of the Alaska Native Heritage Center to appoint two members to the task force; and 24 be it 25 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force may begin its work immediately upon 26 appointment of four of the seven members specified in this resolution, may select a chair from 27 among its members, may meet between sessions of the legislature, may solicit ideas for the 28 state seal in a manner considered appropriate by the task force, and shall report its 29 recommendations as to a proposed new official state seal to the legislature by the first day of 30 the Second Regular Session of the Twenty-Third Alaska State Legislature; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Council shall provide reasonably 01 necessary administrative services to the task force upon request of the task force; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force are entitled to 03 reimbursement of travel costs associated with attending meetings of the task force; and be it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force established under this resolution is 05 terminated on the last day of the Second Regular Session of the Twenty-Third Alaska State 06 Legislature.