00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 41                                                                                          
01 Relating to establishment of a federal earthquake hazard reduction and insurance                                        
02 program.                                                                                                                
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the United States Congress and the United States Geological Service have                                       
05 determined that portions of all 50 states are vulnerable to the hazards of earthquakes; and                             
06  WHEREAS potential earthquakes are a national risk that requires a national solution;                                   
07 and                                                                                                                     
08  WHEREAS the probable maximum loss of an earthquake measuring 8.0 or larger on                                          
09 the Richter scale is estimated at $50,000,000,000 to $60,000,000,000, including claims for                              
10 workers' compensation, business and property losses, and personal injuries; and                                         
11  WHEREAS each year in this state there are approximately 1,000 earthquakes that                                         
12 measure more than 3.5 on the Richter scale; and                                                                         
13  WHEREAS, of the 10 strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the world, two have                                          
14 occurred in this state, one of which was the devastating Good Friday earthquake in 1964; and                            

01  WHEREAS the present system of insuring against earthquakes is unacceptable to both                                     
02 the insurance industry and to policyholders in that insurance coverage is either unaffordable                           
03 or unavailable; and                                                                                                     
04  WHEREAS the earthquake that occurred on October 17, 1989, in northern California                                       
05 caused 66 deaths and an estimated $5,000,000,000 in damages; and                                                        
06  WHEREAS, on January 17, 1994, a devastating earthquake struck the Los Angeles                                          
07 area killing over 50 people, injuring thousands, and causing an estimated $30,000,000,000 in                            
08 property damage; and                                                                                                    
09  WHEREAS the California earthquakes demonstrate the inadequacy of the existing                                          
10 system of state and federal earthquake relief funding; and                                                              
11  WHEREAS a prepaid insurance fund built up from premiums collected from                                                 
12 homeowners throughout the nation should save the federal government money by reducing the                               
13 need for disaster relief; and                                                                                           
14  WHEREAS a federal earthquake insurance program would protect our nation's                                              
15 economic health as well as home and business owners throughout the nation; and                                          
16  WHEREAS S. 1350, cosponsored by the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable                                            
17 Frank Murkowski, and H.R. 2873, cosponsored by the Honorable Don Young, are pending in                                  
18 the Congress and would establish a universal program for earthquake insurance coverage                                  
19 known as the Federal Earthquake Hazard Reduction and Insurance Program, that a state may                                
20 participate in if the state chooses to do so; and                                                                       
21  WHEREAS federal earthquake insurance would provide affordable, reliable, and                                           
22 adequate coverage against the risk of earthquakes;                                                                      
23  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Congress is respectfully                                       
24 requested to enact S. 1350 or H.R. 2873 to create a federal earthquake insurance program.                               
25  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Al Gore, Vice-President of                                    
26 the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, Speaker                              
27 of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Daniel Inouye, U.S. Senator from                                    
28 Hawaii; the Honorable Norman Maneta, U.S. Representative from California; and to the                                    
29 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the                                         
30 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.