00                             HOUSE BILL NO. 14                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to an absence from the state while providing care for a terminally ill                                 
02 grandparent for purposes of determining eligibility for a permanent fund dividend; and                                  
03 providing for an effective date."                                                                                       
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
05    * Section 1.  AS 43.23.008(a) is amended to read:                                                                  
06            (a)  Subject to (b) and (c) of this section, an otherwise eligible individual who                            
07       is absent from the state during the qualifying year remains eligible for a current year                           
08       permanent fund dividend if the individual was absent                                                              
09                 (1)  receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time                                      
10       basis;                                                                                                            
11                 (2)  receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a                               
12       full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary                                
13       Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state;                                         
14                 (3)  serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of the                                      

01       United States;                                                                                                    
02                 (4)  serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an                                  
03       oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine;                                                           
04                 (5)  receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a                                            
05       licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician that treated the                               
06       illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change;                             
07                 (6)  providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with                             
08       a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the                                   
09       attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical                                 
10       specialty complex;                                                                                                
11                 (7)  providing care for the individual's terminally ill parent, spouse,                                 
12       sibling, child, [OR] stepchild, or grandparent;                                                               
13                 (8)  settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse,                                   
14       sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days;                           
15                 (9)  serving as a member of the United States Congress;                                                 
16                 (10)  serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United                                    
17       States Congress;                                                                                                  
18                 (11)  serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other                                    
19       location;                                                                                                         
20                 (12)  accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection;                                  
21                 (13)  accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason                                 
22       permitted under (1) - (3), (5) - (12), or (14) of this subsection as the spouse, minor                            
23       dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident;                                                        
24                 (14)  for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a                                
25       state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed                                         
26                      (A)  180 days if the individual is not claiming an absence under                                   
27            (1) - (13) of this subsection;                                                                               
28                      (B)  120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences                                    
29            claimed under (1) or (2) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an                             
30            absence under (3) - (13) of this subsection; or                                                              
31                      (C)  45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences                                     

01            claimed under (1) - (13) of this subsection.                                                                 
02    * Sec. 2.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2004.