HB 176: "An Act relating to an allowable absence for members of the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce of the United States Department of Defense for purposes of determining eligibility for permanent fund dividends; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 176 01 "An Act relating to an allowable absence for members of the Civilian Expeditionary 02 Workforce of the United States Department of Defense for purposes of determining 03 eligibility for permanent fund dividends; and 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 in a combat zone, qualified hazardous duty area, or a
01 danger pay post as a member of the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce while 02 under orders to deploy, serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of 03 the United States, or accompanying, as that individual's spouse, minor dependent, or 04 disabled dependent, an individual who is 05 (A) serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of 06 the United States; and 07 (B) eligible for a current year dividend; 08 (4) serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard an 09 oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine; 10 (5) receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a 11 licensed physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician who treated the 12 illness if the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change; 13 (6) providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild with 14 a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the 15 attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical 16 specialty complex; 17 (7) providing care for the individual's terminally ill family member; 18 (8) settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse, 19 sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days; 20 (9) serving as a member of the United States Congress; 21 (10) serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United 22 States Congress; 23 (11) serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other 24 location; 25 (12) accompanying a minor who is absent under (5) of this subsection; 26 (13) accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for a reason 27 permitted under (1), (2), (5) - (12), (16), or (17) of this subsection as the spouse, minor 28 dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident; 29 (14) serving as a volunteer in the federal peace corps program; 30 (15) because of training or competing as a member of the United States 31 Olympic Team;
01 (16) participating for educational purposes in a student fellowship 02 sponsored by the United States Department of Education or by the United States 03 Department of State; 04 (17) for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to remain a 05 state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed 06 (A) 180 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 07 claimed under (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an absence 08 under (1), (2), or (4) - (16) of this subsection; 09 (B) 120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 10 claimed under (1) - (3) of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an 11 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection but is claiming an absence under (1) 12 or (2) of this subsection; or 13 (C) 45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences 14 claimed under (1) - (16) of this subsection if the individual is claiming an 15 absence under (4) - (16) of this subsection. 16 * Sec. 2. AS 43.23.008 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 17 (e) For purposes of (a)(3) of this section, 18 (1) "Civilian Expeditionary Workforce" means the program created in 19 United States Department of Defense Directive 1404.10 (January 23, 2009); 20 (2) "combat zone" has the meaning given in 26 U.S.C. 112(c)(2) 21 (Internal Revenue Code); 22 (3) "danger pay post" means a post so designated by the United States 23 Secretary of State in the Department of State Standardized Regulations for purposes of 24 danger pay under 5 U.S.C. 5928; 25 (4) "orders to deploy" means a letter of authorization or travel paper 26 issued by the United States Department of Defense or a branch of the armed forces of 27 the United States that requires the recipient to report for duty in a combat zone, 28 qualified hazardous duty zone, or danger pay post; 29 (5) "qualified hazardous duty area" means an area that during the 30 applicant's deployment is treated as if it were a combat zone for purposes of a federal 31 tax exemption under 26 U.S.C. 112 (Internal Revenue Code).
01 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 02 read: 03 APPLICABILITY. Notwithstanding permanent fund dividend application procedures 04 or deadlines, a person who qualifies for a 2010 or 2011 permanent fund dividend because of 05 the amendment to AS 43.23.008(a)(3) made in sec. 1 of this Act and the addition of 06 AS 43.23.008(e) in sec. 2 of this Act may apply for the dividend by December 31, 2011. The 07 Department of Revenue shall prepare a form for application under this section. 08 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 09 read: 10 RETROACTIVITY. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act are retroactive to January 1, 2009. 11 * Sec. 5. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).