00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16                                                                    
01 Urging the United States Congress to approve legislation allowing members of the                                        
02 military to receive promised retirement benefits.                                                                       
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the United States Department of Defense has been asked to identify                                      
05 $487,000,000,000 in cuts from the defense budget during the next 10 years; and                                          
06       WHEREAS a Pentagon-sponsored study recommended substantial changes to                                           
07 military pensions as part of the defense budget cuts; and                                                               
08       WHEREAS the Defense Business Board suggested a plan to convert military                                         
09 retirement from the current 20-year vesting system to a retirement system similar to a 401(k)                           
10 arrangement under 26 U.S.C. 401(k) (Internal Revenue Code); and                                                         
11       WHEREAS the suggested plan might not grandfather current service members; and                                   
12       WHEREAS, under the current military pension system, a military service member                                   
13 who serves for 20 years can retire with an immediate pension; and                                                       
14       WHEREAS, under a plan suggested by the Defense Business Board, a military                                       
15 service member would not receive pension payments until the member reaches 60 - 65 years                                
16 of age; and                                                                                                             

01       WHEREAS members of the armed forces of the United States should be allowed to                                   
02 maintain their current retirement plan as promised when the member signed up for military                               
03 service; and                                                                                                            
04       WHEREAS Congressman Don Young introduced in the 112th United States                                             
05 Congress H.R. 3520, the Keeping Our Promises Act of 2011; and                                                           
06       WHEREAS H.R. 3520 would allow a service member who signed up for military                                       
07 service under the current retirement plan to choose between staying with the current plan or                            
08 moving to the new retirement system;                                                                                    
09       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the option that allows                                
10 members of the armed forces of the United States to keep their promised 20-year retirement                              
11 benefit; and be it                                                                                                      
12       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
13 Congress to pass H.R. 3520, the Keeping Our Promises Act of 2011.                                                       
14       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
15 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
16 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
17 Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                      
18 Honorable Leon E. Panetta, United States Secretary of Defense; and the Honorable Lisa                                   
19 Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                    
20 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.