HB 6: "An Act relating to the display of the national and state mottos."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 6 01 "An Act relating to the display of the national and state mottos." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 PURPOSE. The purposes of this Act are to 06 (1) reaffirm that "In God we trust" is the official motto of the United States 07 and "North to the Future" is the official motto of the state; and 08 (2) support and encourage awareness and public display of the mottos of the 09 nation and the state in public buildings, public schools, and other locations to honor the 10 heritage of the nation and the state. 11 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.130 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 12 (c) To the extent donations are available under (d) of this section for the 13 design, creation, or purchase of a display, a school board shall arrange to have each 14 library and classroom of a school district prominently display the national motto, "In 15 God we trust," established under 36 U.S.C. 302, and the state motto, "North to the
01 Future," established under AS 44.09.045. The displays required by this subsection 02 must contain an accurate representation of the United States flag next to the national 03 motto and an accurate representation of the Alaska flag next to the state motto. The 04 requirements of this subsection are in addition to the requirements of (a) of this 05 section. 06 (d) A school board may use only money donated to the school district to pay 07 for the design, creation, or purchase of a display. 08 (e) If a person brings an action in court to challenge the constitutionality of a 09 display of the national motto under (c) of this section, the Department of Law shall 10 defend the constitutionality of the display and, if the legislature appropriates money 11 for the purpose, the state shall hold the school district harmless from monetary 12 damages awarded by the court against the school district for the display. 13 (f) In this section, 14 (1) "display" means a display described in (c) of this section; 15 (2) "school district" means a borough or city school district or a 16 regional educational attendance area. 17 * Sec. 3. AS 35.05 is amended by adding a new section to read: 18 Sec. 35.05.070. Display of national and state mottos. (a) To the extent 19 donations are available under (b) of this section for the design, creation, or purchase of 20 a display, a state agency shall prominently display in each public building and each 21 space leased by a state agency in a building that is not a public building the national 22 motto, "In God we trust," established under 36 U.S.C. 302, and the state motto, "North 23 to the Future," established under AS 44.09.045. The displays required by this 24 subsection must contain an accurate representation of the United States flag next to the 25 national motto and an accurate representation of the Alaska flag next to the state 26 motto. 27 (b) To pay for the design, creation, or purchase of a display, a state agency 28 may use only donations that are made to the state and, if the donations are monetary 29 donations, are appropriated by the legislature to the state agency for that purpose. 30 (c) If a person brings an action in court to challenge the constitutionality of a 31 display of the national motto under (a) of this section, the Department of Law shall
01 defend the state agency against the action. 02 (d) In this section, 03 (1) "display" means a display described in (a) of this section; 04 (2) "state agency" means 05 (A) a department, institution, board, commission, division, 06 authority, public corporation, or other administrative unit of the executive 07 branch; 08 (B) the Alaska Railroad Corporation; 09 (C) a committee, division, or administrative unit of the 10 legislative branch; 11 (D) the University of Alaska. 12 * Sec. 4. AS 37.05.146(c) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 13 (80) donations for a display described in AS 35.05.070(a).