04/22/1998 09:22 AM Senate FIN

                                                                               
 SENATE BILL NO. 334                                                           
                                                                               
"An Act relating to guidelines and standards for state                         
training programs; and relating to the Alaska Human                            
Resource Investment Council."                                                  
                                                                               
                                                                               
Senator Donley explained the bill for the committee.  He                       
said it would add peace officers and firefighters to an                        
existing statute that provides for waiver of state                             
educational institution fees for the survivors of members                      
of the armed services who died while in service to their                       
country.  He also said it would limit the waiver to                            
undergraduate students.  There was also a proposed                             
technical amendment from Legal Services drafters who                           
identified a glitch in the title.  He advised members that                     
the proposed amendment was in their packets and proceeded                      
to offer this as amendment #1.  The reason for the change                      
was that because of some of the minor modifications to the                     
existing statute there would be an impact on survivors of                      
members of the armed services and it should have been                          
included in the title coming from the House.  Senator                          
Donley said there was a legal opinion supporting the                           
amendment.  He further cited under Uniform Rules 41(b) that                    
allowed amendment of titles when it was a technical defect.                    
                                                                               
Senator Donley MOVED amendment #1.  Senator Adams OBJECTED.                    
He asked if this amendment was for residents of the armed                      
forces that served in Alaska or did it include those that                      
served anywhere in the other States.  He assumed it                            
referred to those armed forces from Eilson Airforce Base,                      
Ft. Richardson or Elmendorf Airforce Base who are taken                        
care of.  However, he didn't feel the bill was written this                    
way.                                                                           
                                                                               
Senator Donley said he had the same question when he first                     
studied the bill but found the answer in the definition                        
segment of the bill.  However, he felt that Senator Adams'                     
comments did not relate to amendment #1.  Senator Adams                        
still felt there were problems when "armed services" was                       
included in the title.  He asked if page 2, line 24 would                      
clarify the matter?                                                            
                                                                               
(There followed a brief pause on record.)                                      
                                                                               
Senator Donley said he had read in the bill that the person                    
who died in the line of duty had to be a resident of                           
Alaska.                                                                        
Co-chair Sharp indicated that it was referred to on page 2,                    
lines 24 and 25.                                                               
                                                                               
At this time Senator Adams REMOVED his objection.                              
                                                                               
Co-chair Sharp said there being no further objection,                          
amendment #1 was ADOPTED.                                                      
                                                                               
Senator Pearce asked how many volunteer firefighters there                     
were in the State of Alaska.  Senator Donley said there                        
were quite a few volunteer fire departments in Alaska other                    
than the few major municipalities who had professional fire                    
departments.  However, the bill only would kick in if an                       
individual actually dies in the line of duty fighting a                        
fire.  He indicated Anchorage had lost one firefighter in                      
the line of duty in the past decade.                                           
                                                                               
Co-chair Sharp indicated that his recollection of watching                     
Gavel-to-Gavel while the bill was in House Finance                             
Committee there had been possibly only five firefighters                       
who had died in the line of service during the last twenty                     
years.  Senator Phillips said that in the packet provided                      
members' files there were between eight and ten                                
firefighters killed in the line of duty.                                       
                                                                               
Senator Pearce said her concern was the Legislature had                        
already asked the University to cut their budget and did                       
not feel it fair to ask them to absorb another free                            
program.                                                                       
                                                                               
Senator Adams MOVED SCS CS HB 334(FIN) as amended in                           
committee with individual recommendations and accompanying                     
fiscal notes.  WITHOUT OBJECTION the bill was REPORTED OUT                     
with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal                        
note from the University of Alaska in the amount of $5.4.                      
                                                                               
Co-chair Sharp then called SB 336.