04/08/1999 05:12 PM House MLV

             HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON                                                                                         
           MILITARY AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS                                                                                       
                   April 8, 1999                                                                                                
                     5:12 p.m.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
COMMITTEE CALENDAR                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
OVERVIEW:  DIVISION OF LAND                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
TAPE(S)                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
99-5, SIDE A                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CALL TO ORDER                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Representative Lisa Murkowski, Chair, convened the House Special                                                                
Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs meeting at 5:12 p.m.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
PRESENT                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Committee members present at the call to order were Representatives                                                             
Murkowski, Kott, Croft and Cissna.  Representative Coghill arrived                                                              
at 5:17 p.m.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
RICHARD MYLIUS, Resource Assessment and Development, Division of                                                                
Land, Department of Natural Resources, presented two types of                                                                   
veterans' preferences related to land purchases:  a separate sale                                                               
of public land designated as unoccupied residential for veterans                                                                
only, and a flat 25 percent off of public lands for sale.  In                                                                   
response to a question by Chair Murkowski, he noted that the                                                                    
separate sale has only been used 113 times since 1970.  In response                                                             
to questions by Representative Cissna, he explained that almost all                                                             
sales occurred within municipalities and organized boroughs, as                                                                 
they are the ones that classify land as "unoccupied residential."                                                               
In response to questions from Representative Kott, he noted that                                                                
the Division of Land advertises these preferential sales on its Web                                                             
page, in brochures and in newspapers; however, the division doesn't                                                             
disseminate the brochures to the Department of Military and                                                                     
Veterans Affairs to pass on to veterans and veterans' groups.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
AL TURINSKI testified that he has tried to utilize the separate                                                                 
sale preference but has run into snags, as he was trying for land                                                               
in neither a municipality nor an organized borough.  He further                                                                 
testified that he has never seen any advertisement of this                                                                      
preference.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
COMMITTEE ACTION                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
The committee took no action.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
ADJOURNMENT                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
NOTE:                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
The meeting was recorded and handwritten log notes were taken.  A                                                               
copy of the tape(s) and log notes may be obtained by contacting the                                                             
House Records Office at 130 Seward Street, Suite 211, Juneau,                                                                   
Alaska  99801-1182, (907) 465-2214, and after adjournment of the                                                                
second session of the Twenty-first Alaska State Legislature, in the                                                             
Legislative Reference Library.