ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON TRIBAL AFFAIRS  March 12, 2020 9:01 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Tiffany Zulkosky, Chair Representative John Lincoln Representative Chuck Kopp Representative Sarah Vance Representative Dave Talerico MEMBERS ABSENT  Representative Bryce Edgmon, Vice Chair Representative Dan Ortiz COMMITTEE CALENDAR  HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 29 Commemorating the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945. - HEARD & HELD PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: HJR 29 SHORT TITLE: ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ACT OF 1945 SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) KREISS-TOMKINS 02/24/20 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 02/24/20 (H) TRB 03/12/20 (H) TRB AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 WITNESS REGISTER JOSIAH NASH, Intern Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HR 29 on behalf of Representative Kreiss-Tompkins, prime sponsor. JONATHAN KREISS-TOMPKINS Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, presented HJR 29. ACTION NARRATIVE 9:01:28 AM CHAIR TIFFANY ZULKOSKY called the House Special Committee on Tribal Affairs meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. Representatives Lincoln, Kopp, Vance, and Zulkosky were present at the call to order. Representative Talerico arrived as the meeting was in progress. HJR 29-ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ACT OF 1945  9:02:06 AM CHAIR ZULKOSKY announced that the only order of business would be HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 29, Commemorating the Anti- Discrimination Act of 1945. 9:02:47 AM JOSIAH NASH, Intern, Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins, Alaska State Legislature, presented HJR 29 on behalf of Representative Kreiss-Tompkins. He said HJR 29 would commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Anti- Discrimination Act of 1945 [on February 16, 2020]. In 1945, Alaska Natives faced systemic discrimination. If they went into public establishments, they would see signs reading "No Natives," Mr. Nash informed the committee. He stated that Elizabeth Peratrovich, the Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS), and the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) worked to get the Anti- Discrimination Act, the first of its kind based on race, passed in 1945. The Act laid groundwork for similar race-based anti- discrimination legislation in the U.S. 9:04:10 AM JONATHAN KREISS-TOMPKINS, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor of HJR 29, informed the committee that Elizabeth Peratrovich's descendants are still living in communities in his district, and she is as much an icon in Southeast Alaska as she is statewide. The ANS and ANB suggested HJR 29 to Representative Kreiss-Tompkins, he said. 9:05:08 AM REPRESENTATIVE KOPP asked how long it took to get the Anti- Discrimination Act of 1945 passed. 9:05:31 AM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMPKINS replied from very early in the twentieth century William L. Paul, Sr., and others in the Civil Rights movement were agitating for anti-discrimination legislation. 9:06:27 AM REPRESENTATIVE KOPP asked whether a copy of the Act was available. 9:06:34 AM REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMPKINS indicated it would be provided. [HJR 29 was held over.] 9:08:28 AM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House Special Committee on Tribal Affairs meeting was adjourned at 9:08 a.m.