00 CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 29(TRA) am                                                                       
01 Providing for a contest among the elementary school students of Alaska to name                                          
02 the new ferry of the Alaska marine highway system.                                                                      
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature approved a ballot initiative to create the                                        
05 Alaska marine highway in 1960; and                                                                                      
06  WHEREAS the people of the State of Alaska approved the initiative, thus creating the                                   
07 Alaska marine highway system; and                                                                                       
08  WHEREAS the Alaska marine highway system began service in 1963 to meet the                                             
09 transportation needs of the state; and                                                                                  
10  WHEREAS today the Alaska marine highway system employs over 860 Alaska                                                 
11 citizens from 37 different communities; and                                                                             
12  WHEREAS the Alaska marine highway system directly or indirectly accounts for over                                      
13 1,290 jobs in the state; and                                                                                            
14  WHEREAS the state economy realized a 590 percent return on the state's 1994                                            
01 general fund investment in the Alaska marine highway system; and                                                        
02  WHEREAS the Alaska marine highway fleet includes eight ships serving 34 ports,                                         
03 providing direct access to more than 100,000 Alaskans; and                                                              
04  WHEREAS the Alaska marine highway system provides important economic, social,                                          
05 and cultural links between communities in Alaska; and                                                                   
06  WHEREAS the maritime vessels of the Alaska marine highway system are, by law,                                          
07 to be named after glaciers in the state; and                                                                            
08  WHEREAS researching glaciers will give elementary school students of Alaska an                                         
09 opportunity to learn the geography of the state; and                                                                    
10  WHEREAS the above exercise will enhance the students' understanding of the role                                        
11 of the Alaska marine highway system in the state's interdependent transportation system; and                            
12  WHEREAS the Alaska marine highway system will christen a new ocean-going vessel                                        
13 in 1998;                                                                                                                
14  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                             
15 governor to direct the commissioner of transportation and public facilities to establish an                             
16 impartial panel to select potential names for the new vessel from among the names of glaciers                           
17 submitted by elementary students and forward its recommendations to the legislature; and be                             
18 it                                                                                                                      
19  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the elementary                                           
20 students of the state to submit their favorite glacier name to the Alaska Department of                                 
21 Transportation and Public Facilities; and be it                                                                         
22  FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature will decide which of these                                                       
23 recommendations will be used to name the new Alaska marine highway system vessel; and                                   
24 be it                                                                                                                   
25  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                           
26 governor to provide a free ride on the inaugural voyage of the new vessel to the student who                            
27 submits the name that is selected by the legislature as the name for the new vessel.