00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 26(O&G) 01 Urging the United States Congress to uphold Alaska's right to 90 percent of the 02 royalties from oil, gas, and coal leasing on state land as provided by the Alaska 03 Statehood Act, approved by the United States Congress on July 7, 1958, in 04 which the Congress accepted, ratified, and confirmed the Constitution of the 05 State of Alaska previously adopted by a vote of the people of Alaska on 06 April 24, 1956. 07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 WHEREAS the Congress of the United States, by the Alaska Statehood Act approved 09 on July 7, 1958, accepted, ratified, and confirmed the state constitution that had been adopted 10 by a vote of the people of Alaska in the election held on April 24, 1956; and 11 WHEREAS the Alaska Statehood Act provided for the admission of the State of 12 Alaska into the Union on an equal footing with the other states of the Union, upon compliance 13 with certain procedural requirements specified in that Act; and 14 WHEREAS the Alaska Statehood Act contains a binding contract between the people 01 of Alaska and the federal government that the state will receive 90 percent of all oil, gas, and 02 coal leasing royalties from federal land in Alaska; and 03 WHEREAS the State of Alaska had 35 years from the date of admission into the 04 Union to select public land that was vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved in order to 05 establish communities and recreational areas and promote economic development; and 06 WHEREAS the federal government has both a moral and legal duty to honor the 07 obligations set out in the several acts admitting Alaska into the Union; and 08 WHEREAS the people of the State of Alaska relied on that royalty-sharing provision 09 in ratifying the Alaska Statehood Act on April 24, 1956; and 10 WHEREAS the United States Congress included the 90-10 royalty-sharing formula 11 in the compact because Alaska, unlike all other public land states, was not covered by the 12 federal Reclamation Act and did not derive benefits from that Act; and 13 WHEREAS the Congress, in the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191), intended the 14 37 1/2 percent royalty to be paid by the United States Treasury for the construction and 15 maintenance of public roads, and for support of public schools or other public educational 16 institutions; and 17 WHEREAS the remaining 52 1/2 percent royalty as set out in the Mineral Leasing Act 18 (30 U.S.C. 191) shall be paid directly to the State of Alaska for disposition by the legislature 19 in lieu of payment to the Reclamation Fund created by the United States Congress; and 20 WHEREAS the Congress also intended in the Alaska Statehood Act to compensate 21 Alaska for the large federal land reservations that stifle economic development; and 22 WHEREAS any reduction in the royalty-sharing percentage will infringe on Alaska's 23 constitutional rights; and 24 WHEREAS Alaska opposes any unilateral reductions in royalty revenue from federal 25 land exploration and development; 26 BE IT RESOLVED that any attempt by the United States Congress or the President 27 of the United States to impose on the State of Alaska anything less than what was promised 28 at statehood penalizes the people of Alaska; and be it 29 FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Congress join with the state in 30 upholding the Alaska Statehood Compact. 31 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 01 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President 02 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of 03 Representatives; the Honorable Bob Dole, Senate Majority Leader; the Honorable Bruce 04 Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Frank Murkowski, Chair of the Senate 05 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the Honorable Don Young, Chair of the House 06 Committee on Public Lands and Resources; the Honorable Ted Stevens, U.S. Senator, member 07 of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and to the governors of the states and to the presiding 08 officers of the houses of the state legislatures.