00 HOUSE BILL NO. 113 01 "An Act relating to employment preferences for spouses and children of veterans, 02 disabled veterans, former prisoners of war, members of the national guard, and 03 deceased service members." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05  * Section 1. AS 18.80.200(c) is amended to read: 06 (c) Nothing in this chapter is intended to prohibit a private employer from 07 granting an employment preference to a member of the national guard, [OR] a veteran,  08 or a spouse or dependent child of a member of the national guard, a veteran, or a  09 deceased service member when hiring an employee. In this subsection, 10 (1) "deceased service member" means a person who died or is  11 formally and legally presumed to have died while in active service or on furlough  12 from active service in  13 (A) the armed forces of the United States;  14 (B) a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States;  01 (C) the Alaska Territorial Guard;  02 (D) the Alaska Army National Guard;  03 (E) the Alaska Air National Guard; or  04 (F) the Alaska Naval Militia;  05 (2) "dependent child" means a natural or adopted child who is  06 (A) permanently disabled; or  07 (B) under  08 (i) 19 years of age; or  09 (ii) 23 years of age and registered at and attending  10 on a full-time basis an accredited educational or technical  11 institution recognized by the Department of Education and Early  12 Development; 13 (3) [(1)] "member of the national guard" means a person presently 14 serving as a member in good standing in the national guard; 15 (4) "spouse" means an individual who  16 (A) is married to a member of the national guard or a  17 veteran; or  18 (B) was married to a deceased service member at the time  19 of the deceased service member's death; 20 (5) [(2)] "veteran" means a person who was discharged under 21 honorable conditions from service in 22 (A) the armed forces of the United States; 23 (B) a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States; 24 (C) the Alaska Territorial Guard; 25 (D) the Alaska Army National Guard; 26 (E) the Alaska Air National Guard; or 27 (F) the Alaska Naval Militia. 28  * Sec. 2. AS 23.88.010 is amended to read: 29 Sec. 23.88.010. National guard member and veteran hiring preference  30 allowed. A private employer may grant an employment preference to a member of the 31 national guard, [OR] a veteran, or a spouse or dependent child of a member of the  01 national guard, a veteran, or a deceased service member when hiring an employee. 02 In this section, 03 (1) "deceased service member" means a person who died or is  04 formally and legally presumed to have died while in active service or on furlough  05 from active service in  06 (A) the armed forces of the United States;  07 (B) a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States;  08 (C) the Alaska Territorial Guard;  09 (D) the Alaska Army National Guard;  10 (E) the Alaska Air National Guard; or  11 (F) the Alaska Naval Militia;  12 (2) "dependent child" means a natural or adopted child who is  13 (A) permanently disabled; or  14 (B) under  15 (i) 19 years of age; or  16 (ii) 23 years of age and registered at and attending  17 on a full-time basis an accredited educational or technical  18 institution recognized by the Department of Education and Early  19 Development;  20 (3) [(1)] "member of the national guard" means a person presently 21 serving as a member in good standing in the national guard; 22 (4) "spouse" means an individual who  23 (A) is married to a member of the national guard or a  24 veteran; or  25 (B) was married to a deceased service member at the time  26 of the deceased service member's death; 27 (5) [(2)] "veteran" means a person who was discharged under 28 honorable conditions from service in 29 (A) the armed forces of the United States; 30 (B) a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States; 31 (C) the Alaska Territorial Guard; 01 (D) the Alaska Army National Guard; 02 (E) the Alaska Air National Guard; or 03 (F) the Alaska Naval Militia. 04  * Sec. 3. AS 39.25.159(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) A person who is a veteran, [OR] former prisoner of war, or a spouse or  06 dependent child of a veteran, former prisoner of war, or deceased service  07 member and who possesses the necessary qualifications for a position or job 08 classification applied for under this chapter is entitled to an employment preference as 09 follows: 10 (1) in an assessment using numerical ratings, points equal to five 11 percent of the points available from the assessment device or devices shall be added to 12 the person's passing score or, if the veteran or former prisoner of war is disabled, 13 [OF A VETERAN, AND] points equal to 10 percent of the points available from the 14 assessment device or devices shall be added to the person's passing score [OF A 15 DISABLED VETERAN OR FORMER PRISONER OF WAR]; 16 (2) in an assessment not using numerical ratings, consideration shall be 17 afforded to the person; if the veteran or former prisoner of war is disabled [A 18 VETERAN; ADDITIONALLY], an opportunity to interview for the position shall be 19 afforded to the person [A DISABLED VETERAN OR A FORMER PRISONER OF 20 WAR]. 21  * Sec. 4. AS 39.25.159(c) is amended to read: 22 (c) A person who is a member of the national guard or a spouse or  23 dependent child of a member of the national guard or deceased member of the  24 national guard who died or is formally and legally presumed to have died while  25 in active service or on furlough from active service in the national guard and who 26 possesses the necessary qualifications for a position or job classification applied for 27 under this chapter is entitled to an employment preference as follows: 28 (1) in an assessment using numerical ratings, points equal to five 29 percent of the points available from the assessment device or devices shall be added to 30 the person's passing score [OF A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL GUARD]; 31 (2) in an assessment not using numerical ratings, consideration shall be 01 afforded to the person [A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL GUARD]. 02  * Sec. 5. AS 39.25.159(d) is amended to read: 03 (d) A person may receive an employment preference under only one of the 04 categories described in (a) or (c) of this section. A person may use the preference 05 without limitation when being considered for a position for which persons who are not 06 currently state employees are being considered. If the recruitment for a position is 07 limited to state employees, preference under (a) or (c) of this section may not be 08 counted. If a position in the classified service is eliminated, employees shall be 09 released in accordance with rules adopted under AS 39.25.150(13). In the case of a 10 comparison of employees with equal qualifications on the factors adopted under 11 AS 39.25.150(13), a person who is a veteran, former prisoner of war, [OR] member 12 of the national guard, or a spouse or dependent child of a veteran, former prisoner  13 of war, member of the national guard, or deceased service member shall be given 14 preference over a person who is not a veteran, former prisoner of war, [OR] member 15 of the national guard, or a spouse or dependent child of a [AND THE] veteran, 16 former prisoner of war, [OR] member of the national guard, or deceased service  17 member and shall be kept on the job. 18  * Sec. 6. AS 39.25.159(f) is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 19 (6) "deceased service member" means a person who died or is formally 20 and legally presumed to have died while in active service or on furlough from active 21 service in 22 (A) the armed forces of the United States; 23 (B) a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States; 24 (C) the Alaska Territorial Guard; 25 (D) the Alaska Army National Guard; 26 (E) the Alaska Air National Guard; or 27 (F) the Alaska Naval Militia; 28 (7) "dependent child" means a natural or adopted child who is 29 (A) permanently disabled; or 30 (B) under 31 (i) 19 years of age; or 01 (ii) 23 years of age and registered at and attending on a 02 full-time basis an accredited educational or technical institution 03 recognized by the Department of Education and Early Development; 04 (8) "member of the national guard" means a person presently serving 05 as a member in good standing in the national guard; 06 (9) "spouse" means an individual who 07 (A) is married to a member of the national guard or a veteran; 08 or 09 (B) was married to a deceased service member at the time of 10 the deceased service member's death.