00HOUSE BILL NO. 157                                                                                                    
01 "An Act relating to absences from the state while serving on oceangoing vessels                                         
02 of the United States merchant marine for purposes of eligibility for permanent                                          
03 fund dividends; and providing for an effective date."                                                                   
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05    * Section 1.  AS 43.23.008 is amended to read:                                                                     
06  Sec. 43.23.008.  Allowable absences.  (a)  Subject to (b) and (c) of this                                           
07 section, an otherwise eligible individual who is absent from the state during the                                       
08 qualifying year remains eligible for a current year permanent fund dividend if the                                      
09 individual was absent                                                                                                   
10   (1)  receiving secondary or postsecondary education on a full-time basis;                                            
11   (2)  receiving vocational, professional, or other specific education on a                                            
12 full-time basis for which, as determined by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary                                      
13 Education, a comparable program is not reasonably available in the state;                                               
14   (3)  serving on active duty as a member of the armed forces of the                                                   

01 United States;                                                                                                          
02   (4)  serving under foreign or coastal articles of employment aboard                                                 
03 an oceangoing vessel of the United States merchant marine;                                                              
04   (5)   receiving continuous medical treatment recommended by a licensed                                              
05 physician or convalescing as recommended by the physician that treated the illness if                                   
06 the treatment or convalescence is not based on a need for climatic change;                                              
07    (6)  [(5)]  providing care for a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or stepchild                                     
08 with a critical life-threatening illness whose treatment plan, as recommended by the                                    
09 attending physician, requires travel outside the state for treatment at a medical                                       
10 specialty complex;                                                                                                      
11    (7)  [(6)]  providing care for the individual's terminally ill parent, spouse,                                    
12 sibling, child, or stepchild;                                                                                           
13    (8)  [(7)]  settling the estate of the individual's deceased parent, spouse,                                      
14 sibling, child, or stepchild, provided the absence does not exceed 220 cumulative days;                                 
15    (9)  [(8)]  serving as a member of the United States Congress;                                                    
16    (10)  [(9)]  serving on the staff of a member from this state of the United                                       
17 States Congress;                                                                                                        
18    (11)  [(10)]  serving as an employee of the state in a field office or other                                      
19 location;                                                                                                               
20    (12)  [(11)]  accompanying a minor who is absent under  (5)  [(4)] of this                                      
21 subsection;                                                                                                             
22    (13)  [(12)]  accompanying another eligible resident who is absent for                                            
23 a reason permitted under  (1) - (3), (5) - (12), or (14) of  this subsection as the spouse,                           
24 minor dependent, or disabled dependent of the eligible resident;                                                        
25    (14)  [(13)]  for any reason consistent with the individual's intent to                                           
26 remain a state resident, provided the absence or cumulative absences do not exceed                                      
27   (A)  180 days if the individual is not claiming an absence under                                                    
28  (1) - (13)  [(1) - (12)] of this subsection;                                                                         
29   (B)  120 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences                                                     
30 claimed under (1) or (2)  of this subsection if the individual is not claiming an                                       
31 absence under  (3) - (13)  [(3) - (12)] of this subsection; or                                                        

01   (C)  45 days in addition to any absence or cumulative absences                                                      
02 claimed under  (1) - (13)  [(1) - (12)] of this subsection.                                                           
03  (b)  An individual may not claim an allowable absence under  (a)(1) - (13)                                          
04 [(a)(1) - (12)] of this section unless the individual was a resident of the state for at                                
05 least six consecutive months immediately before leaving the state.                                                      
06  (c)  An otherwise eligible individual who has been eligible for the immediately                                       
07 preceding 10 dividends despite being absent from the state for more than 180 days in                                    
08 each of the related 10 qualifying years is only eligible for the current year dividend                                  
09 if the individual was absent 180 days or less during the qualifying year.  This                                         
10 subsection does not apply to an absence under  (a)(9) or (10)  [(a)(8) OR (9)] of this                                
11 section or to an absence under  (a)(13)  [(a)(12)] of this section if the absence is to                               
12 accompany an individual who is absent under  (a)(9) or (10)  [(a)(8) OR (9)] of this                                  
13 section.                                                                                                                
14    * Sec. 2.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2000.