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SCR 4: Certifying that the State of Alaska requests and will use any funds provided to the state, a state agency, a municipality, or a political subdivision of the state under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

00 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 4 01 Certifying that the State of Alaska requests and will use any funds provided to the state, 02 a state agency, a municipality, or a political subdivision of the state under the American 03 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS, on February 13, 2009, the United States Congress approved the 06 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, P.L. 111-5, which President Obama 07 signed four days later; and 08 WHEREAS the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is intended to 09 help repair, restore, and rebuild the nation's economy, which is suffering from increasing rates 10 of unemployment, home mortgage defaults and foreclosures, and business and personal 11 bankruptcies; and 12 WHEREAS the State of Alaska faces significant revenue shortfalls because of low oil 13 prices that affect all aspects of the state's economy; and 14 WHEREAS rising unemployment is affecting state, municipal, and community 15 services as more Alaskans face tightening household budgets while looking for work; and

01 WHEREAS the unemployment rate in Alaska rose to 7.9 percent in January 2009; 02 and 03 WHEREAS 5,000 fewer Alaskans had jobs in January 2009 than in the previous 04 month; and 05 WHEREAS Alaskans have lost jobs in the construction, trade, transportation, and 06 hospitality industries; and 07 WHEREAS, on March 5, 2009, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce 08 Development reported that "the U.S. recession and global economic slowdown are affecting 09 the state"; and 10 WHEREAS the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides funds to 11 states and municipalities for investments in roads, airports, mass transit, energy efficiency, 12 schools, clean water projects, and other infrastructure projects, as well as Medicaid assistance, 13 education, home weatherization, and other public services; and 14 WHEREAS the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides that, if a 15 governor fails to certify the state's intention to request and use funds provided under the Act 16 within 45 days after its enactment, the state legislature may, by concurrent resolution, certify 17 the state's acceptance of the funds not accepted by the governor; and 18 WHEREAS the services, programs, and projects standing to benefit from the 19 acceptance and use of federal funds include assistance for job training, housing, medical care, 20 and other services, programs, and projects; and 21 WHEREAS it is incumbent on the legislature, as the elected representative body for 22 the State of Alaska, to take the initiative at this time of nationwide financial crisis; 23 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature certifies the state's acceptance 24 of all funds that may be available to the state and its agencies, municipalities, and political 25 subdivisions under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and that the state 26 will use the funds to create jobs and promote economic growth; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature certifies its intent to 28 request, accept, and use any funds available to the state under the American Recovery and 29 Reinvestment Act of 2009 that are not accepted for use by the governor. 30 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 31 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and

01 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of 02 Representatives; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. 03 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 04 delegation in Congress; the Honorable Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska; and federal agencies 05 that require a copy of this resolution.