CSHCR 1(CRA): Urging the Governor to establish clear and consistent policies across all state agencies for increased collaboration and partnership with Alaska tribal governments; encouraging the Governor to negotiate intergovernmental agreements with Alaska Native tribes that increase their authority, responsibility, and capacity to enforce certain state laws and deliver justice at the local level; and urging the Governor to direct the attorney general to conduct a complete review of the state's litigation against Alaska Native tribes.
00 CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 1(CRA) 01 Urging the Governor to establish clear and consistent policies across all state agencies 02 for increased collaboration and partnership with Alaska tribal governments; 03 encouraging the Governor to negotiate intergovernmental agreements with Alaska 04 Native tribes that increase their authority, responsibility, and capacity to enforce certain 05 state laws and deliver justice at the local level; and urging the Governor to direct the 06 attorney general to conduct a complete review of the state's litigation against Alaska 07 Native tribes. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS the 229 federally recognized tribes in the state represent a vast 10 continuum of cultural legacies enriched by thousands of years of traditions and place-based 11 ways of life; and 12 WHEREAS many Alaska tribal communities face severe problems relating to 13 poverty, lack of economic opportunity, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, and sexual 14 assault; and
01 WHEREAS the percentage of Alaska Natives living below the federal poverty 02 guideline is nearly twice the national average; and 03 WHEREAS the unemployment rate for Alaska Natives is dramatically higher than the 04 national average; and 05 WHEREAS the alcohol-related death rate for Alaska Natives has, in recent years, 06 been more than 16 times higher than the alcohol-related death rate for Caucasians; and 07 WHEREAS rural communities in the state have, in recent years, reported alarming 08 opioid, heroin, and methamphetamine abuse; and 09 WHEREAS Alaska Native women in rural communities have reported rates of 10 domestic violence multiple times higher than the national average; and 11 WHEREAS Alaska Native women suffer the highest rate of sexual assault of any 12 population in the United States, and the rate of sexual assault for Alaska Native children is six 13 times the national average; and 14 WHEREAS, while Alaska Natives represent 19 percent of the population of the state, 15 they make up 36 percent of Alaskans in prisons or jails; and 16 WHEREAS, in the past 25 years, state, federal, and joint commissions, task forces, 17 and committees established to address those issues have included the Alaska Natives 18 Commission, created in 1990; the Alaska Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Fairness 19 and Access, created in 1995; the Alaska Commission on Rural Governance and 20 Empowerment, created in 1998; the Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission, 21 created in 2004; the Indian Law and Order Commission, created in 2010; and the United 22 States Attorney General's Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native 23 Children Exposed to Violence, created in 2013; and 24 WHEREAS each of those bodies concluded that the current law enforcement and 25 justice systems alone have been unable to address and reduce crime, social ills, and 26 community distress adequately in rural Alaska; and 27 WHEREAS each of those bodies identified the need to strengthen the authority, 28 responsibility, and capacity of local tribal governments to administer public safety and justice 29 in their communities; and 30 WHEREAS many experts agree that greater control, better defined jurisdiction, and 31 increased accountability at the local level will lead to swifter response to violence and
01 criminal activity in communities, increased crime prevention, and increased rehabilitative, 02 rather than punitive, sentencing models; and 03 WHEREAS, in matters of jurisdiction and the delivery of justice at the local level, 04 having the state and Alaska Native tribes work together in an improved relationship will 05 benefit communities throughout Alaska; and 06 WHEREAS clarifications in state policy will allow Alaska Native tribes the 07 jurisdictional tools to make their communities safer and healthier; 08 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to establish 09 clear and consistent policies across all state agencies for increased collaboration and 10 partnership with Alaska tribal governments; and be it 11 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the Governor 12 to negotiate intergovernmental agreements, including civil diversion agreements, with Alaska 13 Native tribes that increase their authority, responsibility, and capacity to enforce certain state 14 laws and deliver justice at the local level; and be it 15 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to 16 direct the attorney general to conduct a complete review of the state's litigation against Alaska 17 Native tribes.