00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 13                                                                   
01 Dedicating the House Finance Committee Room in the Alaska State Capitol to the late                                     
02 Representative Albert "Al" P. Sikkiagruk Adams.                                                                         
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS Representative Albert "Al" P. Sikkiagruk Adams was elected by his                                       
05 constituents from House District 37 to the House of Representatives in 1980 during the                                  
06 Twelfth Alaska State Legislature; and                                                                                   
07 WHEREAS Representative Adams was elected by his colleagues as sole chair of the                                       
08 House Finance Committee in the Second Regular Session of the Twelfth Alaska State                                       
09 Legislature and continued in that role for the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Alaska                             
10 State Legislatures under both Republican and Democratic Leadership; and                                                 
11 WHEREAS the operating and capital budgets that Representative Adams crafted                                           
12 reflected a balance between urban and rural areas of the state, led to the reopening of Mount                           
13 Edgecumbe as a state boarding school, and increased funding for all school districts in the                             
14 state; and                                                                                                              
15 WHEREAS Representative Adams strove to improve the lives of people in rural areas                                     
16 of the state by funding water and sewer projects; Representative Adams also implemented the                             
17 Power Cost Equalization Program and fought hard to convince the Alaska State Legislature to                             

01 establish an endowment to fund power cost equalization in perpetuity; and                                               
02       WHEREAS Representative Adams was elected to the Senate in 1988 and served on                                    
03 the Senate Finance Committee until his retirement at the end of the Nineteenth Alaska State                             
04 Legislature in 2000; and                                                                                                
05       WHEREAS Representative Adams' knowledge of legislative rules resulted in                                        
06 efficient, timely, and prompt committee meetings, with all members receiving budget and bill                            
07 information in advance; and                                                                                             
08       WHEREAS Representative Adams' leadership in financially tumultuous times                                        
09 contributed to keeping the state's economy and government on a path to solvency, while                                  
10 protecting and growing the Alaska permanent fund; and                                                                   
11 WHEREAS Representative Adams' personal relationships with colleagues on both                                          
12 sides of the aisle enabled him to lead the House of Representatives and the Senate to positive                          
13 resolution of contentious issues; and                                                                                   
14 WHEREAS Representative Adams was an astute lawmaker and a master at                                                   
15 understanding politics and state finances; Representative Adams chaired the House Finance                               
16 Committee during his eight-year term in the House of Representatives, served 18 years on the                            
17 Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, and served 12 years on the Operating Budget                                     
18 Conference Committee; he also served on other key committees that helped protect                                        
19 subsistence and bring needed infrastructure and social services to rural areas of the state; and                        
20 WHEREAS, in addition to his legislative service, Representative Adams held other                                      
21 positions as president of Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation and executive vice president of                               
22 NANA Regional Corporation; he also served on numerous boards, including the Alaska                                      
23 Airlines Advisory Board, Arctic Power, Mount Edgecumbe's advisory board, and NANA                                       
24 Regional Corporation; and                                                                                               
25 WHEREAS, although Representative Adams led a very public life, he was a beloved                                       
26 husband, father, and grandfather for whom family was the highest priority; he often organized                           
27 subsistence hunting and fishing trips during which he passed down traditional Inupiaq skills                            
28 to his children; whether dipnetting at the mouth of the Kenai River, caribou hunting outside                            
29 Kotzebue, or visiting the fish wheel at Chitina, he made certain that wife, children, and                               
30 grandchildren knew they were loved and that they came first and foremost in his life; and                               
31 WHEREAS Representative Adams was a benevolent man who kept cash in his                                                

01 vehicle to give to those in need, provided meals to those who were hungry, gave boxes of                                
02 turkeys to Beans Caf? at Christmas, and gave money for gifts to the Friends Church, and                                 
03 recipients of his generosity often never knew where the gifts came from; and                                            
04 WHEREAS, following his retirement from the Alaska State Legislature in 2000,                                          
05 Representative Adams worked as an advisor to Northwest Arctic Borough and North Slope                                   
06 Borough until 2003, at which time he began a career as a lobbyist with a focus on                                       
07 representing rural and Alaska Native interests; he again provided a powerful voice in Juneau                            
08 and Washington, D.C., drawing on his years of legislative experience; he brought the same                               
09 passion to lobbying that he had as a legislator, always saying that the individuals he                                  
10 represented were not his clients, they were his people; he tirelessly promoted the continued                            
11 successes of Mount Edgecumbe High School because of the valuable opportunities the school                               
12 provides to develop relationships between talented young Alaska Native people;                                          
13 BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the House Finance                                                 
14 Committee Room, currently Room 519 of the Capitol, be dedicated to Representative Albert                                
15 "Al" P. Sikkiagruk Adams for his exemplary service as a member of the House of                                          
16 Representatives, the Senate, and the House Finance Committee for more than 20 years; and be                             
17 it                                                                                                                      
18 FURTHER RESOLVED that a bronze plaque shall be placed on or near the door of                                          
19 the room celebrating Representative Albert "Al" P. Sikkiagruk Adams' legislative                                        
20 achievements, dedication, and service to the legislature and the House Finance Committee,                               
21 bearing the following inscription:                                                                                      
22              THE ALBERT "AL" P. SIKKIAGRUK ADAMS ROOM                                                                   
23 The Albert "Al" P. Sikkiagruk Adams Committee Room                                                                      
24 memorializes the dedication and service of Albert "Al" P.                                                               
25 Sikkiagruk Adams, who served as a member of the House of                                                                
26 Representatives and as the last sole Chair of the House Finance                                                         
27 Committee during the Twelfth through Fifteenth Alaska State                                                             
28 Legislatures. He served in the Senate as a member of the Senate                                                         
29 Finance Committee during the Sixteenth through Nineteenth                                                               
30            Alaska State Legislatures.                                                                                   
31 A COPY of this resolution shall be presented to the family of the late Representative                                 

01 Albert "Al" P. Sikkiagruk Adams.