00                         SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 7                                                                        
01 Dedicating the fourth floor Senate conference room of the Alaska State Capitol to the                                   
02 late Senate President Jan Faiks.                                                                                        
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:                                                                                           
04       WHEREAS the Alaska State Senate joins family, friends, and fellow Alaskans in                                   
05 celebrating the life and legacy of Senator Jan Faiks; and                                                             
06       WHEREAS Senator Faiks was the first woman in the history of the United States to                                
07 be elected presiding officer of a state legislative body, serving as Senate President in 1987 and                       
08 1988; and                                                                                                               
09       WHEREAS, looking far ahead into the state's future, Senator Faiks worked among a                                
10 key group of legislators to help create the constitutional budget reserve fund; and                                     
11       WHEREAS, among her many accomplishments, Senator Faiks is credited with                                       
12 bringing polish to the legislature by instituting a dress code and promoting other rules of                             
13 decorum; and                                                                                                            
14 WHEREAS Jan Faiks, who was born on Long Island, New York, on November 17,                                             
15 1945, moved to Alaska and earned her master's degree in counseling psychology from the                                  
16 University of Alaska Anchorage, before using those acquired skills as both a counselor and a                            

01 teacher in the Anchorage School District from 1968 to 1978; and                                                         
02 WHEREAS, before running for elective office, Jan helped to organize the Anchorage                                     
03 Women's Club Free Committee, a grassroots political advocacy effort that sought to improve                              
04 the state legislative process, uniform rules, and conference committee protocols;                                       
05 recommendations made by the group were later adopted by the Alaska State Legislature; and                             
06       WHEREAS Senator Faiks was first elected to the Alaska State Senate in 1982 and                                  
07 served two terms representing the Anchorage Hillside; and                                                               
08       WHEREAS, in 2016, Jan Faiks was diagnosed with brain cancer, and, upon her                                    
09 passing at her home on Amelia Island, Florida, on April 10, 2017, the state lost a hard-                                
10 working and dedicated Alaskan; and                                                                                      
11       WHEREAS Senator Faiks was a pioneer for women in politics who made her mark                                     
12 on the state's history; and                                                                                         
13       WHEREAS we mourn her passing;                                                                                 
14 BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Senate of the Thirtieth Alaska State                                             
15 Legislature that the fourth floor Senate conference room, currently room 431 of the Alaska                              
16 State Capitol, be dedicated to Senator Jan Faiks, the first woman in the history of the United                          
17 States to be elected presiding officer of a state legislative body; and be it                                           
18       FURTHER RESOLVED that a bronze plaque shall be placed on or near the door of                                    
19 the room, bearing the following inscription celebrating Senator Faiks' legislative                                      
20 achievements, dedication, and service:                                                                                  
21                   THE JAN FAIKS CONFERENCE ROOM                                                                         
22 The Jan Faiks Conference Room memorializes the dedication and                                                           
23 service of Jan Faiks, who served as a member of the Alaska State Senate                                                 
24 during the Thirteenth through Sixteenth Alaska State Legislatures. The first                                            
25 woman in the history of the United States to be elected presiding officer of a                                          
26 state legislative body, Senator Faiks served as Senate President in 1987 and                                            
27 1988. She was committed to the people of Alaska and looked far ahead into the                                           
28 state's future, working among a key group of legislators to help create the                                             
29 constitutional budget reserve fund. She is also credited with bringing polish to                                        
30 the legislature by instituting a dress code and promoting other rules of                                                
31 decorum. Senator Faiks was a pioneer for women in politics who made her                                                 

01       mark on Alaska's history.                                                                                         
02       A COPY of this resolution shall be presented to the family of the late Senator Jan                              
03 Faiks.