00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 20                                                                     
01 Encouraging the United States Congress to establish hiring goals for apprentices and                                    
02 veteran apprentices.                                                                                                    
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS Americans have a special obligation to those who served in the armed                                    
05 forces of the United States and risked their lives to defend our nation's freedom and honor;                            
06 and                                                                                                                     
07       WHEREAS thousands of men and women have served in the armed forces of the                                       
08 United States to protect and preserve the freedom that the citizens of the United States enjoy;                         
09 and                                                                                                                     
10       WHEREAS veterans have graduated from the world's largest system of specialized                                  
11 professional and technical training schools, operated by the United States Department of                                
12 Defense; and                                                                                                            
13       WHEREAS veterans of active duty military service are one of the nation's most                                   
14 important sources of well-educated, highly trained, and strongly motivated employees; and                               
15       WHEREAS veterans trained by the armed forces of the United States offer employers                               
16 a more mature and responsible employee compared to employees with no military                                           

01 experience; and                                                                                                         
02       WHEREAS veterans returning home face challenges, including in education and                                     
03 employment, that may prevent them from successfully transitioning from military to civilian                             
04 life; and                                                                                                               
05       WHEREAS veterans transition training programs have successfully reduced                                         
06 incidences of veteran suicide; and                                                                                      
07       WHEREAS unemployment rates for both male and female veterans increased in early                                 
08 2025; the unemployment rate for male veterans is four percent, and the unemployment rate                                
09 for female veterans is 4.5 percent; and                                                                                 
10 WHEREAS among the unemployed veterans in 2024, 60 percent were ages 25 to 54,                                         
11 35 percent were age 55 and over, and five percent were ages 18 to 24; and                                               
12 WHEREAS the state has the highest rate of veterans in the nation, with nearly 14                                      
13 percent of adult Alaskans having served in the military; and                                                            
14 WHEREAS the 2025 draft federal appropriations report for the United States                                            
15 Department of Defense indicates that $18,000,000,000 will be spent on military construction                             
16 that will require thousands of workers; and                                                                             
17 WHEREAS military construction jobs offer a prime opportunity for veterans,                                            
18 including veterans in apprenticeship and postsecondary programs, to further their careers; and                          
19 WHEREAS military service is one of the most demanding professions in the world,                                       
20 and military training produces highly motivated individuals who set high goals for                                      
21 themselves;                                                                                                             
22 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages the                                          
23 United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each offeror for a domestic                          
24 United States Department of Defense construction project to establish a goal that not less than                         
25 10 percent of the total workforce employed in the performance of the project are participants                           
26 in qualified apprenticeship or postsecondary programs; and be it                                                        
27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages                                            
28 the United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each contractor and                              
29 subcontractor for a domestic United States Department of Defense construction project that                              
30 employs apprentices or postsecondary students in a particular classification to ensure that not                         
31 less than 10 percent of the apprentices or postsecondary students are veterans of the armed                             

01 forces of the United States.                                                                                            
02 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President                                   
03 of the United States; the Honorable JD Vance, Vice President of the United States and                                   
04 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
05 Representatives; the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                    
06 Representatives; the Honorable John Thune, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                      
07 Honorable Charles E. Schumer, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Douglas                                 
08 Collins, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the                              
09 Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S.                                          
10 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the                              
11 119th United States Congress.