03/12/2009 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

        SB  94-PFD ALLOWABLE ABSENCE: ANTARCTIC PROGRAM                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  MENARD announced  the  consideration of  SB  94. She  noted                                                              
there is a draft committee substitute (CS).                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:13:44 AM                                                                                                                    
KRISTEN  BRESSETTE,  Staff, to  Senate  District  B, Alaska  State                                                              
Legislature,  said SB 94  would create  a Permanent Fund  Dividend                                                              
(PFD)  allowable   absence  for  Alaskans  who  are   employed  in                                                              
Antarctica with  the United  States Antarctic Program.  This small                                                              
group of  Alaskans works seasonally  and returns to  their primary                                                              
residences  in  Alaska. The  income  they  earn in  Antarctica  is                                                              
predominantly  spent  here.  These  Alaskans  have  residences  in                                                              
Anchorage,  Denali  Park,  Eagle  River,  Hope,  Juneau,  McKinley                                                              
Village,  Moose Pass, Soldotna,  Sutton,  and Talkeetna.  The bill                                                              
includes a  provision that  workers must  return to Alaska  within                                                              
30 days  of leaving  Antarctica. The  Antarctic program  is funded                                                              
by  the  National  Science  Foundation.   All  but  one  of  these                                                              
Alaskans  works  for  Raytheon  Polar  Services  Corporation.  One                                                              
works  for   the  National   Science  Foundation.  NANA   regional                                                              
corporation and  Alaska-based RSA Engineering  are subcontractors.                                                              
Work contracts  average six months.  Nine Alaskans are  working in                                                              
Antarctica  this  winter.  PFD  applicants  must  demonstrate  the                                                              
intent to return to Alaska. All of these workers do so.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
9:15:48 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR FRENCH asked how many people fit into this category.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. BRESSETTE said she estimates there are 20 to 25 individuals.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
LEE PARKER, South  Pole, Antarctica, said she has  been a resident                                                              
of Alaska for 33  years. Her vehicle is licensed  in Alaska and in                                                              
her  Alaskan  garage.   She  has  voted  in  almost   all  Alaskan                                                              
elections since  1976. Antarctica is  often called "the  ice." All                                                              
but 140 pounds  of her worldly goods  and her pets are  in Alaska.                                                              
Jury duty  can be demanded  of her. She  can pay resident  tuition                                                              
at Alaskan  schools.  "I'm an Alaskan."  She  is stationed  at the                                                              
South Pole and will  work nine cold, dark months.  She will return                                                              
to Juneau,  which isn't as  cold and dark.  She has worked  in the                                                              
Antarctic program  since 2000 and always returned  home soon after                                                              
each contract  ended. There  is no such  thing as a  permanent job                                                              
in Antarctica.  No one can  stay longer  than 14 months.  She gets                                                              
homesick for her  pets and friends. Most of her  ice-earned income                                                              
is  spent  in   Alaska.  One  percent  of  her   income  stays  in                                                              
Antarctica  because all  her costs  are covered.  There is  little                                                              
opportunity to  spend money there.  She wants the PFD,  which will                                                              
be spent in Alaska.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
9:21:45 AM                                                                                                                    
WILLIAM  HENDRICKSON,   McMurdo   Station,  Antarctica,   said  he                                                              
recently  purchased  a home  in  Eagle River,  but  he needed  his                                                              
sister to be his  power to attorney. He has lived  in Alaska since                                                              
1961  excluding  four years.  He  has  spent  over five  years  in                                                              
Antarctica, "but  essentially I always  come back to the  state of                                                              
Alaska." He spends  his money in Alaska. He sold  a home two years                                                              
ago. He  was working for RSA  Engineering, an Anchorage  firm, and                                                              
was tasked  to go to  Antarctica to do  inspections. Then  he went                                                              
back as  the winter  manager for  Raytheon. He represented  Alaska                                                              
in  that fairly  significant position  at South  Pole Station.  He                                                              
came  back  as   a  station  manager  for  the   National  Science                                                              
Foundation  in McMurdo.  This is  his fourth  season in that  job,                                                              
which  lasts about  six  and a  half months.  He  is a  registered                                                              
voter in Alaska,  but he has missed a few elections.  The money is                                                              
not that  important because he  makes a fairly significant  amount                                                              
of money. Not getting  the PFD money makes a person  in Antarctica                                                              
feel like less of an Alaska citizen.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
9:26:17 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR FRENCH  moved to adopt  the proposed committee  substitute                                                              
(CS)  to SB  94, labeled  26-LS0371\E,  as  the working  document.                                                              
There being no objection, Version E was before the committee.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR FRENCH  moved to  report the  CS of  SB 94 from  committee                                                              
with  individual  recommendations  and  attached  fiscal  note(s).                                                              
There being no objection, CSSB 94 (STA) moved out of committee.