03/26/2015 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

          HB 35-MARCH 27: GREAT ALASKA EARTHQUAKE DAY                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:01:39 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR STOLTZE announced the consideration of HB 35. [CSHB
(STA) was before the committee.]                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
9:01:48 AM                                                                                                                    
JEFF TURNER, Staff, Representative Charisse Millet, Alaska State                                                                
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced HB 35 reading from the                                                                  
following sponsor statement:                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     On March  27, 1964, Southcentral Alaska  was torn apart                                                                    
     as many of  you know by a 9.2  magnitude earthquake; it                                                                    
     devastated 50,000 square  miles of Southcentral Alaska,                                                                    
     leveled   entire  communities,   and  trigged   massive                                                                    
     tsunamis that brought even  more devastation to coastal                                                                    
     areas.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     What HB 35  does is recognize a great  disaster and how                                                                    
     it   brought  out   the  best   of   all  Alaskans   by                                                                    
     establishing  March  27  as Great  Alaska  Good  Friday                                                                    
     Earthquake Remembrance Day. The  purpose of the bill is                                                                    
     not to  highlight the quake  necessarily, but  to honor                                                                    
     the thousands of  Alaskans who put the  needs of others                                                                    
     before  their  own  needs:  first  responders,  medical                                                                    
     personnel, the Alaska Army and  Air National Guard, the                                                                    
     U.S. Core of Engineers,  government employees, even ham                                                                    
     radio  operators were  joined by  everyday Alaskans  to                                                                    
     conduct search  and rescue operations,  provide medical                                                                    
     care,  food,  shelter,  and the  restoration  of  vital                                                                    
     infrastructure  and  services;  it was  their  selfless                                                                    
     determination that  saved unknown numbers of  lives and                                                                    
     rebuilt Southcentral  communities before the  return of                                                                    
     winter.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     The 1964 earthquake was also  a watershed moment in the                                                                    
     fields of  geology, earth science,  and more; it  was a                                                                    
     big part  of what  led to the  creation of  the Federal                                                                    
     Emergency  Management Agency,  also known  as FEMA,  in                                                                    
     1979.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     This  legislation means  communities  and civic  groups                                                                    
     can  hold ceremonies  around the  state to  mark a  day                                                                    
     that  changed state  history and  it  also directs  the                                                                    
     Governor to issue  an annual proclamation commemorating                                                                    
     Great  Alaska Good  Friday  Earthquake Remembrance  Day                                                                    
     and  to  fly  the  state flag  at  half-mast;  it  also                                                                    
     reminds Alaskans  about the importance of  building and                                                                    
     designing  safer  structures,  which a  couple  of  our                                                                    
     invited testifiers  can speak to  today. Representative                                                                    
      Millet respectively asks for the committee's support                                                                      
     for the legislation.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:04:35 AM                                                                                                                    
STEVE   S.  MASTERMAN,   Director,  Division   of  Geological   &                                                               
Geophysical Surveys,  Alaska Department of  Resources, Fairbanks,                                                               
Alaska, announced that  the division supports HB 35.  He said the                                                               
Division  of  Geological  &  Geophysical   Surveys  feels  it  is                                                               
important to  remember those people  who gave their lives  in the                                                               
Great Alaska Earthquake  disaster. He added that having  a day on                                                               
the calendar to  remind people of the significance  and danger of                                                               
earthquakes in  Alaska was important  as well. He noted  that the                                                               
Remembrance   Day   calls   attention   to  a   need   to   build                                                               
infrastructures  and  buildings   that  withstand  the  potential                                                               
effects of a future earthquake  as well as designing and planning                                                               
Alaska communities to be resilient to earthquakes and tsunamis.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
9:06:04 AM                                                                                                                    
CHUCK   VOLANTI,  representing   himself,  Olympia,   Washington,                                                               
recalled the events on the day  of the earthquake in 1964 when on                                                               
duty for  the Alaska National  Guard in Anchorage. He  noted that                                                               
as devastating and ravaging as  the earthquake and tsunamis were,                                                               
the  cornerstone  remains  the  people of  Alaska  and  how  they                                                               
rallied  together without  hesitation.  He said  first-responders                                                               
from  all walks  of life  came  together and  formed the  largest                                                               
humanitarian relief  contingent in  state history.  He summarized                                                               
that what  Alaskans of today enjoy  is because they stand  on the                                                               
shoulders of those  giants of the past;  their selfless sacrifice                                                               
paid honor  to the  future and now  it is up  to Alaskans  to pay                                                               
honor to those of the past.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:06:43 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MCGUIRE joined the committee meeting.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
9:09:26 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR STOLTZE thanked  Mr. Volanti for his  diligence and efforts                                                               
in helping memorize the event.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:10:17 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR STOLTZE closed public testimony.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
9:10:35 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MCGUIRE moved  to report the CS for HB  35 from committee                                                               
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:10:49 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR STOLTZE  announced that hearing no  objection, CSHB 35(STA)                                                               
moved out of committee.