HB 175-ESTABLISH MILITARY FAMILY DAY  8:26:36 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER announced that the final order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 175, "An Act establishing November 1 as Military Family Day." 8:26:56 AM ESTHER MIELKE, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 175 on behalf of the House State Affairs Standing Committee, sponsor, on which Representative Lynn serves as the chair. She stated: House Bill 175 establishes Military Family Day to honor and support families of our servicemen and women in Alaska every year on November 1. Nationally, November is designated as National Military Family month. The President of the United States typically makes an annual announcement to inform the public about this month. We thought it was fitting to have our Alaskan Military Family Day to coincide with the beginning of the nationally designated month. 8:27:49 AM CHAIR LYNN stated that HB 175 is far more than a "day bill" because it is important to national defense. He talked about the service of those in the military and related his own experience growing up in a military family and his subsequent service in the U.S. Air Force. He went to flight school, got married, and subsequently had six children. Typically, he explained, a military family moves to a different post around the U.S. every two years, which disrupts the lives of the military person's spouse and children and requires them to have to start all over at each new post. He pointed out that a service person is either in combat or preparing for combat. He served in Vietnam and received his family's support while serving there, which was very important. CHAIR LYNN pointed out, "When you join the military, your family joins with you." He said the military families back home had support groups, which allowed him to do a better job and made it possible for him not to worry. In conclusion, he opined that the family is the bedrock foundation for what makes our nation's military great, and it deserves acknowledgment; passing HB 175 is one way to do that. 8:32:43 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER noted that Chair Lynn had authored a book, "My Own at War." CHAIR LYNN pointed out that family support is needed regardless of the service person's rank. 8:33:30 AM LAURIE HUMMEL, Adjutant General/Commissioner, Department of Military & Veterans' Affairs (DMVA), thanked the committee for inviting her to testify and offered her support for HB 175. She noted that while she is always prepared to publically acknowledge the patriotism, dedication, and skill of Alaska's military men and women, she is especially pleased to focus on the enormous contributions of military families. She said military families make many sacrifices and make possible the operation of the armed forces; however, the public rarely fully appreciates the families' contributions. ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL said she knows what military families do because she has seen it and lived it firsthand in her life. She recounted that her father was in the U.S. Army for close to 24 years and was married to her mother for the latter 20 years of that time. Four of those twenty years were spent in combat and two of those twenty years were spent away from home on field exercises and other places the U.S. Army sent him. Her mother had two babies alone overseas, as both times her father was away in the field, and they lived in nine different places in twenty years. Her mother would have liked to have her own career, but put those plans on the shelf as she supported military unit functions, army volunteer programs, and acted as both parents. Adjutant General Hummel pointed out that her description of her mother describes all the members of military families. ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL shared that she has been a deployed soldier and has been the spouse of a deployed soldier. She stated that being the spouse left at home is more difficult, because it involves twice the work, all of the worry, and none of the credit. She pointed out that there are lots of families whose service members' deployments resulted in life altering injuries. When this happens, family members' lives are just as affected as service members as they adjust, care, and give. Similarly, when a member of the military loses his/her life in service, the "gold star families" left behind must, of necessity, find a way to move forward, but they never fully heal. ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL stated that nearly 74,000 veterans call Alaska home. Alaska has more veterans per capita than any other state. Alaska's veterans and their families deserve the public's unwavering support. The success of veterans is not sustained by what they have already done but in what more they can provide and especially how best they can show appreciation to the backbone of the military - the military families. She posited that it is appropriate that November 1, All Saints Day, has been selected as the day for recognition. 8:38:09 AM KEVIN DEAN testified that his wife is currently a staff sergeant in the military and they have been through two deployments together as a family with two children. He stated that Adjutant General Hummel [illustrated the life of a military spouse and family] well. He related that there have been many times where, as a spouse, he has been left to take care of a lot of the household duties. A benefit of the "National Guard" is that there is always support for the families, such as help with the kids. For example, prior to his wife returning from her first deployment in Afghanistan, he and his children participated in a reintegration seminar about how to react and how a family changes when people come back from overseas. He expressed that as November is Military Family Month, recognizing Alaska by designating November 1 [as Military Family Day, under HB 175,] would be "awesome." VICE CHAIR KELLER thanked Mr. Dean for coming in to testify. 8:40:11 AM VICE CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony on HB 175, except, in the event further questions come up on the bill. 8:40:32 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered his understanding that there is a current effort to provide a waiver to admission to the Alaska Bar Association for spouses of military folks, so a person coming in Alaska with his/her active duty spouse would not have to be admitted to the Alaska Bar during the time that he/she is in Alaska. He further offered his understanding that there have been efforts to extend waivers for other types of licenses, such as for a welder for example. He inquired how this is coming along. ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL replied she does not have an answer now, but would get a comprehensive list of the efforts that have been made for certification and licensure waivers or adjustments for military spouses and would provide that information to the committee. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG added that it is important for the state to get the benefit of the services of skilled spouses as well as skilled military personnel. 8:42:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to report HB 175 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 175 was reported from the House State Affairs Standing Committee.