CHAIRMAN MACKIE called the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee meeting to order at 1:36 p.m. and announced SB 53 to be up for consideration. SB 53-EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE FOR NAT'L GUARD SENATOR KELLY, sponsor, explained that this issue was brought to him by the Alaska National Guard Officers' Association and the Alaska National Guard Enlisted Association and was first introduced as legislation in 1989. It was recently raised as an issue again because the Alaska National Guard are running into problems with recruiting and retention. He noted there is a companion bill sponsored by Representative Morgan in the House. MR. CHRIS NELSON, staff for the Joint Committee on Military Bases in Alaska, stated in Fiscal Year 1998 (FY98), 429 soldiers left the Alaska National Guard. When any organization loses people in mid- career, they are losing people with institutional memory and experience, the very best people. A suggestion from the leaders of the National Guard Associations is to provide a three-point incentive on the State's civil service exam to encourage Guard members to maintain their active status. This also provides the State with the opportunity to get employees into other state service who are mature, disciplined, and team players. These people are drug-free and meet all the other requirements the military imposes on its work force. It's a win-win situation to for the Guard and the State of Alaska to have these people continue to serve in the National Guard and to seek employment with the State of Alaska and other agencies. CHAIRMAN MACKIE asked Mr. Nelson to explain how this would work. MR. NELSON responded that typically an airman would enlist in the Guard for a period of six years and an officer has an initial obligation of about the same thing. SB 53 waits until someone has been in eight years; at which point they have a commitment to the Guard, have been through their basic and AIT training, their branch officer basic course and advanced courses. These people will typically be E5's and E6's and O3's and O4's. This is the beginning of their most productive years for the Guard. At that point, a lot of people who enlisted in the Guard when they were 18, 19, and 20 years old, have begun families and careers, which pressures them to consider whether they have enough time for the Guard. The Guard wants them to continue being part of their family, as well, and also want to encourage them to have stable employment. One of the ways to do that is to encourage them to work for other agencies of the State. SB 53 provides a three-point bonus for those veterans. To qualify for the bonus, they must be active members of the Guard and must have served eight years. CHAIRMAN MACKIE asked how much of an advantage that would be. MR. NELSON answered that it is less than the five-point bonus given to Alaskans who are combat veterans or who have been prisoners of war, but it is significant enough to make it possible for members to achieve employment. CHAIRMAN MACKIE said that veterans currently receive five points; disabled veterans and prisoners of war received 10 points. He asked if points accumulate for people who fit several different categories. MR. NELSON said, no, a person gets the highest number of points they qualify for. He added that this bill would exclusively affect people who have enlisted and served in the Guard exclusively. SENATOR DONLEY asked what the total points available on an examination are. CHAIRMAN MACKIE said they would find out. Number 147 MR. BRUCE GAZAWAY, President, Alaska National Guard Enlisted Association, summarized his position which he had also presented in a letter before the Committee. He said he was a member of the Guard for 18 years as an NCO. He sees SB 53 as a retention tool, though three points is not an overwhelming endorsement. It is more than a token, however, because it will make a National Guard member stand out and give him or her a chance to get an interview. This is an appropriate action for the State, because the Guard is a State asset. This bill encourages midlevel management and skilled technicians to stay on the job when there are lots of incentives to leave, like the increased burden that military downsizing has placed upon the average Guardsmen. MR. GAZAWAY said that our nation has become increasingly dependent on the Guard and Reserves, sending them to help out in situations like Hurricane Mitch. Too often when they come back, they have a hard time finding work. MR. BRUCE GABRYS, President, Alaska National Guard Officers Association, said he recently retired as a Lieutenant Colonel with five years of active service and 15 years in the Alaska Army National Guard. He said he sent a letter recently to Senator Kelly supporting SB 53. Most jobs for state application generally have a possible score of 100 points. A preference of three points is less than what is given to veterans, but those are veterans that served during a period of war, not necessarily those participating in combat. He explained that the National Guard role is much different now than in years past. The active Army cannot make any major deployment without getting some support from the National Guard where air craft, vehicle mechanics, and material handlers are now located. The Guardsmen will go individually or as a unit, but it many cases, it's a voluntary call-up. Because of that, they don't share some of the same benefits they would get under full mobilization. MR. GABRYS said the three points is not intended to compete with the service that's provided by those who did perform during a period of war or were a POW or had a service related disability. That three points recognizes the service they provided to both the State and the nation. The National Guard in Alaska is being called upon more and more frequently to support our natural disasters in the State. He clarified that the three point preference does not force the selecting supervisor to hire that particular Guard or veteran, but only assists the applicant with preference points in ranking high enough to get an interview. The selecting supervisor can then select from the top five categories. Assuming 100 is the maximum number of points, a disabled veteran would have 110 which would be the top category and it would work down from there. If a disabled vet scored 90 on the test, he would have a score of 100. Number 208 SENATOR KELLY asked if under the definition of a federal veteran, a person would have to serve at specific times, for instance WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, or Desert Storm, in order to be qualified as a veteran. MR. GABRYS answered he thought that was correct and he thought the State's definition would be a period of service before 1976, the Vietnam era. SENATOR KELLY responded that there are almost no veterans left from WWII and Korea that are in the labor market. SENATOR DONLEY said he didn't see these dates in the statute. SENATOR KELLY said it was somewhere else and he was surprised that Desert Storm isn't included. MR. GABRYS said the 1976 date was Vietnam and he thought the window should have been opened again for Desert Storm. SENATOR KELLY commented that the youngest guys, if they went to Vietnam, would be about 43 now and there aren't as many preferences in play now as there were 20 years ago. SENATOR DONLEY asked to find where the dates are defined. SENATOR KELLY said they would find it. MR. GAZAWAY said he thought the dates were defined in federal legislation and he thought Desert Storm was covered. The definition allows for people who served in a direct capacity. SENATOR DONELY said he wanted to see where the State rule referred to the federal rule. CHAIRMAN MACKIE announced a recess at 1:55 p.m. to allow for a fire alarm. He called the meeting back to order at 2:10 p.m. and noted that the same quorum was present. He stated that Senator Donley's question had been answered. SENATOR KELLY moved to pass SB 53 from committee with individual recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered.