HB 45-SECOND VERSE OF ALASKA'S STATE SONG    REPRESENTATIVE BRUCE WEYHRAUCH, sponsor of HB 45, stated that the issue to adopt the second verse of the Alaska flag song has been before the Legislature several times. Most recently it was co-sponsored by Senate President Rick Halford. During the Governor's inauguration he learned that the second verse isn't part of the official song even though it was sung there, children sing it in school, and it was sung when members were sworn into the House. He said this would be an opportunity for the Legislature to follow what the public is already doing. In researching how the verse was developed, why it was promoted, who sings it, and why, it became apparent the public believes the flag song should incorporate the sentiments expressed in verse two. It's a tribute to Benny Benson, the young man who designed and drew the "state stars of gold on a field of blue." It celebrates Alaska as a society open to all peoples and cultures. CHAIR GARY STEVENS invited the Alaska Youth Choir to come forward. MISSOURI SMYTH, Artistic Director for the Alaska Youth Choir introduced herself and led a small ensemble within the choir in singing the second verse of the Alaska flag song. SENATOR JOHN COWDERY said he has been in Alaska for a long time, is proud of the Alaska flag song and doesn't want it to change. REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH replied the Legislature would make a statement if it adopted the second verse and it would make the song an integrated whole. SENATOR COWDERY asked if not approving the second verse makes a statement. REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH said that when the Legislature does something, you are able to read their intent. When they change words, it means something. When the Legislature doesn't pass a bill, it means it didn't have the political support to get through. It's not necessarily a statement against the issue. SENATOR COWDERY inquired about the associated costs. REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH pointed out the zero fiscal note. The statute would be revised and the public would decide what to do from that point. SENATOR COWDERY asked if he would favor four additional verses. REPRESENTATIVE WEYHRAUCH said he would not. He noted that Carol Beery Davis, former poet laureate of Alaska, wrote the second verse and school children sing it and understand it and enjoy talking about it. SENATOR DYSON expressed gratitude to the sponsor for introducing the bill. In response to Senator Cowdery, but not directed at him, he said, "I think it is always presumption when we presume to think what somebody else means or what their vote means...and I think it's off the reservation of what I consider to be ethical conduct to presume that I know what somebody else's intentions are about what they did or didn't..." SENATOR COWDERY replied, "I didn't intend to say that." SENATOR DYSON assured him his comments weren't directed at anyone in particular. He said that as a culture, we learn as we grow. When this issue came up, he looked at the verse and the state seal and found that neither has any recognition or acknowledgement of the role that Alaska Natives have made and continue to make in this country. It's altogether proper to say, "We could do better." and it's a mark of maturity to do better. It would be more than a gesture to have the Alaska song and perhaps the seal explicitly acknowledge the profound contribution Alaska's aboriginal people have made. CHAIR GARY STEVENS commented he always enjoyed the song and it was likely the first verse would continue to be sung more frequently than the second. Intellectually, it's always bothered him that just the Sourdough is mentioned in the first verse. Although the Sourdough was an important aspect of Alaska history, neglecting up to 50,000 years of aboriginal pre-history as well as the Russian history has always been bothersome. When he was first in Alaska, he had the pleasure of knowing Benny Benson. He had great respect for him and is pleased he is mentioned in the second verse. After all, the song is called "Alaska's Flag" and Mr. Benson is the man who designed it. J. ALLAN MACKINNON urged members to support HB 45 adding there are a number of reasons the bill hasn't passed in previous years. When Marie Drake wrote the poem to describe the flag designing contest, the dynamics of the time were such that there probably wasn't any thought given to aboriginal or Russian history in Alaska. Carol Beery Davis was a contemporary of Marie Drake and Elinor Dusenbury and she also had ties to the Native community. As time and perspective changed, there were discussions about being more inclusive and recognizing the contributions of all Alaskans. Mrs. Davis wrote the second verse and gifted it to the University of Alaska Foundation in February 1987. MATHEW CAMPBELL asked, "Please help our second verse be noticed by all Alaska." KALA BALOVICH asked, "Please help our Governor and please vote yes." SARA LANDON said, "Please make Alaska state song verse two because some of us are Native and it represents our culture." SENATOR DYSON announced, "Whether we do this or don't do this may not make a statement for various individuals, but for me it does." SENATOR COWDERY advised he homesteaded in territorial days and he still cherishes the land. He is a traditionalist and that follows his earlier statement. SENATOR LYMAN HOFFMAN said the verse is good. He advised that his paternal great-grandfather had a trading post on the Kuskokwim and church records indicate he guided the Bethel founding fathers up the Kuskokwim River in 1884. His great- grandfather married a Native woman and one hundred years later, a Hoffman family reunion in the Bethel area was five hundred strong. The second verse recognizes the merging of two cultures and how Alaska was founded. SENATOR DYSON made a motion to move HB 45 from committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal note. There being no objection, it was so ordered.