SB 43-SECOND VERSE OF ALASKA'S STATE SONG  9:02:41 AM The first order of business to come before the committee was SB 43. Chair Menard passed the gavel over to Vice-Chair Meyer. SENATOR MERNARD said SB 43 adds an official second verse to the Alaska Flag song. SB 43 has a zero fiscal note and will implement something music lovers and Alaska history buffs have wanted for years, as well as paying homage to the woman who wrote the second verse out of love for Alaska and its Native population. The flag song was adopted by the territorial legislature in 1955. The song was written by Juneau resident Marie Drake, who worked for the Department of Education. Carol Beery Davis wrote the second verse, the subject of SB 43, in 1987. The recent 50th anniversary of statehood makes this the appropriate time to add the second verse. Passing SB 43 would be a long overdue honor to Carol Beery Davis and pay homage to Benny Benson, who designed the Alaska Flag and is mentioned in the second verse. Senator Menard pointed out that both houses of the Legislature heard the second verse when the Alaska Youth Choir sang just before the opening of the 2010 session. 9:05:36 AM CONSTANCE DAVIS, 3rd daughter of Trevor Davis and Carol Beery Davis, gave a short history of the relationship between the song, the flag and her family. Her mother [Carol Beery Davis] played the organ for the silent movie theatre and was good friends with Elinor Dusenbury and Marie Drake, who worked for the Commissioner of Education. 9:06:49 AM MS. CONSTANCE DAVIS said that Governor Parks, after seeing the Rotunda of Flags in Washington DC, worked with the American Legion to start a contest [to design an Alaska flag]. She said her father was on the committee that chose the flag. The Commissioner of Education thought it would be a good idea for the school children to have a little flag and a copy of the Flag Act. Marie Drake thought the children should have a jingle instead; she wrote it and travelled to schools all over Alaska to introduce [the jingle]. Elinor Dusenbury had to leave Alaska and go to Omaha with her husband; she was very homesick for Alaska. She saw a picture of the flag and the jingle and she wrote the music to go along with it. 9:09:10 AM SENATOR KOOKESH asked for clarification as to who wrote the music for the verse. MS. CONSTANCE DAVIS replied that Elinor Dusenbury wrote the music. SENATOR KOOKESH said they then turned it into the official song. MS. CONSTANCE DAVIS replied yes. SENATOR KOOKESH said he is amazed no one has written this history down; he never saw it in history books during his schooling and would love to see it in the history books. MS. CONSTANCE DAVIS said her mother [Carol Beery Davis] wrote the first little booklet on it and the City Museum has put out a booklet about it too. She said her mother originally came to Alaska for a temporary job but stayed 70 years; when she wrote the second verse she was 95 years old. 9:11:44 AM CONSTANCE MONRO commended the Senate for taking leadership on this and stated that she has received joyful emails from around the state. She mentioned that the late Senator Ferguson and the late Representatives Alfred Widmark and Alvin Osterback worked diligently to try to get someone to donate this second verse. MS. MONRO said she is representing Alaska Sisterhood Camp 2 and Dorothy Wallace who was the first person from the camp to come and speak to the Legislature in support of the second verse right after Carol Beery Davis wrote it. Ms. Monro said she is the chairperson for the Juneau Unitarian Universalists Fellowship which endorses SB 43 and would not be here without the help of the Native Alaskan population. She explained that they helped her get her first job, got her into the University and took care of her family when she lost a son. She thanked the Native community for sharing their lives' treasures. 9:14:22 AM CHAIR MENARD asked Ms. Munro to share how Native people wanted a white person to write the second verse. MS. MONRO said the Native Coalition had discussed having a contest for the second first. Alvin Osterback and others were concerned that a contest would cause stress, cost money and would not be appropriate. Frank Ferguson said it would be nice if the second verse was a gift. They waited. In 1987 when Ms. Monro lost her job and was going to move to Boston, she talked to Carol Beery Davis about how a second verse had never been gifted. She received a phone call the next day from Ms. Davis who had stayed up and wrote the second verse in one night. CHAIR MENARD asked how old Carol Beery Davis was when she wrote it. MS. MONRO answered that Carol Beery Davis was 95 years old. She explained that they gave the second verse to interested legislators right away and Fairbanks accepted the verse into their archives. SENATOR KOOKESH asked how many years Ms. Monro has worked on making the second verse official. MS. MONRO replied since 1987. She explained that the House sponsored a similar bill three times but it never got out of committee in the Senate. She spoke to the Pioneers of Alaska at their state convention and they did not want to add anything to a piece of history. She could not convince them that Carol Beery Davis was a part of that history; she wrote the Alaska Flag book and was a pioneer of Alaska. 9:17:53 AM MS. MONRO explained that support from the Pioneers of Alaska was needed for a bill to make it through the Senate at that time. SENATOR KOOKESH said he has known Ms. Monro for many years and always thought she was an Alaska Native. MS. MONRO said she is adopted and a life member of Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 2. LORRAINE HAUSMAN, Kodiak, said she came to Alaska in 1952 and Benny Benson was a great friend of her parents. Mr. Benson's family took her family in when they first arrived until they built permanent housing. She said it hurt her heart when she heard people wanted to add a verse to the Alaska Flag song. The second verse is beautiful but the song itself is a work or art that was created at a certain time and accepted by the people of Alaska. 9:20:30 AM MS. HAUSMAN said that everything Benny Benson said about his flag design is already in the song. She felt it should stay a simple jingle about a simple flag. She felt it is disrespectful to add something to a work of art; changing a simple, beautiful part of Alaska history would hurt many people. She said she remembers singing the song with Benny Benson and a big smile on his face. She explained that the song means a lot to her personally and she would like to see it stay the way it is. She hoped the song did not gain an addition; another song would be good, but she would hate to see this one changed. 9:23:17 AM SENATOR KOOKESH commented that over the years he has seen people look at the Alaska Native differently than when he first started in politics. He said an Alaska Native designed the flag and Alaska Natives need to be recognized for their contribution to the state and its people. If the second verse is not included the non-Native people won't be hurt, it is the Alaska Natives [that will be hurt.] He explained that the state seal depicts stacks of wheat, a sailboat, a powerboat, sunshine and trees but not one depiction of the Alaska Native community. He said he did not think anything was wrong with adding a second verse with one statement about the Alaska Native community. As an Alaska Native, he felt he could say that Benny Benson would agree that the Alaska Native community needs to be recognized for its contributions to the state and people. The Alaska Native Brotherhood has records of Benny Benson participating in an Alaska Native community. Senator Kookesh said it would be a dishonor for him not to stand up and say he wants some recognition for Benny Benson and other Alaska Natives. SENATOR KOOKESH pointed out that singing the second verse would not be required. He said people use the second verse already and will continue to. The legislature would just be recognizing the use of the second verse and making it official. 9:26:17 AM SENATOR MEYER closed public testimony. SENATOR PASKVAN moved to report SB 43 from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There being no objection, the motion carried. 9:27:29 AM At Ease from 9:27 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.