SB 71-PAY FOR AK DEFENSE FORCE  3:32:00 PM CHAIR KAWASAKI announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 71 "An Act relating to pay for the Alaska State Defense Force; and providing for an effective date." 3:32:17 PM CHAIR KAWASAKI asked for a motion to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS). 3:32:29 PM SENATOR MERRICK moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for SB 71, work order 33-GS1579\B, as the working document. CHAIR KAWASAKI objected for discussion purposes. 3:32:48 PM JOE HAYES, Staff, Senator Scott Kawasaki, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, reviewed the following changes from version A to B of SB 71. Page 1, lines 9 - 12 Deleted Page 1, line 9 - 10 Amended to add "Except as provided in (n) of this section" Page 1, line 12 through page 2, line 3 Adds a new subsection AS 23.05.260 (n) to read: Members of the Alaska State Defense Force may receive pay or allowances for training or community service activity and the source of funding for the pay or allowances in the authorization. Page 2, line 15 Renumber the two sections accordingly. 3:33:54 PM CHAIR KAWASAKI removed his objection; finding no further objection, version B was adopted. 3:34:09 PM CHAIR KAWASAKI opened public testimony on SB 71. 3:34:36 PM LIEUTENANT BRENDA CARR, member, Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), North Pole, Alaska, testified in support of SB 71. She explained that all ASDF members are volunteers who only get paid when they are activated for emergency services. She said the members are all very dedicated, but some can't afford to go on a mission if it takes them away from their regular job for very long. She talked about helping to put together the new detachments in Gambell and Savoonga and the time it takes to get the new members trained either in their community or with another detachment. She said it's difficult for many ASDF members to devote a week or more to help with this training when they aren't getting paid and they're away from their regular jobs. CHAIR KAWASAKI asked if other ASDF members live in the Fairbanks/North Pole area. LIUETENANT CARR answered yes, a few ASDF members live in the Fairbanks and Delta Junction areas. Many detachments are in rural areas and the hope is that some will have prior military experience so they can help with training. When that isn't the case, it's necessary to send members to the community to provide the training or have the new members travel to ASDF headquarters in Wasilla for training. CHAIR KAWASAKI read from a document that Senator Merrick provided that shows the number of ASDF members and their locations. The Fairbanks area has 7 ASDF members, 55 reside in Wasilla, 50 in Kodiak, and others are spread throughout the state. He noted who was available to answer questions. 3:39:33 PM CHAIR KAWASAKI discerned that nobody else wished to testify and he closed public testimony on SB 71. 3:39:44 PM SENATOR MERRICK moved to report the CS for SB 71, work order 33- GS33-GS1579\B, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). 3:39:56 PM CHAIR KAWASAKI found no objection and CSSB 71(STA) was reported from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.