ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 10, 2009
9:08 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Linda Menard, Chair
Senator Kevin Meyer, Vice Chair
Senator Hollis French
Senator Albert Kookesh
Senator Joe Paskvan
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 45
"An Act relating to state employment preferences for veterans,
former prisoners of war, and members of the Alaska National
Guard; authorizing the Department of Military and Veterans'
Affairs to establish and maintain Alaska veterans' cemeteries;
establishing the Alaska veterans' cemetery fund in the general
fund; and authorizing the legislature to appropriate income from
fees collected for commemorative veterans' plates to the Alaska
veterans' cemetery fund."
Moved CSSB 45(STA)
CONFIRMATION
Faith Peters -- State Commission for Human Rights
CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 45
SHORT TITLE: VETERANS' CEMETERIES/FUND/LICENSE PLATES
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) HUGGINS, THERRIAULT
01/21/09 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/09
01/21/09 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/21/09 (S) STA, L&C, FIN
02/10/09 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BELTZ 211
WITNESS REGISTER
CHARLIE HUGGINS, Senator
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 45 as sponsor.
GENE THERRIAULT, Senator
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 45 as sponsor.
MCHUGH PIERRE, Legislative Liaison
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding SB 45.
FAITH PETERS, Nominee
Human Rights Commission
Tanana AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke to her confirmation.
NICKI NEAL, Director
Personnel and Labor Relations
Department of Administration
Juneau AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions regarding SB 45.
PAT LUBY, Advocacy Director
AARP
Anchorage AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in favor of SB 45.
JOE FIELDS, Vice Chair
Alaska Veterans Advisory Council
Fairbanks AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in favor of SB 45.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR LINDA MENARD called the Senate State Affairs Committee
meeting to order at 9:08 a.m. Senators French, Paskvan, Menard,
Meyer, and Kookesh were present at the call to order.
9:08:02 AM
SB 45-VETERANS' CEMETERIES/FUND/LICENSE PLATES
CHAIR MENARD announced the consideration of SB 45.
SENATOR MEYER moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for
SB 45, labeled 26-LS0277\S as a working document. Hearing no
objection, version S was before the committee.
9:10:10 AM
CHARLIE HUGGINS, Senator, Alaska State Legislature, pointed out
a photo of Grant Frasier, who served as a Marine in Iraq and was
killed in action. His mother, Sharon Long, was present. Senator
Huggins also introduced Joe Fields, an airborne trooper who has
discussed the issues included in SB 45 with Senator Huggins.
SENATOR HUGGINS said there are two national veteran cemeteries
in Alaska. The one in Sitka can't be expanded for much more than
10 years. There is one in Fort Richardson that may have
unlimited expansion. There are more cremations now, so perhaps
both have a longer life. SB 45 deals with a state cemetery
whereby the state supplies the land, the federal Veteran's
Administration builds it, and the state operates it. The fiscal
note is $250,000 annually for operations starting in 2012. It
may be a low estimate, he said.
9:12:37 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS said that in the budget for the Department of
Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA) there is $750,000 for the
cemetery application process to the federal government. SB 45
also allows a fund from veteran license plate sales, and it
expands the state's veteran hiring preference to members of the
National Guard. He noted that the community of Bethel got a
grant to create a local cemetery with a veteran component. But
SB 45 will have the federal government build one. "It is the
wave of the future." Florida, for example, is building state
cemeteries at a rapid rate and can't stay ahead of the mortality
rate of veterans.
9:14:41 AM
SENATOR KOOKESH asked the difference between a veteran and a
prisoner of war (POW).
SENATOR HUGGINS said a person can be a prisoner of war without
being in the military. In military culture, veterans who are
POWs have higher stature.
9:15:46 AM
SENATOR KOOKESH asked if the bill defines a POW.
SENATOR HUGGINS said he doesn't know.
CHAIR MENARD asked if members of the National Guard can be
buried in the national cemeteries.
SENATOR HUGGINS said, yes, if they are veterans.
9:16:48 AM
GENE THERRIAULT, Senator, Alaska State Legislature, said the
bill doesn't define a POW, but he expects that it is defined in
state regulations and in the U.S. code. In order to construct
the cemetery, Section 9 requires the state to adhere to the U.S.
codes with regard to who can be interred. Alaska has the highest
number of veterans per capita in the nation. Of the 600,000
Alaska residents, 100,000 are veterans, and it is becoming
difficult to obtain burial plots. The purpose of SB 45 is to
have a veteran's cemetery in the Interior to avoid traveling 350
miles to Fort Richardson. Fairbanks has the second densest
population of veterans in the state. It is centrally located and
a hub for many villages. It is close to Fort Wainwright, Fort
Greely, Clear Air Force Station, and Eielson Air Force Base.
9:18:46 AM
SENATOR THERRIAULT estimated that 15,000 veterans will pass away
in the next 10 years in Interior Alaska. About 50 percent will
seek to be buried in a veteran cemetery, and at least one family
member for every two veterans will seek to be buried there as
well. That means 1,125 people may be seeking burial in the next
10 years. The demand is growing across the nation.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said Section 1 of the CS allows funds from
veteran license plates to be deposited yearly by the legislature
into the veteran's cemetery fund. That is permissive language,
and the legislature would have to make the appropriation each
year. Section 2 allows the state to accept gifts to establish
and maintain the cemetery. Section 3 creates the Alaska veteran
cemetery fund as a subaccount in the general fund. Sections 4
through 8 deal with veteran hiring preference. The DMVA said
there was an issue with the current hiring preference language
that needed to be clarified. It is not an expansion of the
hiring preference, but just a redrafting. Section 9 allows the
DMVA to establish a veteran's cemetery according to U.S. code.
The CS moved a reference to that code up to the beginning of the
section. "We wanted to make it very clear that we are doing this
in accordance with federal requirements" and following the
federal regulations on where a veteran cemetery can be placed.
9:22:31 AM
CHAIR MENARD asked if it relates to the population.
SENATOR THERRIAULT said, yes, U.S. code speaks to how close the
nearest other cemetery is and what the population is.
SENATOR KOOKESH asked if the fund will be available for the two
national cemeteries and the Bethel cemetery.
9:23:31 AM
MCHUGH PIERRE, Legislative Liaison, Department of Military and
Veterans Affairs, said the cemeteries in Sitka and Fort
Richardson are national cemeteries with no state obligations.
Both allow veterans to fully realize benefits that they have
earned. The Bethel cemetery was built for veterans and
nonveterans, and it does not meet the federal requirements, so
veterans may not receive their full benefits if they are buried
there. The Fairbanks cemetery will meet all requirements and
will give veterans all of their burial benefits.
9:25:01 AM
SENATOR KOOKESH said the bill says cemeteries, not cemetery.
MR. PIERRE said there could be more in the future, but Fairbanks
is the only area of the state that currently qualifies under
federal rules -- and it barely qualifies. Veteran Affairs is
almost making an exception for Alaska because the population is
so small. But Fairbanks does exceed the 75 miles radius from any
other cemetery. Veteran Affairs wants a cemetery within 75 miles
of every major veteran's establishment, and Fairbanks meets that
qualification, but the population is extremely low.
9:25:51 AM
CHAIR MENARD briefly set aside the bill until the end of the
committee meeting.
^Confirmation Hearing: Faith Peters - Human Rights Commission
9:26:36 AM
CHAIR MENARD announced the next order of business in a
confirmation hearing for Faith Peters to the Human Rights
Commission.
SENATOR FRENCH asked Ms. Peters to speak to what she does and
why she is interested in being on the Human Rights Commission.
FAITH PETERS, Nominee, Human Rights Commission, Tanana, said she
is Koyukon Athabascan and was born and raised in Tanana. She has
a 19-year-old son training for Doyon Drilling. She owns a quick-
stop store. She works for the Tanana Native Council. She is the
president of the Tanana City School District and the Tanana Gas
Station. She is on the Tozitna Limited board. She does community
activities and works with youth. She fishes in the summer and
hunts moose. She was approached and asked to apply for the Human
Rights Commission. She has not sat on this commission, but human
rights is a big issue for many Alaska Natives.
9:29:26 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked what she knew about the commission.
MS. PETERS said the commission meets in Anchorage this March,
and there are seven board members.
SENATOR FRENCH asked who approached Ms. Peters to serve.
MS. PETERS said she forgot his name.
9:30:39 AM
SENATOR KOOKESH said he has known Ms. Peters for years. She is
one of the most competent people he knows. She is honest and
forthright. "If I had to pick somebody in rural Alaska to sit on
the Human Rights Commission, she would be the one." He said he
very rarely stands up in public to say this, but she is above
reproach and will do a wonderful job for Natives and the state.
And he doesn't think she is a republican.
MS. PETERS said she is honored and looks forward to working with
the team. She thanked the committee.
9:32:38 AM
SENATOR MEYER moved to forward Faith Peters' name to the full
body for confirmation. Hearing no objections, it was so ordered.
SB 45-VETERANS' CEMETERIES/FUND/LICENSE PLATES
9:34:30 AM
CHAIR MENARD returned attention to SB 45.
SENATOR FRENCH asked why improvements are necessary in the
veteran's preference statutes.
MCHUGH PIERRE, Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, said
it is not an improvement, but a clarification and a regrouping
to put veteran hiring language together. There isn't one
specific location in the statutes dealing with veteran hiring
preferences. It will make it more clear for personnel staff. The
Alaska Veterans Advisory Council put forth this idea of
consolidating "all of the issues that are on the books ... and
what veterans do receive if they apply for state jobs."
9:36:53 AM
SENATOR FRENCH noted the lines being taken out on Page 6 of the
bill. He asked if the language is reincorporated elsewhere.
MR. PIERRE said he can't give those details.
NICKI NEAL, Director, Personnel and Labor Relations, Department
of Administration, said the way she reads the bill, it is simply
clarifying the language. "Everything that's being deleted is
just restated in a simpler form - more understandable."
9:38:10 AM
PAT LUBY, Advocacy Director, AARP, Anchorage, said that AARP has
many veterans. One of the greatest honors given to a veteran is
a final resting place in a veteran's cemetery, and families
prefer one nearby. SB 45 will offer many veterans and their
families that opportunity in the Interior. AARP strongly
supports the bill. As a veteran himself, he personally
encouraged passage of the bill.
9:39:15 AM
JOE FIELDS, Vice Chair, Alaska Veterans Advisory Council,
Fairbanks, said he is speaking as a citizen. He is a Vietnam
veteran. The cemetery is supported by every veteran that he has
met in the past 40 years. "How it weighs against veteran
services for living veterans may be a different story." Veterans
have been seeking a cemetery in the Interior for a very long
time. It has been a struggle to erect memorials there. "It's
taken a long time to bring around a generation that generally
looked fairly unfavorably on us from Vietnam." This is part of
rectifying that, and it brings proper honor to veterans.
SENATOR PASKVAN said he's known Mr. Fields for 35 years, and he
has worked on veteran issues that entire time. He commended him.
9:40:58 AM
SENATOR MEYER moved the committee substitute (CS) for SB 45,
labeled 26-LS0277\S from committee with individual
recommendations and the attached fiscal note. Hearing no
objection, CSSB 45 (STA) moved out of committee.
9:42:32 AM
The committee took an at-ease.
9:43:41 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
the Senate State Affairs meeting was adjourned at 9:43 a.m.