The Republican-led Majority in the 21st Legislature placed special emphasis on reinforcing and expanding Alaska’s role in our national defense. At the same time, Republicans wrote and passed legislation recognizing the unmatched contributions made by the men and women of our armed forces serving in Alaska. The Majority also led the fight to ensure that servicemen and women in Alaska will never be considered second-class citizens.

Maintaining and Developing the Military Presence in Alaska

• HJR 8 calls upon the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Congress to base the National Ballistic Missile Defense System in Alaska, the only location capable of defending all 50 states from an intercontinental ballistic missile attack.
• HJR 21 calls for establishment of new evaluation and selection criteria for future Military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) actions. This resolution recognizes that the single service evaluations of Alaska’s military bases in previous base closure rounds have failed to value the high level of joint activities conducted on the Army and Air Force bases in Alaska. It consequently calls for creation of new Joint Cross-Service Study Groups to develop evaluation and selection criteria.
• HB 77 establishes the Joint Armed Service Committee as a permanent interim committee of the Alaska Legislature. This new organization will serve as the Legislature’s focal point for the coordination of all issues that impact the military in our state.

Honoring Alaskans in Uniform

• HB 80 recognizes and rewards the contributions of Alaska National Guard members by providing them a state employment hiring preference. It also provides a valuable Guard enlistment and retention incentive, adding five points to the passing grade of qualified National Guard members on the state’s merit system examination.
• HB 289 mandates that the Alaska Marine Highway System and the Alaska Railroad provide free transportation, on a space available basis, for members of Alaska’s volunteer defense forces who are en route to or from drill, training, or other official militia activities.
• SB 99 includes provisions prohibiting discrimination in legislative redistricting against men and women serving in the armed forces in Alaska. Because the Alaska Constitution originally failed to count military personnel as Alaskans in drawing legislative districts, one serviceman counted for nothing after 1960’s redistricting, as a tenth of a man in 1970, and only a third of a man in 1980. SB 99 ends this offensive practice and establishes statutory recognition of the right of every member fo the Armed Forces serving in Alaska to be represented in the Alaska Legislature.
• SB 247 allows veterans in nursing homes to receive the Alaska Longevity bonus when the cost of their care is paid for from private sources, veterans’ benefits, or a combination of private sources and veterans’ benefits. Those veterans currently disqualified will be permitted to reapply for qualification for bonus payments beginning July 1, 2000.