One thing that both sides of the political aisle agree on in the Alaska House of Representatives is that the military is important to Alaska. A bill establishing an Alaska Military Affairs Commission, with prime sponsor Rep. Will Stapp of Fairbanks, passed the House on a unanimous vote of 37-0. Three members were absent: Rep. Maxine Dilbert of Fairbanks, Rep. Daniel Ortiz of Ketchikan and Rep Andi Story of Juneau, all members of the Democrat-led minority caucus.
House Bill 155 establishes the commission in the Office of the Governor and sets staggered three-year terms for the nine voting members. The commission is intended to provide advice, counsel, and recommendations on military issues and economic and industrial development related to military issues to the governor, state agencies, the Alaska Legislature, communities, and the state’s congressional delegation.
The AMAC will work to expand and grow the current presence of the armed forces in the state, including new bases, expanded missions, and increased training, the sponsoring documentation says. Members would include the lieutenant governor, who would serve as chair of the commission, the adjutant general of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs or designee, the commissioner of Commerce Community and Economic Development or designee, three members of are mayors or their designees from communities with military presence, and two public members with military experience or expertise, and one public member with statewide business or economic development experience. The public members would be appointed by the governor.
There will be no pay for service, but the governor’s office may pay per diem to members on meeting days.
Alaska has more than 67,000 veterans representing four generations across five major conflicts. There are 21,407 active military members in the state with over 29,400 military dependents.
Rep. Jamie Allard said the commission will help the State of Alaska do a better job of reaching out to veterans, particularly female veterans, who are often ignored.
The bill has cosponsors Representatives Frank Tomaszewski, Julie Coulombe, Alyse Galvin, Cliff Groh, Dan Saddler, Mike Cronk, Stanley Wright, Kevin McCabe, and Andy Josephson, and Allard.
HB 155 is in the Senate for consideration.
Oh great, another layer of unnecessary obfuscation
Here is some information for Allard: Women veterans will continue to be ignored by the Anchorage VA Clinic, all other entities that claim to offer assistance to women veterans, and her. This new commission will not make one bit of difference or benefit for any veteran. The only beneficiaries will be those getting per diem whenever there will be a meeting in Anchorage, Juneau, or Honolulu.
This initial idea sounds good. However; I would recommend that anyone making up new layers of government concerning our State military read the book “Changing Commands”. The more you layer the military away from the public, the easier it is for it to become controlled by an outside entity. As a veteran, this is one of the main concerns that I have for the future of our State and our freedoms.
Is this the bill that Republican Rep. Stapp sold out his “yes” vote for more education funding for the teacher’s unions?
Probably.
Looks that way. Stapp is an eager beaver politician and hasn’t learned yet how to read a compass. I won’t be voting for him this fall.
Me neither. When Conservatives bargain with Democrats (bill passage for more education dollars), they sell out their souls to the devil. Looks like Stapp did it on the cheap.
Not a good move for Representative Stapp.
He just lost a big conservative following.
Julia,
Stapp is a rank rookie. And it shows.
Not very bright.
Just what we need…more government.
YEA! Another layer of unfunded government whose obscure mission will be continually evolving to justify its existence. BTW, the feds determine when and where new military bases will be built or expanded. And government owns entirely too much land in Alaska already!
There are 9 bases in Alaska, why do we need more bases? With all the trouble they are having with recruitment how do they expect to man these new bases?
So bloat state government more? More beaucracy? More money wasted?
Alaska desperately needs “…advice, counsel, and recommendations on military issues and economic and industrial development related to military issues to the governor, state agencies, the Alaska Legislature, communities, and the state’s congressional delegation”.
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…so much more than, say,
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(a) tough laws banning squatting, ranked-choice voting, lockdowns and masking, public indecency including displays of transvestitism in public places where children may be present, vagrancy, Critical Race Theory, DEI, use of DEI or ESG policies to manipulate financial transactions, judicial interference in grand-jury investigations; disbursement of taxpayer funds, public welfare, and voting rights to illegal aliens;
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(b) tough legislation creating a mini-RICO law, making school funding dependent on school performance and student population; restricting drop-boxes and mail-in voting modelled on the Florida Election Code, Chapters 97 –106; restoring paper-only balloting at designated voting centers as the primary means of voting; requiring Alaska’s immediate separation from ERIC; requiring completion of city and state election results in 24 hours; removing Dominion vote-tabulation machinery operating on proprietary sofware; requiring individuals and NGO’s who import illegal aliens to be financially responsible for them and to receive no public funds for their support.
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Commissions? How about commissions to investigate what looks way too much like price fixing in airline tickets, cargo shipping rates, drug prices, fuel prices, and rates for all kinds of insurance? Maybe a commission to figure out what should be done to improve Alaska’s third-rate education industry besides painting it over with money?
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No… none of that.
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Somebody in Alaska’s lobbyist-legislator team just figured out there’s tons of money to be made if an Alaska Military Affairs Commission invites the military-industrial complex into Alaska to do… whatever, paid for by… whatever (remember our $34T debt?) and everybody liked it because the thing’s decorated with pearls like “bipartisan”, “veterans”, and “reach out”
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…and the Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans will shrink in horror as the fierce Biden Badas… (whoops!) flex their military might in Alaska.
With a few exceptions, conservatives voted for this. This is a HOUSE bill, but it still has to go thru the Democratic Senate. Wait and See.
It’s always a win/win situation when the state government works hand in hand with the local military organizations, active reserve and guard!!
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