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HOUSE BILL NO. 279
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY REPRESENTATIVES EASTMAN, Kurka
Introduced: 1/18/22
Referred: House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs, Transportation, Finance
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
1 "An Act relating to commendation and recognition of individual veterans along certain
2 veterans' memorial roads and on certain veterans' memorial bridges."
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
4 * Section 1. AS 35.40.035 is amended by adding new subsections to read:
5 (h) The Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs shall accept nominations
6 from veterans' organizations identified under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(19) (Internal Revenue
7 Code) for commendation and for recognition of an individual veteran on a veterans'
8 memorial as provided in this section. A veterans' organization shall submit to the
9 Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, with a nomination for an individual
10 veteran under this subsection, a copy of the veteran's certificate of release or discharge
11 from active duty issued by the United States Department of Defense or a similar
12 document issued by a state or federal agency. On the first day of each legislative
13 session, the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs shall submit to the president
14 of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives a list of nominations
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1 received under this subsection during the previous calendar year, including, for each
2 nomination, the name of the veteran and the nominating veterans' organization. The
3 Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs may not submit the name of a living
4 veteran to the legislature unless the department receives approval from the veteran to
5 do so. The legislature may commend one or more nominees submitted under this
6 subsection in accordance with the provisions for adopting citations under the uniform
7 rules of the legislature. The commendation must include a designated veterans'
8 memorial where the individual veteran is to be recognized by a sign or marker. Within
9 five years after an individual veteran's commendation by the legislature, the
10 Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may not remove or replace the
11 veteran's name on a sign or marker under this section unless the legislature has
12 submitted instructions to the department for removing or replacing the veteran's name.
13 The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall make arrangements for
14 the design, posting, maintenance, and replacement of signs and other markers at or
15 near a veterans' memorial under this subsection.
16 (i) The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may accept gifts,
17 donations, and grants for the purpose of designing, posting, maintaining, and replacing
18 signs or other markers under (h) of this section. A donor may request that a gift,
19 donation, or grant be used for a specific veterans' memorial, and the Department of
20 Transportation and Public Facilities shall accommodate the donor's request to the
21 extent practicable. The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may not
22 (1) design, post, maintain, or replace a sign or other marker unless
23 there is adequate funding through gifts, donations, or grants received under this
24 subsection to cover the costs of designing, posting, maintaining, or replacing the sign
25 or other marker; or
26 (2) post a sign or marker if posting the sign or marker is inconsistent
27 with the standards and guidance of the current edition of the Alaska Traffic Manual
28 prepared by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities or the Manual on
29 Uniform Traffic Control Devices as adopted by the American Association of State
30 Highway Officials.
31 (j) The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall establish the
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1 initial placement of a sign or other marker in the order of the most recent veteran
2 commended by the legislature under (h) of this section, unless otherwise provided by
3 law.
4 (k) Nothing in (h) - (j) of this section shall be construed to limit the authority
5 of the state or a veterans' organization to perform an action otherwise permitted by
6 law.
7 (l) In this section, "veteran" means a person who served in the uniformed
8 services, the National Guard of the United States, the Alaska State Defense Force, the
9 Alaska Territorial Guard, and the Alaska Naval Militia, and who received an
10 honorable discharge.
11 * Sec. 2. AS 37.05.146(c) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read:
12 (80) gifts, donations, and grants received by the Department of
13 Transportation and Public Facilities for the purpose of designing, posting, maintaining,
14 and replacing signs under AS 35.40.035(i).
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Statutes affected:
HB0279A, AM HB 279, introduced 01/18/2022: 35.40.035, 37.05.146