When the final gavel hits the Speaker's dais this week, Representative Gail Phillips will walk off the Floor of the Alaska House of Representatives for the last time (unless there is a Special Session). During her tenure she served as Majority Leader, Speaker of the House and member of the Finance, Oil and Gas and World Trade Committees and chair of Economic Development and Legislative Budget and Audit Committees. She is an executive member of the Council of State Government-West and the National Energy Council Executive Committee.

It is amazing to me that the last 10 years have gone by so quickly; but what is even more amazing to me is how much progress we have made, especially in our District.

When I reflect back ten years ago on the first day of my first Session, I left behind a much different southern Kenai Peninsula. The Sterling Highway was a country road; the Seward Highway was a twisted dangerous roadway; East End Road was not paved; West Elementary School, Skyview High School, Homer Ferry Terminal were not even on the drawing board; the Spit Road was in very poor condition, South Peninsula Hospital was two-thirds its original size and senior housing was at a premium.

Elsewhere on the Peninsula the Kenai Spur Road, Funny River Road, Tote Road, and Cohoe Loop needed improvement. New senior centers, senior housing, Department of Transportation facilities, courthouses, fire training facilities, parks and campground facilities are just a few enhancements we accomplished in recent years. Senator Ted Stevens was very cooperative and open to our many requests for millions of federal dollars for our roads, visitor centers, ferry terminals, Seward Sealife Center, Kenai Challenger Center, Kodiak Launch Site, National Maritime Wildlife Refuge Headquarters and the spruce bark beetle battles to name just a few. He has been a true friend of the Kenai Peninsula for many years.

From the first days of my tenure, schools, roads and senior citizen programs have been my priority for the home front. When I leave my Homer Office on my last day in December as your Representative, I'm going to take a long drive around the entire Peninsula and admire at all of the projects we were able to accomplish.

Alaska is such a young state compared to the rest of the United States, but look what we have created in just our 41 years of statehood. Schools, roads, airports, harbors and ports, ferry terminals, satellite launch sites, health care facilities, universities . . . very important components of our state. And even more amazing is that all of these are spread out over 586,412 square miles of mountain ranges, glacial fields, ocean currents and tides, permafrost, and vast wilderness areas. These obstacles would make meeker statesmen throw up their hands and say, "no way" can we build an 800-mile pipeline across frozen tundra or blast a road through a mountain. But not Alaskans! I'm very proud of the record of accomplishment of the Legislative members I've served with for their guts and determination to construct a foundation for our future Alaskans to build upon.

On the state-wide front my goals included development and maintenance for our infrastructure needs such as roads, schools, power and utilities; resource development to lessen our dependence on oil, opening ANWR, and reduction of government bureaucracy while retaining essential services.

My colleagues and I have worked hard to address education, juvenile crime, and child protection. Major tort reform legislation was passed after many years of controversy, as was the settlement of our Mental Health Land Trust and long overdue oil tax settlements. A law entitled SB 36 created a more equitable distribution of state monies to local schools for educational and special education needs. Standards for teachers and students were put into place to ensure a level of competency for both. Child protection programs received major funding for social workers, foster parenting, early intervention in abuse and neglect cases and adoption proceedings. The 'Healthy Children" program extended healthcare coverage to the neediest of Alaska's children and simplified the application process.

During the past two years, I concentrated on our state's deficit spending and sponsored legislation this Session and last for a balanced approach to solving this dilemma once and for all. The legislation required an enormous amount of research, hours and hours of meetings and consultation with financial experts. Over the summer I will be chairing the committee that will study and recommend ways and means to find alternative dollar sources for our state coffers to help fill our fiscal gap.

While I won't be serving you as your legislator after December, I can hardly imagine that I won't still be involved in many issues before our state today. If biennial budgeting can be adopted and we start saving money operating our government, we will need to turn our attention to making money. On this front I'm very optimistic. Among all of the 50 states, Alaska is unique with its untapped resource wealth and the ingenuity of its people. Mining, oil and gas development, commercial fishing, timber and agriculture, shellfish mariculture, tourism and technology all hold great promise for future Alaskans. Value-added seafood processing and timber products hold great potential and there is no reason that Alaska can't be a leader in any or all of these industries in the years to come.

It has been a very rewarding and exciting experience to serve as your Legislator these past 10 years. I look forward to seeing all my good friends on the Peninsula this summer and I hope you will visit my office in Homer if you have the chance. Thank you for the honor you have given me serving as your Representative.

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