"Senate Bill 99 will eliminate confusion by placing in our statutes clear answers to two major questions as we prepare for the United States census in the year 2000 and the subsequent redrawing of legislative district boundaries," Senator Kelly stated. "It will end the discriminatory practices of previous redistricting boards and direct that census numbers derived from estimates or adjustments based on statistical sampling will not be used to redraw district lines."

Senator Kelly said that the 1959 Alaska Constitution directed that only the "civilian" population be considered when the boundaries for State House and State Senate districts were drawn. He recalled that during the 1960's, redistricting boards ignored the presence of members of the Armed Forces completely while later boards assigned various percentage values to service members.

"In 1970's, each soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, and Coast Guardsman in Alaska was counted as 11% of a resident while in the 1980's they were counted as 35% of other Alaskans," he explained. "That's even worse discrimination than used before the Civil War when slaves were counted at only 60% of a person for Congressional apportionment."

Senator Kelly noted that the redistricting board in 1990 was the only one to count members of the military equally with other residents and that the voters removed the word "civilian" from the redistricting section of the Alaska Constitution in 1998. Kelly wants to make sure that it remains that way.

"Today, Alaskans recognize that occupational discrimination is just as wrong as discrimination based on race, religion, sex, age, color, or national origin," he stated. "But court decisions from old legal challenges to previous redistricting boards might still be used as an excuse to undercount our neighbors in the military. Senate Bill 99 will establish a statutory bar to future redistricting discrimination and insure that the men and women serving here in our Armed Forces will not be treated as second-class Alaskans."

Senator Kelly said that SB 99 will also clarify questions regarding which numbers from the United States Bureau of the Census will be used by future redistricting boards to reapportion Alaska's Legislature.

"Some people have been actively arguing that statistical sampling and estimates should replace the actual head count of every American in the decennial census," he observed. "Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited the use of sampling or estimated figures in reapportioning the seats in the U. S. House of Representatives. But that decision left the door open for the Census Bureau to develop figures through sampling and estimates and make them available to the states along with the results of the traditional count." This bill will close that door in Alaska for purposes of Legislative reapportionment.

"If the Census Bureau's report of the decennial census includes more than one figure for Alaska, SB 99 will facilitate the work of the redistricting board and avoid litigation over the plan they produce. SB 99 would prohibit them from using any numbers produced by estimates or sampling adjustments and directs them to use only the results of the actual count of the Alaska population, just as the Nation has been doing for 210 years," Senator Kelly concluded.

Broadcasters note: Audio comments are available on the Majority Actuality line, 1-800-478-6540
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