Alaska State Legislature
News from the House Majority

Jerry Ritter, House Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801
Phone: (907) 465-3804
web site: http://www.akrepublicans.org
Actuality line: 1-800-478-6540

Senate Joins House in Support for Servicemen and Women

Airport Courtesy Lounges Would be Rent Free

For Immediate Release: April 17, 1998 Contact: Rep. Beverly Masek at (907) 465-2679.

Juneau -- The Alaska Senate Friday unanimously passed House Bill 362, sponsored by the House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs. HB 362 would require that whenever an airport military courtesy lounge is operated by a non-profit agency in a state-owned or -controlled airport, the State must provide that space at no charge.

"This bill demonstrates a commitment by the State to make sure our military servicemen and -women will always have a place where they'll feel welcome as they travel through Alaska," said Representative Beverly Masek (R-Willow), Chair of the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee. "Each year, more than 20-thousand servicemen and -women and their dependents use the Anchorage International Airport Military Lounge, which is operated at no cost to the State by the Anchorage Armed Services YMCA. And that's just one airport of many," Masek said.

House Bill 362, "an Act relating to the use of space in state-owned airports for military lounges," now goes to the governor for signature.

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