House Military Committee Advances Joint Armed Services Overhaul

The Alaska House Special Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs voted 6-0 Thursday to advance legislation modernizing the Joint Armed Services Committee, a 27-year-old legislative-civilian panel that has functioned more as a ceremonial body than an active working committee.

House Bill 382 updates statutes governing JASC. The committee adopted three amendments and rejected six others during a 59-minute hearing.

"The first few months of being co-chair of JASC, you're just trying to figure out who is on JASC," said Representative Andrew Gray, the bill's sponsor. He described confusion over appointment dates and who made the appointments.

Kyle Johansen, Gray's staff member, told the committee some current JASC members could not recall when they were appointed or by whom. One member thought a governor had appointed them when legislative leaders actually made the selection.

The committee adopted amendments requiring JASC to maintain Alaska's Declaration of Honor program for fallen service members, mandating invitations to senior military commanders for civilian-military meetings, and increasing minority party representation from one to two members in each chamber.

The bill increases JASC membership from 16 to 17 by creating separate seats for the Alaska Municipal League and Alaska Federation of Natives. The two organizations have shared a single rotating position for 27 years.

Members rejected proposals to require attendance at all federal base realignment meetings, remove Legislative Affairs Agency roster-tracking duties, and vacate all current civilian appointments.

The sharpest debate centered on whether to flush JASC's existing civilian membership and require reappointments. Representative Sadler said it would show disrespect to volunteers who had served for years. The amendment failed 2-4.

The bill now moves to the Alaska House State Affairs Committee.