Tuesday, January 16, 2007

 

 

It will be a busy Day Two at the Legislature.  All standing committees meet this morning between 8 and 10 or this afternoon from 2 to 4.   On the House and Senate floor from 10 until noon, legislators will get started on final passage of bills they approved in interim committees this past year. They'll caucus over lunch from 12 to 2.  The Governor's State of the State Address will be at 6:30 this evening at the Utah Air National Guard Base, 765 North 2200 West. That address will be broadcast.

 

MORNING COMMITTEES       (8 am to 10)

               HOUSE POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS (in W125 at 8 o'clock) will vote on HJR 2, a resolution supporting Governor Huntsman's goal of improving energy efficiency in Utah by 20% by the year 2015.  The committee also will consider HB 69, a bill that requires charter schools to abide by county and city land use plans and to meet geologic hazard and environmental standards.

 

               The SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE (in W130 at 8:47) will debate SB 90, which appropriates $10.5 million from the General Fund to Utah's nine higher education institutions.  The money is for new or expanded degree programs and additional personnel.  This bill also proposes to exempt higher education from state spending caps.  Currently public education and transportation are exempt from this year's 5 percent limit on new spending, but higher education is limited by the cap..

  

               SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (in W020 at 8 a.m.) will consider SB 42, which authorizes the Department of Health to develop a Medicaid preferred drug list.  The fiscal note on the bill estimates that a list covering just six categories of drugs could save over $3 million in state funds and $7.8 million federal dollars in Fiscal Year 2008, lowering co-pays by 25 percent.  Savings could increase as more drugs are added.

 

               HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS (in W010 at 8:30 ) will discuss HB 71, an election law bill.  During the last election some voters voted straight "Personal Choice," not realizing that was the name of a political party. HB 71 would require the word "party" to be included on the ballot at the end of the name of each party in the straight party section.

 

               HOUSE WORKFORCE SERVICES AND COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in W025 at 8 a.m.) will consider a child support bill, HB 18.  It allows a court to approve collection of child support by methods other than withholding income from a parent's paycheck.. Regular electronic transfer of funds or deposits into checking accounts for the child would be allowed.

 

 

AFTERNOON COMMITTEES (2 to 4 pm)

 

               HOUSE EDUCATION (in W135 at 2 pm) will vote on money bills.  HB 3 sets ceilings for Minimum School Program appropriations and for the amount of state property tax that can be levied for education this year.  HB 68 authorizes $900,000 to compensate school districts for revenue they lose by waiving school fees for students unable to pay the fees.  HB 79 deals with concurrent enrollment, the program that allows high school students to take college level courses.  It makes the program a separate line item, and ties it to the weighted pupil unit, so that funding can increase as the WPU and number of students increases.  It also allocates 60 % of program funds to local school boards and 40% to the State Board of Regents.

 

               HOUSE PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY (in W025 at 2 pm) will vote on HB 59, which extends the Utah International Trade Commission for 10 more years to 2017.  HB 50 would add inappropriate violence in videos and electronic games to the list of  material harmful to minors. "Inappropriate violence" is defined as appealing to minors' morbid interest, patently offensive to the adult community and without serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.

 

               SENATE JUDICIARY, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE (in W130 at 2 pm) will consider SB 86, which would repeal the criminal libel statute found unconstitutional by the Utah Supreme Court and repeals the Criminal Code offense of slander regarding female chastity. Also on the agenda are SB 38, which increases the number of juvenile court judges in the third judicial district to ten.  SB 35 enacts a Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act, and SB 23 would update child support amount guidelines.

 

               SENATE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY (in W020 at 2 pm) will consider SB 100, which exempts vehicles with Purple Heart special license plates from license and registration fees.  SB 84 would allow persons to report drivers that they believe are impaired to the Driver License Division and allow the division to require medical reports or tests for the reported driver.  Those reporting could request that their identity not be disclosed, but it would be a class C misdemeanor to report a person with the intent to annoy, intimidate or harass.  

               SB 17 proposes various amendments to the traffic code dealing with speed limits, unmarked cars, slow drivers in the passing lane, how long to signal a turn and what behaviors, such as using cellphones, mark a careless driver. 

               SB 36 repeals the provision that makes a seatbelt violation for a person 19 years of age or older enforceable only as a secondary action when the person is detained for another offense. This bill, long sponsored by Senator Karen Hale is now being sponsored by Senator Patricia Jones.

 

 

Sandy Peck

League of Women Voters, 3804 Highland Drive 8-D, Salt Lake City UT 84106

801.272-8683   fax  801.272-5942  www.lwvutah.org

 

 

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