Wednesday, January 17

This morning, legislators will be in committee debating bills about child support and Ritalin, sharing water with Nevada, car seats for kids and identity theft.

The HOUSE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE Committee (in W025 at 8 am) will discuss HB 15, which would allow the state Office of Recovery Services to suspend the driver's license of a person who was 60 days or more in arrears in paying child support. A temporary limited license would be issued if needed for work, school or child visitation.

Also in committee is HB 202, a so-called Ritalin bill. It prohibits teachers and other school employees from recommending to parents that they use psychotrophic medications for a child with behavioral problems such as attention deficit disorder. The bill also prohibits removing the child from a parent's custody due to the parent's refusing to use those medications.

The HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE, AND ENVIRONMENT Committee (in W125 at 8 am) will talk about sharing Snake Valley water in western Utah with Nevada. HJR 1 asks the Governor to involve citizens in developing an agreement with Nevada, and not to enter into that agreement until scientific studies are done.

HOUSE TRANSPORTATION (in W 135 at 8 am) will consider HB 209, which would require drivers to protect their passengers who are younger than 8 years of age and less than 57 inches tall by using a child restraint. Kids 8 and older and 57 inches tall or taller would also have to be protected by a child restraint or seat belt up to age 16. The current law requires this protection only for children 5 or younger.

SENATE WORKFORCE SERVICES AND COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in W015 at 9:30 am) will discuss SB 15, which would allow the Department of Workforce Services to deal with suspected identity theft by disclosing it to the victim and to law enforcement. Suspicious cases would include wages being reported by two or more individuals using the same Social Security number, or someone under the age of 18 with reported wages exceeding $1,000 for a single quarter.

SENATE REVENUE AND TAXATION ( in W130 at 8 am) will consider SB 18, which would divert part of the proceeds from the severance tax on oil, gas and mining into the permanent state trust fund and other accounts where they could be invested, which would reduce the General Fund by about $31 million a year. Currently all severance tax goes into the General Fund. The purpose is to make better use of revenue from resources that are non-renewable and will eventually be depleted. The committee will consider some new sales tax exemptions. SB 96 would exempt disposable home medical equipment or supplies and SB 37 would exempt dental prostheses.

SENATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS (in W020 at 8 am) will discuss SB 94. This bill would allow Special Service Districts to spend mineral lease funds on construction and maintenance of public facilities, and for government services and planning in order to mitigate the impacts of extractive industries. SB 97 would modify the 12-year limit on a Utah Constitutional Revision Commission members' terms to specify that the limit applies only if the 12 years are consecutive.

This afternoon Appropriations Subcommittees will begin talking about budgets. Those meetings are from 2 to 5.

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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