Friday, January 26, 2007

This Morning:

Today HOUSE POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS (W125 at 8:30) continues Monday's discussion of HB 222, which provides that public bodies must give public notice on the Internet of their meetings. The bill also appears to repeal the old ways of posting a printed notice at the office of the public body and in a widely circulated newspaper, and this sparked further debate.

Another public hearing bill is in HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS (8:15 in W010)

HB 257 allows small special districts with budgets less than $50,000 to keep either written minutes or a recording of their open public meetings. Most other government bodies must keep both written and recorded minutes, which some small districts can't afford. The written minutes are the official ones.

HB 109, also in committee, says a municipality can't dispose of a parcel, or a set of contiguous parcels, of real property without getting voter approval first if the property's market value is $1 million or more.

Voter registration on Election Day would be allowed by HB 287. Now voters must register by the week before the election. Under HB 287 county election clerks would have to let voters who had missed all deadlines know they still have a chance to register on Election Day at their precinct. Clerks also would have to let voters know when their voter registration applications--submitted by mail, with a driver's license form or through a voter registration agency--are late or incomplete , and tell them that they are not registered but can register on Election Day. Voters could also change party affiliation on Election Day, but with an exception on or before primary elections.

This afternoon

HOUSE EDUCATION (W135 at 2) will consider HB 77, which suggests ways high school students who fail all subsets of the Basic Skills Competency Test required for graduation could appeal and find other ways to earn a diploma. The State Board of Education would set the rules for alternatives such as extra courses, remediation, teacher recommendations and above average grade point averages.

HOUSE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (W125 at 2) will vote on HB 312, which raises the tax on a barrel of beer from $12.80 to $16.11 after July 1, 2007. The new revenue, over $2 million a year, would go to a good cause--a restricted account to be used for Department of Health Childhood Early Intervention programs.

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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