Tuesday, February 16, 2010

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

Standing committees are debating bills from 8 to 10 and 2 to 5 today.

Appropriations subcommittees have finished their budget work, but Executive Appropriations meets today and tomorrow at 5 in Senate room 210.

MORNING FLOOR DEBATE is from 10 to noon.

Both House and Senate will hear U.S. Senator Hatch this morning.

Both houses have “time certain” debates.

At 10:10 the House discusses HJR24, Joint Resolution on Equal Treatment by Government, a proposed amendment to the Utah Constitution. HJR24 would prohibit discrimination against individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin with respect to public employment, public education, or public contracting. It has drawn opposition because it also would prohibit preferential treatment, that is, affirmative action, for individuals, especially minorities and women, who have been denied those opportunities in the past.

At 11:00 the Senate discusses two resolutions, SCR3 and SJR6, that declare state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. These declarations would let the President, Congress, and other states know how the Legislature feels but do not change Utah law.

In MORNING COMMITTEES

HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS will consider HB287, which would keep legislator’s daily pay at $117 with no raise until the end of 2011, and HB288, which proposes to end Daylight Savings Time in Utah.

SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES may debate Substitute HB67, which prevents implementation of federal health care reform unless specifically authorized by the Legislature. It’s number 6 on their agenda.

In AFTERNOON COMMITTEES

HB243 will be before HOUSE BUSINESS AND LABOR. It spells out rights and procedures for tenants who live in rental properties about to be sold due to foreclosure.

Number 8 on their agenda is HB66, which would require health insurers to cover prosthetic devices such as artificial legs.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST FRIDAY

In House Health and Human Services

Jenn Gonnelly Reporting:

HB0196 Tobacco Tax Revisions (P. Ray) passed out favorably with 5 yeas (Beck, Menlove, Ray, Riesen, Vickers) 2 nays (Daw, Sandstrom) and none absent. This bill would raise the tax on all tobacco products sold in Utah. Among other rate hikes is a tax increase on a pack of cigarettes from 69 cents to $1.70. It also has a built in escalator to bring up the tax rate to match the national average without further action by the legislature. There were equal numbers speaking against the bill and for it. Those speaking againstm including the Utah Taxpayer Association and the Sutherland Institute cited the narrow base and high tax rate as bad tax policy. Additionally they pointed out that the bill could be seen as social engineering through tax policy.

HB0186 Controlled Substance Database Revisions (R. Menlove) passed out with a favorable recommendation unanimously and was placed on the consent calendar, It permits employees of the Division of Health Care Financing, within the Department of Health, who are designated by the director of the Division of Health Care Financing, to have access to information in the controlled substance database regarding the prescription of controlled substances that are paid for, in whole or in part, with public funds.

HB0299 Amendments Related to Substances Harmful to Pregnancy (R. Menlove) passed out with a favorable recommendation unanimously and was placed on the consent calendar. After January 1, 2010, an alcohol retailer must display, in a prominent place, a sign in large letters that consists of text in the following order: a header that reads: "WARNING"; a warning statement that reads: "Drinking alcoholic beverages during pregnancy can cause birth defects and permanent brain damage for the child." Attorney General Mark Shurtleff spoke in favor of this bill in the name of his daughter.

In the Utah Constitutional Revision Commission

Sandy Peck Reporting:

HJR24, Joint Resolution on Equal Treatment by Government was considered by the CRC on Friday, shortly after being approved by the BUSINESS AND LABOR COMMITTEE. HJR24 would put the non-discrimination language of the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act into the Utah Constitution as applied to government education, employment and contracting. It also would bar preferential treatment, affirmative action such as outreach and recruitment, for groups discriminated against.

The Commission did not approve or disapprove HJR24, largely because the bill had just popped up that day with no chance to study it. They did thank Rep Oda for bringing it to the commission.

Their concerns included lack of public outcry or evidence that the bill was needed, the fact that provisions are already in statute and should be modified there, and that important programs that reach out to minorities and women would be hampered.

Judge Memmott wondered why religion was not included in the list of characteristics that should not be a basis of discrimination, especially in Utah. One answer was that religion is a choice – unlike race or gender. State Board of Education attorney Carol Lear and Representatives Allen and Menlove discussed how to distinguish preferential treatment without harming targeted outreach.

The most interesting discussion concerned the difference between Utah’s Constitution and California’s. California voters can initiate constitutional amendments, but in Utah only the legislature can initiate amendments, although the people then vote on them. Commissioner Tew said that means the legislature needs to study carefully any amendments they recommend.

Senator McAdams said he particularly opposed the legislature using the Utah Constitution as a “political trump card.” [Note: an example might be putting an independent ethics commission in the Constitution (and rulels) inhere only the legislature can initiate change instead of in statute.] In contrast, he described the California Constitution a “living, breathing document,” that allows amendments initiated by the voters.

Sandy Peck