Friday, January 29

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

Today’s schedule on Capitol Hill includes committee meetings from 8 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. House and Senate floor debate is from 10 a.m. to noon.

At 10:00, on the Capitol Steps, Governor Herbert, Mayors Becker and Coroon, and other Salt Lake County mayors will hold a press conference about their Clean Air projects.

MORNING COMMITTEES

In HOUSE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, two bills, HB 88 and HB71, will be debated. They’re aimed at preventing smoking and nicotine use, particularly by young people. HB 88 emphasizes restricting the use of electronic cigarettes, devices that heat nicotine solutions to form a vapor that can be inhaled. At issue are health effects and the addictive nature of nicotine.

Also before HHS is HB 200, which spells out what kinds of informed consent information Rep. Wimmer thinks should be offered to women seeking abortions, particularly ultrasound images of the fetus, and effects of abortion on the fetus.

SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT will consider SB 20. It allows creation of local districts to develop and carry out plans for managing and banking groundwater in cooperation with the State Engineer, who oversees allocation of Utah’s water supply.

AFTERNOON COMMITTEES

HOUSE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE will have a chance to reconsider Substitute HB 78, Weapons Revisions. Representative Sandstrom’s revision aims to clarify when the use of force, or the threat of force, is necessary to defend a person against someone else’s imminent use of unlawful force.

It says that a person may display a dangerous weapon, or tell another person that he possesses a weapon, if he believes it’s necessary to prevent death, serious injury or commission of a forcible felony. Otherwise displaying a weapon in a threatening manner would be a Class A felony.

HOUSE TRANSPORTATION will consider a bicycle bill. HB 91, Traffic Control Signs for Bicycles, proposes rules for bicycles to either stop or just slow down at red lights or stop signs.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

from Sherilyn Bennion

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee passed out with a favorable recommendation HJR 2 and HB 54 (Painter), both of which provide a property tax exemption for water facilities.

The House passed SB 33, which permits nonprofit organizations to use Capitol meeting rooms free of charge during the legislative session. However, it also contains a provision that would impose a $50 fee on these groups for lunchtime meetings that did not use food from a "preferred caterer."

The House defeated HB 79 (Poulson) after a long discussion. This bill would have allowed Medicare cards as valid voter I.D. at polling places. Rep. Daw saw a potential for mistakes or fraud. Rep. Frank emphasized that voting was a privilege not to be taken lightly and added, "A little inconvenience is almost a qualifier for voting," as he noted that seniors had the option of obtaining a state I.D. card. The vote was 27 for and 47 against.

From Jenn Gonnelly:

For Healthcare issues, it was a quiet day on the hill.

S.B. 41 Drug Utilization Review Board Amendments (Knudson, P.) was heard in the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. Sen. Knudson substituted the original bill to make administrative clarifications and it passed favorably out of committee with a unanimous vote. This bill allows for the cost of a drug to be taken into consideration in choosing drugs that will be considered for the Utah State Preferred Drug List (PDL). This board has been described as the clinic review of drugs, and that the PDL is a more administrative review.

Sandy Peck