Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Legislators are meeting on Capitol Hill today from 9 to noon and from 2 to 5 to decide what issues to study and to preview bills that may come before the 2008 legislature. Public comment on the issues is scheduled for most committees.

MORNING COMMITTEES

The EDUCATION Committee (9 am in W135) will review laws that passed last session, with special attention to HB 381 - Professional Excellence, which creates various programs to improve the quality of instruction and student achievement. A $3 million dollar electronic student achievement and management data system was authorized, so the process for requesting proposals and awarding a contract for that will be discussed.

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS (9 am in W025) will look at how the Department of Administrative Services contributes to efficient and effective government. An election law that is about to expire allows voters to pick a political party when they go to the polls to vote in a primary election. The committee will decide whether to keep that law or to ask voters to declare party affiliation with the county clerk 30 days before the primary. The committee will also consider studying public financing of legislative campaigns, an agreement among states to elect the President by National Popular vote, and a comparison of the wages of Utah's corrections officers with those in surrounding states.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (9 am in W020) will hear which issues the departments of Health and Human Services would like the committee to study. Then it will be briefed on the status of Utah's health insurance market and on federal court oversight of Utah's child welfare system.

BUSINESS AND LABOR (w125) has asked departments under its oversight to suggest potential legislation. It will hear from Insurance, Commerce, the Labor Commission., Alcoholic Beverage Control, and the Department of Financial Institutions. The committee will then consider their priorities, including bills that did not pass the last session but were sent instead to interim study.

POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS (9 am in W130) will continue it's efforts to recodify the law on Special Districts and plans to study the qualifications of members of Special District boards of trustees.

PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY (9 am in W015)After a brief report of bills passed last session the committee will decide g which issues to study during the interim and hear a discussion of Internet pornography filtering.

AFTERNOON COMMITTEES

REVENUE AND TAXATION (2 pm in W135) plans to look at legislation needed to implement SB 223, the omnibus tax bill that will cut the sales tax and the food tax and will establish a single rate income tax with graduated credits. Rep. Scott Wyatt will talk about his bill that proposes to let counties decide how to distribute their local option sales tax in ways that would preserve open space and farmland.

NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT (2 pm in W 125) will hear about the status of the proposal to divide Snake Valley water with Nevada, about efforts to eradicate the Japanese beetle in Utah, and a discussion of potential water forfeiture issues.

JUDICIARY (2 pm in W 130) plans to look at items that were sent to interim study plus other recommendations, which include the burgeoning prison population, tort reform, and presumptive personal representatives.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2 pm in W020) will hear a staff review of the past general session. Then Scott Carver, Director of the Utah Sentencing Commission will brief the committee on the background and status of the death penalty in Utah on lethal injection issues.

TRANSPORTATION (2 pm in W015) will be briefed on the purposes for metropolitan planning organizations and will hear reports from four of them: The Wasatch Front Regional Council, Mountainland Association of Governments, Dixie Metropolitan Planning Organization and Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization. They will also hear about potential impacts of the federal REAL ID ACT, which federalizes driver licenses.

WORKFORCE SERVICES AND COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (2 pm in W025) has scheduled overviews from the Department of Community and Culture, and Department of Workforce Services, along with a report from the Governor's Office of Economic Development. They will also review last session legislation and make interim study recommendations

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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