Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Payday lending and financial stability for low and moderate income Utahns, carbon gasification, teacher shortages and quality, mathematics education, health care for the uninsured, public transit and the gas tax are just a few of the topics legislators are considering this interim day.

MORNING COMMITTEES

BUSINESS AND LABOR (9 am in W125) plans a discussion of payday lending with testimony from borrowers, lenders and regulators, to guide committee action. The committee will also consider legislation to help low and moderate income Utahns become more stable and independent through financial services and education.

PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY (9 am in W015) is considering a plan for a carbon gasification plant including participation in a multi-state project. Experts from Environmental Research Institute, University of California Riverside, Viresco Energy Technology and Pacificorp will speak. Also a new online application process for energy resource extraction permits will be discussed.

EDUCATION (9 am in W135) will hear recommendations addressing Utah's teacher shortage, plus an annual report on teacher quality. They'll discuss how to pay for school facilities, now funded by property tax plus state funds, and hear about a revised elementary mathematics curriculum recently discussed in public hearings. Mathematicians, math teachers, university math educators and the state office of education participated in the revision.

In HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (9 am to noon in W020) access to health care coverage for the 11.9% of Utahns who are uninsured will take up the entire morning. Increasing access for children and for small business employees, through existing public programs or other options, will get special attention.

The committee will hear the Department of Health's idea for a Utah Health Insurance Exchange, an approach similar to the Massachusetts Connector. The United Way Financial Stability Council, Utah Health Policy Project, Utah Health Insurance Association, Utah Medical Association and Utah Hospital Association will testify, too.

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS (9 am in W025) will be updated on the current 5-year plan for new state office space needs, plus a proposed master plan. They'll also address which voter registration information should be private under GRAMA - specifically date of birth. Driver license, ID card and Social Security numbers are already classified as private.

POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS ( 9 am, W130) will be briefed on Quality Growth Commission activities, review local referenda issues, and study whether to require counties and municipalities to adopt an ordinance protecting their public drinking water sources.

They'll discuss a study of whether municipal legislative bodies should provide advice and consent on dismissal of local government executive branch appointees such as department heads, boards and planning commissions.

Also on the agenda are studies of compensation for property taken by eminent domain when nothing is built on the property and of requiring voter approval when a municipality disposes of property worth $1 million or more.

AFTERNOON COMMITTEES

TRANSPORTATION (2 to 4 pm in W015) will discuss a proposal from the last session (HB 166) for the Department of Transportation to run public transit instead of UTA, the Utah Transit Authority. UTA's Board President and General Counsel will testify. The committee also wants to study the gas tax and whether it should be replaced (in part or entirely) with a cent-per-mile-driven charge, a flexible excise tax, or another funding mechanism.

The agenda for REVENUE AND TAXATION (2 to 4 pm in W135) includes implementing the new flat tax law, proposals for a uniform statewide sales tax rate, how to broaden the base of items and services subject to the sales tax, and an overview of the role of the property tax in funding local government including new school construction. Information from other states about weighting the sales factor of the corporate income tax will be presented as well.

NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT (2 pm in W125) will hear the latest on Utah's snowpack conditions and reports from the directors of the departments of Environmental Quality, Agriculture and Food, and Natural Resources.

WORKFORCE SERVICES AND COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (2 to 4 pm in

W025) will discuss what public assistance benefits are available through the state department of Workforce Services and the federal Family Employment Program.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2 pm in W020) will consider changes and recommendations for legislative action made by the state Department of Corrections in response to a recent Legislative Audit. The sex offender registry and reimbursing county jails for housing state inmates are also on the agenda.

JUDICIARY (2 pm in W130) will discuss Custodial Interrogations, Criminal Case Judgment Collections, and Custody in Cases of Sexual Offense, remittance deadlines for public funds and accounts, and Title 78 recodification.

Sandy Peck

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