Monday, February 25, 2008

MORNING COMMITTEES

Immigration bills will again be debated in the Senate this morning. Second Substitute SB81, Illegal Immigration, (Hickman) containing amendments made last week, passed a first vote and is circled, awaiting a third reading vote. SB97, Immigration Task Force (Jenkins) is also on the calendar. Video and audio of the debate are available at www.le.utah.gov.

IN COMMITTEE

HOUSE REVENUE AND TAXATION will discuss Third Substitute SB48, (Eastman) a proposal that attempts to equalize the cost of building and renovating schools in all school districts in the state. SB48 has already passed the Senate. It not only proposes to equalize property tax, but also would include in the equalization fund $28.5 million from income tax revenue dedicated to public and higher education. A similar proposal, HB383, would equalize property tax across school districts without using income tax revenue. Also in committee are HB206 (Harper), which streamlines the sales tax to make it easier for Utah to collect sales tax from on-line out-of-state purchasers, and HB355 (Ray), a 50 cent per pack increase in the cigarette tax.

SENATE EDUCATION will review Substitute HB123 (Ferry), which adds $1 million to the accelerated learning programs appropriation. The extra money would send those programs to charter schools and small districts with small classes as well as to other public schools.

SB297, Animal Torture and Cruelty Amendments (Christensen) will be debated in SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. Under this bill, it would be a third degree felony to intentionally or knowingly torture a dog or cat. Substitute HB330 provides extra funds for Head Start and grants to other organizations that provide school readiness services to disadvantaged children and their families.

THIS AFTERNOON

in HOUSE EDUCATION, under a HB418 (Last) at least 75% of the medical students in an entering class at the University of Utah Medical School would have to be Utah residents. And HB414 (Cosgrove) calls on school districts, charter schools and other state agencies in first and second class counties to recycle their paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and steel and aluminum cans.

For more information, visit your legislature — in person or online at www.le.utah.gov

WHAT HAPPENED FRIDAY

Immigration laws occupied the Senate for much of last week. On Thursday, several amendments were made to SB81, the omnibus Illegal Immigration bill. A lot of the discussion was about unintended consequences and innocent people being punished for harboring or transporting undocumented immigrants, which would be illegal under SB81. Would landlords who rented to them be harboring? Would charities that sheltered them or transported them to church or to the grocery be liable?

Some of the amendments clarified that only acting for commercial advantage or private personal gain (such as transporting across the border for a fee) would be against the law under SB81. To be doubly sure landlords were protected, Senators added "knowingly harboring with the intent to violate federal immigration law."

Another big concern was that the e-verify electronic federal system used to avoid hiring undocumented workers by matching them with Social Security numbers isn't always accurate. Would employers be held accountable for the feds' mistake? SB81 did pass Second Reading on Thursday. The vote was 21-8, basically along party lines. But it must still pass Third Reading, probably today. Even some who voted for it said they really preferred the task force bill, SB97. That passed Second Reading on Friday and also should be up for a final vote today.

It was interesting to see over the weekend in the Deseret Morning News that Hispanic community groups met and discussed the idea of asking Governor Huntsman to veto SB81 should it pass both houses. Reading the newspaper online gives some insight into public opinion because readers can add comments to an article — 123 comments and counting for this article. Comments on earlier articles seemed to simply complain "illegal, illegal, illegal" as the reason we need legislation. Comments on this latest article made it very clear that competition for jobs is a major factor. We know that immigrants — whether legal or illegal — competing for jobs and working for less because they're poor has been a fact of life for years. But the lack of documentation and a slowing economy no doubt make the situation worse.

As for a veto by the governor, this particular group of commenters agreed that would definitely not be a good idea.

Sandy Peck
League of Women Voters