Tuesday, February 26, 2008

THIS MORNING

An effort to clean up Utah's school buses is in HOUSE TRANSPORTATION this morning. The EPA awards grants to school districts to buy or retrofit clean school buses. HB146 (Johnson) requires Utah's Department of Environmental Quality to award matching grants to those districts. Another provision requires bus drivers to turn off the bus when they get to school. Idling within 100 feet of the school and for more than two minutes before departing would be prohibited — with some exceptions, for instance to operate heaters or air conditioners. Drivers who violated the new rules would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a minimum civil penalty of $100.

HB171 has passed the House and will be discussed in SENATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS. It restricts using Utah's driving privilege card for identification purposes. Under HB171, driving privilege cards, issued in place of drivers' licenses to drivers who lack Social Security numbers, could not be used as proof of age to buy guns, alcoholic beverages, raw materials for illegal drugs, or for any government purpose. Cardholders without car insurance could have their driving privilege cards suspended.

Today is the last day committees will meet in the AFTERNOON.

HOUSE REVENUE AND TAXATION will try again today to decide whether to approve HB355 (Ray), which would raise the cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack. The Legislature would be asked to consider using the extra revenue to increase reimbursement rates for the health care providers who serve Medicaid patients, and to provide medical coverage for the uninsured. Some of the money would pay for Department of Health cancer screening, and some for the Gold Medal Schools program, which provides physical activity and healthy nutrition to address overweight and obesity in elementary schools. Net metering will also be discussed in HOUSE REVENUE AND TAXATION. Substitute SB84 (Van Tassell) allows both homeowners and businesses to produce electricity using renewable sources and sell it back to the power company. This would encourage development of commercial-scale renewable energy projects.

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

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

Yesterday the Senate finally passed two comprehensive immigration bills. SB97, Immigration Task Force, sponsored by Senator Jenkins, passed 25-1 with three absent. The lone dissenting vote came from Senator Dayton. SB81, the much amended Illegal Immigration sponsored by Senator Hickman, passed 24-5. Senators Christensen, Davis, Fife, McCoy, and Romero voted no. Two very important final amendments were offered by Senator Jenkins and passed. They both said, "This bill takes effect on July 1, 2009". This delay of the effective date will give the Immigration Task Force time to do its work first. Both bills now go to the House. It will be interesting to see if House members accept the changes in SB81. Also there are still several single issue immigration bills going through the process. The Senate passed HB262, which would seek federal reimbursement for costs incurred in efforts to police illegal immigration.

Also of interest in the House was passage of Rep. Morgan's HB194 seeking K-3 class size reduction. It adds more accountability to the expenditure of grants from a $26 million fund. Rep. Morgan accepted an amendment from Rep. Newbold that would make adding parateachers as acceptable a method of reducing class size (or at least student-teacher ratios) as physical reduction. She pointed out that most schools in her district (South Jordan) would find it physically impossible to reduce class size by adding classrooms.

SB48 (Eastman) passed out of House Rev and Tax with a favorable recommendation on an 8-5 vote. This is the 4th substitute of Sen. Eastman's capital outlay equalization bill, which would, its proponents point out, have the effect of equalizing school districts capital outlay funds, even as Utah has already equalized WPU per pupil funding. It still has the separate, more costly formula for Salt Lake County, which was the main objection from those who spoke against it.

Rev and Tax also passed HB206 (Harper) with a unanimous recommendation, after much discussion. Besides making it easier for the state to collect sales tax from out of state customers, it would bring Utah into compliance with a streamlined sales tax compact already in force in several other states that makes the burden of paper work for taxes and audits less burdensome for business owners.

Sandy Peck
League of Women Voters