Tuesday, February 5 , 2008

MORNING COMMITTEES

Federal versus state control of public education programs is under discussion in the SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE this morning. Under SB162, the governor and the legislature would have to approve agreements with the federal government that called for school officials to implement costly federal programs. The Governor and Legislature could void agreements that lacked proper approval.

HOUSE POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS is looking at regulating building in hazard areas. HB177 would authorize cities and counties to pass ordinances to protect life or prevent property loss or damage by regulating land use and development in flood plains or potential geologic hazard areas. The bill also asks counties to provide a panel of experts whenever anyone adversely affected by the ordinance appeals a land use decision. Applicants would pay half the cost of the panel.

HB155 is in HOUSE REVENUE AND TAXATION. It would increase the size of residential property that can qualify for the 45 percent reduction in fair market value for property tax assessment purposes. Currently the property must be one acre or less. Under HB155 the size limit could be equal to the minimum allowed under local zoning ordinances, up to 5 acres.

AFTERNOON

The HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE will hear HB330, a request for $700,000 for the Department of Health. The department would provide grants to local public and private agencies to pay for child development and school readiness services for economically disadvantaged children and families. Part of the money would supplement funding for Head Start programs currently funded by the federal government.

HB298, Transit Fare Reduction, is in HOUSE BUSINESS AND LABOR this afternoon. It would require public transit districts to charge no fare on red air quality alert days and charge half fare on yellow air quality alert days. The purpose is to attract more transit riders and improve air quality. One question is whether UTA could afford the fare breaks. Another is how well such plans in other cities have worked.

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

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

HB169, a bill that sets up a Renewable Energy Task Force was approved unanimously yesterday by the SENATE WORKFORCE SERVICES AND COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE. The Task Force will identify locations with good renewable energy resources, and establish an entity to facilitate transmission lines needed to carry renewable energy to the electric power grid. They are to make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by November 2008. HB169 passed with the understanding that sponsor Senator Dennis Stowell would add a consumer representative to the task force. Senator Madsen asked why nuclear energy was not included in the bill. Answer: Nuclear energy is not considered renewable.

SB81, the omnibus illegal immigration bill sponsored by Senator John Hickman, was scheduled for SENATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS yesterday morning but was not discussed. This may have been due to bad weather, or a decision by the sponsor that some changes were needed first. Sometimes, if it seems unlikely that one committee will approve a bill, it's sent to a friendlier committee. That decision is up to the Senate Rules Committee, which as it happens Senator Hickman chairs.

Senator Carlene Walker has been in touch with advocates for clean air who were puzzled by actions of the Transportation, Environmental Quality, and National Guard Appropriations Subcommittee. They seemed to have voted to fund air quality planning at $1.5 million instead of the $2.21 million recommended by the Legislative Analyst. She says: "We take testimony from each department one day and take a
PRELIMINARY vote at the next committee meeting. Because the request had changed drastically since we had met with DEQ last summer we approved the previous amount and asked for further backup as to why they needed more money. We had not been told about the federal cuts. We have now met with the head of DEQ . and they will be speaking to the whole committee to see if they can justify the large increase in request. The final votes should be taken toward the end of the week. I hope that helps in explaining the process."

Sandy Peck
League of Women Voters