Thursday, January 24, 2008

MORNING COMMITTEES

A plan to improve health care for Medicaid and CHIP recipients is in SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES this morning. SB133 focuses on cost savings through managed care, primary care, and stabilizing patients with chronic medical conditions. Health care providers would receive incentives to encourage appropriate use of expensive specialty care and emergency room services and to provide services outside of regular business hours or on weekends. A health care quality forum in 2009 and training and technical assistance are also in the plan.

SB62 - Medical Complication Exclusions -would require health insurance providers to clearly warn their clients of conditions that are not covered under their policy - particularly secondary conditions that result from a
procedure, drug or condition that is itself not covered. Insurers would have to provide written warnings, use clear language, and include easily understood examples. If they failed to do so, insurers would have to pay for treatment of the excluded condition.

Under SB66, Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act, if a state emergency required volunteer licensed health workers to come to Utah from out of state, those workers would be registered and regulated by the state, their civil liability would be limited and they could apply for Workers' Compensation in case of injury or death.

SENATE EDUCATION will discuss SB103, which would appropriate $20 million to 10 institutions of higher learning around the state, including the College of Applied Technology. It would fund programs such as improving
student graduation rates and faculty quality, advancing math and science, and promoting regional economic development.

SB36 proposes to allow students in charter and online schools to participate in extracurricular activities at a regular public school. The student's custodial parent or guardian would have to live within the school
boundaries unless the school was open for non-residents enrollment. The school district could charge a participation fee. A similar bill, SB37, would allow private school or home school students to take part in a public school's extracurricular activities.

AFTERNOON COMMITTEES

Appropriations Subcommittees will meet from 2 to 5 this afternoon.

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

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee met yesterday and agreed to approve Senate Bill 135. The bill makes permanent a sales tax exemption for facilities that operate primarily to reduce air or water pollution. Under current law the exemption would expire June 30, 2009. This was the closest thing to an energy or natural resources bill that has come up so far this session.

In fact, the Senate Natural Resources Committee canceled its meeting on Tuesday and the most interesting bill in the House Public Utilities and Technology Committee, which often covers energy bills, was HB98. That bill requires public employers to participate in an electronic federal program to verify employment eligibility. Identity theft is a growing problem and the state of Utah has an excellent program to educate people on
ways to prevent it. Similar bills in past years were run by the sponsor in an effort to discourage private employers from employing undocumented workers.

Another identity theft bill, HB95, Document Fraud - Establishing Legal Status, was heard yesterday morning by House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. It would establish a civil penalty of up to $75,000 for intentionally forging or altering a document to unlawfully establish a person's legal status. That bill was held by the committee, so it could come up again. That committee did pass HB109, Sex Offender Law Amendments, increasing penalties for child rape.

Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions met yesterday morning. Their agenda was headed by two bills related to privatization. Senate Bill 32 passed. It requires local government to hold public
hearings before issuing a bond to explain the purpose the facility the bond is paying for and what taxes are needed to pay off the bond. The hearing would also cover the potential economic impact of the project on the private sector. Those in favor of privatization say that government shouldn't spend taxpayer dollars to compete with private businesses to provide services such as recreation centers, for example. Government can't compete fairly, It doesn't have to pay taxes for one thing. Those arguing for government facilities point out that not all residents can afford private facilities - a private gym for instance. They say taxpayers should have a say in how their money is spent. If they vote to pay for a recreation center, they should get it.

Stay tuned.

Sandy Peck
League of Women Voters