Following the Utah Legislature 2/13/09

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Friday, February 13 2009

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY

Lots of new bills will be heard in committee today from 8 to 10 and from 2 to 4. Floor time is from 10 to noon.

THIS MORNING

HOUSE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES will consider some bills that came out of the Health Care Reform Task Force. HB 188, Health System Reform-Insurance Market, is designed to expand access to the health insurance market,increase market flexibility, and provide greater market transparency. HB 165 Health System Reform-Administrative Simplification sets standards for the exchange of payment information between health care providers, insurers and patients. HB 331 says some state departments, including DEQ and the Department of Transportation, would have to require contractors to offer health care to the contractors' employees and their families. The policy would apply only
if the contract was for $500,000 or more.

HOUSE EDUCATION will consider HB 150, which requires the direct, nonpartisan election of members of the State Board of Education. It repeals the current involvement of the Governor and the nominating and recruiting committee in candidate selection . In case of a primary election, the primary winner would be listed first on the general election ballot. Without a primary, the order of names on the ballot would be determined by a lottery conducted by the Lt. Governor.

AT HIGH NOON

the new HOUSE ETHICS STANDING COMMITTEE meets in Capitol room 250 to consider HB 345, which prohibits elected state officials from acting as lobbyists for one year after leaving office. The prohibition would apply to the governor, lieutenant governor, state auditor, state treasurer, attorney general and members of the Legislature. The restriction doesn't apply if the person is lobbying for himself or a business he's associated with, unless the primary activity of the business is lobbying or governmental
relations.

HB 346 is in the Ethics Committee also. It requires state office candidates to report contributions within 5 business days after they are received.

IN THE AFTERNOON

SENATE REVENUE AND TAXATION will consider a school property tax bill, SB46. By eliminating a county-wide pool of capital outlay property tax revenues, this bill could increase or decrease the amount of capital outlay property tax revenues a school district in Salt Lake County, such as Salt Lake City or Jordan, receives.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

A substitute version of HB 126 - Voter Identification for Elections passed the HOUSE WORKFORCE SERVICES AND COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Committee yesterday. The original bill would have required voters to present valid photo ID at the polls instead of the two proofs of name and address now required for all except first-time voters. The photo ID would have to be a drivers license, an ID card issued by the state or the United States, a concealed carry permit, a US passport or a tribal identification card. When bill critics pointed out that 12 per cent or more of seniors, people of color, people with disabilities, low-income voters and students do not have a photo ID, Rep Daw responded by restoring some 16 alternatives now in the law, such as utility bills, that can be used to identify a voter's name and address. Andrew Riggle of the Disability Law Center testified that people with disabilities who live in institutions or under guardianship would have trouble presenting even these secondary forms of ID.
Substitute HB 126 also eliminated the requirement that absentee voters return a photocopy of their picture ID with their ballots. It was recognized that signatures on the application and on the ballot can be compared under current law, and that photocopies would present a danger of identity theft. However if the substitute bill passed ,all voters would still have to present some form of ID, so discussion by the committee and the public
continued.

The main arguments against requiring any ID at all were that it encourages an undemocratic atmosphere of mistrust, based only on anecdotes, not on proven fraud - which is almost nonexistent in the U.S.-that would discourage voter participation. Supporters of the substitute advocated a trust, but verify attitude. They cited the common use of photo ID overseas and a Carter-Baker Commission recommendation that every voter have a (free) voter ID card. The committee vote was 7-3, with Herrod, Lockhart, Sumsion and Mascaro voting aye and Litvack, Seegmiller and Watkins voting no.

HOUSE REVENUE AND TAXATION passed HB 133 yesterday, which enacts a state refundable earned income tax credit that would be equal to 10 percent of the existing Federal earned income credit.

HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS passed HB 141, which could change billboard placement policy along interstates and limited access highways like the Legacy Highway. And needless to say, they also approved SJR 11, urging a national college football playoff instead of the BCS bowl series. President Barack Obama will be receiving his copy of the resolution soon.

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