Following the Utah Legislature 2/25/09

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Wednesday, February 25, 2009

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

Today morning and afternoon standing committees meet from 8 to 10 AM and 4 to 6 PM. Floor debate with be from 10 to noon and from 2 to 4 PM.


THIS MORNING

SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES considers SB 225, which would provide Medicaid and health insurance to a legal immigrant child regardless of how long the child has been in the United States. Currently there is a five-year residency requirement.
HB 144 is also before the committee. It says that people who act as interpreters between English-speaking health care providers and their patients who speak Spanish, Russian, Bosnian Somali, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese or Navajo can become certified medical language interpreters. It would be a misdemeanor to falsely claim to be certified.
The three health care reform task force bills that passed the House last week, Substitute House Bills 165, 188, and 331, are on the agenda as well.

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE will debate SB 240, sending a $10 million appropriation to the Governing Authority of USTAR. USTAR (Utah Science Technology and Research) aims to stimulate economic development by bringing outstanding scientists to Utah colleges and universities. Part of the money will fund science and technology research teams.


THIS AFTERNOON

SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT will hear SB 41 – Siting of High Voltage Power Lines. It authorizes the Public Service Commission to conduct hearings and designate sites for lines that cross more than one local government’s jurisdiction. A corporation proposing the line would need to conduct public workshops, distribute information to the public and file for local land use permits. Local land-use conditions that were unreasonable or not economical could be overruled by the PSC.

A new tobacco tax bill, HB 219, is in HOUSE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. New revenue from a $1-per-pack increase, estimated at over $41 million next year, would go to the state General Fund.
HB 189, also before the committee, requires sex education in public schools to be age-appropriate and medically accurate. Components of instruction would include abstinence to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease; family communication about sexuality; and information about the health benefits and proper use of contraceptives. The influence of drugs and alcohol on decision-making, life skills such as goal-setting and relationship skills, and biological changes of adolescence would be covered as well.


WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

In SENATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Tuesday morning, the committee voted to pass out an as-yet-unfinalized substitute for HB 122, the bill that makes access to GRAMA records more difficult.

The substitute, according to Rep. Aagard, the bill's sponsor, is the result of consultation and compromise with interested individuals and groups.
He said it would leave in place the provision prohibiting access to information about "anticipated litigation," which opens up a pretty big window for keeping information confidential. GRAMA now lists simply "litigation."
As for the provision that certain records (nine categories, including audit, disciplinary, licensing, certification and registration matters) would be further restricted, only information that might endanger someone's life would now require "clear and convincing evidence" that the public interest would be served (a very difficult standard to prove) by its release. The other eight categories will require the lesser standard of "preponderance of the evidence." A simple balancing test is the current GRAMA standard.

HB 412, amending Utah’s state energy policy, received a favorable recommendation by a vote of 11 - 0 in HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURE, AND ENVIRONMENT.
The bill sponsor, Rep Barrus, presented it as an additional foundation to Utah’s energy policy to ensure that policy develops in a stable way.

The legislation provides a method to assure Climate Change policies don't result in undue economic impact on industry, business and consumers and won’t impair the ability to attract industry to rural or urban areas.

In the case of federal law, Utah would look at compliance alternatives that temper the negative impacts on the state, and advocate for fair regional methodology, so there wouldn’t be dramatic disparities for energy producers in different states. The idea is to prevent federal legislation from locking us into one path prematurely.

He said that Cap & Trade (proposed last night by President Obama) is a type of carbon tax that removes industry's capital. He wants to be sure our energy providers with existing long term contracts will not be required to bear all of the new costs.

Some comments from the public:
Worry that cap and trade is making financing of power plants hard to get. (Utah Rural Electric Cooperative)
Climate change is based on ungrounded and erroneous assumptions (Sutherland Institute)
Agriculture is very energy intensive (Utah Farm Bureau)
Sarah Wright, Utah Clean Energy, said we should not wait for all the answers to act.
Buildings use 50 percent of all energy consumed (75% of all electricity). The potential energy efficiency is tremendous, could be done soon, and would save money for consumers.

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