It was another busy week up at the Capitol for the second week of the legislative session.
Overview:
This week I had the privilege of speaking to our officers with the Utah Highway Patrol Association. We discussed domestic violence, mental health, and issues related to stalking and restraining orders. In addition, I had a chance to meet with Utah’s firefighters at the Fire Caucus and those who work in our district. I met with Utah’s State Treasurer, Dave Damschen, about the work his office does. If you haven’t already, check out mycash.utah.gov to see if you have unclaimed property. I was grateful to have the chance to meet with the Southwest Mayors Coalition (Mayor Ramsey, Mayor Staggs, and Councilman Henderson) to discuss our district’s transportation needs with the Wasatch Front Regional Council.
The Riverton Youth Council joined us for a day up at the Hill, Representative Strong and I met with them and discussed the importance of civic engagement and civil dialogue. As I've mentioned before I have a standing offer to any youth I meet, or constituents, to come sit with me on the house floor. I was glad that Maddy, a student body officer at a high school in Eagle Mountain took me up on the offer. These youth are fantastic, our state's future is bright!
Thanks to everyone who joined me for the virtual town hall, my next in-person town hall will be on Saturday, February 22nd from 1-2:30 pm at the Herriman City Library.
My Legislation:
This week I presented my bill, HB 30: Workforce Services Amendments, on the House floor, it passed unanimously and is onto the Senate.
- HB 286: Public Information Website Revisions(bill language now available here): This bill cleans up the statutes dealing with the State's public information websites and helps streamline the process for reporting budgets, information, etc. on state websites, increasing transparency and access
- Impact Fee Amendments: This bill is still in the drafting stages, as discussed in last week’s newsletter, this bill addresses the issue of first class counties approving large economic development projects in unincorporated area and empowers immediately adjacent cities to collect impact fees. An example of this is the Olympia Hills development that the Salt Lake County Council is reviewing. This development will have serious impacts on cities in our district’s law enforcement, roads, schools, water, city resources, etc. The developer is avoiding $40 million in impact fees, critical for our cities in absorbing the impact of such a large development. Additionally, this legislation will look at requiring developments of a certain size or larger to annex into the neighboring city.
- Penalties for Misconduct with Students: As discussed in last week’s newsletter, I was contacted by the Utah State Board of Education and was informed there is a loophole in current code that when a teacher engages in sexual misconduct with a student who is not a minor (example: an eighteen year old senior) who does not attend their school, but goes to a school in their district, they are not penalized as if the student attended the school they teach at. This bill extends the penalty to sexual misconduct within the educator’s LFA and extracurricular activities they assist with.
- Stalking Amendments: This bill is working to address an issue that was brought to my attention by a constituent who lives in Herriman. I am working closely with both prosecutors and defense attorneys in finding middle ground on clarifying state statute regarding stalking.
My Committees:
This week, the House Committee on Health and Human Services reviewed Representative Arent’s Newborn Safe Haven Amendments bill. I am grateful for the opportunity to cosponsor this legislation. You can read more on the committee hearing here. In addition, our committee reviewed Representative Norm Thurston’s bill, HB 207: Insulin Access Amendments and discussed the rise of insulin pricing and its growing effects on Utahns. Insulin prices have skyrocketed leaving many without this lifeline—I am hopeful we will have legislation passed by the end of the session to offer relief to diabetics and their families.
Bills Passed in the House this Week:
HB 85 Federal Designations Amendments
HB 5 Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Base Budget
HB 13 Children’s Hearing Aid Program Amendments
HB 82 Governmental Immunity Modifications
HB 1 Public Education Base Budget Amendments
HB 94 Water Applications Amendments
HB 6 Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Base Budget
HB 160 Refugee Continuing Education Program
HB 43 Peace Officer Standards and Training Amendments
HB 148 Utah Recognizing Inspiring School Employees Award Program
HB 151 Traffic Safety Amendments
HB 30 Workforce Service Amendments
HB 7 Social Services Base Budget
HB 95 General Adjudication Water Amendments
HB 191 Dairy Commission Amendments
HB 81, 1stSub Judicial Retention for Justice Court Judges
HB 100 Veterans Treatment Court Act
HB 87, 1stSub Health Care Workforce Financial Assistance Program Amendments
HB 137, 1stSub Child Placement Background Check Limits
SB 1 Higher Education Base Budget
SB 4 Business, Economic Development, and Labor Base Budget
SB 5 Retirement and Independent Entities Base Budget
SB 6 Infrastructure and General Government Base Budget
SB 7 National Guard, Veterans’ Affairs, and Legislature Base Budget
SB 12 Veterans Preference in Private Employment
SB 14 Tribal Leaders Description Amendments
SB 16 Rural Residency Training Program Reauthorization
SB 18 Divorce Amendments
SB 19 Land Exchange Distribution Account Amendments
SB 20 Hazardous Substances Mitigation Act Sunset
SB 24 Utah Works Program Amendments
SB 25 State Highway System Modifications
SB 27, 1stSub Attorney General Reporting Requirements
SB 38 Tax Commission Authority Amendments
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