Becky Edwards

On the right side of the blog page you will notice a new feature…a list of bills and resolutions and the vote outcome for each. We’re up and running with this, thanks to David Miller, and each day you will be able to look at votes from that day. For instance, the first bill listed is 1SHB126. Next to that bill is my vote, Yea, and below is the vote total, 51-22, so you can see the vote passed. We’ll see about adding the title of the bills so you have that additional information, but this is a great start to allowing you to follow votes on bills of importance to you.

Things are starting to pick up the pace a bit and with only 13 working days left I think we are all feeling it. It reminds me of a piano duet, “Sleigh Ride,” I play every Christmas at a neighborhood music party with my friend, Heidi Smoot. Every year we play this piece we vow we will maintain an even tempo, and yet every year we start out nice and manageable, then it builds and builds, and by the end it’s turned into a wild, hold onto your hats type tempo where it’s all chaos. Today sort of felt like that. Without the neighing horse and snap at the end, of course.

On the floor today we heard 28 bills all together. There were several most significant ones. First, 1SHB 150, Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, “State Board of Education Member Election Process Amendments.” This bill provides voters an opportunity to vote directly for State Board of Education members, rather than a strictly Governor appointment system, or a partisan election (going through the caucus and state convention process) as was presented in a substitute bill. The substitute bill to make the election partisan failed and Rep. Moss’ bill passed, 45-29. I voted yes and think this is a way to keep the process most transparent and open to the voters.

Second Substitute HB 126, Voter ID for Elections, passed 51-22. It requires voters to present ID when they vote on Election Day. The original bill was overly restrictive because it required photo ID – which many among the elderly, minorities and low income voters may not have. It also required photocopies of ID to be sent in with absentee ballots – which seemed an invitation to identity theft. Rep. Daw corrected these flaws, so that the substitute allows a lengthy list of IDs to prove you are who you say you are and absentee ballots can continue to be sent in without photocopies. Two amendments were added. One eliminated a requirement that election judges write down which form of ID is presented by each voter at the polls. This should help prevent delays. The second amendment by Rep.Watkins was inspired by her Native American constituents in the southeast part of the state. She was concerned that they would travel long distances without bringing ID. Her amendment allows those without ID who vote a provisional ballot to bring in their ID within 5 business days after Election Day. This bill passed 51-22 and I voted for it, however I still have some concerns. The ID requirement may still limit access for some voters and may discourage turnout in general, which is unfortunate because we already struggle with voter turnout in much of the state.

As we move forward there are many bills that were circled today (4SHB 66, the property tax amendment for school equalization bill for instance) and we are seeing more amendments and substitute bills. There is an effort to reach compromises as people are working towards the best product they can achieve before reaching the floor.

We also had the chance of attending the Fire Caucus lunch this afternoon and spent some time with Fire Chief Jim Rampton of the South Davis Metro Fire Agency, who does a great job serving our community. The new station on Eaglewood Drive is now complete and we will be having an open house soon for the new facility. I will post the details when I get them.

I also saw a great community advocate up on the hill today, Kim Jensen, from North Salt Lake. She was there representing the Spectrum Academy, a public charter school in North Salt Lake serving K-8 students, the majority of whom have Autism Spectrum Disorders and Asperger’s Syndrome. They are wanting to expand to 12th grade which would allow them to serve more than the 150 students currently enrolled. There are 320 students on the wait list now and 120 of those are in grades 9-12. The ability to expand would go a long ways in helping them meet the needs of more children with these unique challenges.