2009 Legislative Summary
Tonight is my Legislative Wrap-up Town Meeting. For those of you who will not be able to attend, below is the handout for this evening that includes a brief summary of selected bills as well as several links where you can find additional and more indepth information.
2009 Legislative Summary
Representative Becky Edwards
Email: beckyedwards@utah.gov
blog: www.utahbecky.com
phone: 801-554-1968 cell
801-295-2950 home
Search My Votes: http://www.utahbecky.com/search-my-votes/
Utah State Legislature: http://www.le.utah.gov/
Selected Highlights of the 2009 Session:http://le.utah.gov/session/2009/pdfdoc/2009SelectedHighlights.pdf
All Bills Passed 2009 General Session: http://www.le.utah.gov/asp/passedbills/passedbills.asp
Digest of 2009 Legislation: http://www.le.utah.gov/session/2009/pdfdoc/2009DigestOfLegislation.pdf
Key Ethics and Campaign Finance changes: http://le.utah.gov/session/2009/pdfdoc/2009EthicsChanges.pdf
FY2010 Budget and Restoration List: http://le.utah.gov/interim/2009/pdf/00000432.pdf
Ethics reform:
Ethics reform in the legislature has been a priority this session and several ethics reform bills became law this year.
H.B. 345, Elected Officials-Restrictions of Lobbying, sponsored by Rep. Brad Dee (R-Washington Terrace) places a one-year cooling off period before any legislator leaving office could register as a lobbyist.
H.B. 346, Campaign And Financial Reporting Requirements Amendments, also sponsored by Rep. Dee requires that campaign contributions be reported within 5 days.
S.B. 156, Gifts and Meal Provisions for Public Officials, sponsored by Sen. Greg Bell, places new, lower limits on the disclosure of gifts and meals to public officials. Gifts greater than $10 and meals greater than $25 must be disclosed in quarterly reports. An exception provides for meals or events where an entire committee, task force, caucus, or other official body is invited.
S.B. 162, Use of Campaign Fund Amendments, sponsored by Sen. John Valentine prevents any former public official from transferring any money remaining in their campaign account to an account for personal use.
H.J.R. 14 Joint Rules Resolution – Ethics Training Course Provisions, sponsored by Representative Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem, enacts a provision for the development and completion of an ethics training course for legislators and lobbyists .
Illegal Immigration:
H.B. 64 (substitute) authorizes the Office of the Attorney General to administer and coordinate the operation of a multi-agency strike force to combat violent and other major felony crimes within the state associated with illegal immigration and human trafficking, has passed both the House and the Senate.
SCR 1, Concurrent Resolution Requesting a Federal Waiver to Establish an Employer-sponsored Work Program, sponsored by Representative Brad Dee, R-Ogden, and Senator Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, urges the United States Congress to grant the state of Utah waivers to establish an employer-sponsored work program and other strategies to address illegal immigration in the state.
Budget: Despite having a budget deficit of $1 Billion this year, the legislature was able to back-fill much of that deficit, using federal stimulus monies, an increase in vehicle registration fees, some bonding, and significant cutbacks in every area of state government. Some revenue enhancements such as fuel or tobacco taxes, reinstating the tax on food, were considered, but were not passed. The rainy day funds remained intact as well. Stimulus money has been specifically set aside for the rest of this fiscal year, specifically for areas such as Medicaid, food stamps programs, unemployment, law enforcement, and special education, among others.
Public Education: Lawmakers approved a $2.4 billion school budget for 2010 that will result in a net cut of about 5.2 percent to education down from the original 17 percent. Public education is the first priority when it comes to state funding and every effort was made to backfill with stimulus money. The budget cuts shouldn’t result in the loss of teachers in the classroom for next year. The state’s rainy day fund is being held in reserve primarily to fund education needs in 2011.
Energy Development: H.J.R. 12 (substitute), Joint Resolution Supporting Hydrogen Power from Advanced Coal and Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology passed both the House and Senate.
This joint resolution of the Legislature supports producing hydrogen from coal with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology.
Economic Development: One economic stimulus bill that passed the Legislature was S.B. 14, Financial Incentives for Motion Picture Productions. The bill enacts economic incentives to attract motion picture productions, which bring millions of dollars to Utah’s economy.
Health Care: Some large proactive steps toward comprehensive health system reform in Utah took place this session. Three bills were born out of last year’s Health System Reform Task Force: H.B. 188, Health System Reform-Insurance Market, H.B. 165, Health Reform- Administrative Simplification, and H.B. 331, Health Reform- Health Insurance Coverage in State Contracts. These bills have been signed into law by Governor Huntsman. Utah is on the forefront of health system reform in our nation and we will continue to be pioneers in this area in the coming years.
Alcohol Law Reform: H.B. 347, Alcoholic Beverage Control Act Modifications, sponsored by Representative Greg Hughes, R- Draper, and S.B. 187, Alcohol Amendments, sponsored by Senator John Valentine, R-Orem, passed the Legislature this year. The bills provides for electronic verification of proof of age by restaurants and clubs; addresses the bar structures in restaurants, including limiting access by minors; and creates a new social on-premise liquor license, which allows for an establishment to function without private club memberships.
Other bills also passed to toughen penalties on drunken drivers and underage drinkers and increase the liability for bars that serve intoxicated patrons.