The Minority Report – February 12, 2010
Legislative Update from the Utah House Democrats
for the week of February 8-12, 2010
Welcome to Issue #3 of the Legislative Report from the Utah House of Representatives Democratic Caucus.
Here are some highlights from this week:
Retirement Reform
Over 4,000 teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and other state employees met at the Utah State Capitol on Saturday, February 6 to tell the Utah Legislature to slow down and proceed cautiously when making changes to the Utah Retirement System. Click here to see some photos from the event.
On Wednesday, February 10, Senator Dan Liljenquist, R–Davis County, introduced his bills to the Senate Retirement Committee. Many constituents were present and expressed concern over his proposed changes, which would address the funding instability of the state retirement program. Each bill addresses the issue in a different way. There are proposals to prohibit retired public employees from both receiving a pension and a salary if they re-enter the workforce, re-structure the benefit package for future eployees, and adjust 401k contributions.
SB00430S01- Post-retirement Employement Amendments
SB0063 – New Public Employees Tier II Contributory Retirement Act
SB0094 – Supplemental Benefit Amendments for Noncontributory Public Employees
Democrats in the Utah House of Representatives are working hard to ensure that we do not make any rash decisions that will affect the state's ability to attract qualified people to teach our kids, police our streets, and service our communities.
Click here to read more on our position regarding this subject.
FY2010 Budget Shortfall / FY2011 Projections
The Utah Legislature released final recommendations to shore up the 2010 budget, which faced a nearly 200 million dollar shortfall. Using a combination of Rainy Day funds and other one time sources, we were able to mitigate serious cuts to public education and services that protect children and seniors.
The good news is that for now, state departments will be able to finish out the 2010 fiscal year with little impact. What remains to be seen, however, is how things will materialize for the FY2011 budget. The recommendation is that all state departments will take a 5% cut in order to balance the budget. We are in the process of examining these recommendations and plan to release our own budget proposal in the coming weeks.
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Democratic Bills that Have Passed This Session
HCR 003 – Italian American Heritage Month Concurrent Resolution (Watkins, Christine)
The Italian-American Heritage Month Concurrent Resolution designates October as Italian-American Heritage Month, and recognizes the many contributions made by Italian-Americans to the history and development of the state of Utah.
HB 11 – Licensensing of Elevator Contractors (Wiley, Larry)
This bill provides for the licensing and qualifications for licensure of elevator contractors and elevator mechanics by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing.
HB 23- Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing (Beck, Trisha)
This bill modifies provisions related to an employer testing for drugs and alcohol. The bill clarifies current legislation and addresses grounds for employer action and liability.
HB 29 – School District Division Amendments (Black, Laura)
This bill modifies the procedures for creating a new school district. The bill also requires voter approval at the next general election.
HB 30 – Drug Law Amendments (Beck, Trisha)
This bill adds carisoprodol, which as the brand name of Soma, as a Schedule IV drug.
HB 69 – State Engineer's Plugging of Wells Repair (Gowans, Jim)
This bill repeals a provision concerning the state engineer's power to plug certain artesian wells.
HB 97 – Amendments Relating to Deceptive Practices Involving Consumers (Poulson, Marie) This bill provides that certain false expressions in an advertisement are deceptive acts or practices for purposes of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act and truth in advertising provisions.
HB109 – Volunteer Government Workers Act Definitions (Biskupski, Jackie)
This bill modifies the Volunteer Government Workers Act by amending the definition of "compensatory service worker."
HB 124S1 – Campaign Funds Expediture Restrictions (Cosgrove, Tim)
The bill amends provisions in the Campaign and Financial Reporting Requirements related to the personal use of campaign monies and provides for enforcement, investigation of complaints, and assessment of administrative penalties by the lieutenant governor. The bill defines "personal use expenditure," and prohibits a candidate, a judge, or an officeholder from using campaign contributions for a personal use expenditure. The bill also provides a list of authorized and prohibited uses of campaign funds.
HB192 – Methane Gas / Renewable Energy (Watkins, Christine)
This bill provides that electrical energy derived from methane gas from certain coal mine facilities is among the types of waste gasses considered as a renewable energy source.
HB232 – Medical Language Interpreter Amendments (Chavez-Houck, Rebecca)
This bill recodifies the Medical Language Interpreter Act and amends the act by providing for expiration and renewal of certification, denial of certification, and for disciplinary actions.
Things to watch in the coming weeks:
- Budget decisions affecting children, seniors, and our neighbors with disabilities
- Legislation that will impact public employees
- Legislation in ethics reform
As we proceed through this legislation, we are interested in learning about issues that are important to you. We invite you to visit our website at www.utahhousedemocrats.org and take our online survey.
What matters to you, matters to us! We hope you will take the time to share your thoughts and opinions. We also hope you will browse through our website and read our thoughts and opinions about the legislation we are considering in the 2010 legislative session.
Best regards,
The Utah House Democrats
www.utahhousedemocrats.org
Retirement – Our Highest Priority Should be the Viability of Our State
by Representative David Litvack
Minority Leader in the Utah House of Representatives
The Utah Legislature is about to consider whether or not to make major changes to the Utah Public Employee Retirement System. Senator Dan Liljenquist, R—Bountiful, is proposing a set of bills that would dramatically reform retirement compensation to public employees. One of Liljenquist’s proposals would do away with the state’s defined pension system as we know it today for individuals hired after July 1, 2011.
I believe this is the wrong approach, and that making a major change such as this one is not in the best interest of Utah’s future. Advocates for Utah’s state employees have called upon the Senator to slow down, study the issue very carefully, and proceed with caution. I agree with them. There are many things at stake, and while some changes to the employee pension system may be necessary and prudent, our highest priority must be the economic viability of our state, not only for today, but also for the future.
I applaud the Senator’s recognition that we have contractual obligations to current employees, and his efforts to ensure they are not affected by this legislation. That is an important and meaningful gesture. We know that many Utah families have seen difficult times during our current economic downturn. Utah’s public employees have been no exception. As a state, we are facing huge budget deficits. Many of Utah’s teachers, police officers, firefighters, those who protect the most vulnerable, etc. have been required and will be required to take days off without pay. Some may even lose their jobs as we cut budgets and begin our recovery from this recession. We are continuing to ask public employees to do more with less and they are living up to the challenge.
What concerns me most, however, is Senator Liljenquist’s insistence that we absolutely must rush to a decision this legislative session. I believe that a change as major as this one needs greater input and a more open and collaborative process. We must consider the opinions and perspectives of legislators, stakeholders, public employees, universities, future college graduates, and the public in general. Coming to solutions together requires a much more cooperative and engaging process, much like what we have done in our state health care reform efforts. In our discussions, we need to ask one question: “What does a major change like this mean for the future of our state?”
It is my belief that Utah’s future stability relies on our ability to hire and retain the best teachers, police officers, fire fighters, etc. With the proposed changes on the table, what would Utah’s future workforce look like? Would our compensation and benefits package be enough to encourage a career in public service? Or, would state employment be considered as a launching pad to other opportunities? When public service is viewed this way, institutional knowledge can be lost and the efficiency of state agencies could be compromised.
Public employment in Utah must remain a viable career option. Therefore, I strongly encourage my colleagues in the Utah Legislature to slow down and engage all stake holders more thoroughly and responsibly, so that we can keep the Utah Retirement System strong for all public employees – now and in the future.
Read MoreHouse Democrats object to HJR12
House OKs resolution doubting climate change
By Robert Gehrke, The Salt Lake Tribune
The House adopted a sternly worded resolution declaring the body's deep skepticism over current climate science and called for the federal government to halt carbon dioxide reduction programs.
Rep. Kerry Gibson said that by pursuing cap-and-trade policies, Washington is engaging on a path that could destroy Utah's way of life. "I'm afraid of what could happen to our economy, to our rural life, to our agriculture, if such a detrimental policy continues to be pursued for political reasons," said the Ogden Republican.
He said there is mounting evidence that humans can't influence their environment and the costs of enacting climate change policies could be staggering.
The House resolution is nonbinding and has no legal impact beyond expressing the sentiment of the Legislature. It passed the body by a 56-17 vote and now goes to the Senate.
The resolution was amended to tone down some of the incendiary language, specifically deleting references to a "climate data conspiracy" and a climate change "gravy train."
Rep. John Mathis, R-Vernal, said that as strongly as he feels about the resolution, "we should elevate our discussion above where a lot of people have taken it."
Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, staged a defense of carbon dioxide, saying it is an odorless gas that is "essentially harmless to human beings" that is unrelated to air pollution and can actually encourage plant growth.
House Minority Leader David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, said he is concerned the resolution goes too far and attacks science, and quoted a letter from several Brigham Young University scientists that argued against the resolution.
Gibson said he respects the BYU scientists. "I also respect the words of the scientists who are mounting on the other side of the issue, who in large part we have not heard," he said, because their viewpoints have been "hidden."
House formally questions global warming
By Bob Bernick Jr, Deseret News
With most Democrats voting no, the Utah House approved a resolution Tuesday that questions global warming while asking the federal government not to proceed with "cap-and-trade" legislation or CO2 regulation.
Sponsor Rep. Kerry Gibson, R-Ogden, a dairy farmer, agreed to have his HJR12 amended to take out some inflammatory wording, like calling global warming and those who advocate it guilty of "tricks," and a "conspiracy" and "flawed" research.
Gibson said some argue that if the Environmental Protection Agency goes forward with cap and trade on CO2, it could lead to a "cow tax."
Then cows like his own could be measured for "belches" and other gases they produce, which in turn could lead to a head tax that would increase the cost of milk and meat to consumers.
"I believe in global warming," Gibson said. "I believe in global cooling, in (weather) cycles. We've had an ice age, extreme heat," but can humans, "in our everyday lives," change the environment around us?
Instead, through inaccurate data and a general type of hysteria, the public has been pushed to make improper judgments, he said. And adopting CO2 cap and trade would be a diabolical mistake. Such action is really "an energy tax" that will harm all Americans, harm jobs in this country and likely have little or no effect on global warming.
Reps. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, and Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake, said should the EPA actually follow the advice of HJR12, Utah could lose EPA grants for research on clean air and funds for refitting school buses to make them less polluting.
EPA money "has helped Utah schoolchildren," Johnson said.
But the idea that CO2 is somehow detrimental to humans, or to the earth, brought Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, out of his chair.
"CO2 does not give us red days" of air pollution warnings on the Wasatch Front, he said. "That is absolutely untrue."
"First do no harm," said Noel. And cap and trade will do great harm, he added.
Rep. David Litvak, D-Salt Lake, read from a letter by scientists "at that radical university — BYU," which said politicians should not be attacking scientists or science that they, for political reasons, disagree with.
That is a reference to Noel, who has criticized local scientists who have testified that global warming is a fact, that human activity contributes to it, and that actions should be quickly taken to fight it.
HJR12 passed 56-17 and now goes to the Senate for consideration. A resolution is a sentiment of the Legislature, has no force of law, and it's questionable whether congressmen or federal agency officials even read those sent to them.
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