House Republicans Vote Against Democratic Participation On Committee
Representative David Litvack, House Democratic Leader
Salt Lake City – HB48 (Barrus -R) creates a committee of Utah Legislators to participate with representatives of other states in national talks on energy. Last year the committee of 4 was required to have at least one Democrat, but this year Republicans voted against Democratic participation.
On Monday, House Democratic Leader David Litvack moved for an amendment to HB48, reinstating last year’s rule that no more than 3 of the committee of 4 could be from the same party. “This is about bringing in all sides of the conversation,” said Litvack after the vote. “The people of Utah aren’t being represented when you silence voices just because you don’t want to hear what they have to say.”
All 17 Democrats in the House voted for Representative Litvack’s amendment, as well as a handful of Republicans, including House Speaker Lockhart (R). However the amendment still failed by 46-25.
Democrats accused Republicans on Monday of abusing their huge 80-24 margin in the Legislature to try to strip Utah Democrats of representation on an interstate group that seeks to help states develop their energy resources.
The House voted 57-16 along party lines to pass, and send to the Senate, HB48 by Rep. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville. It changes a provision that had required members of both parties to be among four legislators appointed by leaders to represent Utah on the Coalition of Energy Producing States.
Barrus, a member of the coalition, said some unnamed members of both parties had failed to actively participate in that coalition. He said the change allows leaders to more easily find people who have the time, interest and experience to serve without looking at their party affiliation.
But House Democratic leader David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, said it was aimed to take away his party’s seat at the table. He said the appropriate way to handle a problem if a member is not attending is to talk to their leader to appoint someone else, and not to allow stripping a party of all representation.
Read the full Trib story HERE
“For 12 years that I’ve been up there this has always been the standard that when we have a committee, when we form an official legislative committee, that we always have proportional representation between both parties,” said Litvack. “I understand the frustration that if members were not showing up, that’s not ok. If we’re going to be at the table then we need to be there, and I get that. But the solution is not to remove the Democrat from the committee.”
Read the full KCPW story HERE
Read MoreSalt Lake Tribune Gives Thumbs Up to House Democrat Bills
Representatives Patrice Arent, Lynn Hemingway and Marie Poulson (D's)
The Salt Lake Tribune is giving a thumbs up to bills coming from the House Democrats this year. Representatives Poulson, Arent and Hemingway are all being featured.
Rep Poulson:
A need to know » What mother hasn’t lain awake at night, wondering whether her teenage driver will make it home, and if something awful did happen, how quickly she might be notified. A bill in the Legislature would at least help alleviate the second part of that universal parental worry. HB21 would create a state database of emergency contact information supplied by Utahns voluntarily so that law enforcement officers could quickly locate family members when an accident or other emergency occurs. It wouldn’t keep young drivers, or anybody else, safe, but it would help get family members to the bedside or accident scene quickly.
Rep Arent:
Late to the party » Utahns who breathe should applaud Rep. Patrice Arent’s bill that would create an Air Quality Task Force of legislators. We only wish the effort had begun 20 years ago. Air pollution trapped in northern Utah valleys during winter temperature inversions has been a major public health issue for at least that long. It is a measure of the Legislature’s refusal to deal with the issue that a task force is only now getting a push that may have a chance at passage. The bill would create a group of 13 legislators who would examine air quality issues and suggest solutions next fall. The Legislature then could deal with bills a year from now. In the meantime, Gov. Gary Herbert has promised a voluntary air pollution reduction effort and state environmental regulators will trot out a plan to deal with pollution from fine particles in the next couple of months. Better late than never.
Rep Hemingway:
Also facing smooth sailing, so far, is HB263, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Salt Lake City. The bill would allow a spouse to collect unemployment if he or she has to quit a job when a military spouse is transferred. It easily passed the committee and is poised to go before the full House early next week.
Utah is one of just 10 states that does not presently allow the benefit, Hemingway said. Now that the Iraq War is over and military involvement in Afghanistan will be winding down, there may be more reassignments, he said.
“Usually these people being transferred are young with young families and they are giving up a job that may be most of their income,” Hemingway said.
Read More
Best Schools Initiative Bill on High School Counselors advances at Legislature
Representative Patrice Arent (D)
Salt Lake City – Representative Patrice Arent’s bill providing additional High School Counselors to help students with admissions and scholarships for college, passed out of committee with a vote of 10-2. Current counselors are handling hundreds of students on average, and the additional help is desperately needed.
House and Senate Democrats are running a slew of bills this session as part of the Best Schools Initiative, all designed to bump Utah up from 50th in the nation on per-pupil spending and 42nd in the nation on education quality. You can read more about the Best Schools Initiative here.
In an effort to help more students continue beyond high school, the House Education Committee approved a bill Friday to put intern counselors in Utah schools.
The committee passed HB65 by 10-2 on Friday after the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake City, said it could help students get more scholarships and college opportunities. The bill would create a pilot program in which 18 graduate students studying high school counseling would be given training and then placed in high schools. School districts would apply for grants to hire them.
In many cases, Utah’s current school counselors are stretched thin, with counselor-to-student ratios in Utah junior high and high schools at about 1:363, Arent said. Putting the interns in schools would help students get more guidance, supporters said.
Read the full story HERE
Read MoreFox13′s Video of DABC Review Committee Presenting Their Findings To Representative Litvack
Read More
Rep Watkins’ Child Welfare Bill Heads To The House Floor
A House committee gave a green light Wednesday to a proposed bill that would require child welfare caseworkers to meet a higher standard of cause before removing a child from a relative’s care based on age or health concerns.
Rep. Christine Watkins, D-Price, said she drafted HB241 after learning of instances where the Division of Child and Family Services caseworkers used alleged age or health issues to remove children from care of grandparents who had custody as approved foster parents. It would require “clear and convincing evidence” the relative was incapable of providing care before removing a child from a home.
“When you’re a grandparent, you’re not 35 any more but you’re still capable of taking care of children,” Watkins said.
Read the rest of the article HERE
Representative Christine Watking (D-Price)
Democrats’ Air Quality Bill Passes Committee
Representative Patrice Arent (D)
Democratic Representative Patrice Arent’s bill creating the Legislature’s very first task force to examine Air Quality problems in Utah made it through committee last night. “Poor Air Quality has been harming Utah for years, as Democrats we believe it’s time the Legislature finally does something about it.
via the Judy Fahys at the Salt Lake Tribune:
A new, legislative task force on improving Utah’s air quality is created by HB70, which won passage Wednesday in the House Public Utilities and Technology Committee.
“Air quality is an issue that impacts all Utahns,” said sponsoring Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Holladay, who told members of the committee she’s fielding as many calls about Utah’s air pollution problems these days as she is on education. “But this issue has never been an issue before the Legislature before.”
The bill creates a 13-member task force made up of five senators and eight House members, both Republicans and Democrats. The panel’s job will be to look what’s already being done to improve air quality with an eye on finding ways to make Utah a better place to live and work. The panel also would suggest practical changes to laws and regulation before next December.
Read the rest of the article HERE
Read More