House Democrat Fights For Local Government
Rep Brian Doughty (D)
Salt Lake City – Democratic Representative Brian Doughty (HD30) has introduced a bill designed to protect local governments from overreach by the Utah Legislature.
HB181 • A Salt Lake City Democrat unveiled a bill Monday that would make it more difficult for state lawmakers to overturn city or county laws.
HB181, sponsored by Rep. Brian Doughty, proposes a two-thirds threshold in both chambers of the Legislature for any bill that seeks to amend or repeal a political subdivision’s existing ordinance.
It comes toward the end of a session that has seen state lawmakers target a series of Salt Lake City initiatives, including restrictions on vehicle idling and electronic billboards.
Salt Lake City officials had input in the measure, considered, insiders say, to be a long shot in the Republican-dominated Legislature.
Read the full story HERE
Read MoreHouse Democrats: Stop Micromanaging City Governments!
Rep Patrice Arent (D)
Salt Lake City – Earlier today, the Utah House heard a bill (HB104) from Republican Representative Wayne Harper telling city governments they cannot ticket for idling. Representative Patrice Arent (D) says “Stop micromanaging cities!”
Despite arguments that it is trampling on cities’ powers, the Utah House approved a bill Friday designed to thwart Salt Lake City’s ban on excessive car idling.
After amending HB104, the House voted 42-28 to approve it and sent it to the Senate.
Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, the bill’s sponsor, complained that the city’s ordinance allows ticketing not only cars idling more than two minutes in public spots, but also those in private parking lots or driveways. “I think that’s abusive and a violation of property rights,” he said.
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“Here we go again, micromanaging local government,” said Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Millcreek. “How many of you want this from the federal government? Every day we hear complaints about the federal government telling us what to do. This is not an egregious situation where the state government is to step in and tell a city how to manage its business.”
Full story here.
Read MoreEditorial On Rep Moss’s Teacher-Mentor Bill
Representative Carol Spackman Moss (D)
Salt Lake City – Did you see the great editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune about the importance and necessity of Representative Carol Spackman Moss’s Teacher-Mentor Bill (HB115). Democratic common-sense continues rolling forward. Read it below!
Utah public schools have trouble keeping new teachers. Nearly half of all teachers just starting their careers leave the profession within the first five years.
That kind of turnover is expensive, and it hurts the quality of education schools are able to provide. Another alarming reality is that too many of the teachers who do stick with it are not effective or they become less effective as they continue teaching. Low pay in Utah is partly to blame for teachers quitting, but there are other reasons, too, including a feeling of isolation and lack of guidance to learn the craft and to continue improving skills throughout a career.
Thankfully, a bill making its way through the Legislature would go a long way toward addressing some of the most prevalent reasons for teachers leaving the classroom too soon and for the lack of professionalism among some who stay.
HB115 would provide funding for a pilot program called Peer Assistance and Review that would harness the expertise and experience of the best teachers and give them time to mentor new teachers and veterans whose work is not up to par. It has passed the House and is now in the Senate.
School districts would compete for…
Read the rest of the article HERE
Read MoreVIDEO- House & Senate Dems On Public Lands
Salt Lake City – House and Senate Democrats held a press conference today, responding to proposals by House Republicans on Utah public lands. Watch the video below!
Representative Joel Briscoe (D-25) pointed out today that the attempt by Republican Representatives Sumsion, Ivory, Herrod, Cox and Barrus to force the United States to relinquish title to lands they own within the state of Utah is “extremely concerning.”
“It has been pointed out by the legislature’s own attorneys and by constitutional scholars that this drive by Republicans to seize control of land owned by the United States may likely be unconstitutional, and the inevitable lawsuit is likely to fail, leaving Utah citizens out Millions in tax dollars which could have gone to vital help for citizens.” said Representative Joel Briscoe.
He continued, “Currently, Utah receives $1.7 Billion dollars a year in tourist revenue, ” but it is unlikely that much of that revenue would continue if Utah is allowed to drill on these lands, or sell them off to private corporations. “As Democrats, we place high value on the ability of our citizens to use their ATV’s, to go off-roading, horseback riding, hiking and camping. And we’re concerned about what would happen if the Utah Legislature had the power to sell off our open spaces to corporations who would fence them in.”
Senator Ben McAdams called the Republican proposals a “Bait and Switch.” Arguing that while Republicans are claiming that selling off public lands would fund education, it is highly unlikely that their bills would result in anything other than a decade-long lawsuit which would cost Utah millions in taxpayer money. “They said this morning [in the House Natural Resources Committee where the bills were heard] that these proposals could eliminate the Income Tax. Well if that’s their intention, then they aren’t even planning on putting any money into education anyway.”
Representative Brian King expressed concern that the Legislature is “wasting out time on this.” and that legislators are only “chasing mirages.” He says “the lawsuits [arising as a result of the legislation if the bills pass] would be expensive, not just time consuming, expensive. Chasing this dream of access to [United States-owned] lands instead of working out reasonable solutions for our neighborhood schools isn’t a good use of our time.”
House and Senate Democrats have already made sensible proposals this year in the Best Schools Initiative which would greatly increase the amount of funding for our neighborhood schools, without even raising taxes.
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VIDEO – UT Legislators Talk Issues On The Hill
Democratic Representatives Jennifer Seelig, Joel Briscoe and Sue Duckworth
Salt Lake City – Representatives Jennifer Seelig, Joel Briscoe and Sue Duckworth jumped onto Comcast this past week to talk about current legislation, the budget and the importance of staying involved. Watch them below!
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Op-Ed: Gambling On Oil Shale In Utah
Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D - District 24)
Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck wrote a great Op-Ed in the Salt Lake Tribune this weekend about the pitfalls and dangers behind oil shale and tar sand development in Utah, calling it a “game of poker.” Read it below!
I am not good at playing poker. I can’t bluff and am totally inept in figuring out what other players have in their hands. The ongoing debate about the economic benefits of investing in oil shale and tar sands development is like playing a game of poker, where one side may be a bit more adept at bluffing than the other.
Gov. Gary Herbert and our congressional delegation have objected to the Bureau of Land Management’s recent proposal to lease public lands in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado for oil shale and tar sands development. They accuse the agency of exerting heavy-handedness with no scientific backing.
It’s time for a fact check. In a recent study, the BLM proposed several options to allow the leasing of federal lands in the three states for further research and development. The options would leave open anywhere from 5,700 to 253,000 acres in Utah for R&D on oil shale, and more than twice that in the entire tri-state region when tar sands leasing is included.
That’s right. More than half a million acres of public lands would be made available for two sources of energy that have so far not been proven to be financially viable or safe. The BLM is being extremely patient and generous. In essence, they’re saying, “We’ll give you up to half a million acres to prove this process is viable. When you do, we’ll then talk about more leasing.”
A process for extracting fuel from shale rock has been elusive for more than a century. Why is it so difficult? Partly, it’s because oil shale doesn’t…
Read the rest of Representative Chavez-Houck’s OpEd HERE
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