VIDEO – House Democrats talk E-Verify and Schools on Comcast
Salt Lake City- Representatives Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Patrice Arent, Joel Briscoe and Brian Doughty sat down on Comcast’s “Capitol Journal” to discuss their views on E-Verify, school counselors, employee insurance, and burying utility lines. Watch them below!
Read MoreVIDEO- House & Senate Democrats Give Update On Best Schools Initiative
House & Senate Democrats Continue Moving Forward With the Best Schools Initiative
Salt Lake City – House & Senate Democrats held a press conference this afternoon providing an update on the bills in the Best Schools Initiative. Watch it below!
From class-size reduction, to improving teacher quality through peer mentoring, to providing additional counselors to high schools that specialize in higher education admissions and scholarships…. Democratic bills are on the move and rolling forward!
Watch the video, then check out our summary of the Best Schools Initiative bills and their status below
Read MoreAUDIO- Rep Brian King Discusses The Big Debate Over HB210
Representative Brian King
Salt Lake City – Representative Brian King, Assistant Whip for the Utah House Democrats, joined KVNU’s Jason Williams to discuss the huge floor debate over HB210. Click the link below to listen to the recording!
Audio – Brian King on KVNU – HB 210
Read MoreReps Briscoe and Moss Discuss Quality Teachers and Healthy Families On Comcast
Representatives Joel Briscoe and Carol Spackman Moss were featured on Comcast last week, discussing what Democrats in the House are doing to promote Quality Teachers and Healthy Utah Families this session. Watch the videos below!
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Rep Doughty Says State Employees Deserve Freedom & Choice With Their Insurance
Representative Brian Doughty (D)
Fantastic OpEd in the Salt Lake Tribune from Representative Brian Doughty on HB 64! Every state employee deserves the chance and freedom to use their insurance as they choose. Read it below!
Imagine that I am a state employee of Utah who has been working in the same department for 10 years. Now imagine that I have a co-worker, Bob, who has worked in the cubicle next to me for six months. I am single with no dependents, and Bob is married with five children (not an unusual number in Utah).
Bob has elected to enroll in the State’s PEHP insurance benefits program, adding his wife and five children to the plan as dependents, while I have enrolled only myself. However, my handicapped sibling, mentally disabled son, or partner, just to give a few examples, also lives with me, is dependent upon my income, and needs health insurance which I cannot afford on my income.
Even though I’ve been a state employee for a decade, I am not allowed to add them to my insurance despite the fact that they are financially dependent on me. On the other hand, even though Bob has only been working here for six months he is allowed to insure seven individuals.
While I do not begrudge Bob his access to the insurance benefits, as a state employee shouldn’t my dependents have access to the same benefits that Bob’s do? Isn’t that the purpose of a family insurance plan, to take care of our loved ones?
House Bill 64 is a common-sense bill which would give state employees more options and flexibility with their insurance benefits….
Read the rest of the article HERE
Read MoreUtah House Passes Democrat’s Emergency Contact Law
Representative Marie Poulson (D)
Salt Lake City – Moments ago, the Utah House of Representatives passed HB 21 from Representative Marie Poulson (D- HD 46). The new law will create a system for emergency responders to access emergency-contact information.
At the interim Committee Hearing for HB 21 several months ago, Cottonwood Heights Assistant Chief of Police Paul Brenneman described a situation where police responded to a car accident, and the driver involved was elderly and so shaken he couldn’t answer questions. It took several hours for the police to find the name and contact information for the man’s wife.
Other first responders have described situations where victims have lived for several hours after accidents, but because they were unable to speak, their loved ones were unable to join them in their final moments.
“This bill will create a database of emergency contact information with the DMV,” said Representative Poulson. “Any Utahn will now have the option to provide that information if they wish, which will be accessible by the police and emergency responders. This is a common-sense Democratic solution to fix a real problem in the lives of Utahns.”
The new law doesn’t require people to participate, but provides the option to do so when they apply for a new drivers license or renew an old one.
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