You may also read the House Democrats legislative wrapup by clicking here.

Although most of our respondents came from districts represented by Democrats, we received responses from 69 of the 75 house districts in Utah. These results are invaluable to us and help us to serve all of Utah better.

Here's how the districts were represented:  Districts highlighted in yellow are represented by a Democrat. 

Legislative Update from the Utah House Democrats
for the week of February 1-5, 2010

Dear Friends:

Welcome to Issue #2 of the Legislative Report from the Utah House of Representatives Democratic Caucus.

Here are some highlights from this past week:

Ethics Reform Bills Pass in the House
The House of Representatives passed HB124S1, with a final vote of 70 to 0, which prohibits campaign contributions from being used for personal expenses.  Sponsored by our own Representative Tim Cosgrove, D–Murray, the bill prohibits a candidate, school board office candidate, a judge, or an officeholder from using campaign contributions for personal use.  Personal use means an expenditure that primarily furthers an individual or family purpose not connected with the performance of an activity as a candidate or a duty of an officeholder.

"Campaign funds were graciously donated to our campaigns for the people to get to know us. Campaign funds are for us to use to get to know the people and to get the word out," said the bill's sponsor.

"We hold those funds in a public trust that they are to be used for the intent that they were donated. Not to get rich, or supplement your income. Not to secure personal special privileges, advantages or benefits. Campaign funds should not be a personal windfall for candidates or current office holders running for office. Campaign funds should not be used for personal expenses," Cosgrove said.

The House also passed Joint Resolution on Legislative Ethics Commission, sponsored by Speaker Dave Clark, R–St. George. The Resolution would amend the Utah Constitution to establish a Legislative Ethics Commission.

Both bills now go to the Senate for final passage. Watch in the following weeks as more ethics legislation comes to the House of Representatives.

Utah Democrats are Advocates for Clean Air!
Representative Carol Spackman Moss, D–Millcreek, has presented 2 bills for consideration in the Utah Legislature: HB 91 Traffic Control Signs for Bicycles, and HJR5, Joint Resolution on Clean Air. Representative Moss also stood beside Governor Gary Herbert in his "Clean Air Challenge," which encourages Utahns to car pool, commute by bike and avoid engine idling to help combat the state's pollution problems.

6th graders from Morningside Elementary School visited legislators on Capitol Hill today to ask representatives from the House Health and Human Services Committee to support HJR5, Joint Resolution for Clean Air.

The students and their teacher, Patti White, asked Representative Carol Spackman Moss, D–Millcreek, to sponsor the resolution which "encourages the citizens of Utah to eliminate all unnecessary idling of motor vehicles." The students, who created an "Idle Free Campaign" at Morningside Elementary, asked the legislature to remind drivers to "turn their key and be idle free!"

They presented legislators with facts and figures, stating that leaving a car idling not only creates health problems for children and adults, but also is also not healthy for vehicles. "Idling gets 0 miles per gallon," the students told their audience. The students also presented the staff with a video to reiterate their point, which included original music and artwork.

Members of the committee approved the resolution on a unanimous vote. It will be heard in the House of Representatives for a full vote of the house.

For more information and to see the student's video and script of their program, click here.

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HB 91, which failed to pass from the House Transportation Committee (the bill failed on a 6/6 vote), would have encouraged cycling friendly legislation that would have allowed cyclists to ride through red lights after stopping and checking for traffic. "For cyclists, the most dangerous activity in an intersection is when they start to go after having dismounted from their bikes. Cyclists have to get up to high speeds quickly and risk being hit by traffic," said Representative moss.

"If they're riding early in the morning and they come to a stop light, because their weight is not enough to trigger the sensors, they can sit there for a long time," Moss said.

"It really comes down to common sense, I think, the fact that this would make it legal to do what many cyclists do already, and the public would then be educated," Moss said. "As much as they say they should behave and they're the same as cars, they're not. A car is not the same as a bike. That's why we have bicycle lanes."

Although the bill failed in committee, Representative Moss will continue working on this issue by speaking to members of the cycling community.

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Other Highlights

Law Would Strengthen Truth in Advertising Laws and Protect Utah Consumers
Representative Marie Poulson, D–Cottonwood Heights, passed HB 97, Amendments Relating to Deceptive Practices Involving Consumers.

This bill provides that certain false expressions in an advertisement are deceptive to consumers under Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act and truth in advertising provisions.

Deceptive acts or practices are defined as any advertised statement which is not true, such as "going out of business," "lost our lease," "building coming down," "bankruptcy sale," "final days," "liquidation sale," etc.

The bill passed the House of Representatives with 49 yeas and 21 nays. It now moves to the Senate.

No Automatic Pay Raises for Legislators
Representative David Litvack, D–Salt Lake City, introduced a bill Wednesday that would keep lawmakers' daily pay at $117, instead of allowing an automatic pay raise to $130 per day to go into effect on July 1, 2010.

Committee Fails to Vote on Background Checks for Utah School Sports Officials
Representative Laura Black, D–Sandy, introduced a bill that would require background checks for Utah's School Sports officials. Representative Black testified that sports officials have closer access to our children than most school employees and said "it's foolish to wait for something bad to happen before implementing a policy. I'd rather see us be proactive on this," she said.

There are other states who have similar policies in place. Representative Black introduced the bill after being approached by referees concerned about colleagues who had inappropriate backgrounds that were known to the community.

The committee did not vote on the bill, but instead voted to continue to the next agenda item. Representative Black hopes to bring the bill back to the Education Committee for consideration.

Democratic Bills that Have Passed This Session

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 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.

HB 192 – 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.

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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 interesting 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

Legislative Update from the Utah House Democrats
for the week of January 25 – 29, 2010

Dear Friends:

This is the first issue in our 2010 "Weekly Update" series, from the Utah House Democrats in the Utah Legislature.

Utah legislators returned to Capitol Hill on Monday, January 25, 2010.  We immediately began working on issues that are important to us and all Utah families. 

First and foremost, we look forward to passing a good and balanced budget for the state of Utah.  In the coming weeks, we will present a budget proposal that we believe will get us through these difficult times.  In our budget, we will make proposals protect public and higher education, keep Utahns working, and protect services to children and the elderly.  Our second priority is to ensure that a meaningful ethics reform package passes in the Utah Legislature.

We will focus on areas that have always been important to Utah Democrats:  Ethics Reform, Utah's Public Employees, Education, and Services which affect children, seniors, and the disabled.

Here are some highlights from this past week:

Governor's State of the State Address

Governor Gary Herbert addressed the body of the Utah Legislature on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, and presented his plan for Utah.  The full text of Governor Herbert's speech may be found here.

The Democratic Response to the State of the State may be found here.

House Minority Leader David Litvack spoke to KUER's Jenny Brundin regarding the Governor's comments:

"We have to be honest with the public.  We know that there are 11,000 new students coming into public ed, 24,000 students in higher ed… if we don't fund that enrollment growth, that's a cut.  Democrats are not OK with that.  We have a problem with that."

The full news report may be found here.

Another article from the Provo Daily Herald reporting on the Democratic response to the Governor's speech can be found here.

Legislative Highlights – January 25 – 29, 2010
 

Responsible use of prescription pain medications saves lives!

Representative Trisha Beck, D–Sandy, held a press conference to promote HB 30, which would place cardisoprodol, sold under the brand name Soma, as a Schedule IV drug.

In 2007, Representative Beck's nephew, Denver Daniel Snarr suffered a fatal overdose after being prescribed powerful medications for pain.

"At the time of his passing, we as a family vowed that we would take our pain and do everything in our power to ensure that other families would not need to suffer as we have," said Representative Beck. 

"We vowed to promote responsible use of RX pain medications. Hopefully, the passage of these bills will reduce irresponsible use of RX pain medications and save lives," she said.

If Beck's bill is passed by the 2010 Legislature, the drug would be added to Utah's Controlled Substance Database Program, allowing tracking of prescriptions and creating penalties for unlawful possession or distribution of the drug. Refills would be limited to five times within six months.

HB is expected to be heard on the floor of the House of Representatives next week.

*****

Bill that would allow Medicare card as valid voter ID fails in the House

A bill that would have allowed Senior Citizens to use their Medicare card as valid voter ID failed in the Utah House of Representatives.  The bill, HB 79, sponsored by Representative Marie Poulson, D-Cottonwood Heights, was intended to help Utah's Senior population have greater access to voting in elections.  

"This bill is about easier access for persons in their 80s and 90s," argued HB79 sponsor Rep. Marie Poulson, D-Cottonwood Heights. "These senior citizens have earned the right to have some things made easier. We would not like to disenfranchise this group by throwing barriers in their path."

In 2009, the Utah legislature passed a law that made it manditory for voters to show a valid ID at the voting polls.  A valid driver's license, a passport, or a concealed weapons permit are among several forms of ID that are allowed as identification at the polls.   Representative Poulson's bill would have allowed a medicare card to be included on the list as an acceptable form of ID, allowing Utah's elderly to go to the polls to vote, even if they did not have a valid driver's license or other form of acceptable ID. 

Unfortunately, the bill failed, with the following vote count – 27 YES,  47 NO.   Opponents argued that the bill could possibly open the way for voter fraud.

All 22 Democrats supported Representative Poulson's bill, along with 5 Republicans.

*****

Things to watch in the coming weeks:

- Budget decisions affecting children, seniors, and our neighbors with disabilities

- Legislation to help end prescription drug abuse

- Legislation that will impact public employees

- Legislation in ethics reform

- Legislation requiring background checks for human services providers and public education employees

As we proceed through this legislation, we are interesting 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