Wednesday, February 10, 2010

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

Today Legislators debate new bills in Standing Committees from 8 to 10 and on House and Senate floors from 10 to noon.

Appropriations Subcommittees meet from 2 to 5 pm. They are beginning to prioritize budget requests.

At noon, the SENATE RETIREMENT AND INDEPENDENT ENTITIES COMMITTEE meets in Senate Room 210 to consider three bills:
SB43 concerns rules for “double dipping” when retirees return to work.
SB63 is about new Tier II retirement plans, including defined contribution features, for employees who go to work for the state after July 1, 2011.
SB94 changes the requirement that 1.5 percent of salary be paid into the 401(k) account of state and educational institution employees.

MORNING COMMITTEES

In HOUSE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE, HJR6, Strangulation and Domestic Violence, will be debated. It’s a joint resolution urging law enforcement and prosecutors to treat as felonies assaults in which force is applied to the neck or throat of a victim.

Under HB190, property owners and tenants would have to investigate and report suspected methamphetamine contamination on the premises.

Substitute HB234 prohibits state participation in the federal REAL ID Act - or in any other national ID card system. REAL ID requires state-issued driver licenses to have documentation of birth date, legal status and Social Security number. It was passed as a defense against the global war on terror, and cards will be required to board a plane or enter federal buildings and nuclear power plants. HB 234 says that requirement is inimical to the security and well-being of Utahns, will cause unneeded expense and inconvenience and was adopted in violation of the principles of federalism in the U.S. Constitution.

Number 5 on the agenda of HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT is HB102 Agriculture Sustainability Act, the latest in a long series of efforts to protect Utah farmland from development.

HOUSE JUDICIARY will consider HB 278. It would help citizens access government records in electronic form, if available, and be notified promptly when and why records are not available within ten days.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HOUSE YESTERDAY

Sherilyn Bennion reporting:

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives dealt with some noncontroversial bills that passed handily:

HB71, Nicotine Product Restrictions (Paul Ray, R-Davis), places restrictions on non-tobacco products that contain nicotine. An amendment provided removal of e-cigarettes from the list because they may help smokers quit.

HB192, Renewable Energy-Methane Gas (Christine Watkins, D-Carbon, Emery, Garfield, Grand, San Juan, Wayne), provides that electric energy derived from methane gas from certain coal mines would be considered a renewable energy source.

HB207, Protection of Property Amendments (Carl Wimmer, R-Salt Lake) presents factors judges may consider in determining whether force used in defense of property was reasonable, such as the extent of damage and previous threats.

Kathy Van Dame reported on:

HJR12 Climate Change Joint Resolution — Rep Kerry Gibson (R-Ogden)

http://le.utah.gov/~2010/htmdoc/hbillhtm/hjr012.htm was debated in the Utah House yesterday. Many Representatives spoke from what seemed to be heartfelt beliefs. The debate is worth listening to:

http://le.utah.gov/asp/audio/index.asp?Sess=2010GS&Day=16&Bill=&House=H

Click on 'HJR012 View' 2nd from bottom

Some highlights:

Rep. Gibson's began by reading a clip from 1922 with a "sky is falling" argument. Concerned with the survival of cherished family farms, he believes evidence against human-caused climate change is turning, with more evidence all the time that CC science is distorted and we need to have courage to hold fast against the outcry, the rush to regulation. We need to slow down the federal government train. Federal programs will be direct taxes on individuals.

Rep. John Mathis (R-VERNAL) spoke in favor of the resolution, but thought some words were strong.
We can use language that shows respect to all persons involved. He moved to strike the words "conspiracy," "tricks" and "gravy train."

Rep. Gibson agreed sometimes we get a little too emotional, accepted the language elevation, and supported the amendment which passed without opposition.

Rep. Paul Ray (R-CLEARFIELD) rose in support, and said he just wanted to announce the Climate Change Conference in D.C. cancelled due to snow [laughter]

Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D-SLC) spoke in opposition, citing the vast overestimation of the cost of the acid rain sulfur trading program. Originally estimated to cost $6 billion, it actually cost $1 billion. The cost of a ton was predicted to be up to $800, but the market has been $100-$200 for most of the program.

Rep. Sheryl Allen (R-Bountiful) rose with a question. Utah urges EPA to immediately halt CO2 reduction policies & programs. Yet Utah's research universities are doing a lot of research on carbon sequestration, mainly through USTAR. Do you know if any of the grants come from EPA?

Don't know, was the answer, but we want research, even if we didn't spell that out in HJR12.
We've heard way too much of one side of story, there are two sides of the story.

Rep. Kay McIff, (R-Richfield) moved to change "flawed" data to "questionable" data. Gibson agreed.

Rep. Roger Barrus (R-Centerville) rose in support. He particularly opposed the endangerment finding.
He said climate modelers say models and available computing are not adequate to ultimately predict what is going to happen. He explained that Rep. Chavez's comparison to the sulfur cap and trade is flawed. SOx is different than Greenhouse Gases, because for sulphur we had a technology on the shelf. In fact most of what was done was switching to low sulfur coal.

Rep. Christine Johnson (D-SLC) rose in opposition, recalling $100,000 Utah appropriated for diesel retrofit of school buses, which the EPA and MAG increased to $3.1 million. Concerned that some of this money would be lost with language re EPA, she moved to strike "immediately halt" carbon dioxide reduction policies and programs, and substitute "reevaluate."

Rep. Gibson opposed the motion, and Rep. Mike Noel (R-KANAB) closely questioned her about her intent.
I could not listen to all the words spoken in Rep. Noel's angry tone. Rep. Johnson's motion failed.

Finally Rep. David Litvack (D-SLC) spoke in opposition, citing the BYU scientists' letter

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2010/0204/20100204_024750_Legislature2.pdf

Rep. Gibson summed up, saying he respects the BYU scientists, and also respects scientists on the other side. He cited the "trick" the scientists were caught doing.

HJR12 passed 56-17-2

Sandy Peck