Week Four Review

Capitol Pic of the Day

Medical Marijuana Update:

SB 89, Medical Cannabidiol Amendments passed the senate second reading with 26 to 3 and is now on the senate third reading calendar where it will be up for final passage. This bill provides limited access to the plant and requires the medical cannabidiol to be high in CBD and low in THC. If this bill passes, it would allow for five dispensaries throughout the state. These dispensaries would have the capacity to serve 10,000 to 20,000 people. Each dispensaries would also have a consultant pharmacist to ensure all aspects of the medical qualities of the dispensaries and their products. It is important to note that if this bill passes, change will not happen overnight. It is estimated that it would take about 18 months before the locations are fully functional. This could be a benefit to the legislature because that means there would be time to study the potential flaws, and then also time to make minor changes in the next session.       

SB 73, Medical Canabis Act is currently circled on the senate second reading calendar, after a robust debate that ran out of time. This bill would allow for broader access to the marijuana plant.  

SCR 11, Concurrent Resolution Urging the Rescheduling of Marijuana.  This resolution urges Congress and the federal government to change the scheduling of marijuana from a schedule I drug to a schedule II drug.  This change would allow more research about the potential benefits of marijuana. Utah has nationally respected research and healthcare facilities, which would allow for this type of research. 

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SOPHIA'S BILLS (Summary)

HB 151, Acupuncture Licensing Board Amendments was heard on the Senate floor on Wednesday, and it passed out unanimously. It is now heading to the Governor for his signature.  

HB 289, Charter School Closure Amendments was heard in the House Education committee on Thursday. This vote passed out of the committee unanimously and is now #63 on the House third reading calendar.  This bill will likely be heard on the house floor sometime next week.

HB 351, Attorney General Fiscal Amendments was sent to the Government Operations committee and will most likely be heard sometime early next week.    

HB 397, Department of Administrative Services Revisions was recently numbered and sent to the fiscal analyst's office where it will receive a fiscal note.   
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CAUCUS UPDATES

I had the opportunity to chair this week's Salt Lake County Caucus meeting where we previewed the various bills related to air quality. Below is a summary of each bill we discussed.

1. HB 305 Water Rights and Resources Amendments: This bill focuses on the accuracy of water use data. In May 2015, the Utah Division of Water Resources published their water audit for the year, which raised numerous concerns. This bill allows the Division of Water Rights, the Division of Water Resources, and the Division of Drinking Water to work cooperatively to collect and validate water use data. This bill also gives the Division of Water Rights the ability (through rules) to outline the specific process of validating the data.  For now, this bill is currently still in the house rules committee and is waiting to be sent to a standing committee.   

2. HB 237 Income Tax Contribution for Clean Air: This bill establishes the Clean Air Fund where residents and nonresidents who fill out an individual tax return have the option to make a contribution to this fund. The purpose of this fund is to provide grant money for individuals or organizations (in the state) to use towards activities or education programs that help to improve air quality in the state. This bill is currently on the house third reading calendar.            

3. HB 87 Clean Fuel Conversion Amendments: This bill creates the Conversion to Alternative Fuel Grant Program Fund.  This fund consists of both appropriations as well as public and private donations. Grant money is available to a person who installs conversion equipment on an eligible vehicle. The requirements for an eligible vehicle are also outlined in the bill. This bill passed out of the House with 41 yes votes and 28 no votes (6 absent). This bill is currently in the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Committee and will be heard on Monday, February 22nd at 8:00 AM in Capitol Room 415.       

4. HB 121 Building Code Amendments: This bill amends provisions relating the State Constitution Code as well as provides an alternative means of complying with the Energy Conservation Code. This bill is largely supported by a broad group of stakeholders and is currently in the house rules committee, waiting to be sent to a standing committee.        

5. SB 49 Statute of Limitations on Environmental Code Violations: This bill extends the statute of limitations for Title 19 of the Environmental Quality Code. This bill extends the statute of limitations for evaluating and investigating complaints from one year to two years.  This bill passed the Senate and has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee where it will likely be heard next week.    

6. SB 66 Environmental Code Fines: This bill increases the civil penalties for a person who violates the Air Conservation Act. The fine amount has not been changed since 1983, so this bill increases the penalties taking into account inflation rates. This bill is currently being held in the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Committee.  

7. HB 250 Air Quality Amendment: This bill allows only ultra low-Nox emissions water heaters to be sold in the state of Utah. These low-Nox water heaters typically cost between $50-150 more than “normal” water heaters and typically last 10-15 years.  If this bill passes, it will apply to all installations and replacements starting July 1, 2018. This bill will be heard in the House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality committee.       

8. Air quality appropriations: Bryce Bird (Executive Director, Division of Air Quality) met with the caucus to discuss the importance of the air quality appropriations requests. There are currently five air quality appropriations which include money for research, monitoring, and grants. Here is a chart with the status of all of the appropriations (as of 2/17/16).  

Sponsor	Title	Description	Amount Requested	Appropriations Sub Committee	Status
Rep. Hall	Lab for Dept. of Environmental Quality	Monitoring is the foundation of an effective air quality program.  It is the means by which we evaluate health impacts and protect the public, establish compliance, and measure progress toward our air quality goals.  A modern, dedicated Technical Support Center will help improve the efficiency and reliability of our air monitoring program, while protecting the security of sensitive monitoring equipment and the safety of those who work there.	$6.2 million one-time	Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee	Appropriations Committee recommended $6,208,700
Sen. Jenkins	Air Quality Monitoring	Funding will be used to replace extremely outdated monitoring equipment, that is well beyond its useful life and does not meet EPA requirements, and add new monitoring sites necessary to meet federal monitoring requirements and state planning needs. Request includes ongoing funds for 1 FTE to to cover the operation of these new sites and ongoing equipment replacements and maintenance.	$400,000 ongoing, $2.2  million one-time	Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee	Appropriations Committee recommended $1 million one-time and $200,000 ongoing
Rep. Noel	CARROT Grants	Funding will be used to replace old and inefficient on and off-road equipment with new technology to reduce emissions of air pollutants. It is anticipated the money will be divided between School Bus, Heavy Diesel and Small Engine replacement projects. Projects are determined by the cost per ton of removing pollutants from our air.	$500,000 one-time	Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee	Not prioritized by the appropriations subcommittee
Rep. Redd and Rep. Arent	Air Quality Research	Funding is for a pilot program to screen for volatile organic compounds (VOC) leaking from oil and gas- condensate storage tanks. This will be done in partnership agreement with Tri-County Health Department and Bingham Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center. The goal is to determine a simple, straightforward method to help improve air quality in the Uinta Basin.	$250,000 one-time	Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee	Appropriations Committee recommended $100,000 one-time
Rep. Handy	Clean Fuel Bus Conversion	Continuing an initiative begun two years ago, the request for $10 million (General Fund) would be matched through a grant process administered by USOE to districts who apply. There are 308 "dirty diesel buses" in the state school system that are 2002 and older. This $20 million clean air initiative would replace 119 school buses.	$10 million one-time	Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee

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STANDING COMMITTEES

There have only been a few bills heard in committee this week. I anticipate many more next week. One of the four bills addressing homelessness was heard this week and passed out favorably. The four bills are part of the $27M package proposed by the stakeholders who worked together to address homeless issues over the past couple of years.

To see a list of the bills heard in my assigned committees, click on the committee respective page below.

House Transportation Standing Committee

House Retirement and Independent Entities Standing Committee

House Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee

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APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMTTEES

Our appropriations subcommittees are finished meeting and this week, the chairs of each of the nine subcommittees presented their budget recommendations to the Executive Appropriations Committee. Please note that these reports reflect recommendations only. The final numbers and budget items that get funded may or many not reflect these recommendations. This is because these recommendations are based off of last Fall's revenue estimates. Updated, revised estimates will dictate how much is available to appropriate.

Here is a list of each of the committee's reports:

1. Retirement and Independent Entities
2. Business, Economic Development and Labor
3. Social Services
4. Public Education
5. Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality
6. Infrastructure and General Government
7. Executive Offices and Criminal Justice
8. Higher Education
9. Executive Appropriations Committee Assigned Agencies

Next week, the newly revised revenue estimates will be published and the new number will represent the number against which all requests must balance. New prioritized lists will then follow. I will post them here once they become available.

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OTHER RELATED CAP HAPS 

On Tuesday, February 16th, the house and senate took time to recognize the families of fallen officer Doug Barney, as well as Officer Jon Richey.  Every member of the house and senate wore blue and black ribbons that day in their honor.  We also presented Officer Barney’s family and Officer Jon Richey with a citation.  Our law enforcement officers and their families sacrifice a lot in order to keep us safe, so it was an honor to be able to recognize them.  

 Wednesday, February 17th, was Multicultural Youth Leadership Day on the hill.  I was lucky enough to present an award to Dr. Kyle Reyes from Utah Valley University.  

On Thursday, February 18th, some colleagues and I were able to meet with a group of students from Weber State University. The students asked questions about our particular bills, as well as the legislative process as a whole.      

Week Three Review

Capitol Pic of the Day
House mural reflects a monumental event that occurred on Valentine's Day:
Seraph Young casts a first ballot by a woman in 1870 when women first gained the right to vote in Utah. 

HOW A BILL BECOMES LAW:

I thought it might be helpful to review how a bill becomes law. In a nutshell, proposed bills come from many sources. Bills come from constituent concerns, requested clean-up language from previously passed legislation, bills that ran out of time in the previous session, policy changes desired by impacted stakeholders or interest groups, desired initiatives, etc.

In Utah we have a bicameral legislature, which is comprised of a House and Senate. In order for a bill to pass, it must be approved by each body. House bills are generated by representatives in the House, while senate bills are generated by senators in the Senate.

All bills must be approved by both chambers before going to the governor for final passage or to be vetoed. In other words, House bills must be approved in the House before being passed in the Senate, and Senate bills must be passed in the Senate before being approved by the House. The movement of a House bill would look something like this:

HB is drafted --> HB goes to House Standing Committee where it passes or fails --> if passed, HB goes to entire House chamber where all members vote on it --> if passed, HB goes to Senate Standing Committee where it passes or fails --> if passed, HB goes to entire Senate chamber where all members vote on it --> if passed, HB is signed by Senate President and sent back to House for Speaker signature --> HB is sent to governor for approval or veto --> if no veto, HB is enacted into law

If the bill originates from the Senate, it would begin in the Senate and follow the same path. A bill can die at any stage of the process. This filtering process allows proposed legislation to be reviewed and scrutinized multiple times before being enacted into law.

Here are some additional sites and clips to outline the process:

Utah Legislature | click here.

Utah Citizen Network | click here.

If you prefer to learn through video, here is a oldy but a goody.

Last but not least, here is the School House Rocks video.

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SOPHIA'S BILLS (Summary)

HB 151, Acupuncture Licensing Board Amendments was heard by the Senate Business and Labor Standing Committee on February 10th, where it passed unanimously. It is now on the Senate's consent calendar and will likely be voted on this upcoming week. If the Senate passes the bill, it will go the Governor for his signature and be enacted into law.

HB 289, Charter School Closure Amendments will likely be heard in a House Education Standing Committee later this week. I have been working with the Utah State Office of Education and the Charter School Board to develop a substitute that will improve the first draft. I will include the substitute in next week's update.

HB 351, Attorney General Fiscal Amendments  I have been working with the drafter and the Attorney General's Office on the language of this bill over the past couple of weeks. This bill addresses an audit recommendation to re-evaluate the way the office bills other state agencies for provided legal services.

HB???, Department of Administrative Services Rivisions will also be numbered and available in the next week or two. This is a clean-up bill that repeals unnecessary and antiquated accounts that are no longer used.

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CAUCUS UPDATES

Capitol Pic of the Day

Salt Lake County Caucus

This week we talked about the various education bills being heard this session. Here is a summary of the bills we discussed.

HB 200, Student Assessment Modifications: This bill allows districts and charters the choice to eliminate the year end assessment for the 11th grade. This would allow more time for college preparation.

HB 201, Student Testing Amendments: This bill eliminates the use of year end assessments as an evaluation for teachers. This proposal stems from teachers being held accountable for circumstances beyond their control. Additionally, this has added to the challenge of teacher retention and recruitment.

HB 28, Grants for Educator Professional Learning: This bill provides resources to teachers in schools for professional development. If this passes, it will free up money in the WPU for schools to use to address other needs.

SB 67, Partnerships for Student Success: This bill establishes a public-private partnership that targets schools with at risk students.

HB 42, Optional Enhanced Kindergarten Amendments: This bill adds to the existing Optional Enhanced Kindergarten (OEK) program which currently has about 214 participating schools. This bill would increase the level of participating schools to about 500. Many studies indicate that high school success can be predicted by reading proficiency at the third grade and that the best place to start for achieving proficiency by the third grade is at the kindergarten level.

HB 301 School Bus Route Grant Program: In order for school busses to run routes, there must be a 1.5 or 2 mile distance between the school and the route stops. This bill creates a grant program to provide additional routes in cases where the existing walking route is unsafe.

This upcoming Thursday, we will talk about air quality and water infrastructure and hear from bill sponsors proposing legislation in this area. Health care will likely be heard next week. Watch for updates in next week's blog update.


House GOP Caucus

During this week's meetings, we heard various presentations from House members regarding their proposed bills. Our recent meetings have been used as a forum to get more in depth on some of the bills that are up for debate. This helps save time on the floor as a lot of our questions will be already be answered.

Here is a snapshot of where we are with the volume of bills this session.

Source: Legislative Research and General Counsel

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STANDING COMMITTEES

Click on the committee meetings below to see the list of bills we discussed in committee.

House Transportation Standing Committee

House Retirement and Independent Entities Standing Committee

House Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee

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APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMTTEES

This week, our appropriations subcommittees prioritized budget requests. The final prioritized lists of each committee will be presented by the chairs to the Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) in the coming weeks. EAC is made up of the leadership of both parties and both House and Senate. If you're interested in watching these appropriations items, you can attend in person or listen in on the discussions online.

EAC will hear from all nine subcommittees (EAC represents its own as well), and after the new revenue estimates are announced, we will know how much money is available (or not) to appropriate to the requested needs. Once the new revenue estimates are presented, EAC will begin prioritizing these budget items and a newly revised list will be presented.

To see the Elected Officials and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee's final prioritized list, click here.

To see the Retirement and Independent Entities Appropriations Subcommittee's final prioritized list,  click here.

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OTHER RELATED CAP HAPS 

This past Saturday, I was invited to speak to a group called Kava Talks. This is a group made up of Pacific Islander men who are being certified as advocates to address the issue of domestic violence. I was impressed by the level of grass roots community engagement that is occurring in West Valley City, as well as the commitment and passion directed towards strengthening the future generation of Pacific Islanders in the valley.


This week, we had a few notable visitors on the House floor. We were visited by Taya Kyle, wife of Navy Seal and American hero Chris Kyle, Mark Geist, co-author and American hero of the tragic story behind the film 13 hours, and Donald Trump Jr.

Friday was PTA Day at the Capitol. I was able to speak to members at the UEA lunch and was pleasantly surprised to see my 8th grade art teacher in the room. This was the highlight of the session so far. It was also fun to have my daughter sit on the House floor with me and to run into teachers from her school.

Hearing from constituents is important to me. Please fill out my survey and help me better represent the district. I would like to get as much input as I can over the next two weeks. Please share with your family members and neighbors as well. Additionally, I am hosting a few more town halls in the coming weeks: February 20th, February 27th and March 19th. I will share the final results of the survey on my blog and at the March 19th town hall.

Budget Basics: Understanding our Budget

Capitol Pic of the Day

Federal Funds Backdrop

Take a look at this interactive fiscal impact barometer by Brookings, specifically, the Federal Spending by Category shown here. As mandatory spending and interest payments from borrowing go up, discretionary spending trends down. Over the upcoming years, fewer discretionary dollars will be available for areas like military, education and transportation (see purple box below). The real point of pain comes as the top line (discretionary spending) intersects with the other lines (Health, SS & Interest).  That is only about 10-15 years away!

To get a better idea of what mandatory spending pays for and what discretionary spending pays for, and how the federal budget works, take a look at the graphic below. Additional detail found here.

State Budget Backdrop 

About 26% of our total state budget comes from federal dollars (see below). Due to the uncertainty of the federal spending trend and the recent display of inaction by Congress in addressing budget issues, Utah has taken proactive measures to keep the state in a position of strength, long term.

That being said, this is the backdrop against why the state behaves cautiously when accepting federal dollars. This may explain why Utah's Federal Funds Commission has developed a Federal Funds Risk Model that will help us assess vulnerable areas of our budget and ways we can mitigate the risk of losing certain pots of federal money.

These graphs depict last year's budget (FY15/16), since our new revenue estimates aren't expected until mid-February. Nonetheless, it helps us see the overall picture. The largest three funding sources are General Fund, Education Fund, and Federal Funds and most of that goes to education and social services.

When we look at the state budget, we speak about it in two contexts. One is in the context of our total budget, which includes outside sources like federal dollars (reflected above). The other is in the context of what we call "state dollars." When you hear about having a surplus or a deficit in our state budget in the news, they are referencing our state funds. State funds are primarily General Fund (source=sales taxes) and Education Fund (source=income taxes). Education Fund, or your income taxes, may only be used for education, while General Fund is more flexible and may be used at our discretion. Below, you can see that the bulk of our state dollars go toward education. 

While the Education Fund had a surplus in the last quarter and has trended up, our General Fund is trending downward. So while it appears to be a good budget year, it is actually a challenging one when it comes to the money available to fund non-education related requests. Additionally, our appropriations chair informed us that certain economic indicators like severance taxes and capital gains are trending down. This is suspected to be an early indicator of an upcoming recession.

On that somber note, let's conclude with a positive note. Utah consistently takes a proactive approach in preparing for challenging economic times. I expect this principle to drive much of the policy decisions we make during this session. While it won't make some groups happy this year, it is the right approach to help position the state in a positive direction in the future.

Week Two Review

Capitol Pic of the Day

One topic that is getting a lot of attention lately is medical marijuana. There are three bills being proposed. SB 89, Medical Cannabidiol Amendments provides limited access to the plant and has research components that will enable the state to study the issue more deeply.

Another bill, SB 73, Medical Cannabis Act, is proposing broader access to the plant where a Compassionate Use Board of physicians hear applications for use beyond conditions listed in the bill.

A third proposal, which is not yet numbered or drafted, Concurrent Resolution Urging the Rescheduling of Marijuana, will be a plea to Congress to put marijuana in a different drug class in a an effort to allow it to be used for research and to go through the proper channels at the federal level.

I will post additional detail for each proposal on this blog as more information becomes available.
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SOPHIA'S BILLS (Summary)

My first bill, HB151, Acupuncture Licensing Board Amendments passed out unanimously on the House floor this week and is now headed to a Senate standing committee meeting to be considered for the Senate floor. This bill adds the acupuncture board to a list of health care licensing boards that are able to provide feedback to the Legislature on policies that impact their industry.

This week, HB 289, Charter School Closure Amendments was also published. I am currently working with the Utah State Office of Education, the Charter School Board and any other interested parties to solicit feedback.

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CAUCUS UPDATES

Salt Lake County Caucus

Questions surrounding the use of body cameras by law enforcement officers have recently become an issue, leading to debates regarding the protection of privacy, standards for use and safety, for citizens as well as officers. This session there are two bills to deal with the issue in two ways.

One proposal, not yet numbered, is to establish consistent, state-mandated guidelines for allow enforcement agencies that use body cameras. It would set rules regarding when to turn on, when to turn off, how to display the camera and give notice of its use.

The other proposal, SB 94, would allow for POST, the Peace Officer Standards and Training Division, to establish minimum standards that would given the use of the cameras and the storage and retention of the footage taken. Rather than encoding specific guidelines in statute, POST would be responsible for instituting standards, and would change them as needed. Any law enforcement using body cameras would be required to comply with those minimum standards.

Both bills would make the audio and video recordings private but the first proposal explicitly prohibits personal use.

House GOP Caucus

The Legislative Fiscal Analyst's office developed a federal funds risk simulator so that we can make better policy decisions by visualizing the impacts of fluctuating or uncertain federal dollars. Take a look at what risk responses are considered when compensating for the loss of federal funds in various areas of the budget by visiting the link.

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STANDING COMMITTEES

The volume of bills is slowly increasing in our committee hearings. Take a look at the bills being proposed in each of my assigned committees by clicking on one of the links below.

House Transportation Standing Committee

House Retirement and Independent Entities Standing Committee

House Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee

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APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMTTEES

We heard a lot of testimony from the assigned agencies to our committee this week regarding their base budgets and the various proposed adjustments and needs.

Notably, many of our agencies are dealing with challenging compensation issues that are consequently leading to hiring and retention issues.

There are several retirement bills being proposed this session that may help, however, we heard loudly and clearly that compensation is primarily the immediate issue in need of being resolved.

Our Guardian Ad Litem department, which is the department that provides legal support for children, is substantially underfunded when compared to other legal offices such as the Attorney General's Office, or the District Attorney's office.


To get a good sense of the budget and where to find items related to appropriations, visit this link.

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OTHER RELATED CAP HAPS 

Each Saturday, I've been holding town hall meetings at the West Valley Fitness Center. It's always fun to spend time with constituents, update them on what's happening on the hill, and hear about the issues that are important to them. I will continue to hold them at 2pm each Saturday through the session, with the exception of Valentine's Day weekend (no meeting on 2/13), as well as one post session meeting on March, 19th. Please visit with me if you're in the area.  

My intern Kelsey Barlow

Meet my intern, Kelsey Barlow. She is originally from Colorado, but we won't hold that against her. She has been a tremendous help and will certainly do great things in the future. For now, I am grateful for her assistance in keeping me organized and prepared each day.

Martha Hughes Cannon Caucus

Martha Hughes Cannon was the first female state Senator in the United States. In 1896, she ran against her own husband and beat him by more than 2,500 votes. On Tuesday, the Martha Hughes Cannon Caucus met for their first meeting of the legislative session. Female legislators, staff, and inters had the opportunity to mingle and network. This meeting was an amazing opportunity to honor the legacy of Martha Hughes Cannon.

Networking with interns

The Professional Republican Women had their luncheon this Thursday and invited the elected Republican women to present an update on our legislative priorities. It was a great turnout and wonderful to hear from colleges in the legislature. 

 Finally, this Friday, we were supposed to wear red to show support for women's health. Here is a picture of my colleagues in the House.