The legislature held committee meetings and we had a lot of floor time debating and voting on bills last week. This Monday I have one last committee meeting and then the rest of the time will be spent on the floor. We will be working into the night every evening this week. Monday is the last day that we will debate and vote on House bills, the rest of the week we will be dealing with Senate bills. A senate bill that I will not support is SB136. This bill will raise car registrations by $28.00 a year per vehicle and $78.00 per electric vehicle to pay for statewide transit. Another bill that was causing a lot of controversy was the Death Penalty Bill. It was pulled on Friday because of a lack of votes to pass it. The bill as written would have eliminated the death penalty in Utah.
I have one last bill on the House Third Reading Calendar, HB 460, Dental Hygienist Amendments, it is number 54 on the list. I don’t know if we can hear that many bills on Monday. To recap some of my bills: HB78S1, Volunteer Fire Department Financial Reporting Amendments passed the House but once it was in the Senate Rules Chair’s control we were able to negotiate a resolution that I believe will help alleviate the issues. HB112S1 Payment for State Care of Children has been sent to the governor for his signing. HB212S1 Business Expansion and Retention Initiative Amendments (BEAR) is number 9 on the Senate 2nd Reading Calendar, I expect it to pass this week. HB396S1 Special Designation of Route 6 is number 64 on the Senate calendar, it still has time to pass. HB 161S2 Auto Registration Requirements is number 107 on the Senate 2nd Reading Calendar, I am hopeful there is enough time to pass this bill too.
As of this writing 248 bills have been passed. The vast majority are either required financial bills or bills that are amending a law. The list shows that the majority of the bills have the words amendment or revisions at the end of the title. Many of our laws are out of date, applying terms that are no longer used, so when a bill is requested it often requires clean up language as well as the change to the law that is being requested. We still have a lot of work to do and whatever is not passed by midnight on Thursday March 8, will either die or come back next year.
Friday we were notified that Fred Hayes, the State Parks Director, passed away unexpectedly. I liked and admired Fred. He took on the challenge to keep all of our state parks open and thriving. With the National Park System becoming crowded, many people started visiting our state parks. His motto was “more people having more fun in more parks more often”. Fred was such an asset for the state, I will miss him.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. christinewatkins@le.utah.gov Cell: 435-650-1969
Facebook: Representative Christine Watkins District 69
Week Six at the Legislature
Christine Watkins