Week 4 – We are now on the downhill side of the session. There are just 13 business days left and there are a lot of bills and ideas still to consider.
Constituent News
Visitors to the Capitol
As usual, I was pleased to host several special guests at the capitol and have them spend some time with me on the House Floor. This week’s visitors included a surprise visit by my brother Kevin and his wife Tracy. Diane Christensen is a neighbor and good friend and it was a pleasure to have her join me. It’s always fun to meet with teachers who live and work in my district. Five teachers from Provo and Nebo Districts visited me on Friday and I was pleased to host three of them on the House Floor. If you are interested in coming to the capitol, please let us know a couple of days in advance so we can make arrangements.
Kevin & Tracy Thurston
Diane Christensen
Provo and Springville Teachers
Break Time – What happens when we are not in scheduled meetings
Congressman Bishop
We regularly receive reports and updates from our congressional delegation. This week, Congressman Bishop spoke to us in our caucus meeting
Congressman Bishop
Pharmacists Day
The rotunda was filled with pharmacists and pharmacy students. We had an opportunity to get a free screening.
Glucose and Cholesterol Testing
Westside Elementary, Springville
Each year, the fifth grade students from Westside Elementary in Springville visit the capitol for a tour and a chance to meet their legislators. I got to spend about a half hour with them answering all sorts of interesting and thought-provoking questions.
Westside Elementary
Utah County Lincoln Day Dinner, Mitt Romney
On Friday night, Mrs. Thurston and I were pleased to attend the Utah County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner. The keynote speaker was Mitt Romney, who had announced that morning that he is running for the U.S. Senate to represent Utah.
Mitt Romney
My Ideas in Action
Update on DUI .05
This week Governor Herbert announced that there will be no major changes to the law reducing the BAC limit to .05, nor will it be repealed. We anticipate just two relatively minor tweaks – a change to the novice driver provision and an update of the law regarding possession of a weapon by an intoxicated individual.
Presenting HB98
HB163 Canada Drug Importation Passes the Full House
On February 14, we had a spirited debate on the House Floor regarding my proposal to seek federal approval to allow the state to import lower cost prescription drugs from Canada. Despite opposition from some members of House Leadership, the bill passed on a vote of 39-31 and is headed to the Senate. You can read more about the challenges of passing a bill that is opposed by a heavily financed lobby here.
Presenting HB163
Big Issues
Taxes and Budgets
While I fully anticipated discussion about tax “modernization” and budgets to be a big topic this session, it looks like our leaders are moving with caution. We won’t have a full proposal until we get our final revenue estimates, but there is a lot of discussion about how to use the expected $80 million in windfall revenue to the state because of federal tax reform. Personally, I prefer that we give that all back to the taxpayers to fully deliver on the federal cuts. There will be a great discussion about how to do that, but I am confident it will happen.
We are also anticipating allocating significantly additional funds to education. Early in the session, our committees looked carefully at where cuts could be made to make that possible. I also hope that we can find some additional funding to provide needed services for people with disabilities whose families are under significant stresss.
Government Oversight
Another proposal that has generated a lot of anxiety and concern in Rep. Stratton’s bill to create a new Legislative Oversight Committee. The proposal is based on the Federal Oversight Committees and gives these legislators broad authority to investigate, study and audit decisions by all types of governments. I put this issue out to my constituents in a survey and the results came back almost evenly split between those that think additional oversight could be helpful and those who think that it is unnecessary. The proposal is opposed by virtually every government group.
My Bills – Status update
Bills that are done (or almost done)
Three bills passed both the House and the Senate and are off to the Governor for signing, and a fourth will be joining them very soon:
HB19 would create programs inside health insurance plans that reward members who shop for lower cost health care options by sharing some of the savings with them.
HB34 clarifies that employees may take paid leave to assist with natural disasters with any agency, not just the Red Cross.
HB36 sets out a process and limitations for cities and towns that want to regulate free speech on public grounds. It will help ensure citizens’ rights to free speech.
HB162 allows a person that buys a used car to keep the license plates and not have to buy new ones. It passed in the Senate committee and is waiting for a final vote on the Senate Floor.
Four More Bills Still Moving
HB98 is a small fix to the DUI legislation from last year. It changes the definition of “novice driver” to exclude anyone over 21 who has a full drivers license. It is currently #58 on the House Third Reading Calendar.
HB115 aims to limit abusive lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act by requiring that claimants give businesses a chance to fix problems before they demand money. This bill is #35 on the House Third Reading Calendar and should have a full floor vote this week.
HB163 would set up a program to allow wholesalers to import lower cost drugs from Canada and make them available to Utah’s pharmacies. This bill is scheduled for a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday morning.
HB328 relates to the possession of dangerous weapons by intoxicated individuals. It removes the exception that would allow law enforcement to carry while intoxicated and adds three new exceptions – for self-defense, situations where the weapon is in a locked case or not readily available, and when the person is in a private residence or business with the permission of the owner. It was scheduled for a committee hearing last week but the committee ran out of time before hearing it. It should be on an agenda this week.
