The legislative session has 33 business days – 15 down, 18 to go.
Following Up on the Education Budget
The Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee has concluded our work for the session. We were given an allocation of approximately $300 million in additional funding to work with. Our first step was to fully fund growth so that districts who have seen a net increase in students would be held harmless. We also prioritized increasing the per-pupil funding rate (or WPU) to help districts keep up with inflation and cost growth. While my House colleagues recommended at least a 3.5% increase in the WPU as the starting point, the Senate members did not agree, so we ended up with a base increase of 2.5%. This may get raised further through reformulation, but it is still disappointing.
With those “top priorities” set, the process of allocating the rest of the budget to special interests, personal projects, and other initiatives begins. It is important to remember that at the end of the day, every dollar comes from the same pot, so whether you support the arts, sciences, technology, library books, or whatever, it all comes out of possible increases in the WPU. This year was arguably worse than last year with dozens of requests to “fund my special project” parading before us. If you are sensing a tone of disgust in my writing, I will not deny it. I find this whole process to be ripe for corruption, power grabs, and other unbecoming behavior. There is a lot of special interest money and influence spent on lobbying to get special prioritization for new initiatives and continued funding for old programs with little to no data on effectiveness or return on investment. It’s actually somewhat disheartening to watch it play out.
Ultimately, we voted in committee on our priorities to recommend to the Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) who will craft the final list. I made a motion to remove about $27 million in special program priorities to provide another 1% increase in the WPU, but this met strong resistance from the Senators on the committee and was not passed.
Be assured that the drama regarding the Education Budget is not over. The EAC will almost certainly come back with something different than what our committee recommended. Time will tell.
Special “Days” on the Hill
One of the enjoyable parts of this position are the many special “days on the hill.” This week we had special days for the Arts (Tuesday), Non-profits (Thursday) and Career-Technology Education programs or CTE (Friday). If I have time, I like to visit the displays and meet people who make the effort to reach out to legislators. You will see photos on my Facebook page documenting those visits. While those visitors advocate for their programs (and sometimes request funding support), the main idea is to educate or remind legislators about the difference they are making in our communities.
Hot Topic – Vaccinations
I have received a lot of emails regarding HB221 – Immunization of Students Amendments which would change requirements related to mandatory vaccination of children. Personally, I believe that the good that comes from vaccinations outweighs the risks and I encourage parents to protect their children from preventable childhood diseases by keeping them current on vaccinations. However, I also believe that it is the right of every parent to educate themselves and make that decision based on their understanding and beliefs.
This bill would shift the law toward requiring parents who wish to opt out of vaccinations to complete a state-required online “education” module.
While I support educational efforts related to vaccination, I am persuaded by the many emails I have gotten that this bill goes too far in the scope of requirements and also creates too much of a burden on parents who want to opt out. I am also concerned that the goal of the education module will not be to provide information, but rather to try to convince those opting out that they are wrong. I am cautious about using the power of government to try to influence people about very personal decisions when weighing the benefits and risks.
Hot Topic – Automobile Safety Inspections
The other hot topic in my e-mail inbox is my bill that proposed to get rid of required safety inspections for automobiles (HB 319). After nearly a year of requesting and reviewing data on this program, here is what I have learned:
- Utah is one of only 3 states west of the Mississippi River (with Hawaii and Texas) that still require this
- This program costs the taxpayers $1 million in public funds and around $25 million in private fees to implement and this burden falls disproportionately on the poor and elderly
- There is widespread belief that “false fails” are common place as are “workarounds” that allow unsafe cars to pass
- Almost all accidents are linked to driver behavior with only a tiny fraction where unsafe equipment is to blame
- There is no evidence that states with inspection programs have safer roads than states without them
- Since the last changes to the program in 2012, the state has not been able to show that those changes caused any decrease in public safety
Comments I am receiving run about 9 to 1 in favor of eliminating the program. Almost all of those in favor of keeping it have a financial interest in doing so. I am hoping to get a committee hearing as soon as this week on this important topic.
Please Come Visit the Capitol
I love it when people visit. This week I hosted several special guests, including the State FFA Officers and children from Westside Elementary in Springville.
I would love to host you as my floor guest. Guests can sit with me on the House Floor during debate and see first hand how things work. We can also arrange special tours and show you some of the inner working of your legislature. Just let me know a day or two in advance, so we can make arrangements and help you have a great experience as an involved citizen.
If you missed it, make sure you read my special “mid-week” post on staying in contact: http://www.normthurston.com/notes-from-the-first-week/
