This week legislative committees will look at bills to give cops authority to make warrantless arrests for violating any misdemeanor, resolutions against federal income taxes and a pitch for Medicaid Inspector General.---

The end-of-the-week committees have not yet been filled but already there’s quite a lineup of interesting bills being ground through the system.

House Bill 59, sponsored by Stephen Handy, R-Layton would allow warrantless arrest of individuals based on reasonable cause of any misdemeanor. The current statute only allows that law-enforcement make such arrest on reasonable cause of the Class A misdemeanors and felonies.

H.B. 59 will be heard Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Utah State Capitol, 350 N. State, 25 House Building, at 2 p.m. Visit the Legislature's main page for a live audio link.

Tuesday you can also hear House Joint Resolution 20, urging the repeal of the 16th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.  proposed by Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, the bill would urge the U.S. Congress to repeal the 16th Amendment which allows the federal government to collect income tax.

HJR20 will be heard Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Utah State Capitol, 350 N. State, Utah State Capitol Complex, at 4 p.m. Visit Legislature main page for a live audio link.

Thursday, the Retirement and Independent Entities Appropriations Subcommittee will be finishing up a review of the Utah Public Employees Health Program, which was recently dinged by a legislative audit for providing health insurance at higher costs than various private insurance carriers in the state.

The PEHP review and other business will be conducted Thursday, Feb. 10 at the Utah State Capitol, 350 N. State, Utah State Capitol Complex, at 7 a.m. Visit the Legislature’s main page for a live audio link.

Friday House Bill 84 would be reviewed by the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, would seek the creation of an Office of Inspector General of Medicaid Services. The office would interface with the Utah Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud task force and do regular audits of reimbursement claims to search for fraud and/or waste. The new office would also be tasked with providing annual reports to the Governor and the Executive Appropriations Committee of the Legislature.

Check out HB 84, Friday, Feb. 11, at the Utah State Capitol, 350 N. State, Utah State Capitol Complex. The committee will start at 8 a.m. but Clark’s bill is expected to be discussed at around 9:20 a.m. Visit the Legislature’s main page for links to live audio.