- Bryan Beach
Then with their ducks in a row, these legislators came out guns blazing. They took on the feds, immigrants, bath salts, feral cats and anything that offends the decency of god-fearing, red-blooded, red-state Utahns.
If nothing else, it was a session of boldness. It was a session where “small ball” issues, as former President George Dubya referred to them, were pushed aside in favor of solving big problems in a big way and doing it on a dime.
More bang, less buck.
Immigration Fixes And Tweaks
Too many bees in the beehive don’t have papers, and Utahns demanded the Legislature do something about it. Despite the abundance of tough talk, the Legislature offered more carrot than stick when it came to immigration, deflecting multiple efforts to punish undocumented immigrants.
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Top Party Pooper 
Perhaps Dougall is just taking a principled stand against such bills as time wasters (See “Hot Air,” p. 18). But there were two notable exceptions to his “nay” votes: He did not vote against Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 to make February “Wear Red Month” to raise awareness of heart disease among women. The voting record shows Dougall was absent for that vote. And, when it came time to designate Feb. 6 as Ronald Reagan Day, Dougall joined every other legislator in voting affirmatively. Somewhere, the Gipper is smiling on you, Representative. |
IN-STATE TUITION
Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, drafted a bill to repeal in-state tuition for the more than 600 students in Utah colleges and universities who are children of undocumented parents. That bill was amended so that the benefit could be allowed if students could prove they or their parents paid income taxes for the previous three years. This compromise bill never saw the light of day, as the Senate kept the bill off the floor and refused to debate it, thus leaving the benefit intact for another year.The Driving Privilege Card
The card created in 2005 to allow undocumented immigrants to purchase car insurance was under attack this session by Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George. He argued the card encourages immigrants to commit identity fraud. Urquhart found himself challenging Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, who helped originally create the card. After five drafts, a compromise bill was passed. That bill negated the identity-theft concern by requiring immigrants who seek the card to have their photograph and fingerprints taken.
BE OUR GUEST
Rep. Bill Wright, R-Holden, was not the first legislator this session to propose a bill meant to bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and legally into the Utah workforce. His bill was preceded by that of Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City. But ultimately, his House Bill 116 was the one the Legislature decided to run with. An advantage Wright holds—being a salt-of-the-earth dairy farmer—is being personally aware of the economic need for undocumented labor. (It also probably didn’t hurt that he isn’t a Hispanic Democrat from Salt Lake City.)
Wright’s bill would, pending the governor’s signature, seek a federal waiver to set up a state guest-worker program. Applicants would pay a fee to enroll: $1,000 for those immigrants who overstayed on visas and $2,500 for those who entered the country illegally. Similar to Robles’ bill, applicants would also have to complete criminal background checks and be fingerprinted.
THE FED-FRIENDLY VISA
One bill that plotted a careful course between states’ rights and the federal government’s right to regulate immigration was a bill crafted by Senate leadership and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. This bill facilitates federal work visas to be offered by Utah businesses to legal immigrants from the Mexican state of Nuevo León.
”THE IMMIGRATION "STICK"
Orem Republican Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act, patterned after a similar controversial Arizona bill, originally mandated that law enforcement verify the immigration status of all lawbreakers. Sandstrom’s enforcement bill survived passage in the Senate only after he removed the language that allowed officers to verify status based on “reasonable suspicion.” Instead, the bill allows law enforcement to check at their discretion the status when crimes committed are class B and C misdemeanors. Serious misdemeanors and felony arrests will still require the officer to check immigration status.
Booze & Spice And Everything Not Nice
Utah is a business-friendly place, where market forces rule and regulations equal socialism—unless it’s the booze business.
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Top Legislative Tweets
@RobertGehrke: “And the vote is 28—0. We live in a republic. Final vote tomorrow. It has restored my faith in democracy. We should totally get one.” March 2 @JoshLoftin: “BREAKING GIGANTIC SURPRISE: #HB477 Passes Senate. Media balls, meet legislative foot. #utleg #utpol #MyDaddyisUTLEG” March 4 @Sausagegrinder: “I like to imagine a tiny Quasimodo rings the House bell in a.m. Then I imagine tossing him off the Dome after 7 straight minutes of it.” Feb. 8 @MaxRoth: “HB477 passes. UT Leg took 4 days for sneak attack on freedom of press. That means they have time for religion or assembly next week!” March 4 @UTferalcat: “The Feral Cat Caucus would like to honor Catrick Henry, the father of the feral revolution #utpol” March 9 @RobertGehrke: “Operation Wimmerstache Update: I had a donut for breakfast today. Something about flakes of icing help a ’stache look lush and full. #utleg” March 8 @RepBriscoe: “Feral legislation-no committee hearing, unveiled afternoon of the last day. #utpol #utleg” March 10 |
LIQUOR STORES
The state-owned liquor monopoly brings more than $50 million to state coffers annually but doesn’t get a percentage of those profits. Instead, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is budgeted money like any other government department. This year, due to budget cuts, legislators slated the closure of as many as 13 stores and the firing of 150 employees.
These same budget cuts also will mean restricted hours, meaning some liquor stores will close as early as 7 p.m.
ROOM SERVICE
A plus for the Utah hotel industry was a change in liquor laws that allowed hotels to serve a single alcoholic beverage to guests. Existing law only allowed for bottle service. Now, hotel guests who want to awaken by drinking a single breakfast screwdriver don’t have to order a full bottle of vodka. Good morning!
BAR NONE
In other booze news, Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, passed a liquor bill to increase the number of liquor licenses for restaurants—but not club licenses. The new law, however, normalized service hours for restaurants, giving some good news to the brunch crowd, since all restaurants can serve alcohol starting at 11:30 a.m. instead of noon.
BYE-BYE BEER SPECIALS
A last-minute addition to the Senate bill after it had already cleared a public hearing was a one-word change that gathered no mention in debates. It prohibits bars from offering daily beer specials. The reason? To prevent overconsumption. This bill goes into effect July 1, when it will be adios to cheap-draft nights and PBR can specials. For now, it seems cocktail specials are still OK.
SPICE SQUAD
Everyone’s favorite synthetic cannabinoid (fake pot) was banned in Utah faster than a spice buzz wears off on a full stomach. The bill outlawing spice and Ivory Wave—a bath salt said to cause a cocaine-like high if snorted—was among the first signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert this session.
While bill proponents—who were thinking of the children—had no trouble garnering support, they failed to factor in the price tag of $350,000 which the state labs would need to buy the equipment needed to test for spice compounds.
3 Barely Legal Highs Likely to Be Outlawed in 2012 Session
1.
Chewing Kratom: Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, eager to jump on the
banning-designer-drugs bandwagon, proposed legislation this session to
ban kratom. If you’ve never heard of kratom, clearly you’re not from
Thailand or Malaysia, where the substance has been used for centuries.
While kratom has a chemical structure similar to psychedelic drugs, the
effects are not the same. Herrod pulled the bill when it was recommended
that it be first studied by the Controlled Substance Advisory Board to
see if it required legal prohibition. Concentrated doses are said to
have a possible opiate-like effect. But the major effects of chewing low
doses of kratom leaves appear to be an antioxidant boost, enhanced
energy and a mild sense of well being. This leads us to believe it will
either be outlawed by the 2012 Legislature or will be offered as
nutritional supplement through a local multilevel-marketing company, in
which case it will enjoy the fullest federal protection possible and
receive product testimonials from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
3. Making Yourself Pass Out: Reports are trickling in that children lacking access to real drugs are forcing themselves to pass out. It would be irresponsible for City Weekly to divulge specific methods for this altered state, but one form involves a series of deep breaths followed by a bear hug from another individual. The other involves locking one’s knees for a certain length of time to halt blood flow.
GUNNING FOR CATS
House Bill 210, lovingly known as the feral cat bill, sponsored by Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, would have allowed exemptions from animal cruelty laws for those who shoot a cat they reasonably suspect is feral. The bill was amended to prohibit anti-stray vigilantism in urban settings and seemed likely to pass until it was “neutered” the final day and failed to pass.
GUNNING FOR A STATE GUN
Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, succeeded in making the Browning M911 a state symbol, citing John Browning, the gun’s inventor, as a Utah native. While the bill grabbed national headlines, the designation loses novelty, considering Utah already has a ton of “official” designations, for example: a state folk dance (square dance), a state cooking pot (Dutch oven), and both a state vegetable (Spanish sweet onion) and a historic state vegetable (Sugar beet).
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Top 3 Reasons Liberals Should Miss Chris Buttars
2. He was the only conservative to challenge his party on HB477, the controversial bill designed to gut Utah’s two-decade-old open-government records law. Buttars admitted he hadn’t read the bill and chastised his fellow lawmakers—Republicans and Democrats—for rushing to pass a bill more than 1,800 lines long. 3. He was the only senator—Republican or Democrat—to vote against Sen. John Valentine’s liquor bill. He even criticized the need for a liquor-license quota system as “legislative creep.” |
The Biggest Little Government In The World
Government Right to Privacy—Even on Public Business
House Bill 477 sought to undo a 20-year-old open-government records law in the space of 72 hours—and succeeded. The bill received no support in public comment and was admittedly passed quickly to avoid media objections. It carved out large exceptions for the Legislature to operate in secret. The bill also sought to take out existing language in Utah’s legal code that guides courts and government to disclose records when it benefits the public’s right to know, and sought to rule out text messages as even being considered a public record—even if they’re sent by public officials, on taxpayer-funded phones, to other public officials, about public business.
Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, criticized the media for distorting issues affecting them by claiming “the sky is falling.” He argued the bill’s process was fair and equitable … and then he suspended normal rules for debate and helped whoosh the bill out the door. Two days later, and after hundreds of angry calls to Gov. Herbert and the Legislature, the bill was recalled and implementation was delayed until July 1, so that a working group can study possible changes to the bill in a special session of the Legislature planned for June.
OUT OF COMMISSION
Senate Bill 44, which grabbed less notice than HB477, would give the Legislature (more specifically, the dominant party) more control over independent expert commissions like the Tax Review Commission and the Constitutional Review Commission. Sponsored by Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, the bill would make these volunteer commissions, which currently meet year-round, only meet when called by the Legislature, governor or the Legislative Management Committee.
During house debate, multiple legislators supporting the bill argued that they didn’t know exactly how some Constitutional Review Commission members viewed the Constitution—basically arguing that the commission might include legal experts who see the Constitution as a “living” document, contrary to most Republicans’ view.
Additionally, the Tax Review Commission, which is staffed largely with nonpartisan volunteer tax accountants and other experts, is charged with reviewing state sales and use taxes as well as numerous economic development tax credits. Those tasks would be put in the hands of the Legislature’s Tax & Revenue Committee. That which was billed as a cost-cutting measure simply cuts out checks and balances, critics say.
REFERENDUM KILLER
Senate Bill 165 emerged as a direct pushback from the Legislature against recent citizen ballot initiatives designed to force ethics reforms on lawmakers. SB165 would not only invalidate the use of electronic signatures for ballot petitions, but also raises the standard needed to get a petition on the ballot. Of course, that’s what citizen activists get when they try to petition a bull by the horns.
It’s often the practice of the Legislature to write resolutions known as “message” bills. This session, 18 such bills were debated, discussed and sent off to the federal government urging Congress to get its act together. Once these bills have passed the Utah Legislature, they’re shot out of a cannon into Washington, D.C., bombarding the beltway fat cats with stern demands to respect our state sovereignty. Some message bills come across louder than others, but for the most part, they’re “meaningless,” to quote Rep. Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara. But that doesn’t stop them from being discussed and debated, however—at taxpayer expense. Case in point: Clark made that comment while discussing a message bill urging the federal government to call a constitutional convention.
Total time spent this session debating “message bills” to the federal government: 13 hours, 34 minutes
Most Prolific Legislators
The legislators from each party who proved the most capable turning the wheel on the sausage grinder include:
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Republican Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo 21 bills and 2 resolutions passed out of 37 proposed pieces of legislation for a 56.76 percentage |
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Democrat Sen. Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake City 11 bills passed out of 19 proposed for a 57.89 percentage |
In the Legislative process, a bill has to fight its way through the system. Ideally, it’s a process of debate and discussion where bills are given a fair shot before a committee and then the entire Legislative body to be scrutinized, haggled over, and voted on. But the first step in passing any bill is getting it through the dreaded Rules Committee.
The Rules Committee in either house decides if a bill is even ready to be heard at a committee. It’s like the bouncer at the club who decides if you’re pretty enough to come and party with the other bills.
Here’s a breakdown on the number of bills never allowed into the club.
Republican-sponsored Bills Stuck: 37
5.53 percent of total Republican-sponsored bills
Democrat-Sponsored Bills Stuck: 13
12.38 percent of total Democrat Sponsored Bills
Sunshiney
Legislative Days
LOBBYIST HOMEWORK
The Legislature did fix up government ops in some notable ways. Sen. President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, passed Senate Bill 251, which penalizes lobbyists who do not complete annual ethics-training exercises. Penalties range from a $1,000 fine to suspension of their lobbyist license.
NOTING PERFORMANCE
Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, passed a bill creating a “performance note” for future legislation. This bill would require bill sponsors seeking to create new programs to make note of expected goals and milestones the program should accomplish. That way, legislators and the public can refer back to the note after a program is established to see if it’s performing as expected.
PAC-MEN (AND WOMEN)
One passed bill clarified that any elected official is allowed to serve on political action committees, commonly the biggest spenders in elections. The bill added, however, a dash of sunshine to the practice by requiring elected officials to disclose on public documents if they serve in leadership positions in PACs.
Additional reporting by Shelly Guillory
