2008 legislative report card
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Sunday, March 9, 2008
Honestly, we can't recall a regular session of the Utah Legislature that's been so ... sedate -- relatively speaking, of course.
Oh, sure, Sen. Chris Buttars' racist comments on the floor garnered deserved attention and rebukes, but generally speaking the hysterics were kept to a low hum. There was no bickering over abortion, a pair of gun-law debates were settled without the typical screaming back and forth, and even the annual immigration brouhaha didn't reach the usual lows of name-calling and accusations.
That doesn't mean the session was a great success. As usual, there were highs and lows -- certainly what we've come to expect as we've assembled our annual legislative report cards on the Sunday following each year's session. So, a dozen years into this tradition, here are the Standard-Examiner Editorial Board's reactions to the 2008 Legislature, focusing on the issues we believe you find most important:
* Taxes: There was no meaningful property tax reform. Period. The only bill that might be linked to reform requires the largest counties along the Wasatch Front to begin using a computer program to assist in making timely property valuations. It doesn't begin to address the rapid and alarmingly high tax assessments many Top of Utah homeowners got last fall.
The only significant tax cut we saw was an $18 million-plus break for Utahns who buy their own health insurance -- allowing them to purchase the insurance with the same pre-tax dollars that most employees of businesses both large and small have been able to do for many years.
Lawmakers also raised the sales tax on non-food items a nickel for every $100 to pay for so-called "choke-point" transportation needs. Grade: C
* Veterans' issues: Finally, lawmakers signed off on building a veterans' nursing home in Ogden. It is badly needed, due to long waiting lists statewide. Grade: A
* Education: Senate Bill 2, the omnibus education bill, is the embodiment of the legislature behaving like Congress: badly. It rolled several education-issue bills into one -- including one or two that had previously been defeated -- forcing lawmakers to vote up-or-down on the whole package. It contained measures which were not popular among most lawmakers, such as forced tax-revenue sharing between school districts and charter schools, and others that were wildly popular: teacher raises ($1,700 each, which puts teacher raises over the past three years at almost 20 percent), and an extra $5 million for highly qualified math, science and technology teachers. Grade: B-minus
* Immigration: The omnibus immigration legislation, Senate Bill 81, could have been worse, but its harsher mandates were lessened by way of amendments. It places undue burdens on county law enforcement and some businesses, but at least it doesn't take effect until mid-2009. The Legislature still has time to perform a tune-up on laws that ought to be federal responsibilities.
We are glad to report, too, that North Ogden Rep. Glenn Donnelson's immigration bills met with little success. He was not able to strip illegals' of driving-privilege cards (which encourages them to obtain insurance) and do away with in-state college tuition rates for some illegals who have attended three years of high school and graduated. Grade: B
* Animal torture: Finally, it's a felony to torture a dog or a cat. After years of wrangling, the compromise seems to satisfy the interested parties -- those concerned about pet abuse and the agricultural industry -- since nobody got everything they wanted. Grade: A
* Health system reform: The aforementioned $18 million-plus tax break for Utahns who buy their own health insurance was the only step forward. Now a task force will grapple with future changes to come. Our advice: Don't hold your breath waiting for something substantive to happen. Grade: Incomplete
* Liquor law reform: As we said in this space a couple of weeks ago: This is what you get when a pack of teetotalers write rules governing the imbibing of alcohol. The law has been liberalized, yes -- you may now get a stiffer cocktail, but still with bothersome exceptions. And while the Legislature giveth, it also taketh away: So-called "alcopops" with no more alcohol than Utah's infamous 3.2 percent beer will no longer be sold on grocery store shelves -- they're being moved to state liquor store-only sales. Why? Because they supposedly appeal to teens. Sheesh, if grocery clerks can't recognize an "alcopop" when they see it and check I.D., maybe they ought to be looking for other work. Grade: C
* Social programs: Lawmakers reversed previous years' decisions to withhold extra funds for dental and vision care for the poor who are on Medicaid. They also have allowed year-round registration for the Children's Health Insurance Program. Grade: A
* Ethics: It was another banner year for low-stooping lawmakers. Lawmakers who have clear conflicts of interest are still required to vote on bills that involve those self-interests. When it became public Sen. Buttars wrote a threatening letter to a judge to help Buttars' developer buddy, Senate President John Valentine, who knew about the letter previously, said it was now important to remove Buttars as chair of the Senate Judicial Confirmation Commission. But before it became public, it was OK to sweep it under the rug? Right. Also rebuffed by lawmakers, removing the option they have of hoarding campaign contributions for personal spending. And, as always, they rejected a call to reduce the reporting limit for gifts from lobbyists from $50 to $15. Grade: F
* Town incorporations: They amended last year's town-incorporation bill that allows developers to incorporate towns and pull residents in without their votes. The new bill requires support of at least 50 percent of registered voters in the proposed town boundaries -- but it isn't retroactive, as some supporters hoped. It's only half a correction to a huge mistake. Grade: C
* Renewable energy: Utah is much less aggressive than many neighboring states in attempting to move to renewable energy sources for electrical power. The bill passed asks Rocky Mountain Power to get 20 percent of its power generation from wind, geothermal, solar, etc., by 2025 -- but only if it's cost-effective. Grade: C
* Banks versus credit unions: Lawmakers settled on an actual compromise between banks and credit unions -- the latter of which get to increase the size of loans to members. It also freezes the battle between the two for an agreed-upon five years. Grade: A
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