Group urges ban on animal gas chambers; House rejects UTA tax bill

Group urges ban on animal gas chambers; House rejects UTA tax bill

(Laura Seitz/Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A group of citizens asked lawmakers to prohibit animal gas chambers in Utah, a controversial Rocky Mountain Power bill gets early approval and the House rejected a bill that would exclude UTA from receiving revenue from future tax hikes.

Here's what is happening during Utah's 2016 legislative session:

Bill to alter state's guardianship laws moves to House on 6-5 vote

Legislation that would remove the requirement that potential wards have legal representation in guardianship proceedings under limited circumstances is before the Utah House of Representatives.

HB101, sponsored by Rep. Fred Cox, R-West Valley City, received a favorable recommendation from the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday on a 6-5 vote.

Cox said the legislation attempts to balance the interests of adoptive and biological parents who have raised children with disabilities and have their best interests in mind as they seek guardianship of them as they reach adulthood with the needs of other potential wards who need legal representation.

Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, said the legislation presumes a "loving relationship" between a parent and disabled adult child.

The bill provides protections and will help families who are entering a lifelong obligation to continue to care for their child and act in their best interests, he said.

Group asks lawmakers to ban animal gas chambers

Sherrie Nofrey spent years training police dogs with her husband. The Orem resident now stays busy rescuing animals and, occasionally, lobbying for their rights.

Nofrey was one of about 30 citizens who went to Capitol Hill Thursday to lobby lawmakers to support two bills — HB187, which would prohibit animal gas chamber euthanasia, and a forthcoming bill that would define appropriate shelters for dogs.

Tex, Salt Lake County K-9 mayor, wears a tie to lobby for HB187 with the Humane Society of Utah at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. The bill would ban gas chamber euthanasia at Utah animal shelters. (Photo: Laura Seitz/Deseret News)
Tex, Salt Lake County K-9 mayor, wears a tie to lobby for HB187 with the Humane Society of Utah at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. The bill would ban gas chamber euthanasia at Utah animal shelters. (Photo: Laura Seitz/Deseret News)

Deanne Shepherd, the Humane Society communications director, said it organized Humane Lobby Day to help Utahns share their passion for the issue with legislators.

"It's like a daunting, intimidating experience for these people because it's their first time. They didn't know you could just come up and go talk to (the legislators) and they'd listen to you. … We're trying to help get them past that and just help them to learn that it's an easy process and hopefully next year they come up on their own, too," Shepherd said.

Controversial Rocky Mountain Power bill gets committee approval

Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said changing times on the energy front require more flexibility and freedom for the state's largest electricity provider to implement changes, propelling his sponsorship of a bill to do just that.

But SB115, debated in a legislative committee hearing on Thursday, was repeatedly criticized as a Rocky Mountain Power free-for-all when it comes to potential rate increases and an end-run around the Public Service Commission.

"This will increase rates," warned Michele Beck, director of the state Office of Consumer Services, adding that it removes regulatory oversight of the utility company by the Public Service Commission.

Adams said there is nothing in his bill that prohibits oversight by the commission, but it does give Rocky Mountain Power more discretionary tools to direct ratepayer revenue into what he says are clean air initiatives, such as money to encourage the purchase of electric cars and allowing the company to stockpile dollars for potential upgrades to existing power plants in the face of federal regulations.

Lawmakers advance five bills designed to save lives

In 2014, Utah had the seventh-highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the nation.

The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, seeks to declare the trend a public health emergency.

Moss also helped sponsor HB238. Paired with HB240, sponsored by Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, the two measures would expand access to naloxone, an overdose reversal drug the Legislature approved for physicians to prescribe in 2014.

Eliason's bill would allow doctors to issue standing orders to pharmacies so that people can obtain naloxone kits even if they don't have a prescription in hand. And Moss' bill would permit people to give naloxone kits to others so long as they provide instruction on how to administer it.

In particular, Moss said, it's important that people know to call 911 first before administering naloxone.

$100M classroom tech bill gets preliminary OK, but full funding not likely

A statewide classroom technology proposal that lawmakers say "represents years worth of work" earned preliminary approval in the Utah Legislature Thursday.

Members of the House Education Committee were vocal in supporting SB277, a bill that would provide grant funding for schools to put technology devices into the hands of students, provide training for educators and maintain a long-term vision of how it all should improve academic performance.

"This is a very wide-ranging program. (Schools) can apply for grant funds for professional development, they can apply for software, they can apply for upgrades to their existing technology, perhaps they're in need of tech support," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. John Knotwell, R-Herriman. "These are things that every (school) in our state can take advantage of."

Last year, lawmakers passed a bill that commissioned a task force to study the technology needs of Utah schools and to formulate a comprehensive implementation plan.

That plan is included in this year's bill, which asks for $100 million to provide qualifying grants for schools that choose to get started or enhance their existing technology program.

But the proposal's hefty price tag has been a perennial source of debate and hesitation among lawmakers, especially in light of other education needs, such as funding enrollment growth and yearly increases to per-pupil spending.

Wednesday's roundup:

Senate panel passes bill to remove FBI check for driver privilege cards

A bill eliminating FBI background checks from driver privilege card applications passed a Senate committee Wednesday.

Utah had expanded the law to include the FBI with the idea that the detection of criminal activity or an outstanding warrant would be referred to law enforcement.

But federal law precludes that information from being passed to police, said Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, sponsor of SB129. The background check could only be used for the purpose of issuing the driver privilege card.

"The FBI says we can't use that background check," Bramble said. "This is a matter of the federal government being intransigent in how they approach this."

House panel shuts down bill to exclude UTA from future tax hikes

A House committee Wednesday rejected a bill that would have given cities the ability to exclude transit districts — such as the Utah Transit Authority — from receiving revenue from future local sales tax hikes for transportation projects.

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee shot down HB215 with a 4-6 vote. It would have allowed an alternative to what voters in 17 counties considered when they weighed Proposition 1, a measure to raise taxes by one penny for every $4 spent upon voter approval.

In Proposition 1's original form — as mandated by the passage of HB362 last year — 40 percent of the tax revenue went to cities, 20 percent to counties and 40 percent to transit districts.

Under HB215, 20 percent would go to counties and 80 percent would go to cities. It would then be up to city officials to decide how much to spend on transit.

Contributing: Marjorie Cortez, Emily Larson, Amy Joi O'Donoghue, Daphne Chen, Morgan Jacobsen, Dennis Romboy, Katie McKellar

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