Utah National Guard death benefits bill passes; bill changing referendum deadlines fails

Utah National Guard death benefits bill passes; bill changing referendum deadlines fails

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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would provide death benefits to members of the Utah National Guard who die while on state active duty has passed the Utah Legislature and a bill that would have allowed Utahns to wait to circulate a referendum petition until after the governor takes action on legislation failed.

Here's what is happening during Utah's 2016 legislative session. Click on the headline to read the article in its entirety:

Utah National Guard death benefits bill passes Legislature

A bill that would provide death benefits to members of the Utah National Guard who die while on state active duty has passed the Utah Legislature.

HB98 would grant the family of a fallen guardsman $100,000 within 72 hours of death.

The bill was amended in the House to include a funding source. Originally, the National Guard had agreed to absorb the cost of the benefits.

The Legislature has now agreed to place $9,500 a year from the state's General Fund in a restricted account.

Currently, there is no death benefit for National Guard members serving on state active duty, but no guardsman has ever died under those circumstances.

House defeats bill changing referendum deadlines

A bill that would have allowed Utahns to wait to circulate a referendum petition until after the governor takes action on legislation failed by a close vote Wednesday in the House.

HB11, sponsored by Rep. Fred Cox, R-West Valley City, had already been voted down once by the House this session but was brought back. Cox told House members Wednesday that changing the referendum deadlines was "the right thing to do."

But after only brief debate, the bill was voted down, 32-38, despite being supported by both an interim committee and by the House Government Operations Committee earlier this session.

Cox has said he was attempting to fix a flaw in the referendum process that surfaced last year, when opponents of moving the Utah State Prison from Draper attempted to launch a referendum drive to overturn related legislation.

That group, known as Keep It In Draper, missed the deadline for filing the necessary paperwork with the state because it waited until Gov. Gary Herbert had signed the bill.

Cox filed a writ with the Utah Supreme Court on behalf of Keep It In Draper seeking to allow the referendum to go forward, but the court said he lacked standing and dismissed it. A later attempt was also rejected by the high court.

HB11 would have expanded the current filing deadline of five days after the end of the legislative session to include five days after a governor signs a law or it takes effect without a signature.

After-school programs a 'comprehensive' way to help kids, lawmakers say

A Utah senator is hoping to improve academic achievement for some of Utah's most at-risk students by increasing funding for after-school programs.

Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said it's a "comprehensive" way of teaching and meeting the needs of children, many of whom spend the hours after school by themselves while their parents work.

"I'm running this bill because it is an issue in my district," she said. "Those children are having issues of graduation rates and assessment scores."

SB125 would provide an ongoing appropriation of $500,000 from the education fund to create after-school programs in areas where school attendance, graduation rates or student test scores are suffering. The bill also directs education leaders to establish standards that characterize high-quality after-school programs.

The Senate Education Committee unanimously endorsed the proposal Wednesday.

Administrators at the Utah State Office of Education, which would administer the grant money with the Utah Department of Workforce Services, estimate the funding would be enough to create four or five new after-school programs, each serving an average of 200 students per year.

Contributing: Emily Larson, Lisa Riley Roche, Morgan Jacobsen

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