Abortion-drug restriction removed from telehealth bill; Minimum wage bill held

Abortion-drug restriction removed from telehealth bill; Minimum wage bill held

(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A Senate committee removed a controversial abortion-drug restriction from a telehealth bill, a House committee held a bill that would raise minimum wage and Utah's Senate president says restoring the full sales tax on food is "still a possibility."

Here's a roundup of what's happening on the Hill:

Bill would criminalize harassment of livestock

State lawmakers and others in the committee room at the Capitol on Tuesday recoiled at the sight of a cow leaping over a rangeland fence as it fled from a harassing four-wheeler.

Rep. Scott Chew, R-Jensen, showed several similar video clips, demonstrating the type of harassment suffered by livestock on rural lands and making a case for HB217.

The bill would criminalize that type of harassment and livestock endangerment, Chew said.

"People are using and enjoying the great outdoors, but like a lot of situations in our society, we have some who find ways to make our playtimes ugly," he told the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee.

HB217 received a unanimous favorable recommendation from the committee and was advanced to the House floor for consideration.

Restoring full sales tax on food 'still a possibility,' Senate president says

Restoring the full state sales tax on food purchases remains an option this session to counter a proposed education funding initiative, even though tax exemptions will likely be studied over the interim, Senate leaders said Tuesday.

"There might be a surprise. We might come out with something. Or it might be, we end up doing nothing. We're actually working on some things," Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, told reporters.

That includes looking at passing a "more incremental" tax increase before the 2017 Legislature ends next month to raise more money for schools, such as collecting the full state sales tax on food, Niederhauser said.

"That's a broadening of the base and potentially a lowering of the rate so that is on table. It's something we're discussing," he said. "I say it's still a possibility. How probable it is, is still up for debate."

Since 2008, the state sales tax rate on food has been 1.75 percent, compared with 4.75 percent for other purchases. Cities have the option of collecting an additional 1 percent, and counties .25 percent on food sales.

Bill raising minimum wage in Utah to $10.25 an hour held by committee

A bill that would set a minimum wage in Utah of $10.25 and increase it annually to $15 in 2023 was held Tuesday by the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee.

The sponsor of HB147, Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Salt Lake, said the people who would benefit from an increase in the current $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage would use the additional money for basic needs.

"They are going to invest in rent, they're going to invest it food, they're going to invest it in kids, they're going to invest it in education," he said, adding he feels that "someone who works full time in Utah deserves to make a living wage."

Controversial abortion-drug restriction removed from telehealth bill

A Senate committee stripped language from a bill Tuesday that would have prohibited the electronic prescription of drugs that can induce abortion from telehealth providers.

Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Cottonwood Heights, said a constitutional challenge to the legislation over the abortion language could negatively impact telehealth’s overall mission.

Shiozawa, an emergency room physician, said his amendment to HB154 would “clean up the bill and preserve telehealth,” which he described as a “vital” service to caregivers in rural Utah but also to suburban emergency room physicians who rely on the expertise of specialists they do not have on their staffs.

“What I want to talk about is doctors prescribing medicine and systems that will work for patients,” he said during a hearing before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Contributing: Ryan Morgan, Lisa Riley Roche, Marjorie Cortez

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