Keeping House

by Representative Kraig Powell

September 21, 2009

At the Utah Legislature’s September Interim Day held on Wednesday, Utah’s newest state senator took office. Davis County Republicans elected Stuart Adams of Layton to fill the Senate seat vacated by Greg Bell, the new Lieutenant Governor.

The Senate also took action Wednesday on a judicial appointment for the Uintah Basin. Deputy Uintah County Attorney Ed Peterson was confirmed as Utah’s newest district judge. Peterson was nominated by Governor Herbert to fill the position vacated by the retirement of Judge John R. Anderson of Vernal. Peterson will serve the 8th Judicial District, which covers Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah Counties.

The Education Interim Committee, on which I serve, heard testimony from the state office of education on improving Utah’s U-Pass and U-BSCT tests, which are required for graduation from high school. The state is experimenting with online adaptive testing to hopefully produce better feedback and skills mastery for students.

The Education Committee also explored the concept of school-based budgeting being used in a number of other states, which transfers significant financial decision-making from school districts to a council of parents and teachers located in each school.

In other interim committees, the Workforce Services Committee considered a bill to raise from $75 to $125 the statewide fine for illegally parking in a stall reserved for people with disabilities. Utah has the lowest handicapped parking fine in the nation. A majority of the committee members rejected the proposal on the grounds that the new fine would be higher than the current penalty for many moving violations.

Members of the state’s Health Care Reform Task Force, chaired by Utah Speaker of the House David Clark, warned the federal government that a one-size-fits-all approach, such as that being pushed by the Obama administration, will stifle creative health care solutions in states such as Utah and require more efficient states to fix the problems of troubled states. Utah is well on its way to state-based reform, including the unveiling this year of a new health insurance portal which provides increased choice and competition for employers and employees.

The Government Operations Interim Committee considered a proposal to impose limits on the amount of campaign contributions that Utah’s elected officials can accept. The presentation was made by the Commission on Strengthening Utah’s Democracy, which was established earlier this year by Governor Huntsman after it was reported that Utah has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the nation.

The Commission, originally chaired by the late Larry H. Miller, voted earlier this month to recommend contribution limits of $4,000 per donor for statewide races and $2,000 for legislative races.

At Wednesday’s committee meeting, legislators questioned whether the suggested contribution caps would do anything to improve lawmakers’ accountability to their constituents. Many committee members felt that the only effect of the restrictions would be to discourage middle-class Utahns from running for office, since only the wealthy could then afford the campaign expenses.

The Commission’s proposal is similar to a bill that I sponsored in the 2009 legislative session to impose contribution limits. I agree with the Commission that lobbyists wield too much influence on Utah’s Capitol Hill. Utah is one of only four states without mandatory caps on contributions.

A related, but even more controversial, effort was the backdrop for the proceedings of the Ethics Interim Committee this week. A citizen’s group has proposed an initiative for the 2010 general election ballot that would impose sweeping ethical standards on Utah legislators and establish an independent ethics commission to hear complaints of misconduct. Petition sponsors must gather nearly 100,000 signatures to bring the measure to a vote of Utah’s citizens next year.

The legislature’s Ethics Committee voted to draft a similar proposal to form a panel composed primarily of retired judges to screen ethics allegations. Committee members are divided, however, on whether citizens should be allowed to file complaints against lawmakers or whether the process must be initiated by fellow legislators.

I strongly support both greater restrictions on legislators’ conduct and a revamped process for reviewing ethical complaints. In a democracy, perception is reality, and many Utah citizens have lost faith in their elected officials.

I do not know if these major reforms will ever be adopted, but in the meantime, I will continue my practice of refusing all contributions and gifts from lobbyists, special interest groups, and corporations that lobby the legislature. I have found that the easiest policy is to just say no.

Away from Capitol Hill, I recently attended a joint meeting of the Duchesne and Uintah County School Districts to discuss busing of students to Union High and the upcoming school bond election for Duchesne County. I was happy to see the two school boards work together in a cooperative fashion to address these issues.

I also attended a meeting of Wasatch County’s elected city and county officials to discuss the proposed bypass route for U.S. Highway 40. It appears that the leaders are just about ready to approach the Utah Department of Transportation with a united front to request state assistance for this important project.

As always, please feel free to contact me at kraigpowell [at] utah.gov or 435-654-1550 with any ideas or concerns you may have.