Annual Report Card on Utah Legislature

April 2008

PDF version (Contains ratings charts and rankings)

How Did Your Representatives Represent You in 2008?

Contents

• How did your Representatives represent you in 2008?
• Wimmer Receives Top Score in House Madsen and Stephenson lead Senate
• What is Grass Roots?
• Stop Illegal Immigration

How did your Representatives represent you in 2008?

At the beginning of the legislative session, GrassRoots sent a letter to our representatives urging them to pay heed to constitutional principles in its deliberations this year. Here is a summary of the issues GrassRoots felt was most important.

Government Growth. According to a study by the Utah Taxpayers Association, Utah government has grown by 8.9% during the Huntsman administration compared to growth of under 7% in the Leavitt and Walker Administrations. GrassRoots was also concerned by several pieces of legislation primarily H.B 140 which requires every child under the age of 8 to be put in a booster seat. This is an infringement on the rights of parents to raise their children.

Health Care. GrassRoots was concerned about proposals before the legislature which would have mandated that every Utah citizen have health coverage and provide coverage in the event a person could not pay. The legislature decided to study the issue for a year. Property Taxes. Many citizens of the state were shocked and outraged when they received their property taxes. Their taxes were increased because of inflation induced higher property valuations. Many proposals were initially introduced but in the end the legislature failed to act on this critical issue that could force many people to face losing their homes.

Illegal Immigration. Several good pieces of legislation passed the House of Representatives but did not come up for consideration in the Senate. The Senate did pass SB 81 which help the illegal immigration problem in the state. Unfortunately, both houses put off implantation until after the elections of 2008. GrassRoots urges citizens to be vigilant on this issue next year so that the good portions of this legislation are not repealed in the 2009 session.

Wimmer Receives Top Score in House
Madsen and Stephenson lead Senate

House Summary: Carl Wimmer (R-SL) received the top score in the Utah House in this year’s GrassRoots report with a 86%. Finishing second was Aaron Tilton (R-UT). Other top scores were received by Curt Oda (R-DA), Craig Frank (R-UT), Mike Morley (R-UT) and Glen Donnelson (R-WB). Overall the House average was 46% which is down from its life average of 47%.

Senate Summary: Mark Madsen (R-UT) and Howard Stephenson (R-SL) led Senators with 74%. Margaret Dayton (R-UT) was close behind with 70%. Overall the Senate averaged 48% compared to a lifetime average of 46%.

Governor: Governor Huntsman received a 38% on this year’s report card, as he did last year. Overall Huntsman has averaged 39% in his three terms as governor.

What is GrassRoots?

GrassRoots has been issuing an annual legislative report card since 1992. The Constitutions of the nation and state are the guides which GrassRoots uses in picking issues for its legislative report card. Bills are picked without regard to any particular individual.

Analysis of Bills for 2008

Bills are listed by number with house bills listed first. The sponsor of the bill is in parentheses. The tally on bills from each house is listed by yeas, nays and those absent or not voting. Text of all bills can be found at http://www.le.state.ut.us/.

A) H.B. 75 (C. Frank) Requires the Privatization Policy Board to investigate whether certain activities must be performed by the state. One of the reasons for the large growth in government is because the government attempts to provide goods and services that should be provided by private enterprise. GrassRoots recommends a yes vote. Passed the House (54-17-4), Senate (19-6-4) and was signed into law by the governor.

B) H.B. 79 (D. Clark) Reauthorizes over 50 state entities and programs within one bill. The purpose of sunset laws is for a program to end at a certain date. Reauthorizing a large number of unrelated programs in one bill is poor government. GrassRoots recommends a no vote. Passed the House (53-17-5), Senate (22-0-7) and was signed into law by the governor.

C) H.B. 85 (L. Hemingway) Creates an ongoing appropriation of $1.5 million for a teacher loan program. One of the principles of good government is that it treats every citizen equally. Creating a loan program for one group of citizens is not fair and raises concerns about future growth as other government employees make similar demands. GrassRoots recommends a no vote Passed the House (62-7-6) but did not come up for a vote in the Senate.

D) H.B. 140 (T Cosgrove) Requires all children under the age of eight to be placed in a booster seat. This is an example of the nanny state. Parents should have the right to decide how they will protect their children. GrassRoots approves of a no vote. Passed the House (44-23-8), Senate (17-11-1) and was signed into law by the governor.

E) H.B. 174 (J.Gowans) Creates the Traumatic Brain Injury Fund. Bills such as this, leads us closer to socialized medicine by making it an obligation of government to pay for those who suffer injuries. While helping those who have suffered serious brain injuries is noble, it is best handled by charitable organizations. GrassRoots recommends a no vote. Passed the House (68-0-7), Senate (29-0-0) and was signed into law by the governor.

F) H.B. 237 (G. Donnelson) Allows certain state and local law enforcement officers to perform functions of federal immigration officers. Protecting our borders is a proper role of government. This bill was included in S.B. 81. GrassRoots recommends a yes vote. Passed the House (44-25-6). This bill was included in S.B. 81 which passed both houses.

G) H.B. 239 (G. Donnelson) Expires all driving privilege cards by Dec 31, 2008. Those who break our immigration laws should not be rewarded for their unlawful behavior. GrassRoots recommends a yes vote. Passed the House (39-35-1) but did not come up for a vote in the Senate.

H) H.B. 241 (G. Donnelson) Repeals law which allows children of illegal immigrants to receive instate tuition at state colleges and universities. Currently out of state students who attend Utah’s colleges and universities pay higher tuition than children of illegal immigrants. Those who break our nation’s laws should not be rewarded as current Utah law allows. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (40-35-0) but did not come up for a vote in the Senate.

I) H.B. 326 (G. Curtis) Allows any eligible child to enroll in the Children’s Health Insurance Program at any time. Government should not be in the business of providing health care to its citizens. Legislation such as this leads Utah down the slippery slope of socialized medicine. GrassRoots approves of a no vote. Passed the House (70-3-2), Senate (24-2-3) and was signed into law by the governor.

J) H.B. 332 (G. Hughes) Requires public school buildings and grounds be made available to the public for use as a civic centers for recreational activities and meetings. Our public schools are public property and should be able to be used by all citizens. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (38-30-7), Senate (21-8-0) and was signed into law by the governor.

K) H.B. 349 (Julie Fisher) Bill makes it easier for parents to send their children to schools outside of their school of residence. Parents should have the ultimate say in how and where their children are educated. This bill makes it easier for parents to fulfill this role. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (63-1-11), Senate (25-2-2) and was signed into law by the governor.

L) H.B. 359 (J. Dougall) Increases state sales tax from 4.65 to 4.7% with proceeds from that tax increase being used to fund transportation. Generally transportation is funded by taxes which relate to transportation (i.e. gas tax). This bill is a dangerous precedent. GrassRoots approves of a no vote. Passed the House (49-23-3), Senate (24-3-2) and was signed into law by the governor.

M) H.B. 412 (S. Urquhart) Eliminates provision of the Unfair Practices Act which prevented products from being sold below cost. Government should not get involved of pricing of products but should let the market decide. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (63-8-4), House (19-6-4) and was signed into law by the governor

N) S.B. 11 (S. Jenkins) Increases the ceiling of the Utah Capital Investment Board from $100 to $300 million dollars The government should not be in the business of guaranteeing a profit to any business. It was a bad idea when the bill was passed raising the ceiling even more is a worse idea. If the government is going to guarantee these businesses a profit, why not the local grocery store? GrassRoots approves of a no vote. Passed the House (69-2-4), House (26-0-3) and was signed into law by the governor.

O) S.B. 14 (S. McCoy) Bans smoking in a vehicle while a child is present. This bill is one more example of the nanny state, and the government attempting to control how parents raise their children. Passed the Senate (18-10-10) but failed to pass a vote in a House Committee.

P) S.B. 36 (M.Madsen) Provides that charter and online students may participate in extra curricular activities at the public school they normally would attend. Allows parents the freedom to choose the best education for their children. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (54-10-11), Senate (27-0-2) and was signed into law by the governor.

Q) S.B. 45 (H. Stephenson) Requires first and second class counties and cities to inventory their activities to see if the private sector could provide them. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (40-28-7), Senate (19-9-1) and was signed into law by the governor.

R) S.B. 67 (M. Madsen) Recently employees have been fired for having firearms in their vehicles. This bill guarantees that an individual will not be denied their second amendment rights when their firearms are stored in their personal property such as a car. A person’s car should be considered like their home. If businesses do not want to let their employees store guns in their cars, perhaps they should bare the risk of letting them go unprotected. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the Senate (23-4-2) but for the second straight year failed to come up for a vote in the House.

S) S.B. 81 (B. Hickman) The omibus illegal immigration bill allowed local law enforcement officers to enforce illegal immigration laws and require local law enforcement officers to check on the immigration status of their inmates. For more details on the bill see page 8. Implementation was delayed until 2009. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (56-15-4), Senate (24-4-1) and was signed into law by the governor

T) S.B. 93 (M. Dayton) Increases regulation of licensed midwives. Individuals should be able to choose the medical procedures that they will receive. When government increases regulation it takes away citizen’s rights and also drives up health care costs. GrassRoots approves of a no vote. Passed the House (66-4-5), Senate (22-4-3) and was signed into law by the governor.

U) S.B. 144 (S. Jenkins) Last year Governor Huntsman entered into an agreement with other governors to prevent global warming. This bill would prevent the governor from entering such agreements without Senate agreement. Our system is designed to have checks and balances on all branches of government. This bill strengthens those checks and balances. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (54-18-3), Senate (21-7-1) and was vetoed by the governor.

V) S.B. 157(M. Madsen) During Hurricane Katrina some citizens were denied their second amendment rights; this bill guaranteed that citizen’s in the state of Utah would not be denied this right in an emergency. GrassRoots approves of a yes vote. Passed the House (70-2-3), Senate (26-2-1) and was signed into law by the governor.

W) S.B. 211 (C. Bramble) Increases regulation of so-called alcopops by requiring they be sold in state liquor stores. Stores should be able to decide what products they will offer, and the public should be able to make the decision whether they will buy from stores that sell such products. GrassRoots approves of a no vote. Passed the House (54-19-2), Senate (23-6-0) and was signed into law by the governor.

X) S.B. 297 (A. Christensen) Under this bill if a government entity felt that an animal owner was not properly caring for their animal that citizen could be charged with a felony. Often such judgments are arbitrary, and a felony conviction causes a citizen to lose voting and second amendment rights. For example, some extremists believe trapping a mouse is animal cruelty. While animals should be treated with proper care, the bill is vague on several definitions it puts too many citizens’ rights at risk. GrassRoots of a no vote. Passed the House (62-6-7), Senate (21-6-2) and was signed into law by the governor.

Stop Illegal Immigration

By Don Guymon

In the 2008 Legislative Session, both chambers passed S.B. 81 an omnibus illegal immigration bill. The bill had several good measures to curb illegal immigration. Unfortunately both chambers put off implementation until 2009 so further research can be done on illegal immigration.

It is surprising that individuals would feel the need to study the issue of illegal immigration further. Why do we need to wait a year when this has been studied for many years? Is not the fact that individual here illegally enough?

S.B. 81 would require county sheriffs to verify the immigration status of foreign nationals; prohibited the alcoholic beverage control commission from granting liquor or private club licenses to individuals who are not in the country illegally; prohibits local entities from keeping their law enforcement officers from enforcing immigration laws and requires employers who contract with the state to verify whether their workers are legal to work in the United States.

This bill was pretty straightforward, so why do we need to study it further?

It was not just that implementation of S.B. 81 was put off until 2009. Several other good bills died. Bills that would have prohibited illegal immigrants from receiving instate tuition and stopped the issuance of driver privilege cards died and not for the first time.

Many say that the issue of illegal immigration is a federal issue and the state should not deal with it. Yes it is a federal issue. At a time when we are fighting a war on terror, it makes little sense that our borders are not under control.

But the state also has a role to play.

If the state is providing driver privilege cards to those who are here illegally, is not the state aiding and abetting and abiding the breaking of federal law?

If the state is giving preferential treatment to the children of illegal immigrants over students from other states who want to study at public schools, is the state not aiding and abetting the breaking of federal law?

Many argue that these are good men and women simply here to make a better life for their family. Good intentions aside, good people do not break the law.

For example MSNBC recently reported that nine million people had inaccurate social security taxes. While some of these may be mistaken, many are because of illegal aliens stealing people’s identification.

The recent raid of illegal immigrants at Swift Meatpacking plants found over 1,200 individuals arrested for identity theft.

Illegal immigration is an issue that our lawmakers are going to have to deal with whether they like it or not.

During the impeachment of President Clinton, we heard that this must happen because we as a nation believed in the rule of law. If we are still a nation that believes in the rule of law, we can begin by insuring that all individuals arrive in this country legally

The failure of lawmakers to enact S.B. 81 in 2008 shows that many do not take the problem of illegal immigration seriously. Legal citizens will continue to have crowded classrooms, higher health care, and the inconvenience of having to restore their identity because this problem will continue.

If citizens do not stay vigilant, S.B. 81 will be gutted during the 2009 session, and Utah will continue to do very little to curb this growing epidemic.