The legislature’s House Education Committee rejected a divisive bill Wednesday that would have banned academic tenure at Utah’s public colleges and universities. As KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, opponents worried the move would cost the state more money than it was intended to save.
A state lawmaker from Sandy is intervening in a conflict in Salt Lake City’s Yalecrest neighborhood between preservation and property rights. Utah Senate Majority Whip Wayne Niederhauser’s bill would impose a one-year moratorium on new historic districts, which restrict how a home can be remodeled.
One Utah senator wants the state to take a back seat in immigration legislation. Senate Minority Leader Ross Romero introduced SJR 18 today, a resolution calling on the Utah legislature to stop the advancement of any immigration bills and instead leave the issue up to the federal government.
The House Revenue and Taxation Committee voted down proposed regulations to stave off puppy mills in Utah this morning. Democratic Representative Jackie Biskupski’s bill would have required breeders selling at least six dogs or cats at a time to obtain a local business license and land use approval.
Utahns could be seeing a bit more of Hollywood in their own backyards… at least, that’s what lawmakers are hoping for. House Bill 99, which gives potentially larger tax incentives and cash rebates to movies and TV series shot in Utah, cleared the Utah House of Representatives yesterday. But as KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, not everyone is sold on the idea.
The Utah Senate gave bipartisan support yesterday to a state lawmaker’s plan to reign in Medicaid spending. Republican Senator Dan Liljenquist’s bill restructures the program to move away from paying providers a fee for every service they perform, which he says encourages doctors to run more tests and do more procedures than necessary. He’s equated increasing Medicaid costs to Pacman, eating away at Utah’s budget.
A bill aimed at limiting environmental lawsuits against the state by requiring those filing suit to take out a kind of insurance policy was passed by a House Committee this morning with little opposition from lawmakers, but plenty from the public. KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports.
Utah lawmakers can breathe at least a small sigh of relief about the budget. New state revenue estimates show the 2012 budget has a $263 million surplus, which is $47 million higher than before. But Republican Senator Lyle Hillyard noted this morning that is still $50 million short of what they need to eliminate the budget’s structural deficit, which stands at $313 million.
Up at the Utah Capitol, if you look past the lawmakers and the lobbyists, and tune out the rallies and the noise, you’ll see men in green coats who are quietly working security during the 45-day legislative session. 86-year-old Walter Dillman is the oldest greencoat serving at the Utah Legislature, and as KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, he has no intention of leaving the job.
Should the state look at fixing a system that many say isn’t broken? That was the question before the legislature’s Senate Health and Human Services Committee Friday, which debated whether to consider privatizing the State Mental hospital. As KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, many don’t think a change would net any better results.
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