Today, we broadcast a panel discussion KCPW moderated at Sprague Library in Sugar House, called Immigration Policy, the Arizona Experience, hosted by the City Library and the Enriching Utah Coalition. It explored Arizona’s experience with SB 1070, a controversial anti illegal-immigration law in that state, and HB 70, a similar Utah bill that just passed out of the Utah House of Representatives.
State lawmakers are supporting the use of roadside crosses as a memorial for fallen Highway Patrol officers. A group called American Atheists filed a lawsuit in 2005 against the Utah Highway Patrol Association, a private organization, claiming the crosses are an unconstitutional state endorsement of Christianity. But Republican Representative Lee Perry, a highway patrol officer himself, says the crosses aren’t viewed as religious symbols.
Utah lawmakers are past the halfway mark of the legislative session with a budget left to approve, immigration reform to consider and a host of legislation still coming of the woodwork. KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports on the mood of Senate and House Majority leadership.
Should school districts pay teachers who leave the classroom to fulfill union duties? That was the question presented before the House Education Committee Wednesday by Republican Representative Keith Grover. As KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, he says he wants to stop taxpayer dollars from leaving the classroom and going toward teacher union activities.
Electronics are the fastest growing waste stream in Utah, but a bill aimed at curbing this trend was shot down by lawmakers this morning. Republican Representative Rebecca Edwards says it’s becoming a tremendous burden on county landfills and consumers are paying the cost in taxes.
A House committee approved a guest worker program yesterday that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a permit to work in Utah. It’s sponsored by Republican Representative Bill Wright, who says enforcement is the federal government’s job, but this is a Utah solution. Several farmers spoke in support of the bill.
A bill that would have increased the amount of taxes oil and natural gas drillers pay to the state of Utah didn’t make it far in a legislative committee yesterday. Salt Lake City Democratic Representative Brian King says Utah energy companies have been getting a bailout from the state since the 1980s, and now it’s time to stop.
Beds in Utah’s prisons and jails are hard to come by for new inmates. But this year, the legislature is committing to creating new space for minor parole violators in Salt Lake City. As KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, some say it would help alleviate the problem of overcrowding in prisons, and give parolees more of a second chance.
A state lawmaker’s bill to eliminate gun-free zones around schools, daycares and universities was jammed this morning in the Utah House of Representatives. Under Democratic Representative Jen Seelig’s amendment, if a school goes into lockdown because someone is recklessly displaying a gun, that person would have to reimburse the school for that cost.
Despite voting the bill down last month, the Utah House of Representatives reconsidered and passed a bill allowing school districts to sell and display advertising on school buses today.
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