2018 Legislative Report GrassRoots Committed to Promoting the Principles of Limited Government, Constitution, Representative Government, Participatory Republic, Free Market Economy, Family, and Separation of Powers UtahGrassRoots.org Annual Report on Utah’s Legislature April 2018 Where have all the good bills gone? Roberts Tops House; Dayton Leads Senate Prospects for a tax cut were quickly dashed, despite having Marc Roberts received a perfect score on this year’s $382 million in ongoing revenues and one-time GrassRoots report. Rounding out the top 10% in the House increase of $102 million, the Utah Legislature chose were Brian Greene (R-UT), Ken Ivory (R-SL), Travis to continue the trend of raising taxes. If HJR 20 is Seegmiller (R-WA), Adam Robertson (R-UT), Norman passed Utah drivers will see a 33% increase in their Thurston (R-UT) and Kim Coleman (R-SL). gasoline tax. Another bill, HB 293, is projected to cause property tax revenue to the state increase by Senate Summary: Margaret Dayton (R-UT) received the $125 million by H.B. 293. top score in the Senate. Increased revenue will be spent on changing the name of Governor: Governor Herbert received a 21% compared Utah Transit Authority which lawmakers are hoping to his lifetime average of 41%. Herbert’s previous scores Utah’s citizens will forget the years of misuse of taxpayer were: 71% (2010); 73% (2011); 75% (2012); 28% (2013); dollars. While the bill has some good provisions as the old 29% (2014); 41% (2015), 24% (2016), 27% (2017). saying goes, “You can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig.” Averages: The House received an average score of 46% which is equal to the Representatives lifetime score. The Utah lawmakers also helped contribute to our growing Senate averaged a 31% which is below the Senators national debt, as they voted to expand the Medicaid average of 44%. program in the state. They also passed H.B. 12 which requires the Medicaid program to reimburse providers for What is GrassRoots? long-term contraceptives. GrassRoots has been issuing an annual legislative report Several programs which weaken parental responsibility card since 1992. The Constitutions of the nation and state passed, as government sought to expand its influence on are the guides which GrassRoots uses in picking issues for pre-kindergarten children. its legislative report card. Bills are picked without regard to any individual. GrassRoots has no paid staff. Good bills which GrassRoots chose to cover included HJR 11 which would have required some agencies to use base- Contents line budgeting passed the House but failed in the Senate. Bills Summary…………………….………..…….……2-3 Another good bill H.B. 129 which would have House…………………………………………......…….4-5 strengthened an individual’s right to self-defense passed Senate & Governor………………………..……....…….6 the House but failed to receive a vote in the Senate. Rankings…………………...……..………………….…..7 The Blame Game……………...........................................8 The Senate wouldn’t even consider an abortion bill to protect children with Downs Syndrome. GrassRoots Bills are listed by number with house bills listed first. The sponsor(s) of the bill is in parentheses with the primary I) H.B. 319 (R. Chavez-Houck, A. Millner) Creates the sponsor listed first. The tally on bills from each house is Governor’s Early Childhood Commission to assess the listed by Yeas, Nays and those Absent or Not Voting. Text of availability of pre-kindergarten services. Parents are primarily all bills can be found at http://le.utah.gov. responsible for raising their children, we are concerned government is increasingly take away this responsibility. A) H.B.12 (R. Ward, B Zehnder) Increases government by GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed the House (38-32- requiring the Medicaid program to reimburse providers separately 5) but did not come up for a vote in the Senate. for long-acting contraception. Proposals such as this furthers our slide towards socialized medicine by enabling the government to J) H.B. 326 (E. Redd, H. Stephenson) Appropriates $1 Million become more involved in our health care and family planning. to address intergenerational poverty through grants to counties. GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed the House (53-21- Governments proper role is to protect life, liberty and property. 1), Senate (22-4-3) and was signed into law by the Governor. Addressing income inequality does not fall into one of these roles. Also, such grants to local government entities distort local B) H.B. 129 (C. Maloy, D Hinkins) Protects the right to self- priorities, and compromise and distort local sovereignty and self- defense by clarifying that individuals are not required to retreat governance. GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed the from an aggressor who is attempting to commit a violent felony House (65-3-7), Senate (24-1-4) and was signed into law by the in their presence. GrassRoots approves of a YES vote. Passed Governor. the House (58-11-5) but did not come up for a vote in the Senate. K) H.B. 338 (D. McCay, L. Filmore) Conditionally repealed SB 54 passed in 2014 which restricted the Free Speech rights of Utah C) H.B. 161 (C. Watkins, D. Ipson) Removes the penalty for political parties on how the parties choose their candidates. failure to sign or display a vehicle registration card. GrassRoots GrassRoots approves of a YES vote. Passed the House (53-19- approves of a YES vote. Passed the House (63-1-11), Senate 3) but did not come up for a vote in the Senate. (24-0-5) and was signed into law by the Governor. L) H.B. 380 (B. Last, A Millner) Increases government D) H.B.164 (B. Cutler, A Millner) Creates the Early Childhood spending by $10.2 million in 2019 and $2.9 million annually Task Force for children who have not entered Kindergarten. The thereafter for the School Readiness Restricted Account. raising of children is the primary role of parents, government has GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed the House (61-12- increasingly become more involved in the process which weakens 2), Senate (22-1-6) and was signed into law by the Governor. the family unit. GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Failed in the House (33-36-5). M) H.B. 462 (S. Eliason, T. Weiler) Allocates $6.6 million to fund the purchase of temporary homeless facilities. Charity E) H.B. 207 (M. Winder, B Zehnder) Establishes the Utah is not the proper role of government—especially the more distant Responsible Fatherhood Commission. GrassRoots approves of a state government. GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed NO vote. Failed in the House (20-51-3). the House (59-8-8), Senate (22-5-2) and was signed into law by the Governor. F) H.B. 260 (R. Ward, S. Adams) Raises fourth amendment concerns as bill makes it easier for law enforcement to get access N) H.B. 472 (R. Spendlove, B. Zehnder) Expands Medicaid in to the Controlled Substance Database without a warrant. the state of Utah. While most of this funding would come from GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed the House (39-22- the federal government, the federal government is $21 Trillion in 4) but failed in the Senate (9-18-2). debt and taxpayers still bear the burden. GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed the House (47-27-1), Senate (20-8-1), and G) H.B. 264 (S. Eliason, H. Stephenson) Appropriates over $2.2 was signed into law by the Governor. million per year for schools to hire additional counselors. While GrassRoots does not oppose additional counselors in our schools, we believe these decisions are best made at the local level with O) H.B 485 (M. McKell, C. Bramble) Further limits free speech parental involvement. Those closest to the decision should bear and assembly rights of Utah political parties by limiting their the cost—not the Utah taxpayer. GrassRoots approves of a NO ability to define membership to set party rules. Individuals have vote. Passed the House (59-11-5), Senate (22-3-4) and was free speech rights, and they do not lose those rights when they signed into law by the Governor. choose a political party. Political parties should be able to determine how they choose their nominees for political office without the state being able to veto those decisions. GrassRoots H) H.B. 293 (B. Last, L. Fillmore) Passed on the last day of the approves of a NO vote. Passed the House (40-31-4) but did session, the fiscal note states property tax revenue will increase not come up for a vote in the Senate. by $125 million in 2023 by raising property taxes in perpetuity. GrassRoots approves of a NO vote. Passed the House (45-26- 4), Senate (25-3-1) and was signed into law by the Governor. 2 GrassRoots P) H.J.R 11 (J. Fawson, E Vickers) Increases government U) S.B. 122 (H. Stephenson, D. McKay) Protects taxpayers by accountability by requiring zero based budgeting, which requires ensuring a local political subdivision may not receive, from the every expense to be justified, under certain conditions. The goal issuance of certain bonds approved by the voters at an election, is to reduce unnecessary expense and limit the tax burden on an aggregate amount that exceeds by a certain percentage the Utah taxpayers. GrassRoots approves of a YES vote. Passed maximum principal amount stated in the bond proposition. the House (73-0-2) but failed in the Senate (12-12-5) GrassRoots approves of a YES vote. Passed the House (40- 28-7), Senate (25-0-4) and was signed into law by the Q) H.J.R.