From: Cameron Diehl
To: Rep. Barlow, S.,
Subject: ULCT legislative update for February 4, 2016
Date: 2016-02-05T05:43:59Z
Body:

Hello folks, Today was super productive for local government on the Hill. Grab some popcorn, relax, and enjoy today’s recap about HB 183, HB 52, HB

Hello folks,
Today was super productive for local government on the Hill. Grab some popcorn, relax, and enjoy today’s recap about HB 183, HB 52, HB 224, SB 110, SB 122, SB 73, and SB 89.

HB 183
Rep. Jack Draxler presented HB 183 to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. Rep. Draxler’s bill modifies the .10 transit portion of last year’s HB 362 quarter cent local option in just five counties: Cache, Duchesne, Iron, Summit, and Uintah. At least .025 must stay with the transit system, and the county governing body—in conjunction with city/town leaders and transit leaders—would determine how much of the remaining .075 would also stay with the transit system. The remaining amount within the .075 that does not stay with the transit system would then be divided 50/50 between the county and cities/towns. As discussed at LPC, ULCT stands by last year’s HB 362 compromise bill. Your correspondent testified and provided data about the consequences from last year’s HB 362 on the five affected counties. The committee recommended the bill unanimously and you can read the Tribune article here.

HB 52
Rep. Patrice Arent presented HB 52 to the House Economic Development Committee. The LPC endorsed HB 52 with the caveat that we would ensure that the grant money would not come with excessive strings attached. Rep Scott Sandall raised some concerns and the committee decided to hold the bill until next Wednesday. Representatives from Moab, Ogden, and Kanab attended and Ogden, Kanab, and ULCT’s Brandon Smith spoke in support.

HB 224
Rep. Paul Ray was initially scheduled to present HB 224 Impact Fee Revisions to the House Business and Labor Committee. Team ULCT, led by ULCT’s Jodi Hoffman and ULCT champion Gary Crane (Layton City Attorney), and the Property Rights Coalition approached Rep. Ray and urged him to utilize the Land Use Task Force process and send the bill to interim. Rep. Ray agreed. Thanks to the PRC for their collaboration and their support of the Land Use Task Force process.

SB 110
Sen. David Hinkins presented SB 110 Water Quality Amendments to the Senate Natural Resources Committee. The bill’s genesis is the longstanding conversations about nutrient standards. For the record (ahem, Mayor Curtis), your correspondent warned you about nutrients! The bill creates an independent peer review process of proposals from the Division of Water Quality. The bill empowers a challenging party who would be substantially impacted by the DWQ proposal to seek an independent peer review. The independent peer review must determine whether the proposal is scientifically defensible, not scientifically defensible, or is scientifically defensible with conditions developed by the panel. If the proposal is found to not be scientifically necessary to protect a downstream water body, the challenging party shall receive a variance from DWQ.

SB 122
Sen. Evan Vickers presented SB 122 Wildland Fire Policy Updates. The bill is the result of two years of hard work by the ULCT Wildland Fire working group, UAC working group, and the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands. You can read more about the ULCT working group’s efforts here. You can also see ULCT’s Susan Wood’s wildland fire video here. Your correspondent testified—in just 12 words—and the committee endorsed the bill unanimously. The bill will be substituted soon to reflect some necessary language changes as suggested by your correspondent and Herriman’s John Brems. Kudos to Senator Vickers and to Division Director Brian Cottam for their leadership on this issue.

SB 73/89
The “high” light of the day and most popular committees were the two Senate committees which recommended both medicinal marijuana bills. As we discussed at LPC, ULCT opposes SB 73 because it preempts local authority and zoning. SB 89 preserves local authority and zoning. You can read the Tribune’s coverage here.

The only team that rivals local government’s success today is BYU! The bill list is here and tomorrow’s committees are here. Don’t forget about our final Municipal Officials Training in SLC on Saturday. You can register here. Tomorrow’s email will have Monday’s LPC agenda. Thanks for your participation in ULCT.

Cameron Diehl
Director of Government Relations
Utah League of Cities and Towns
50 South 600 East Suite 150
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
801-328-1601 (o)
801-910-3912 (c)
cdiehl@ulct.org

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