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MINUTES OF THE

HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING

Room W010 - State Capitol Complex

January 31, 2006


MEMBERS PRESENT:
    Rep. James A. Ferrin, Chair
        Rep. Erik K. Hutchings, Vice Chair    
        Rep. Douglas C. Aagard
        Rep. Ben C. Ferry
        Rep. Glenn A. Donnelson        
        Rep. Lorie D. Fowlke
        Rep. Ann W. Hardy
        Rep. Neal B. Hendrickson
        Rep. David L. Hogue
        Rep. Susan Lawrence
        Rep. Rosalind J. McGee
        Rep. Ross Romero
        Rep. Scott L. Wyatt        
        
STAFF PRESENT:    Jerry D. Howe, Policy Analyst
        Catherine Dupont, Associate General Counsel
        Sylvia Newton, Committee Secretary
    

NOTE:    A list of visitors and a copy of handouts are filed with the committee minutes.             


Representative Ferrin called the meeting to order at 3:09 p.m.

MOTION:    Rep. McGee moved to approve the minutes of the January 27, 2006 meeting with the following correction:

On page 4, in the motion by Rep. Hogue to reconsider the committee's action on H.B. 257, Rep. McGee voted in opposition to the motion and Rep. Hutchings voted in support of the motion.
With that correction, the minutes were approved with Rep. Donnelson, Rep. Hogue, and Rep. Wyatt absent for the vote.

H.B. 223    Trespass Law Amendments (Rep. K. Gibson)

Rep. Gibson introduced H.B. 223 and explained it to the committee. He was assisted by Reed Richards, Weber County Deputy Attorney.

Spoke in favor of the bill:    Todd Bingham, Utah Farm Bureau    

MOTION:    Rep. Wyatt moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Donnelson and Rep. Hogue absent for the vote.    




H.B. 270    Emergency Medical Service Provider Tort Reform (Rep. S. Allen)


MOTION:    Rep. Aagard moved to delete in title and body H.B. 270 and replace it with 1st Sub. H.B. 270. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Donnelson and Rep. Hogue absent for the vote.

MOTION:    Rep. Ferry moved to amend the bill as follows:

1.    Page 2, Lines 34 through 39 :    

             34          (2) For purposes of Subsection (1), "emergency care" means the treatment of an
             35      emergency medical condition, as defined in Section 31A-22-627 , from the time that the person
             36      is transported to the emergency department of a general acute hospital, as defined in Section
             37     
{   26-12-2   }        26-21-2       , and including any subsequent transfer to another hospital, until the condition has been

             38      stabilized and the patient is either discharged from the emergency department or admitted to
             39      another department of the hospital.

The motion to amend the bill passed unanimously with Rep. Donnelson and Rep. Hogue absent for the vote.

Rep. Allen introduced 1st Sub. H.B. 270 as amended and explained it to the committee. Chet Loftis, Utah Medical Association, assisted Rep. Allen and responded to questions.

Spoke in favor of the bill:        Craig Marsden, M.D., emergency room physician
                    Bennion Buchanan, M.D., American College of Emergency                         Physicians
                    Catherine Wheeler, M.D., Utah Medical Association
                    Todd Allen, M.D.
                    Dave Gessel, Utah Hospital Association

Spoke in opposition to the bill:    Myrleen Kelly, Utah Citizens Alliance
                    Charlie Thronson, Utah Trial Lawyers Association
                    Bonnie Robbins, citizen
                    Edward Havas, Utah Trial Lawyers Association
                    Alan Mortensen, Utah Trial Lawyers Association



MOTION:    Rep. Hutchings moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed with Rep. Donnelson, Rep. Fowlke, Rep. Hendrickson, Rep. Hogue, Rep. Romero, and Rep. Wyatt voting in opposition to the motion.

The following bills were not considered at this meeting:

H.B. 90    Criminal Penalty Amendments (Rep. D. Litvack)

H.B. 124    Parent-time Amendments (Rep. B. Dee)

H.B. 307    Utah's Small Business Equal Access to Justice Act Amendments (Rep. R. Romero)

H.B. 290    Protective Order Amendments (Rep. L. Fowlke)

H.B. 281    Privacy of Records Related to Minors (Rep. E. Hutchings)

There was discussion about whether to continue the meeting or adjourn.

MOTION:    Rep. Ferry moved to proceed to the next item on the agenda.

SUBSTITUTE
MOTION:    Rep. Hardy moved to continue the meeting until 5:30 p.m. The motion failed with Rep. Donnelson, Rep. Ferry, Rep. Hardy, Rep. Lawrence, and Rep. McGee voting in favor of the motion.

The original motion to proceed to the next item on the agenda passed on a voice vote.

MOTION:    Rep. Aagard moved to adjourn. The motion passed with Rep. Lawrence voting in opposition to the motion.

Rep. Ferrin adjourned the meeting at 5:01 p.m.




                ___________________________________
                    Rep. James A. Ferrin, Chair