MINUTES OF THE

HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS STANDING COMMITTEE

Room 30, House Building

February 3, 2015

Members Present:                Rep. Jack Draxler, Chair

                                                Rep. Brad Daw, Vice Chair

                                                Rep. Patrice Arent

                                                Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck 

                                                Rep. Fred Cox

                                                Rep. Merrill Nelson

                                                Rep. Lee Perry

                                                Rep. Dean Sanpei

                                                Rep. Val Peterson 

Members Absent:                 Rep. Keith Grover

Staff Present:                        Mr. Brian Bean, Policy Analyst

                                                Ms. Kathy Gessel, Committee Secretary

Note:     A list of visitors and handouts are filed with committee minutes.

Chair Draxler called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m.

MOTION:     Rep. Draxler moved to approve the minutes of the January 30, 2015 meeting.

The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Chavez-Houck, Rep. Nelson, and Rep. Sanpei absent for the vote.

H.J.R. 7          Joint Resolution Calling for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Rep. K. Powell)

MOTION:     Rep. Daw moved to return the resolution back to the Rules Committee. The motion passed with Rep. Petersen voting in opposition and Rep. Chavez-Houck and Rep. Sanpei absent for the vote.

H.B. 120         Campaign Financial Disclosures (Rep. C. Hall)

Rep. Hall explained the bill.

Spoke to the bill:        Justin Lee, Office of the Lieutenant Governor

Arie VanDeGraff, Utah Association of Counties

Becky Maddox, citizen

Spoke for the bill:       Maryann Martindale, Alliance for a Better UTAH

MOTION:     Rep. Daw moved to hold the bill. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Sanpei absent for the vote.

H.B. 172         Payroll Services Amendments (Rep. R. Spendlove)

Rep. Spendlove explained the bill.

Spoke to the bill:        Joel Coleman, Superintendent, Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind

Scott Jones, Utah School for the Deaf and Blind

Debbie Cragun, Executive Director, Department of Human Resource Management

MOTION:     Rep. Arent moved to pass bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Perry and Rep. Sanpei absent for the vote.

H.B. 177         Absentee Ballot Amendments (Rep. F. Cox)

Rep. Cox explained the substitute bill.

MOTION:     Rep. Daw moved to replace H.B. 177 with 1st Sub. H.B. 177. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Sanpei absent with the vote.

Spoke to the bill:        Rozan Mitchell, Elections Official, Salt Lake County

Arie VanDeGraff, Utah Association of Counties

Spoke for the bill:       James Evans, Utah Republican Party

MOTION:     Rep. Petersen moved to pass bill out favorably. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Daw absent for the vote.

MOTION:     Rep. Petersen moved to adjourn the meeting.

Chair Draxler adjourned the meeting at 5:07 p.m.

__________________________

Rep. Jack Draxler, Chair