MINUTES OF THE

HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS STANDING COMMITTEE

Room 30, House Building

February 20, 2015

Members Present:                Rep. Jack Draxler, Chair

                                                Rep. Brad Daw, Vice Chair

                                                Rep. Patrice Arent

                                                Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck 

                                                Rep. Fred Cox

                                                Rep. Keith Grover

                                                Rep. Val Peterson 

Members Absent:                 Rep. Merrill Nelson

                                                Rep. Lee Perry

Members Excused:               Rep. Dean Sanpei

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 2:06 p.m.

MOTION:     Rep. Arent moved to approve the minutes of the February 18, 2015, meeting. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Grover and Rep. Peterson absent for the vote.

1st Sub. S.B. 70         Geographic Diversity Amendments (Sen. T. Weiler)

Sen. Weiler explained the bill.

Spoke to the bill:        Mike Ostermiller, Utah Association of Realtors, and the Utah Property Rights Coalition

MOTION:     Rep. Daw moved to hold the bill. The motion passed with Rep. Grover voting in opposition.

H.B. 316         Parental Leave for State Employees (Rep. J. Miller)

Rep. Miller explained the bill. A handout, "Paid Parental Leave in the United States," was distributed to the committee.

Spoke to the bill:        Wendy Peterson, Deputy Director, Department of Human Resource Management

Benn Buys, Finance Director, Department of Human Resource Management

Spoke for the bill:       Stephanie Pitcher, citizen

                                    Benn Buys, Finance Director, Department of Human Resource

MOTION:     Rep. Chavez-Houck moved to amend the bill as follows:

1.    Page 1, Lines 21 through 22:   

21Other Special Clauses:

22   None   This bill provides a special effective date.  

2.    Page 2, Lines 38 through 45:   

38   (b) "Executive agency" means an executive branch:

39   (i) department;

40   (ii) agency;

41   (iii) board;

42   (iv) commission;

43   (v) division;

44   (vi) office; or

45   (vii) state educational institution  an institution of higher education as described in Section 53B-2-101  .

3.    Page 3, Line 75:  

75who is part-time on a pro rata basis.

        Section 2. Effective date.

       This bill takes effect on July 1, 2015.  

The motion passed unanimously.

MOTION:     Rep. Arent moved to pass the bill out favorably.

SUBSTITUTE

MOTION:     Rep. Cox moved to hold the bill. The motion passed unanimously.

H.B. 267         Municipal Government Changes (Rep. J. Westwood)

Rep. Westwood explained the bill.

MOTION:     Rep. Daw moved to send the bill to the Rules Committee and to have staff submit the bill for interim study. The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Grover absent for the vote.

H.B. 321         Vote by Mail Revisions (Rep. J. Westwood)

Rep. Westwood explained the bill with the assistance of Cameron Diehl, Utah League of Cities and Towns.

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

Spoke for the bill:       Jenn Gonnelly, Utah League of Women Voters

MOTION:     Rep. Daw moved to replace H.B. 321 with 1st Sub. H.B. 321. The motion passed with Rep. Grover absent for the vote.

MOTION:     Rep. Arent moved to hold 1st Sub. H.B. 321.

SUBSTITUTE

MOTION:     Rep. Peterson moved to pass the bill out favorably. The motion passed with Rep. Arent voting in opposition and Rep. Grover absent for the vote.

MOTION:     Rep. Daw moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

Chair Draxler adjourned the meeting at 3:21 p.m.

__________________________

Rep. Jack Draxler, Chair