Thursday, June 12, 2003

Guns in Schools OK, But Who's Liable? The Granite and Jordan School districts in Salt Lake County are wrestling with a dilemma. Teachers can now carry concealed weapons into the classroom, but the state insurance provider probably won't cover the consequences of their use. This past year, the Utah Legislature passed a law that allows the weapons in school. [Wyoming News] 2:01:53 PM

	Tuesday, June 03, 2003

Internet Gambling Regulation Faces Hurdles Rep. Chris Cannon supports the elimination of internet gambling. But the legislation he supports faces hurdles from a variety of opponents. Internet gambling is not merely shady offshore establishments offering online video poker. Legislation would also affect horse racing and domestic casinos owned by Native Americans. Both of these groups have supports who want exemptions in the bill. Also, the nature of the penalties involved determines whether the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Cannon, would have authority over the bill. Attempts have been made to steer the bill around the Judiciary Committee and preserve the exemptions. Cannon is opposed to any exemptions. [Las Vegas Review-Journal] 10:45:06 AM

	Friday, May 23, 2003

House unemployment 26 week benefit extension does not include Utah The US House of Representatives voted to extend jobless benefits for 13 weeks for workers exhausting state benefits this year. 43% of unemployment insurance recipients in the US have exhausted their state benefits, the highest level on record. The bill provides an additional extension of 13 weeks for high unemployment states Alaska, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Utah is not included in this additional extension. Utah is 18th in the nation in unemployment, with a rate of 5.8% as of March. [BLS Unemployment Statistics] 12:24:48 PM

	Thursday, May 22, 2003

Utah Constitution moving to gender neutrality Utah is among several states moving to gender neutrality in their constitutions. Michigan is considering a resolution which would immediately take out the male pronouns. Utah is doing a gradual overhaul as it updates sections. Legal experts say the changes are more cosmetic than legally necessary. [New York Times - registration required] 10:07:40 AM

	Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Chemical Plants, Terrorists, and Greanpeace Sen. Jon Corzine of New Jersey has been pushing a bill in Congress (Chemical Security Act) that would require chemical plants with "worst-case scenarios" filed with the EPA that would put people at risk of terrorist attacks to submit vulnerability assessments, increase security and implement safer practices. Although the bill was supported by a broad range of advocates, from national security proponents to environmentalist groups like Greanpeace, recent lobbying from major chemical associations and industry goups and put the bill offtrack. In March the GAO issued a report highlighting the risk posed by unsecured chemical plants to terrorist attacks. Utah is listed by the EPA as containing 1 (unidentified) chemical plant whose required "worst-case scenario" submission indicated vulnerability to terrorist attack. [GAO Report] [EPA Chemical Plant Information] 10:01:41 AM

Halliburton, Asbestos Texas corporate giant Halliburton, recently awarded a no-bid contract to do reconstruction work on postwar Iraq is also being watched carefully by investors because of the impending settlement and limits to asbestos litigation, a problem dogging its subsidiary, Dresser Industries. Sen. Orrin Hatch is prepared to introduce legislation in Congress calling for the creation of a universal asbestos trust fund of $108 billion dollars, to be financed by insurers and companies facing asbestos claims, that would be the sole source for future liability claims. The bill would move thousands of pending asbestos-related claims out of state courts and into a five-judge federal court. The AFL-CIO has denounced the proposal as a corporate bailout. [Business Week] 9:42:31 AM

	Thursday, May 15, 2003

Government DayBook 5/15/2003 Sen. Orrin Hatch delivers remarks at today's PRISM Awards, an event by a group promoting accurate depiction of drug, alcohol,, and tobacco use and addiction in film, television and music in Washington. As mentioned previously, Gov. Mike Leavitt participates in a panel discussion on Homeland Security at the McGraw hill Homeland Security Summit and Exposition in Arlington. The House Judiciary Committee narrowly approved a bill outlawing internet gambling. Rep. Chris Cannon voted against the bill yet sponsored an approved amendment that eliminated an exemption for states with in-state gambling. Cannon said he sponsored the amendment because of his concern that the bill could make gambling legal in Utah and because he did not want to regulate the credit-card industry. Funds will be made available from the Department of Agriculture in a program to promote preservation of grasslands to drought affected states, including Utah. 9:07:34 AM

	Wednesday, May 07, 2003

Psychiatric Treatment of Children - Part II Utah Representative Katherine Bryson testified before a House Subcommitee yesterday on her view about HB1107, a measure that would prohibit schools from mandating the use of such drugs as Ritalin by students as a precondition of attending school.  Her testimony is here. Meanwhile, Roll Call reports that opposition to any prescription of drugs such as Ritalin or any psychiatric techniques continues to be pushed by The Church of Scientology's Citizen's Commission on Human Rights. 10:10:09 AM

	Tuesday, May 06, 2003

Psychiatric Treatment of Schoolchildren The Education Reform Subcommittee will hold a hearing today on The Use of Medication in our Nation's Schools and HR1170, the Child Medication Safety Act of 2003. Speaking at that hearing will be Utah Rep. Katherine Bryson. Bryson has been interested in limiting the psychiatric treatment of children. In the 2003 Utah Legislative session, she introduced a bill (passed by the House) which would, among other things, make it a felony to give psychiatric treatment, nonvocational mental health counseling, case-finding testing, psychoanalysis, drugs, electroconvulsive treatment, lobotomy, or surgery to any individual for the purpose of changing his concept of, belief about, or faith in God. The bill would also have prohibited anyone from giving electroconvulsive treatment to a person without the written consen fo the person... US House Bill 1107 would prohibit school children from being required to obtain a prescription for a controlled substance as a condition of attending school or receiving services. Also speaking at the hearing will be William Carey, MD, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Carey opposes the widespread prevalance of ADHD (Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder) diagnoses and the consequent prescriptions for Ritalin (methylphenidate). The concern about altering someone's religious faith may be based upon the belief of some that psychiatrists see religion as a form of mental disorder. One organization making that claim is the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, an anti-psychiatry arm of Scientology. Dr. Peter Breggin and his International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology is a highly visible opponent of ADHD diagnoses, as well as other psychiatric techniques. ADHD diagnoses and the prescription of Ritalin is generally supported by reports from the National Institute of Health. (See, for example, http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sept98/nida-29.htm. [HR1107] [Utah HB109S] [Psychiatry and Religion (CCHR)] [ICSPP] [Criteria for ADHD diagnoses - DMS-IV] 10:21:05 AM

	Thursday, May 01, 2003

Utah's Congressional Delegation - May 1 2003 Sen. Orrin Hatch accused fellow senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) of asking inappropriate questions at a hearing to confirm John Roberts to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. These are dumbass questions, said Hatch. Schumer asked if Sen. Hatch wished to revise and extend his remarks (a euphemism for alter your remarks in the transcript) Hatch replied No, I am going to keep it exactly the way it is. I mean, I hate to say it. I mean, I feel badly saying it between you and me. But I do know dumbass questions when I see dumbass questions. [Roll Call] $$ Sen. Robert Bennett expressed support for Pres. Bush's tax cut proposals: Pass the president's exactly as he proposed it, as high a dollar figure as we can possibly get through. [Fox News] 9:44:26 AM

	Friday, April 25, 2003

Pentagon pushes exemption from environmental laws The Pentagon has urged congressional exemption to Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act restrictions in a blanket fashion, rather than case by case. The Department of Defense is asking Congress to use the current DOD reauthorizaion bill to restrict the reach of these laws. Former House Resources Committee chair James Hansen last year waived his committee's jurisdictional claims. A group of State Attorneys General, including Utah, have expressed concern that these exemption would likely affect cleanups of unexploded ornance at thousands of sites nationwide. [The Hill] 11:37:23 AM