Craig Neilson: Legislation

Guns in Schools OK, But Who's Liable?

Thu, 12 Jun 2003 20:01:53 GMT

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]

Internet Gambling Regulation Faces Hurdles

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 16:45:06 GMT

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]

House unemployment 26 week benefit extension does not include Utah

Fri, 23 May 2003 18:24:48 GMT

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]

Utah Constitution moving to gender neutrality

Thu, 22 May 2003 16:07:40 GMT

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]

Chemical Plants, Terrorists, and Greanpeace

Wed, 21 May 2003 16:01:41 GMT

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]

Halliburton, Asbestos

Wed, 21 May 2003 15:42:31 GMT

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]

Government DayBook 5/15/2003

Thu, 15 May 2003 15:07:34 GMT

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.

Psychiatric Treatment of Children - Part II

Wed, 07 May 2003 16:10:09 GMT

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.

Psychiatric Treatment of Schoolchildren

Tue, 06 May 2003 16:21:05 GMT

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]

Utah's Congressional Delegation - May 1 2003

Thu, 01 May 2003 15:44:26 GMT

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]

Pentagon pushes exemption from environmental laws

Fri, 25 Apr 2003 17:37:23 GMT

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]

Texas House approve nuclear waste storage

Thu, 24 Apr 2003 15:50:10 GMT

The Texas House of Representatives approved a bill to allow additional low-level nuclear waste disposal. Proponents of the measure said it would isolate the storage to one spot, as opposed to hundreds of sites across the state. Opponents said it would make Texas another nuclear dumping ground. Although Envirocare Inc. is interested in a Texas license, it appears that the favorite is Texas billionaire Harold Simmons who operates a hazardous waste dump in West Texas.
[Amarillo Globe News]

States, including Utah, turning to taxes on Satellite Dishes

Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:05:37 GMT

Utah has instituted taxes on cable and DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellites). A number of other states are looking at such options, and, according to a DBS group, cable companies are lobbying strongly for taxes on satellite dishes. Cable companies says that exempting cable from sales taxation is fair because cable customers already pay franchise taxes. DBS providers do not, but do pay spectrum allocation fees to the FCC. Twenty-three states currently tax one or both.
Utah faced lobbyng from cable companies for an exemption, but in the end, both were taxed. In Ohio, however, the cable lobby was successful in exempting cable from sales tax.
[Ohio Cable Telecommunication Association]

Washington Watch: Utah's Congressional Delegation - 4/ 21

Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:52:17 GMT

Sen. Hatch lauds Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a potential candidate for Senate Majority should Tennessee's Bill Frist retire in 2006: He tramped on a few toes in those early years - by the way, they were toes, I think, he should have tramped on.
Santorum, dubbed a compassionate conservative, has strong views on the importance of families and disputes a constitutional right to privacy for consensual sex outside of marriage. Santorum opposes homosexuality, feminism, and liberalism.
[Grand Forks Herald]
[Sen. Santorum Web Site]
Today, the chief of staff for Sen. Hatch, holds a meeting for major parties involved in the legislation to limit asbestos settlements, in an attempt to resolve differrences. Hatch wants a draft bill to be ready by April 28.
[Reuters]
The Kiplinger Letter reports that President Bush's political advisor, former Utahn Karl Rover, will target several congressional districts perceived a vulnerable for Democrates, including Jim Matheson in Utah.
And, speaking of Matheson, the Congressman is one of the sponsors of a House amendment to allow industrial loan companies to offer interest bearing checking accounts to commercial users. It is about offering two entities...parity in terms of offering the same service.
[America's Community Bankers]

Utah's New Life Insurance Law Lauded by Insurance Group

Thu, 17 Apr 2003 16:23:11 GMT

The Life Insurance Consumers Alliance (a group largely representing financial advisors and insurance agents) has lauded recent legislation enacted in Utah that offers terminally ill seniors to sell their insurance policies to Viatical Settlement companies who take over the policies and typically collect the benefits. Also, these Viaticals are often offered as investment opportunities. Traditionally disposal of a life insurance policy meant accepting cash value or simply letting the policy lapse. Viatical settlements offer The Viatical Settlements act creates licensing requirements for advisors dealing in viatical settlements.
[HB4 - Final Version]
[FTC: Viatical Settlements]
Non-Governmental websites on Viatical Settlements
[http://www.viatical-expert.net/]
[Salt Lake Tribune]

Utah Law Permits Walmart Bank Ownership

Thu, 17 Apr 2003 15:23:24 GMT

Community banks across the country join small Main Street merchants in seeing doom and gloom in the arrival of a Wal Mart in the area. Wal Mart has been attempting to purchase financial institutions, particularly industrial loan companies, with an eye to offering financial and checking services. So far they have been rebuffed, because only four states do not have laws against such purchases: Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, and Utah. Utah is the home of 23 of the nation's 50 industrial loan companies.
[American Banker] Reg / $$

Cannon and Immigration

Thu, 10 Apr 2003 17:00:51 GMT

Reps Howard Berman, Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Chris Cannon hold a news conference today at noon to announce the National Week of Action for the DREAM Act and the reintroduction of the Student Adjustment Act, which would enable US - raised immigrant students to attend college and allow many of these students the chance to earn immigration relief.

Congressional Notes: Gun Liability, Public-Private Public Safety

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 16:47:50 GMT

Chris Cannon, on the House fast-tracking of a bill which would limit lawsuits against gun manufacturers in advance of the NRA National convention in two weeks:
Proximity in time is not necessarily proximity in cause.
[Kansas City Star]
Today at 11 AM, Chris Cannon and Texas Congressman Stenholm announce a new Congressional Caucus promoting public-private partnerships to promote public safety.
[APCTO]

Internet Access Tax Moratorium Likely To Be Made Permanent

Wed, 02 Apr 2003 16:05:10 GMT

House Judiciary Commercial & Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairman Chris Cannon is pushing a bill that would make the current internet access sales tax moratorium permanent. There is a similar bill in the Senate. The Moratorium extension has in the past been caught up in the parallel but different controversy over internet taxation.
[Eweek]
[HR49]

Utah Left Out of National Guard Funding

Tue, 01 Apr 2003 15:30:45 GMT

A National Guard program providing military teams to respond to chemical attacks or other war-related emergencies will not be implemented in Utah and 18 other states based on President Bush's FY04 budget. The teams were authorized in the FY04 defense authorization act, but not budgeted for. Robert Bennett sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
[GovExec.com]

Utah's Beer Tax

Mon, 31 Mar 2003 15:42:46 GMT

State Legislation has catapulted Utah's beer taxes to among the highest in the nation. It now stands at 41 cents per gallon. Only Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and South Carolina are higher.
[State Beer Taxes]

Lawmakers want to abolish Satanic Highway

Mon, 31 Mar 2003 15:34:21 GMT

Highway 666 which runs from New Mexico into Utah, has become the focus of the New Mexico legislature. They want to change the number. The sinuous highway has more than its share of traffic accidents, and is known in some circles as the "Highway to Hell." Of course all this stems from verses in the Biblical book of Revelation. The highway was assigned the number in the 1920s. Apparently Colorado and Utah have joined in the request to change the number.
[Washington Post]

Nevada Border Gas Stations Face Competitive Disadvantage -- from Arizona and California

Fri, 28 Mar 2003 15:46:09 GMT

A Nevada state senate panel approved legislation allowing for fuel tax rebates for gas stations along Nevada's border which face competition from neighboring states with lower gas taxes. The rebates would only apply to Nevada's southern and western borders, as Utah has higher gasoline taxes.
[San Francisco Chronicle]

Utah Government Diary: Ephedra, Anti-Atrocity Act,, Special Session, Bioterrorism, Asbestos

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 15:53:18 GMT

The FDA has announced that warning labels will be placed on every bottle of ephedra sold in the US cautioning users that the herb can cause heart attacks or strokes. The FDA stopped short of banning the herb outright, which was supported by some consumer advocates. The move comes after a Baltimore Oriole pitcher who used ephedra died. Senator Orrin Hatch said the announcement appears to be a reasonable, if long overdue, step in designing science-based rules pertaining to the use of a product about which public concern has been expressed for many, many years. Hatch was one of the authors of the 1994 legislation which limited FDA oversight over products such as ephedra.
[FDA Ephedra Report]
Senator Orrin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joins Senator Patrick Leahy and Representatives Mark Foley and Gary Ackerman at a news conference today at 10 AM MST to announce a new version of the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act, which would oust torturers and war criminals from the US.
[Text of Act]
Governor Leavitt announced Monday that he would call a special session of the Legislature in June to correct a technical error in SB66, which authorized beer tax money to go to law enforcement agencies for drunken driving prevention and prosecution. The privatization of the Worker's Compensation Fund could also be on the agenda.
The Environmental Protection agency has been spraying harmless substances over fields in Oklahoma to test the capability of radar to detect a bioterrorist attack. Similar tests have also been conducted in Utah and Florida.
Asbestos litigation legislation has apparently entered murky waters in the US House. Originally Representatives Chris Cannon and Calvin Dooley united to support legislation supported the the Asbestos Alliance, a group led by the National Association of Manufacturers and the US Chamber of Commerce to limit the cost of litigation for claims of asbestos-related illness. Now it appears that the two are split on the extent of tort reform required in the bill.
[HR1114]

Pro-Gun Group Supports Leavitt's Signing of SB108

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 15:24:48 GMT

The Citizens Committee for the Right To Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) signalled support for the Governor's signing of SB108 which would allow concealed guns in schools. The CCRKBA boasts 650,000 members.