| Happy Wednesday! The session is halfway over today, which doesn’t leave much time to get things done. I’d like to invite you to a Town Hall tonight from 7:00-8:30 at the Scera Center Theater. I hope to see you there! |
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| Utah Lake Bills Many of my constituents have expressed concerns and have questions about specific bills relating to Utah Lake. Utah Lake Restoration Lake Restoration Solutions, has submitted their plans to the US Army Corp of Engineers, and it will be years before all the studies have been done. I support Rep. Stratton’s bill, HB 240, that would put more oversight on any project proposed by a private entity for the lake. I have read through the latest language of HB 232, and I think it is a good bill that has the potential to make Utah Lake better. I have included a link to this lates draft below. There are a lot of misconceptions about what it does. It creates the Utah Lake Authority with members from Utah County cities, Utah County Commission, the Governor’s office and some others (see lines 533-564), and it provides a funding source so that the Authority can spend money on projects. You can read the objectives on lines 341-406.As I read it, it does not do anything that would encourage, legalize, promote, or make possible creating islands in Utah Lake, and it does not take the authority to make decisions away from local stakeholders and local cities. However, I will make sure to keep asking questions and will not vote for something that I think would harm Utah Lake. https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/HB0232.html |
| Three of my bills Two of my bills that I wrote about last week are still on the House 3rd Reading Calendar (click on the + to see the list of bills in each section): HB 113 Funding for Students With Disabilities and HB 138 Juvenile Justice Modifications. If they pass in the House, they will go to the Senate Rules Committee where the members will nominate them to a Senate standing committee. If they are passed out favorably, they will go to the Senate where they will be voted on twice. Because HB 113 has a fiscal note, after the first vote, it will sit on the Senate 3rd Reading Calendar until the end of the session. If funding is approved in the budget for the bill, the Senate will vote on it for the final time. If it passes, it will go to the Governor to be signed or vetoed. A bill that does not have fiscal note does not have to wait until the final days to be voted on. Last week, I presented SB 32 Voting History Amendments on the House Floor, which passed unanimously. This bill addresses concerns that were brought up after the election in 2020. There was a 30% discrepancy between the number of votes and the number of voters according to the voting history record. The reason for this inconsistency is that a significant number of voter records are classified as private because of safety or other valid concerns; for example, someone who has escaped a domestic violence situation. This bill, which was supported by the clerks, provides a way to keep the public voting history record accurate without disclosing any identifying information about a voter whose record is classified as private. |
| Tune Into Facebook Fridays! I’d love to hear from you in my weekly Facebook Live Friday broadcast! Join me each Friday afternoon to hear what I’ve been working on each week or if you have any questions. The broadcasts are posted on my Facebook page in case you miss them. https://www.facebook.com/marshajudkinsUT61/ This Friday, I will talk about the income tax cut that the House voted on today. I was hoping that we would be able to vote on a repeal of the food tax, but that will not be coming up this session. I will also give an update on other bills that are trending. |
| My Intern: Alexa Garcia You might have noticed that my emails are a little fancier since the session started, That is because my intern has been helping me. Each legislator is assigned an intern during the session, and I am lucky enough to have been assigned Alexa. She is currently Attending the University of Utah and Studying Economics, and she has earned an Associative of Science from Utah Valley University. She loves being here at the Capitol and taking in the lawmaking process. She is originally from Orem, Utah and attended Mountain View High School. In her free time she loves to travel! |
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