|
Legislative News Hi ! In this issue, you'll read: DEAR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS The Legislative Interim Session is now in full swing. Each interim committee had its initial meeting on April 16, 2008 and determined what study items they would consider throughout the rest of the year. Monthly meetings will continue until November, when everyone will begin preparing for the 2009 legislative session the third Monday in January. In addition to the interim committee meetings, various task forces and commissions are meeting. Sincerely, Lorie Fowlke  Orem 800 North and I-15 Intersection. Part of Phase 1 Reconstruction of I-15, from Main Street in American Fork to US hwy 6 in Spanish Fork The Utah Department of Transportation [UDOT] has begun accepting bids for Phase 1 Reconstruction of I-15, which is from Main Street in American Fork to US Hwy 6 in Spanish Fork. We may have to bond, next year, to begin paying for this project, as we have spent millions on education, but the transportation needs cannot be ignored. Currently, UDOT is involved in the Environmental Impact Study for the entire 65-miles corridor. To review report click here: UDOT is also widening 800 North in Orem, as we all know. It is scheduled to be done in the fall and is progressing on schedule. For current status and to signup up for weekly updates click here: 2. Did we spend any money on transportation? In case you missed it, over $1 billion was appropriated to transportation in the 2008 legislature. Between 2007 and 2015, state and federal funding will combine to invest $2.8 billion toward transit. The legislature is trying hard to pay cash rather than bond, whenever possible for transportation projects. One important concern has been to try and secure transportation corridors before the price of land skyrockets in developing communities. Some of the major appropriations in 2008 are below:
3. Why are gas prices so high?!!! Each day I, like you, are concerned about the price of gasoline. Just when we think it cannot go any higher, it creeps up again. Diesel gasoline is already over $4.00 a gallon. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? This problem is related to what I believe may become one of the most pressing concerns of our century - energy. Our quality of life depends upon its use; almost all activities require energy of one type or another. At a time when demands for energy are increasing, as more materials that we use require it and more countries are becoming technologically advanced, environmental extremists are insisting on limits to the use of several sources of energy [coal, for example], and limits on exploration and drilling [in the Alaskan tundra, for example]. The Democrat majority in Congress have continued to pursue this type of legislation, which further hampers our ability to find and provide the sources of energy our country requires to maintain our life style. While Utah currently has access to enough petroleum to meet its needs, prices are increasing and supplies are diminishing. A useful report on this issue is available from Utah Foundation, entitled " Utah's Energy Use & Resources: Powering Our Standard of Living." Because the cost of fuel has risen so high, the formerly too-expensive cost of extracting oil shale from the Uintah basin in Utah has become more feasible. The Intermountain region has enough oil shale to supply the country for years to come and would terminate our dependence on foreign sources of oil. The problems are related, again, to environmental impediments to extracting the shale. Please be assured that many people in authority are concerned about the rising gas prices and related issues. I have spent considerable time discussing and reviewing this issue with our federal congressional delegation. Congressman Cannon has done much to try and address this problem, I believe. On May 20th, 2008, Congressman Cannon, as Chairman of the Western Caucus, led House Republicans in highlighting the availability of domestic energy. Congressman Cannon, along with Congressmen Smith, Peterson, and Bishop, showed their colleagues the availability of energy in America. Congressman Cannon will soon introduce legislation allowing the President to bypass regulation and authorize the immediate extraction of oil from shale. Shale oil contains 3 to 5 times the amount of oil as Saudi Arabia and can bring gas prices down this year. To view C-span report and other media on Congressman Cannon's efforts click here: To refer to an article on gas prices and Senator Bennett click here:  Bret Lopez, Student Body President Welcomes Parents, Faculty and Friends to 2008 Timpanogos High School Graduation at BYU Marriott Center. Alpine School District Chair Debbie Taylor, handed thousands of students their high diplomas last week. 1. High School Summer School In an effort to maximize the school buildings and education facilities, as well as better meet student needs, Alpine School District has opened two high schools for several classes to be available during the summer months. Check the Alpine School District website for further details or contact your local school board member. They are hoping to offer classes for many of the basic courses, so that your student can either get ahead, or makeup credits, as the need may be. Classes such as algebra, geometry, English, geology, World Civilizations, Art Foundations, Chemistry, CTE [woods, sewing, foods, adult roles], and government and citizenship [my personal favorite, of course] will be available. Rumors are that the demand has far outstripped expectations, so please take advantage of these opportunities. Demand will dictate growth of the programs. It is just this type of thinking, outside the box, that will help us, as a State, meet the challenges of educating our children. Congratulations to Alpine School District for this creativity. 2. Public Education Receives Record Funding Some of you may have read media reports of "voucher payback", claiming that the legislature was going to "punish" public education because they pursued the referendum that overruled the voucher bill that was passed and signed by the Governor. This is simply not true. The legislature sincerely believed that vouchers was one way to address the over burdened public education system by encouraging parents to take the children into the private sector. The Governor agreed and signed the bill; however, the electorate disagreed. The checks and balances of our system were put into action, and it worked as designed. We as a legislature will continue to explore other solutions to the challenges of funding education in a state where students are more plentiful than our tax base. Meanwhile, however, the legislature has continued to make record appropriations to education, including the following, which is in addition to all ongoing appropriations from previous years:
The 2008 Economic Report to the Governor reports that, as in previous years, Utah's 2007 per pupil expenditure was the lowest in the nation at $5,397. However, Utah's total expenditures on public education as a percent of state personal income, 4.0%, was just below the national average of 4.1%. [Utah also spends more of its total budget on education than almost any other state.] 3. Education bill Lawsuit I have just been informed that several individuals, including past and present legislators, state school board members, school district administrators, and others, are suing the State to determine the constitutionality of Senate Bill 2, which the press described as the "Omnibus Education Bill", passed on the last day of the 2008 session. The Speaker of the House, Speaker Curtis and majority leader, Rep. David Clark released the following statement on the matter: "We believe the courts have the right to review laws and strongly support that fundamental check and balance; however, we are disappointed that the plaintiffs have rejected our offer of cooperatively working toward solutions and have chosen as their first choice litigation. We believe that most Utahns would agree that we have become too litigious in our society. Usually discussion will lead to a mutually beneficial result but the plaintiffs were unwilling to engage in any meaningful discussion." I have received a copy of the complaint. Those who are interested in further information on this issue can contact me or follow the case, online, in third district state court, Salt Lake County. Announcement: Singapore Math Event. For those who are interested, the Utah State Office of Education invites you to a discussion of Singapore Math with Professor Yeap Ban Har, who works for the Ministry of Education in Singapore. He will present various components of their math program, including its history, philosophy, textbook development, professional development and current results. If you choose to attend, just tell them Rep. Fowlke invited you. 1. In case you have not heard, The Pew Center on States Government Performance has again named Utah as the best State in the nation, in terms of how state governments manage information, people, money and infrastructure. This did not happen by accident, but rather was something that our Republican led government has worked diligently to achieve. Republicans have led this state for two decades and have worked hard to put wise operating procedures and fiscal policies into place. What is most amazing and of considerable benefit to all of us, is that this has happened during a time that most other states are dealing with large budget short falls. Did you know that Governor Schwarzenegger asked for a 10 percent spending cut in all California state agencies, according to U.S.News & World Report? In 2008 while the rate of growth in Utah slowed somewhat, we still have $500 million more in revenue projections than the record breaking fiscal year of 2007. We are a world class business environment and are consistently listed as one of the best places to do business in the country. That honor, together with our coveted AAA bond rating, will continue to encourage businesses to move to Utah, and increase our tax base so we can fund our increasing demands for education and transportation. 2. Highlights from 2008 Economic Report to the Governor For the fourth year in a row, Utah's economy outperformed the nation in 2007. The state led the nation in employment growth, personal income growth, housing price appreciation, and population growth and had an unemployment rate among the lowest in the nation. Utah is expected to continue at a slower pace as economic indicators are expected to soften. For a complete report on the status of all industries in the State click here: For the budget appropriations report in summaries and highlights, go to www.le.utah.gov, click on committees, then executive appropriations, then on "related materials" for the March 4th meeting. This will explain what the legislature did in 2008 with all the revenue coming in, including your tax dollars. If you believe we, as a legislature, should spend more money on some particular area, check out this site to discover where the legislature has allocated all the state revenue. Remember, in the future, that revenue is finite and when we choose to spend more money in one area, it must come from some other area that may also be important. Thus we are constantly comparing priorities in funding requests. Let me know your concerns. 3. Utah Real Estate Report Our local Realtor Association has been watching the trends for buying and selling homes. Their president's report is below. I thought some of you would find it encouraging. "National economic fears and a tightening in the mortgage industry are still influencing the market. However, our local economy remains one of the strongest in the Country. There is a lot of talk about where the bottom of this housing correction is...I am going out on a limb to say that the bottom was in Dec 2007. December 2007 saw the fewest number of homes sold in the County in recent memory with only 269. Since then, we have increased at a nice and consistent pace. Jan increased seven to 276. February we saw another step of 15 to 291. March broke the 300 mark and hit 327. In April we knocked on the door of 400 with 395. This represents a 47% increase since Dec 2007. I'd say that is a nice climb out of the bottom. Of course comparing April 2008 with last year we still see a 32.5% reduction in sales. Again though, this is a step in the right direction. March 2008 compared to March 2007 was off nearly 11 points higher at 43.4%. The signs of a pickup in the market are starting to come out of the ground just like the beautiful flowers. How did Condos make out? Last month was off a whopping 51% compared to last year. This month, again a bit of an improvement, down 37% compared to last April. The upper-end of the market continues to struggle however. For only the second month in recent history, no homes priced above $1 million were sold. And homes above $500k were off 71% from April 2007. To be sure, buyers are still able to obtain loans, especially with the low interest rates currently available. However, one critical issue remains in this discussion and that is affordability." 1. Felonies, felonies, felonies In 2008, the House and Senate proposed 796 new bills. Thirty-four (34) of those bills added new crimes to the code that did not exist before, or enhanced existing criminal penalties. The legislature does this every year, to various degrees, and is in line with most other states in this area. Interestingly, while the types of crimes and enhancements to crimes, have increased steadily, the number of crimes reported has remained relatively flat over the last twenty years. For example, in Kentucky, the state's crime rate increased only 3 percent in the past 30 years while the inmate population increased by 600 percent. Many times criminal penalties and enhancements are proposed so that politicians can be perceived as "tough on crime". However, the problems occur when we begin to recognize a number of disturbing trends. For example, one in every 100 Americans is now incarcerated, which is more than any other nation. As part of this trend, the rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education, according to a report from the Pew Center on the States. These budget woes are pressuring many states to consider new, cost-saving Corrections policies, in spite of the fear of appearing "soft" on crime. Fortunately, Utah has been the leader in Corrections and we have less than the national average actually incarcerated, with many on probation or parole or other types of supervision; however, we are experiencing the same trend--Just something to think about the next time you want a law making something else a felony. For every new crime, Corrections, and now the legislature, must consider its "A, B, C's", i.e. how much will it cost for new [probation and parole] agents, [prison facilities and correctional officers] beds and [agent and transportation] cars? 2. State Sentencing Commission I have been fortunate enough to be appointed to the State Sentencing Commission. Each state has a sentencing commission and there is a national commission, all of which look at the type of information referenced above, as well as many other related trends. At the Commission, we also review all legislation that is related to criminal sentencing to ensure that it fits within our system of laws and sentencing structure. The Commission attempts to ensure public safety and also look to victims' interests, among other issues. To learn more about the sentencing commission visit their website. Utah passed a law in this area in the 2008 session, which delayed implementation until July 2009, in part, to determine what unintended consequences may occur, and in part, to see what the appellate courts do with these issues. Meanwhile, states are also trying to assess the economic consequences of the legislative actions. Do these state actions encourage legal or unauthorized immigrants to leave the state, or both? What are the effects on employers and employees? Will states realize savings in education, health care and law enforcement, and if so, will the savings outweigh effects in terms of property, sales or income tax revenues and the overall economy? These are all issues the Immigration Task Force will be considering this interim. Be sure to contact members of this task force if you have information that addresses these issues or have an interest in this issue. The names of the members of the Task Force committee are on the legislative web site: www.le.utah.gov. Look under the name of the Chairman, Rep. Brad Dee. A law passed by Congress in 2006 will dramatically impact the way your household views television, starting in 2009. Television will change dramatically on February 17, 2009, when all full power television stations across the country complete the federally-mandated transition from analog to digital television (DTV) broadcasting. And while consumers have much to gain - including more free channels and the crystal clear pictures and sound of digital - 34 million households that receive television through antennas risk losing television reception unless they take easy steps to upgrade. In order to help inform and educate all of us about the DTV transition, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has developed multiple resources to help explain the transition. The hope of the NAB is that by providing these resources they will make it easier for us to become educated so that no viewer risks losing television reception when the switch occurs. While digital TV is already here, on February 17, 2009, it will be the only way television will be broadcasted. You do not have to get rid of your analog TV set. Although a new digital TV will provide the highest quality of DTV, there are DTV converter boxes, which convert the digital to analog format. If you already subscribe to cable or satellite, that provider will take care of the conversion. Those most disproportionately affected by the DTV transition will be older Americans, minority populations, the economically disadvantaged and those living in rural areas. Please check out www.DTVanswers.com or www.utahbroadcasters.com to find out how this change can affect you and your television viewing, and what you need to do about it. |
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE
2008 CONVENTION RESULTS
CONTACT LORIE
|
