So I took my students to the capitol today. Well, we got there on time. The kids were amazed at how “different” they looked from everyone else – you know, school kid attire vs. legislator attire. We got seated in the observer gallery of the House Chamber (we decided on the House vs. the Senate) and waited. And waited. And waited.
We learned that the legislature sessions do not start on time. This we found out after sitting for nearly half and hour and complaining, when someone in the room stated “oh, they almost always start 1/2 hour late.”
Great. So it turned out that by the time the floor session started, my students got to hear about 15 minutes of debate and voting.
Next year I’ll be sure to take them on the Youth in Legislature Day (I totally missed the boat on that one this year).
I stayed at the capitol for almost the rest of the session today. Here are some of the bills voted on:
SB 160 – Physician Licensing: Allows temporary licensing for up to 1 year for new physicians to the state (if licensed in another state) until they get their Utah license. Passed.
SB 174 – In State tuition for the National Guard: Clarificaion of exisitn gpractice. Passed.
SB 84 – Non-Profit Entity Amendments: motion added to make non-profits more accountable. Passed.
SB 71 – Consumer Credit Protection: Provides protection against indentiy theft with consumer reporting agencies. Puts more control in consumer’s hands. Passed.
SB 54 – Revenue Flow from Speeding Violations: Would give 1/2 money generated from speeding citations in rural areas with only state roads but where municipal law enforcement issues citations to the state. Failed.
Well, it was…interesting.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 