General Session Newsletter March 10, 2021 - Week 7 (of 7)
Newsletter - March 10, 2021 - General Session Week 7 (of 7) Vol. 5 No. 6
From the desk of Representative Cheryl Acton:
Whew! The 2021 General Session has ended. Even with fewer people and events at the Capitol, it was quite the whirlwind. I passed my third bill on the last day of session, which left one of my bills on the Senate board. I will take that bill up as soon as we meet again. There are two other bills I will work on over interim. They are not simple, but they are important.
For the next 320 days, I won't miss the long hours and rushing to and from committee meetings, but I will miss the people. I realized this morning that I have the electorate to thank for my fellow legislators. Voters do a great job sniffing out insincerity, self-interest, meanness, and indifference, leaving us with a fantastic collection of elected representatives.
We also have a great legislative staff, who support us in everything we hope to accomplish.
The Capitol is only 19 miles from my house, and I will be there intermittently in the coming months, but I will miss the people.
Caption: Photo taken on the last night of Session - the first night spouses were allowed to sit with us on the floor if they met certain COVID requirements.
Overview
It was a very productive, even monumental session, with $100 million in tax cuts and more money allocated to schools and infrastructure than ever before. Salt Lake County legislators also combined resources to pass a bill that will allow our individual cities and townships to allocate the quarter of a quarter county sales tax for transportation that usually goes directly to the county council for allocation. That means West Jordan will be able to prioritize more of its local transportation projects independently.
Here is a link to a 2-minute video about how some of the bills we passed this session will help the typical Utah family. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU0py8L7D0s
Rep. Jon Hawkins on the Mend
A few weeks before session started, our colleague, Jon Hawkins, who represents Pleasant Grove, contracted the COVID virus. He’s been confined to an ICU unit on a ventilator with a tracheotomy ever since. This cast a shadow over our proceedings on the Hill, but in the last week of session, he Zoomed in from his ICU bed and cast his first of two votes. He also announced that he will be leaving the ICU to go to a rehab facility, where he will learn to swallow and walk again. We were just so happy that he was alive and smiling and talking and able to vote! There wasn’t a dry eye in the House.
Caption: The House gave Rep. Hawkins a very long standing ovation when he appeared from his hospital bed.
Coming Soon: Utahraptor State Park
This bill was over 100 years in the making! The new Utahraptor State Park will be adjacent to Arches National Park, eventually providing a much-needed alternative entrance. People have been camping in the area for many years, and clean-up has become a problem. Some have even dug up priceless fossils on the land, which will now be protected. There are more dinosaurs buried at this state park than at Dinosaur National Monument. In fact, the first Utahraptor (as seen on the Jurassic Park DVD cover) was found here.
This state park, and another new one, Lost Creek, will bring the total number of state parks to 46. They are self-sustaining financially and wildly popular. I recently made a goal to visit all 46 of them!
National Rankings: Utah at the Top
This week the US News & World Report ranked Utah #1 economically, #5 in terms of infrastructure, #5 in financial stability, #8 in crime and corrections, #10 in education, and #11 in healthcare. There is always room for improvement, even economically, but we are doing well. It’s interesting to be a part of decisions as they are being made and witnessing the consequences of those decisions. Our state is definitely harvesting good decisions planted long ago, and some of those decisions are not easy to make. No state is in better shape emerging from the pandemic.
The Bills I Passed in 2021
HB219 Inmate Phone Providers Amendments – a pro-family bill that will make it possible for families to communicate with inmates at county jails without paying predatory phone rates, which often cause financial hardship and anxiety for parents, spouses, and children.
HCR9 Concurrent Resolution Encouraging the Development of a Statewide Anti-Littering Campaign – Utah hasn’t had an anti-littering campaign since the early ‘90s (“Don’t Waste Utah”) and, unfortunately, it shows. UDOT alone spends $2.5million annually to clean up along the side of state roads. This resolution only explores the development of a campaign, but if it comes to pass, it will be unique to Utah’s communities and culture.
HB77 Aviation Liability Amendments – After the tragic crash in West Jordan last summer, I learned that aircraft are not required to have liability insurance in Utah – or in 38 other states! (About 80-90% of general aviation aircraft are insured anyway, leaving 10-20% that are not.) Which means that the general public bears the risk in the event of a crash. This bill requires all fixed wing, operable aircraft in Utah to carry a minimal level of liability insurance, so that any damage to people or property can be immediately compensated. Aircraft liability insurance is less than car liability insurance, because incidents are rare, but not unheard of. A woman in Roy, whose car was hit three and a half years ago as she drove down a busy street, testified in the Senate committee about her experience. The pilot who hit her was uninsured and would not accept responsibility for the crash. Her car insurance would not cover it, because she was hit from above. She has had to cover her own medical bills, replace her car, etc., because the uninsured pilot who hit her refuses to pay. Her case is still being litigated in the courts.
Caption: People and Property around the South Valley Airport will be compensated promptly in the event of a crash with the enactment of HB77.
Thank you for letting me represent you at the Capitol! I’ve enjoyed hearing from many people in our district and across the state. That’s really the best part of the job!
I’ll be sending out a newsletter every month to let you know what I’m working on. You can read it in your email inbox, if you’ve signed up for the newsletter on my web site or by email. I know many of my newsletters are going directly to the spam folder – my own included - so check that if you aren’t seeing it. I will also post the newsletter on my web site at cherylacton.com under “Blog.”
It looks like spring is coming soon, and the cherry blossoms will be in bloom, not only in DC, but also at the state Capitol. Let me know how I may represent you and serve you!
Sincerely,
Cheryl