Posts for March 6, 2010

FOUR DAYS AND COUNTING……

March 6, 2010 – UMA on the Hill

With the last full week of the 2010 General Session in the books, there are only four more working days for lawmakers to finish their work. Undoubtedly, they will be long days but it will all end at midnight, ready or not. While they made good progress this week, there is much to do before it all ends for this session. Here is a recap of activities this week……

Ugly Employee Verification Bill Gets Major Work Over – Senator Buttars presented a very punitive SB-251 in the Senate Business and Labor Committee last week. Hurried along by a prior approved agreement the bill passed the committee and was forwarded to the Senate calendar but with a charge from the committee chairman to work with the Utah Business Coalition to address employer’s concerns.
After a nearly complete rewrite by UMA and others in the Utah Business Coalition, SB-251 was substituted in the Senate minus the penalties and mandates but with an incentive for those employers who choose to use the federal E-Verify program. Employers using the program are given immunity from litigation if an ineligible employee is missed by the program. Even though the bill now says all employers with 15 or more employees must use the program there are no penalties and registration with the Utah Department of Commerce is voluntary. For all intents and purposes it is a voluntary program for private sector employers. After assisting in the rewrite of the initial bill, UMA withdrew its opposition in the Senate. SB-251 passed the Senate on Friday and was sent to the House.
Its fate in the House is unknown. UMA will not be promoting it but will continue the neutral stance provided it is not amended to re-insert penalties.

Must Pass Environmental Quality Bill Clears House, Awaits Senate Vote: A measure being promoted by UMA that helps solve funding shortages in the Utah Department of Environmental Quality’s Environmental Quality Restricted Account passed the House nearly unanimously earlier this week and is expected to clear the Senate early next week. In addition to an agreed doubling of fees on Energy Solutions and a small increase on Clean Harbors, HB-331 authorizes DEQ to accept contracts from businesses to ensure timely completion of permits. With shortages of funding for DEQ, UMA and others have asked that companies with complicated permits be allowed to contract with outside experts through DEQ to complete permits. We have been assured by Senate leadership that the bill will pass the Senate without amendments.

Joint Venture Utility Bill Clears House Without Opposition – Industrial electric energy users are taking the initiative to improve efficiency in the generation of electricity for their private use. Several industrial customers of Rocky Mountain Power have shown interest in a joint venture with the RMP. Rio Tinton Kennecott specifically is anxious to build a gas-fired electric generation plant to accommodate their anticipated expansion at Magna. Current law restricts industrials to a 300 KW plant which is not very efficient. Under the provisions of SB-335, Kennecott and others would be allowed to partner with RMP to build a larger unit that is not only more efficient but also more in line with their anticipated needs. The power used by the private entity would be unregulated but any power used by RMP on the grid would be subject to PSC regulation. UMA strongly supports SB-335. A favorable vote is expected in the Senate next week.

Electronic Waste Recycling Bill Languishes on House Third Reading Calendar – For most of the session, UMA has opposed HB-153, Recycling of Electronic Items, by Representative Becky Edwards, (R), North Salt Lake. After the bill was reported out of a House committee late last week and after provisions were added to exclude Utah manufacturers from the definition of “manufacturer” in the recycling program that is to be funded by electronic device manufacturers, UMA agreed to step aside and not oppose efforts to establish the recycling program. Now limited to Counties of the first class (SL) it establishes a program within the Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste to reclaim electronic scrap from landfills to avoid hazardous materials from building up in public landfills. The bill applies to personal electronic devices only, not to business and commercial.
National and international manufacturers of consumer electronic devices have built the cost of recycling into the cost of the devices and are not opposed to registering in Utah and paying for their market share of devices sold and disposed in Utah. Several other states have established such programs.

Medical Benefits Under Workers Compensation Targets Single Case – SB-231, Medical Benefits Under Workers Compensation, Senator Buttars, was heard in committee last week and was approved by the Senate on Friday by a vote of 25-0 with 4 being absent. It attempts to make legislative changes in time limits for filing a workers compensation claim specifically aimed at benefitting a single claimant. As noted in the committee hearing, this bill raises ethic issues for legislators because it attempts to correct an issue between a Utah Senate employee and a workers compensation insurance carrier. Notwithstanding the declaration by the sponsor of the bill and the employee involved that the bill was initiated by a Senator, not the employer, questions are still being raised.
In 2007 the legislature established more restrictive time frames for not only making a WC claim but also for continuing to see a doctor for a condition caused by a work-related accident. If an injured worker does not see a doctor for a condition for three years, the claim is considered finished and further claims are dismissed. It was this provision that brought the issue on the senate employee.
Buttar’s bill modifies that time period for the affected time frame to deal with this claim. The Workers Compensation Advisory Council, of which UMA is a part, heard the issue and declined to take a position except for neutral on the bill. The council was asked to address the issue after it had already been heard and approve by the Senate Committee. Reception in the House of Representatives is uncertain at best.

Additions to the Air Quality Board Stuck in Senate Rules – the effort to add an additional member to the Air Quality Board within the Department of Environmental Quality was approved by the House of Representatives as a favor to the sponsor but has hit a major snag in the Senate. It initially began as an addition of two new members, one public and one transportation planning but was whittled down to remove the physician to be replaced by a transportation member.
The issue for the air committee originates from the sponsor’s district, North Salt Lake, where Utah’s refineries are located. It is classic “special interest” legislation.
The snag in the Senate occurs because a Senate bill designed to ensure proper expertise for members of all environmental board was sent to interim study by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Margaret Dayton with the assurance that stakeholders, including UMA’s Environmental Committee, will take a comprehensive look at all the policy boards within DEQ during the summer and report to the Legislative Interim Committee their recommendations. With all the boards to be studied in depth this summer it makes no sense to move ahead with the modification of one board and then reconsider it right after the session.
UMA strongly opposes adding additional members to the air quality board or any of the DEQ policy boards. We contend they are already too large and lack structure to ensure proper review of complicated issues. UMA will be leading the effort in the summer to study all the DEQ policy boards.

Cool Keeper Bill Slowed in Senate – SB-47 designed by Rocky Mountain Power to change the structure of an efficiency rate structure commonly known as “Cool Keeper”, has been sitting on the Senate Second Reading Calendar all week. Cool Keeper has been in effect for several years but is an opt in program where residential consumers can voluntarily agree to have their air conditioners interrupted temporarily during peak summer months to reduce the need for additional peak power. RMP has asked in SB-47 that the program be reversed to make it an opt out program. That is to say, it would be imposed unless a consumer notified RMP they wanted to opt out. Serious concerns are being raised about a program that has the trappings of a mandate and that would likely be overlooked by many residential consumers. UMA has been concerned that it may move into commercial and industrial rate structures.

Watch for final report following Thursday’s adjournment. Up to date reports on the disposition of all bills being tracked by UMA continues to be posted on the UMA website at www.umaweb.org.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE UNCHANGED IN FEBRUARY

March 6, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net

Jobless rate held at 9.7 percent in February as employers shed 36,000 jobs, suggesting the job market is slowly healing but that significant hiring has yet to occur... continue the article at this link http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=245418

HOUSE APPROVES TAX BREAKS FOR NEW HIRES

March 6, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net

Despite doubts among lawmakers that it will create many jobs, House passed legislation giving companies that hire jobless a temporary payroll tax break... continue article at this link http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=245394

NEW GUIDELINES TO PREVENT WORKPLACE EXPLOSIONS

March 6, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net

U.S. Chemical Safety Board issued guidelines designed to prevent workplace explosions after investigating over 60 deaths from industrial blasts in past 20 years... continue the article at this link http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=245416

GERMAN INDUSTRIAL ORDERS RISE IN JANUARY

March 6, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net

Economy Ministry said industrial orders surged 4.3 percent as demand increased for big-ticket goods, following a 1.6 percent month-on-month decline in December ... continue the article at this link http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=245390

CHINA TO KEEP EXCHANGE RATE ‘STABLE’

March 6, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net

Beijing to keep currency ‘basically stable’ this year, despite foreign pressure to ease exchange rate controls that critics say hamper trade and may slow global recovery... continue the article at this link http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=245400