UTAH MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATON
LEGISLATIVE REPORT
2012 GENERAL SESSION –
MARCH 2012
2012 GENERAL SESSION BEING LABELED A “YAWNER”
Notwithstanding pressures to address some controversial
issues, leadership in both Houses refused to engage in controversial
discussions on immigration and medical mandates. General election years have a
way of tempering discussions on Capitol Hill.
UMA’s number one priority in this session was to make
improvements to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality policy board
system to infuse more qualifications for board members and to realign
responsibilities between the boards and the DEQ administration. This effort
coordinates with efforts to shorten and improve the permitting processes at
DEQ. SB-11, Department of Environmental
Quality Boards Adjudicative Proceedings, and SB-21, Department of Environmental
Quality Boards Revisions were approved by the Legislature overwhelmingly and
are expected to receive the signature of the Governor.
High priority was also given to HB-365, Sales and Use Tax
Exemptions for Research and Development. A companion bill from the Senate,
SB-190 mirrored the House but HB-365 ultimately passed. This measure revamps
the state R&D income tax credit by replacing it with a sales tax exemption.
This change makes a big difference for manufacturers, especially startup
companies that are not profitable in the early years. The provisions of this
important tax change mirror the manufacturers sales tax exemption from sales
tax.
Following is a listing and brief description of the priority
bills for UMA in the 2012 General Session.
SENATE BILLS
Bill #
Sponsor Description Position Action
|
Dayton
|
Department of
Environmental Quality Boards Adjudicative Proceedings (Creates record review of permit appeals)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Madsen
|
Energy Amendments (authorizes a contract to supply
electric service
from renewable energy facilities)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Dayton
|
Department of
Environmental Quality Boards Revisions (changes the composition of DEQ Boards,
requires specific member qualifications,
transfers powers and duties from the
boards to executive director)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Bramble
|
Life Science and
Technology Tax Credit Amendments (creates a new tax credit for
companies investing more than $1Billion)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Valentine
|
Research Tax Credit
Amendments (Replaced by HB-365)
|
HP-S
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Stephenson
|
Amendments to
Revenue and Taxation Title (amends the
circumstances under which a person who pays a tax, fee, or charge liability
may receive a credit or refund)(Ivory Case)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Anderson
|
Production and Sale
of Food in Utah Revisions (would have prohibited federal regulation of an agricultural
product that remains in Utah after it is made, grown, or produced in Utah)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Reid
|
Gubernatorial
Authority over Higher Education Officials (modifies the hiring
and termination process for the commissioner of higher education and
president of the Utah College of Applied Technology to involve the Governor)
|
M
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Urquhart
|
Workers'
Compensation Act Amendments (requires $1 M minimum Workers' Compensation
coverage for independent motor carriers)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Niederhauser
|
Property Tax
Valuation Amendments (requires an assessor
to consider a valuation reduction in certain prior years in determining the
fair market value of property)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Adams
|
Alternative Energy
Development Tax Incentives (modifies and expands
alternative energy sales and use tax exemptions including manufacturing)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Madsen
|
Employment
Amendments (prohibits a municipality or county from
enacting or enforcing an ordinance
that establishes, mandates, or requires a private employer to
establish or offer an employee benefit)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Bramble
|
Unemployment
Insurance Modifications (reduces the maximum unemployment insurance contribution rate for
an employer from 9% plus the social contribution rate to 7% plus the social
contribution rate beginning in calendar year 2012; caps the social
unemployment insurance contribution rate for all employers at .4% for
calendar year 2012 only)
|
LP-S
|
LT-GOV
|
|
|
Weiler
|
Health Insurance
Mandate Accountability Amendments (applies a health
insurance mandate that is enacted by the state after January 1,2012, to a
public school district, charter school, or a state funded institution of
higher education)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Urquhart
|
Utah Immigration
Accountability and Enforcement (would have repealed the Utah Immigration Accountability and
Enforcement Act)
|
LP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Valentine
|
Sales and Use Tax
Exemptions for Research and Development (Replaced by HB-365)
|
HP-S
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Adams
|
Healthcare Compact (pledges to take joint
and separate action to secure the consent of Congress to an interstate
compact in order to return the authority to regulate health care to the member state)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
HOUSE BILLS
Bill #
Sponsor Description Position Action
|
Harper
|
Extension of
Recycling Market Development Zone Tax Credits (extends
certain recycling market development zone tax credits and related carry
forward provisions to repeal on January 1, 2021)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Harper
|
Sales and Use Tax -
Computer Software and Other Tangible Personal Property Amendments (addresses
the detachment of certain tangible personal property, including prewritten
computer software, from other tangible personal property)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Arent
|
College and Career
Counseling for High School Students (creates the College and Career Counseling
Pilot Program to increase the number of students pursuing post-secondary
education and better prepare students for post-secondary education)
|
LP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Menlove
|
Insurance Coverage
for Autism Spectrum Disorders (requires
that an accident or health insurance policy that provides a health insurance
benefit shall provide coverage for treatment of autism spectrum disorders)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Edwards
|
Blasting
Regulations (requires a mining operation that blasts
within on half mile of a residential structure to comply with local, state,
and federal law)(MSHA already regulates blasting)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Barrus
|
Energy Changes (expands the
renewable energy authority act to apply to energy infrastructure instead of
transmission facilities for delivery of energy generated from a renewable
source)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Wilson
|
Private Property
Rights (clarifies that a property owner has no
duty of care to keep the premises safe for entry or use by a trespasser)
|
LP-S
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Nielson
|
Severance Tax
Amendments (provides that certain
severance tax revenue be deposited into the General Fund and the permanent state trust fund)
|
HP-S
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Moss
|
Insurance Coverage
for Amino Acid-based Formula (requires
that a health benefit plan shall provide coverage for the use of an amino
acid-based elemental formula)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Morley
|
Labor Related
Amendments (changes the burden of proof for
rebutting the presumption of employee status to
15 preponderance of the evidence for
purposes of wages, workers' compensation, antidiscrimination, and
occupational safety)
|
LP-S
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Ray
|
Insurance Billing
for Athletic Trainers (amends the scope of practice of athletic trainers to
include an athletic trainer in the definition of health care provider under
the Insurance Code)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Hemingway
|
Unemployment
Benefits for Military Spouse (provides that the Unemployment Division will not
charge benefit costs to an employer for an employee who receives unemployment
benefits after voluntarily leaving employment to follow a spouse because of a
spouse's military assignment)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Menlove
|
Pilot Program for
Insurance Coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorders (creates a pilot program for autism
spectrum disorders services in the Medicaid program; for the private sector,
non-Medicaid population through the Autism Treatment Account; and for certain
children of state employees administered by Public Employees' Benefit and
Insurance Program Act)
|
HP-O
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Briscoe
|
Funding for Burying
Utility Lines (allows a
city legislative body of a city of the first class to impose a sales and use
tax)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Edwards
|
Insurance Coverage
for Children with Hearing Impairments (requires a health benefit plan to
provide children with hearing impairments with coverage for hearing aids)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Peterson
|
Wage Reporting
Amendments (requires an employer to include
additional wage-related information on quarterly unemployment contribution
reports including occupation title and hours worked for each paid employee
during the calendar quarter)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Menlove
|
Industrial
Assistance Account Amendments (moves the
funding and administration of the Business Expansion and Retention Initiative
from the Rural Fast Track Program to the Industrial Assistance Account
administered by the director of the Governor's Office of Economic
Development)
|
LP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
Nielson
|
School Board
Election Provisions (requires
the direct, nonpartisan election of members of the State Board of Education)
|
LP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Dougall
|
Revisions to Tax (enacts a sales and use tax exemption for certain
machinery and equipment used for research purposes and repair and replacement
parts for that machinery and equipment; enacts a sales and use tax exemption
for certain construction materials used in a life science research and development facility,
replacing the current income tax credit)
|
HP-S
|
ENROLLED
|
|
|
D. Brown
|
Product Liability
Amendments (provides that a manufacturer may not be
liable for a product if the claimant
fails to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the
defendant a was the actual manufacturer of the actual product that caused the
harm)
|
HP-S
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Sandstrom
|
Employment and
Verification Requirements (enacts the Utah Illegal Employment Act, including:
prohibiting knowingly or intentionally employing an unauthorized alien and
creating related penalties; providing that an employer is not required to
take any action that the employer believes in good faith would violate
federal or state law; requiring employers to participate in e- verify, with
exceptions; repeals the Private Employer Verification Act)
|
HP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
|
|
Ivory
|
Severance Tax
Funding for Certain Programs (provides funding for the Constitutional Defense
Restricted Account from certain oil and gas severance tax revenues)
|
LP-O
|
DEFEATED
|
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