The Salt Lake Tribune LEGISLATURE Ag 3 Friday, January 22, 1999 Group Seeks to Bar Lawyers, Public Employees From Legislature LEST Members of the House Health and Human Services Committee embraced changes toa law that would allow counties to require couple: s to attend wide-ranging premarital education coursesas a condition for getting RIVERA The coalition reasons that lawyers — who are sworn officers of the court (the THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE William Shakespeare wrote, “ “The first thing wedo,let’s kill all lawyers.” The Coalition for Accountable Govern- marriagelicenses. The course might teach things such as communication skills and be administered ment wouldn’t go that far — bumping them off the Legislature would suffice. As well as police officers, teachers and any by local counselors. It could includea video describing thelegal ramificationsof divorce and spouseabuse. License-seekers whotake similar courses from their religious advisers other public employees who servein the Houseor Senate. would be excused. y Sound like barking at the wind? Thecoalition — an obscure government watchdoggroup out of West Valley City — ern about all this instruction. “If we teach them too much,” said the bases its demands on the state Constitu- married father of three, “the women would never marryus.” tion’s separation-of-powersclause. That's the same provision the Utah Su- preme Courtrecently cited in declaring The room erupted into chuckles — per- haps because he had hit too close to home. unconstitutional the Judicial Conduct gram even though they have been free to Commi the body that disciplines judges, because four of its 11 members werelegislators. 5 Noneof Utah’s 29 counties hassuch a pro- mandate premarital education since 1971 judicial branch) — violate the same clause by serving as lawmakers(the legislative branch). Bythat samelogic, state, county andcity workers technically are employees of the executive branch, and thus couldn't serve as lawyers, judgesor legislators. Try telling thatto the two dozen lawyers and public employees servingin the House and Senate. Not to mention the multitude ofstaff attorneysin state government. It's a constitutional conundrum, and harmfulbecause public employees have a vested interest in creating bigger government, says F. Kenneth Olafson, the group’s immediate past chairman and a former North Dakota legislator. Olafson says any laws passed — especially budget matters — are open to court challenges because of the Legislature's unconstitutional makeup. Nonsense, says Sen. Fiyle Hillyard, a lawyer. The Logan lawmaker says the high- court decisionthatraised the issue was too broad and too vague. A janitor who works in the governor's mansion couldn’t serve in the Legislature under that interpreta- tion, he said The Supreme Court is expectedto issue a clarifying ruling — or even reverseits formerdecision — today. The 20 or so people who make up the coalition gather every Wednesday at Denny’s for ham, eggs and a sideof politicalparsing. They say they have nothing against lawyers, but admit there are none in their group. "We wish we did have one,” Olafson says. “But lawyers are busy making money, they don’t have timeto be idealists.” House Panel Pushes Bill on O erseeing Olympics Legislation would create a committee to act as a watchdog onpreparations for 2002 Winter Games BY DAN HARRIE RIBUNE, Utah lawmakersdisplayed their anxiety over the state's potential liability for any Olympic shortfall Thursday as they advancedto the full Housea bill increa ing legislative oversightof the 2002 Win- buck stops in the Legislature.” “It is inappropriate for the Legislature to not have the authority that this bill provides,” he said. Tanner is a memberof the Utah Spor Advisory Committee. But he said that group is simply an advisorypanel and has Mike Leavitt's attorney, Gary Doxey: House Speaker Marty Stephens; and State Olympic Officer John Fowler. Even with the amendment, Doxey said the governor has unresolved questions about thebill. In an interview prior to the opening of “no meat on the bones.” thelegislative session, Leavitt said he op- ames finances. The House Government Operations Committee unanimously approved the plan te create a state Olympic Coordina- His proposed Olympic Coordination Committee would be comprised of 12 establish tighter, more fermal requirements for the governor and Salt Lake City mayor to review and approve quarterly budgets from the Salt Lake Organiz- the bill watering down the governor's re- posed lawmakers attempting to assert more authority over the 2002 Winter Games in reactionto the bribery scandal. Thursday's hearing put the spotlight on a troubling question thai no one appears able — orwilling — to answer: Will taxpayers statewide be stuck with the bill if the Olympics budget fails to balance? “That the $64,000 or, rather, the $150 million question,” Leavitt attorney tion Committee. The measure aiso would ing Committee Rep. Jordan Tanner, R-Provo, said his bill is not a reaction to the Olympicbrib- ery scandal but a financial protection measure he has been working on for 18 months. Tanner, who heads the Government Operations Committee, said lawmakers need moreinvolvement in Olympic budget decisions because, ultimately, “the members —- all legislators, who would have power to draft bills. A last-minute amendment was made to sponsibility for signing off on Olympic budgets. Deleted was a proposal that the governor be required every three months to make a “finding” that projected revenues “are adequate to cover the expendi- tures.” The amended version says the governor will state that “based on information available,” revenue projections are ‘estimated to be adequate to cover anticipated expenditures.” ‘The softer language was added after a private meeting between Tanner; Gov. Doxeysaid. month, the governorsaid: “The state of Utah has a constitutional prohibition against the state guaranteeing the debt of anyparty, private or public.” The governor subsequently reassured Salt LakeCityofficials of the state’s commitment to the Olympics. But nervous City Council members have asked Leavitt to spell out clearly what that means. Doxey, in comments tothelegislative panel, said it is “an open question” what level of indemnity is allowed by the Utah Constitution. Tanner,a nine-year veteran of the Legislature, said the governoracted unilaterally in signing an indemnificationletter. “The Legislature never even was formed of theletter,” Tannersaid. “The He referred to a 1991 agreement signed by former Gov. Norm Bangerter that indemnifies Sait Lake City for short- falls, “to the extent constitutionally pernissible.” Leavitt reaffirmed the commitment in a 1994 letter. But in a news conferenceearlier this Legislature did not even know about it.”” Rep. Afton Bradshaw, R-Salt Lake City, noted that the Legislature has long EGAN THESALT LAKE TRIBUNE Legislatorsare looking at using the law to wean Utah's communitycolleges off their increasingreliance onpart-time faeulty, but it will not be cheap. An averageof half the classes at Utah’s public two-year colleges are taught by adjJunet faculty — part-timers who typically teach for fun or to augment salaries from full-time jobs outside academia. ‘This is not an attack onthe quality of adjuncts. Many of them teach with dis- 8am., Room 405 HB43 — Controlled-substance database HB214 — Wage-claim amend. HB230 — Lien amend. Health and HumanServices 8a.m., Room 225 HB58 — Premarital education amend. HB177 — Genetic testing privacy act Publie Utilities and Tecmeleey, , Room 223 Electric power deregulation briefing Telecom. deregulation briefing Year 2000 briefing HB189 — Y2K government immunity SENATE COMMITTEES Transportation and Public Safety 8 a.m., Room 403 recognized it cannotlegally obligate a fu- — ture Legislature. She asked if the same limitations apply to governors. Doxey’s response: “It’s an interesting question.” Legislation Proposes a Limit On Adjunct Faculty at Colleges BY DAN HOUSE COMMITTEES Bus./Labor/Econ. Development Weapons-technical amend- SB11— Driverlicensing amendments SB86 — Reporting tests of individuals involved in motor-vehicle crashes House Passes Bill To Strengthen Rights Of Farmland Owners College of Eastern Utah, but it could have a dramatic impact on the other communi ty colleges approachingor exceeding the proposed 50 percent limit The bill would affect Utah's public communitycolleges only Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Keeping farmland from being turned into subdivisions and strip malls is an important part of preserving Utah’s dwindling open space, says House Majority Whip Dave Ure. “That's exactly whatthis legislation relies on adjunets for 56 percentof its does, Agricultural land is natural open space,” Ure said Wednesdayafter the House approved his HB169 on a 61-0 classes. Provo’s Utah Valley State Collegeis not far behind. Dixie Collegein St Georgeis at 48 percent. Legislative analysts estimate it would vote. It now advancesto the Senate. Ure's bill would amend state laws cost about $1.5 million to hire the needed covering so-called agricultural protection areas. Once a farmer's landis given such status, the result is a strength. full-time faculty at SLCC sothat the col- lege could stay below the proposed ad- tinction,” said Paul Henderson, executive director of the American Federation of ‘Teachers and one of the draftersof legis- junctcap. SLCC administrators say they support lation that would cap the number of parttime faculty a school could hire. “But if the plan if the state will cover itscosts. But $1.5 million, theysay, will not cut it tion suffer SLCC would have to hire as mai And, if those agricultural lands are annexed into a city, Ure’s amendment about $2.5 million, the administrators would prevent the municipality you get too many. the quality of educa- The problemis adjuncts do not have campus offices and, consequently, students can have troublefinding themoutside the classroom, he said. While tany adjuncts bring to the lec- tern real-world, cutting-edge expertise in their fields, quality control can be a prob lem Cost is the reason Utahschools rely so heavily upon them Adjunets are paid bythehour, and they eceive benefits or administrative rt ¢ 41 to their full-timepeers. reaso! we have so many adjunct faculty is because we have not been fund ed full rder to hire more full-time facult vid Higher Education Commis r Cecelia Foxley space for thoseindividuals at a cost of lifting the protected status. Only th county government could make the nearly $3 million. Without the new fund The plan wouldalso requireoffice change, with permission from theland ing, support for the plan from academic administrators disappears We'd love to get somerelief, owners While Ure's bill was on the move, but it House wouldbea detrimentto thecollege if the said SLCC President Frank Budd. don't want to be misunderstood, we ap “I ton. preciate Sen. Peterson's concerns, We Garn and the other membersof the just don't want to be mandated to have GOPHouseleadership havebeentry additional full-time faculty without [fi ing to write an open-space bill Demo. nancial] support Without the funding, Al Hartmann The Salt Lake Tribune “Thealternative split ontheissueearlier in the week. It is GET YOUR EYES OFF THE MONEY youth smoking-prevention programs, the | Petersen The Senate Education Committee was expectedto takeit up again next week Fellow Utah lawmakers applaud House member Marda Dillree, R-Farmington, at Thursday's legislative session. Dillree wore a sterile mask in the House chambers because she is undergoing medical treatment for cancer. \tty. Gen. Jan Graham urged lawmakers the settlement no later than June30, 2000. but the federal government is already claiming about 75 percent of thesettle. ment belongsto it They did nothing to deserve this mon: aham said of the federal Health Financing Administration. ‘This was a state attorneys general effort. Period In theend, theattorneys general arecon fident the courts will allow states to keep most of the money, Still, until the quarrel over those Medicaid expenses is settled lawmakers might be wise to avoid budget ing any of it, Graham said. When it does come, lawmakers should consider putting the money into public healtp, substance-apuse treatment and attorneygeneral said Democrats also knocked the majority GOP for failing to put more money into anti-tobacco programs in the past Judy Fahys q THEY'VE GOT TEENSPIRIT Teen-agers will have another hurdle to leap over for adriver licenseif a bill pro p.m. to 5am ‘The measure passed the House Law En- Thursday by a unanimous vote. ‘This bill addresses Bush's bill would require a parent or learneror practice permit ‘There isn't anything that takes the place of actual experience,” Bush told the committee. The bill also would require all drivers younger than 17 to wear aseat belt and, in es, to. stay off the roads from 11 someof the real is- sues,” Barton Blackstop, bureauchief of the Driver License Division, said at the meeting. “Kids need more experiencebefore they get behind the wheel by them: selves, Peter Richins posed by Rep. Don Bush becomes law guardian to certify the teen has completed 30 hours of time behind the wheel with a use! THEY'RE OPEN TO CLOSING PARKS The House Natural Resources Commit put its stamp ona bill Thursday that ild set standards for closing parts of centives to preserve farmland, some undeveloped tracts and park areas. But the GOP proposal wouldonly re wardsuchpreservation, not require it 538-1029 law-enforcement problems or to protect forcement and Criminal Justice committee crats can endorse. But, if theycan’t get agreement this week, Garnsaid hewill file his bill with the existing languag: The principal GOP ideais to provide local governments with financial in. Dedication Applauded STEELaa LKLo] Thursday to wait a while before spending Utah’s $836 million share of the multistate tobacco settlement. She told Senate Demo: crats the state will receive $43 million from Democratic sensus on the major open-spacebill be ing sponsored by Kevin Garn, R-Lay is to limit the number of classes offered, D-West Valley Republican and leaders werestill trying to reachcor legislation passed without {funding} cap community college reliance on ad junet faculty at 50 percent of its classes, The bill likely would not change a thing at Ephraim’s Snow College and Price's Peterson, cause of the odoror noise. new full-timefaculty at an annual cost ot has drafted legislation that would City, Mille person building a homenear a dairy farm is barred from then suing be To meet the proposed adjunct cap, and we're concerned about that,” said as: Sociate higher education commissioner Sen. ened property right. For example, a endangered species. “The partying gets to be extreme, and they bring in four-wheel-drivevehicles and four-wheel-drive outfits and they trash the area,” said Rep, Michael Styler, R-Delta, “The federal government has a lot of ways andtricksto get done whatthey want to get done,” hesaid, seeking assurance that parks would not be closed by environ. mentalactivists. ‘The measure now alt to thefull House. TheAssociated Pres whosponsoredthebill Examples of suchclosures can be seenat Willard Bay State Park, said David Morrow, deputy director of the Division of State Parks, Law-enforcement problems there last spring prompted officials to change a campgroundinto a day-usearea other ar We now[have] permission through the director to make emergencyclosures,” said Morrow. ‘The bill merely gives the division author. 0 HUNTING PERMIT CHANGES Members of the Natural Resources Com mittee also approved a bill that would change cougar and bear permit proce dures, House Bill 196 would allow hunters to buyJ cougar or bear permit Currently, they must buy a deeror elk license befor plying for @ cougar or state parks, ity to makethosec House Bill $8 would requirethe Division of State Parks to close or change the usage certain areas within parks on a long vided public hearings are held and other who sponsoredthe bill, said it would not Throckmorton, big predators. term bywis in instances of overcrowding, procedures rmanent, pro: are followed, Rep. Matt R-Springville, expressed concern over possible abuse of the power t bear permit. Rep. Mi I Styler, R-Delta, affect how many permitsare issued for the The Associated Progs