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Show House Bill Would Require Counties to Set Up Employe Hiring, Firing an d Promoting System Carbon, San Juan and Smery counties will be retired re-tired to set up merit sys-ems sys-ems for hiring, firing anti romoting employes if a bill assed Monday by the House jecomes law. This bill, HB 15, was pass-id pass-id by a 50-19 vote after Re-xiblicans Re-xiblicans had caucused. It would require merit iystems for 10 counties hav-ng hav-ng 50 or more employes. The 1 House also debated a similar bill, HB 15, which vould tighten the state mer-t mer-t system and place about TOO jobs uncovered by the Democrats since 1965 back ander the merit system. Rep. Ray M. Harding, R-3alt R-3alt Lake, sponsor of both )ills, said larger counties leed the merit system to ivoid wholesale turnover of jmployes with each change )f administration. Termed Taxpayer Waste This, he said, is a waste )f taxpayer dollars. Rep. Larry Regis, Jr., D-Spring D-Spring Glen, said the bill would freeze incompetent people in their jobs. Speaker Franklin VV. Gun-iell, Gun-iell, R-Logan, supported the Dill, declaring that if public service is to be upgraded, 4 some job security must be provided. I Counties affected would be: Salt Lake, with 1,653 employes; Weber, with 396; Davis, 121; Iron, 105; Box Elder, 83; Cache, 63; San Juan, 79; Emery, 61; Carbon, Car-bon, 54, and Utah, 141. Wash Dirty Linen? Rep. Ralph A. Preece, R-Vernal, R-Vernal, described the bill as "an attempt by large counties coun-ties to wash their dirty linen lin-en ' by manipulating the small counties." Uintah county has 50 employes, em-ployes, but could discharge one and be excluded. Under the bill each of these county boards would be required to set up a merit mer-it system council of three members to administer the system. The council would j fix joh classification and prescribe regulations. Money Questions Boil Hottest issue facing the legislators is how much money is to be appropriated for schools, higher education, educa-tion, retirement, salary increases in-creases and the Travel Council. Coun-cil. The Joint Appropriations Coi.imittee was to hear all subcommittee reports this wc k. Customarily, the full committee accepts reports of subcommittees. When the day of reckoning gets near, however, a "hatchet" committee com-mittee must pare the sums down to within estimated revenue. Three members of ' the Joint Committee and its executive ex-ecutive committee are jock-ying jock-ying for the Republican nomination for governor in 1968, complicating the money mon-ey appropriating job. These are Speaker Gun-nell, Gun-nell, Sen. C. Taylor Burton, who heads the highways subcommittee which also makes recommendations for travel and1 industrial promotion, pro-motion, and Sen. W. Hughes Brockbank, heading the higher high-er education subcommittee, both of Salt Lake City. Senate Sen-ate President Haven J. Barlow, Bar-low, Layton, also might be persuaded to run. Judges Bill Passed The Senate Monday enacted en-acted 20-0, with eight absent, ab-sent, the radically amended SB 62 to provide an additional addi-tional Third District judge. The amended version as introduced by Sen. Omar B. Bunnell, D-Price, leaves the rest of the state's judicial dEstricts unchanged except that Summit and Daggett counties would go from the Third to the Second District with headquarters in Ogden. House members are expected ex-pected to enact the amended amend-ed version, since the Third District needs another judge badly and this appears to be the only way to get one. Romney Popular Judging by the enthusiastic enthusia-stic reception given Gov. George W. Romney of Michigan Mich-igan Monday afternoon as he addressed the Utah Legislature, Leg-islature, the former Utahn would win Utah's vote in a walkaway should he be the GOP nominee for president. The National Safety Council Coun-cil is opposing lowering the blood alcohol count to .05 of a per cent as evidence of "driving while impaired." HB 217 would lower from .15 to .10 the blood alcohol content for presumption of drunken driving and would consider .05 to .10 of a per cent evidence of driving while impaired. G. Ernest Bourne, State Safety Council manager, is pushing for only one standard, stand-ard, .10 of a per cent, as a means of obtaining uniformity uniform-ity with other states and insuring in-suring public acceptance. |