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Show March 18, 1986 TurntLay Morning Section B o o Midnight Tonight Is Deadline For Bangerter to Act on Bills By Dan Bates Tribune Staff Writer With a day left to leave his mart on J new state law. Gov. Norm Bangerter ' by Monday night had pared a pile of 255 bills and resolutions advanced by j the Utah Legislature this winter to 54. He has until midnight Tuesday to j finish it off to sign remaining legislation that be likes into law, to allow enactment of that which he's indiffer- i j ! ent to by not signing, or to veto anything lawmakers sent to him that he deem unsatisfactory. Few surprises are anticipated, although Gov. Bangerter has publicly guarded what, if anything, could be creating him fret Except for a few items in a 1985-4- budget revision, he has yet to veto anything. session largeStill, during a y ly void of any riveting drama or divi sion, lawmakers left little of the sticky sort on his desk. high-profil- Staffers say he is taking a hard at bills reducing personnel at the State Division of Contractors and enabling the Legislature to sue state agencies that fail to comply with statutory intent and spirit. Beyond that, there is little indication of what measures may be in jeopardy of being vetoed, aside from look 6 45-da- i i j I Governor Signs Bill Creating King Holiday With a quick stroke of the gover-- I pen Monday, Utah gained a new holiday honoring one emancipator and eliminated an old holiday honor-- ! nor ; inganother. ! ; 1 r I i ! j ! ! J i ; i ! ; tit vt -- 2 st4, I o , ,V fA Vi Y : P V r 'xTtt f- - 4 'r up-fro- But the controversial Martin Lu- tber King holiday bill that Gov. Norm Bapgerter signed during a special ceremony in his office does not neces- saiily replace Abraham Lincoln with Dr.; King as a hero for civil rights, supporters have stressed. It is a way to pay tribute to the efforts of both men. Dr. King was in the forefront of a very nece. sary movement in this country, C . Bangerter said as he signed the uilL And there is still much progress to be made. The holiday bill creates an official state holiday, known as Martin Lu-tber King Jr. and Human Rights Day, on the third Monday of January. To keep the state from having an addi-- ; tional holiday, however, the legisla- tiowalso combines Abraham Lincoln Day, which has been celebrated Feb. 12, With George Washington Day, cel-- j ebrated the third Monday in Febru-- i ary, and also calls that holiday Presi-- J dents Day. So many people were involved in the fight for this bill, said Shauna Graves, director of the State Office for Black Affairs. She thanked Rep. Robert Sykes, Lake, and Sen. Lake, for Terry Williams, their efforts in pushing the legislation through, and Alberta Henry, local president of the NAACP. R-S- i fa some that legal counsel may think are structurally weird or unreasonably defy the English language. Legislative sessions have been known to produce a few oi those. Gov. Bangerter will sign the manbill Tuesday morndatory seat-be- lt ing, putting the edict on the road as of April 27. In addition, he will formally sanction a new seven-membcourt of appeals next year and likely sign a bill for some 8800,000 from higher court fees to fund it And he must posture on the new 1985-8-7 budget overall, still subject to his line-iteveto power. With his constitutional review period slipping away, be managed to sign 149 measures on Monday alone, most of those technical in nature. Yet along with the Martin Luther King Jr.Human Rights Day measure, the governor penned into law a 10 percent tax hike on all tobacco products except cigarettes. tax inIt was the only crease legislators allowed this year targeting cigars, pipe and chewing tobacco and snuff and worth about income 209,000 in extra general-fun- d a year. But Gov. Bangerter also signed bills that more than double fines for misdemeanors and infractions and slap a 25 percent surcharge oo all criminal monetary penalties, in part to finance a 1 million victims reparations fund. Together, the two measures are expected to generate about 6 million annually. Then to complement a warning-labe- l edict he enacted lari week, the governor Monday signed a bill to require the same health-ris- k advisory on print advertisements published in Utah for smokeless tobacco prod- e 1 Page D-S- ucts Also carrying his signature Monday were measures to permit criminal background checks oo school em- Triune Ste PtioW bv Tim Ky Shauna Graves, state black affairs director, Nathaniel Chism, black advisory committee chairman, watch Gov. Norm Bangerter sign Martin Lather King Holiday into Utah lawbooks. ployees and to require school personnel to report suspicions of po- -' pils using illegal drugs. Gov. Bangerter also approved granting local governments the option of charging all telephone customers 50 cents a month to fund emergency 911 systems and expanding Dram Shop liability to outlets or individuals who provide or allow beer consumption on their premises. King has kept the movement alive with the establishment of a cultural center in her husbands name located in Atlanta. Gov. Bangerter had hoped to give the pen to Mrs. King when she visited Utah during the legislative session earlier this year. M Graves said she will Hand de- liver the pen Gov. Bangerter used to sign the bill to Dr. Kings widow, Cor-etKing, in Atlanta, Ga, April 2. Dr. King, credited as the spirit behind the civil rights movement that led to the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. was slain by a gunman in 1968, but Mrs. ta Tfw 1 Hows This for an Opening Line? project to realign aqueduct near Big Cottonwood percent done. The water line, which once ran through a gravel pit, will carry more than a million gallons of water into the Salt Lake valley during one simmer day. A $355,000 Canyon is 88 Senate Panel Begins Ethics Probe Today; The Legislature Tuesday will begin the rare process of an ethics investigation of ooe of its members, but there was still a question Mooday as to whether the chief accuser of Sen. Paul Rogers will testify before the special ethics committee The committee will conduct a dosed-doo- r preliminary inquiry Tuesday to determine whether eight-memb- er a investigation of Sen. should be capfioet- - full-blow- n Rogers, I The committee was formed by Senate President Arnold Christensen, after sUtcmesds made by members of the Utah Attorney General's Office raised a qaotin as o whether Sea Rogers attempted to unduly influence the activities of some state offices. Sen. Terry Williams, Lake, requested the investigation to dear the air over some accusations about Sen. Rogers' activities. The committee will specifically e&tiJne allegations by Attorney General David Wilkinson that Sen. Rogers attempted to get kim to lack off a state investigation into the pract ces of Emery Mining Co, which operates eastern Utah coal mines for Utah Power U Light Ca The other allegation under scrutiny by the panel came from Assistant Attorney General Clark Graves, who claimed Sen. Rogers tried to get Rab-er- t Ogden, director of a dirison of the state Health Department, to settle out of court a lawsuit brought by a nursing home represented by a If w firm that frequently hires Sea. RacD-Sa- By Paul Roily Tribune Staff Writer Paul Woolstenhulme is watching 15 years as a state employee go down the drain since he is (me of .about three dozen workers getting the ax because of legislative action this year. But because of current economic and political trends, and especially because of the Gramm-Rud-ma- n Act, Mr. Woolstenhulme may have plenty of company in future years as the state attempts to surgically remove government programs deemed lower on the priority list I've been told I could maybe get a job in another area of government, Mr. Woolstenhulme said. But it would be a much lower pay grade than where I am at now. It would be for a lot less money. I don't think I can afford it" , Mr. Woolstenhulme is an investigator for the State Division of Contractors. His job is to make sure the building industry fulfills its leg-1 obligations. But because of a bill rushed through in the final hours of the legislative session last month, along with a significant budget reduction for the Division of Contractors, Mr. Woolstenhulme and 10 other investigators and five secretaries are being laid oft The action of the Legislature is devastating, said Division Direc- - Budget Ax Hacks Away at State Jobs; It Could Be Just the Start of a Trend tor Jim Considine. government It is indeed indicative of times to come," Rep. Garff said. By 1991, according to studies, the state will have a half billion dollar deficit if it does nothing to stave off current school enrollment growth trends and current revenue trends. And if you cumulate the growth projections each year on top of the other, after the five yean the budget will be out of sync by fl he said We will either have to raise taxes by 1 billion, which is unacceptable, or we will have to do something about our spending habits." The Contractors Division was deemed by the Legislature to be one of those expendable programs, one whose benefit to society was questionable. But the cutback of that diviskn was a hasty and move, according to Mr. Consadine. Gov. Norm Bangerter apparently agrees with his division chief be cost-savin- bil-lioo- ," da State employees could be seeing of the storm, according to Personnel Management Director Brian Harris. With the federal Gramm-Rudma- n bill (requiring automatic cuts in government funding unless Congress takes significant measures toward balancing the budget) the state will lose many more positions currently supported by federal assistance, he said. House Speaker Robert Garff, R- - just the beginning ernments and they are not cause there is a good possibility be will veto the bill by midnight Tuesday, which is the governors deadline for dealing with the bills passed by the Legislature. There are definite coocerns about the bill, said Franrine Giani, the governor's press secretary. The governor believes the legislation was passed without a real hard look at how the program will operate now," she said. He thinks it was done too hastily. She said the governor has directed the Division of Contractors to meet with local government officials, which will now shoulder the burden of investigating consumer complaints about contractors, to determine the impact Ms. Giani said the governor agrees there must be some hard looks at state regulatory agencies. He agrees that we want to be careful not to over regulate, but we need to have a balance between the tendency to over regulate and maintaining reasonable protection for the public." The bill maintains the existence of the diviskn, but it cuts out the teeth, according to Mr. Considine. Bountifid, says the cuts this year should signal officials that they must rethink the way they run the government and citizens must take a new attitude about the role of It's taken away our ability to do our job and it has given the public a false sense of security into believing government will be able to solve their disputes when in fact, governments ability has been taken away. Nineteen employees at the Division of Facilities, Construction and Management, are also being laid g off in a move designed to eliminate duplication of services. But unlike the Contractors Division, the DFCM cutback was done with the blessing of its director and after a lengthy study showing that would be the most prudent thing to We will no longer have the ability to investigate complaints." he said. That will be left to the local gov- equipped to handle it Ron Ivy, bead of building inspections for Park City and former Utah president of the International Conference of Building officials, said the bill is another example of the state shoving off more responsibility onto local governments without giving us any money to shoulder that added responsibility. I have written to the governor and asked him to veto the bill, he said. This bill takes away our option of solving a dispute between a builder and contractor without going to court. This takes away the administrative option. Now the caseload in the courts will increase dramatically and that will increase the cost of enforcement to the counties." Department of Business Regulations Director Bill Duim. who oversees the Contractors Diviskn, said the Legislature seemed to overlook the fact that the Contractors Division pays for itself through licensing fees. He also said with the added enforcement power of the state and the ability to revoke a contractors license, the incentive ts there to uphold the building standards because if a builder is taught doing business without a B-Column S ers as a consultant ( The panel will determine whether Sen. Rogers violated a section in (he Legislature's official code of conduct that prohibits a lawmaker from assg undue influence on a state ageocyj Only four people have been subpoenaed by the committee, including Hr. Wilkinson, his chief deputy Paul Tinker, Doug Foxley, who reportedly attended the meeting in question between Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Rogers, and Mr. Ogden. Mr. Graves, who made the accusations about the attempt to get fbe lawsuit settled, has not been subpoenaed. But Gay Taylor, chief legal officer in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, said Hr. Graves has been invited to testify Aid be has indicated be will be there. Level Leaps 10.2 Inches By Mike Gorrell ! i ' Tribune Staff Writer The Great Salt Lakes upward march goes on. The lake has reached an elevation of 4,210.20 feet above mean sea level, according to a U S. Geologic Survey reading taken Mooday at the Saltair marina. That represents an increase of 101 inches since Feb. 15, 16 inches of which were added in the last two weeks. 1 was thinking it could have been worse thin that," said National Weather Service meteorologist William Alder. But be wasnt breathing a sigh of relief. Based on that figure. Mu Alder and hydrologist Gerald Williams revised the predicted peak from level for the lake once egain to 4111.0. Thats a level that not only approaches the highest mark ever re- 4410.6 corded by man 411160 in June 1S73 but also strikes apprehension in the hearts of state, county and city officials, railroad companies, plant managers, highway workers, and the people whose sewage-t- reatment job it is to keep the expanding lake away from Rose Park and Salt Lake City International Airport Officials estimate that tens of millions of dollars damage could be incurred if the lake rises to 4112. Even a foot loer, befty expenditures will be needed to prevent damage. And, with the lake that high, storms whip up sizable waves that can cause considerable damage to the Southern Pacific causeway. Union Pacific railroad lines. Interstate 80 and dikes that protect private and public property along the lake's shores. h The monthly increase is the largest since the lake rose 10.8 inches from March 15 to April IS in 1984. Since the lakes surface now covers a far greater area, however, the entering volume of water represents the greatest inflow in recorded history, Mr. Alder said. He calculated that 11 million acre-feof water flowed into the kke from Feb. 15 to Monday. An acre-foo- t is the amount of water needed to cover one acre with one foot of water. The annua! average is just S mil- - lion acre-fee- t, meaning that 43 percent of the normal inflow entered the lake this year in just ooe month. Even more telling is the comparison of that figure to the volumes of Utah and Bear lakes, each of which hold 1.1 million acre-feDoes that put it in perspective? Is that awesome enough for you?, Mr. Alder asked. It's unbelievably awesome." 10. warroer-than-avera- temperatures, 101-inc- et ge re- moved low elevation and much of the -- midelevation snowpack, leading some officials to speak optimistically that the threat of spring Hooding had been mitigated. . But Mr. Alder noted that measurlevel ing stations above the 1,000-foin northern Utah show snowpack figures of 159 percent to 15 percent of normal, with some stations up to 20 Rom Park Golf Course 4,210 ft. Antelope Island Road increase was spawned by more than a week of That heavy rain in rainfall, combined with Salt Lake UD4. Teanie 4448 ft. Salt Lake International Center et The & Great Salt Lake Elevation Flood Fears Grow as Lake Keeps Swelling 4,207 ft. 140 at Saltair 4412 ft. (Being raised Bear River 44 1 4.6 ft.) 4417 ft. (Lowest developed area) Migratory Bird Refuge 4410 ft, 1873 E atone High 44116 ft. Lake Level March 15. 1BS8 441040 ft , J. Salt Lake Citr International 4413 ft. Predicted 1B33 Peak 44114 (Lowest developed area) ft. ot percent Northern Utah precipitation B-- ) dur-Sc- Cdsni e 1 1963 ITstoric low 4,lil.4ft V?eifecr service officials have pda ted their prediction ca the Great Salt Lakes ' I peak level tils year to 4,211 feet, csfy stx ; inches frelow historic kki set ia 127X A I |
