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Show Top issues discussed By CHERIE HUBER HILL AFB - Eight of the eleven legislators who represent Davis County on the state level attended a dinner hosted by the Davis County Council of Government held at the Officers Club at Hill Air Force Base. The legislators were asked to report on their activities during this legislative session to the Davis County mayors and the commissioners. The three most talked about issues were the lake, education and insurance. THE GREAT SALT LAKE Speaking of the Great Salt Lake, Senator Jack M. Bangerter said, "I wouldn't pump a drop." He pointed out that it will be impossible to start pumping for 16 to 18 months under the best conditions. HE SUGGESTED that the money could be spent in a much better way protecting the east shore where the population is. A diking project could be started tomorrow. The money that would be saved could be put in a revolving loan fund for water resources. Then endangered industries in-dustries could protect their own facilities by borrowing money from the fund at zero or low interest. Mayor Dean Argyle of Centerville questioned ques-tioned where the material for diking would come from, saying that the mountains are already a disgrace from sand and gravel pits. SENATOR Bangerter said that Antelope Island Is-land has the rocks and fill necessary for diking. When Senator Haven J. Barlow spoke he said, "Jack has made up his mind. I haven't." He pointed out that along with the $55 million to build the pumping system, another $20 million mil-lion in dikes will still be necessary to protect Centerville, the airport and other areas. REP. KAYE Browning reported that he had been out to the defense depot looking for surplus sur-plus government property that could be used for controlling the lake. He said there was a high probability that they will find pumps and diesel equipment. He said that in the Nevada Defense Depot there is a machine that has been used only 70 hours that will dig a canal 18 feet wide and 12 feet deep in one cut. It may be available to the state for little or nothing. A suction barge which would also be very efficient for diking may be given to the state. Senator Gam is making arrangements to have it delivered to the Defense Depot. Continued on page 2 Top issues discussed County. Senator Barlow said that 60 million in new money was put in the education budget despite the limited amount of financial growth the state has had. The largest share of state , dollars goes to education. There was a six percent per-cent increase to Special Education. According to the analysis done by the legislature. Davis County will receive $374,500 more than last year. "There is some other reason than funding for the elimination of jobs." ACCORDING TO Dee Forbes of the School Board who was present at the dinner those cuts were an administrative decision and not a school board decision and there will be more meetings to find out where Davis County stands with money for education. When Senator Dona Wayment spoke she said that the legislature did fund $2.4 million for special education. Speaking of national cuts that may be coming she said, "We can not act on issues when we don't have the facts to act on. Any figures anyone is using at this point is guesswork." She also said Davis County may also have students brought here from the state training school which will put more students in the district. In that case she believes that the funds should move from Alpine with the students. stu-dents. SHE POINTED out that Mary Ann Williams in Davis County has the finest Special Education Educa-tion program in the country and has received national recognition. If people are migrating in to be part of that program then perhaps special allocations should be made also. Continued from front page CENTERVILLE MAYOR Dean Argyle asked if all this equipment was available two years ago to do something. Rep. Browning answered that the legislature delegates these jobs and "the mind set of the people looking for the answers says we've done the work and this is the only way to do the job." REP. HENRY J. Dickmore said that before a decision on the lake can be made. "We need more information than we have ever been given. There are people in the state with blinders blin-ders on. If we pump the lake and ruin the area for Hill Air Force Base will we have lost more revenue than we gain'.'" ON INSURANCE Senator Haven J. Barlow reported that a bill was passed that was a step toward torte reform. With the new bill, so called "deep pocket" groups will pay only the percentage of their liability. Previously, even if an entitv had only three percent of the fault in a situation, it might pay 100 percent of the judgment because of its "deep pocket." Government and government agencies fall in this group and as a result are losing their insurance coverage or paying much higher premiums. He felt that this would send a message to insurance companies that Utah is doing something about torte reform. ON INSURANCE, Rep. Browning said that the next crisis will be in the personal insurance market. Individuals will see their premiums start to climb rapidly next year. Now the torte threshold has been raised and the benefit level raised. He said that although there is a move to bring the insurance issue up in the special session and change the level back to a lower one he felt there was no palce for that in the special session. ses-sion. REP. SCOTT Holt commented that when the bill was passed and the no-fault limits changed it was fine from insurance point of view but it limits a victim's recovery of medical expenses. He said the insurance bill was "snuck through" and shouldn't have been on the agenda agen-da in the first place. Browning replied that there is a third victim of high insurance costs, the rate payer. Once the benefits were doubled it is necessary to double the threshold. The changes had nothing to do with the insurance industry. They asked that they not be made to begin with but the insurance lobbies were ignored. He added that the bill was not slipped through quietly as it was on the agenda four days. ON EDUCATION Speaking of recent problems in educational funding which have been in the news in Davis |