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Legislative Updates 2018
2018 2018 Legislative Update Final Week #7 The 2018 Utah Legislative Session ended at midnight on Thursday March 8th. (A few of us were there until the final hour in order to pass HB 322SO4.) Overall a productive session for the Professional Fire Fighters of Utah. As in past years we maintained a daily presence at the Capitol throughout the session. I want to acknowledge several members that were a great help to me, and played a big part in us insuring the outcomes we desired with legislation: Marty Peterson, Nate Thompson, Tony Allred, Susan Davis, David Larsen, Zack Hatch, Ryan Mellor, Mike Fox, and our partners at Sego Strategies. I appreciate the roles that each of them performed whether at the Capitol and/or at the Joint Fire Council meetings. The Utah Fire Caucus Luncheon that was held on Feb. 23rd was a success. At last count 77 legislators plus most of their interns attended. Thanks to those of you that attended to be there with your legislator. The event is always a success, mostly due to the great planning & execution by Greg Rynders, Dwayne Coombs, David Larsen, Ray Schelble, Heather George & co., Lincoln Paxman, Marty Peterson, Steve Lutz, and Gil Rodriguez. Bills we killed (or helped make sure they died on the vine): HJR 017 (Greene): Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution-Right to Pursue a Trade. This was a Right to Work resolution that would have allowed individuals the ability to work in just about any trade or profession without being licensed or certified. Bad resolution. The Utah One Coalition stuck together once again and we had it defeated in committee. HB 280 (Thurston): Occupational Licensing. A baby version of HJR 017. Died on the vine. HB 260SO1 (Ward): Professional Licensing Amendments. This bill would have amended SB 119 from the 2015 session, which was one of our bills designed to protect the DOPL prescription database from being fished by law enforcement without a warrant. The sponsor did amend it to require reasonable suspicion and a case #. This enabled the PFFU & Joint Fire Council to stand Neutral. However, we could not support it unless amended fully to require a warrant. Passed the House, passed Senate Committee, and failed on the Senate Floor due to a procedural/parliamentary error by the Senate sponsor. A couple of key points of importance... SB 119 stays intact. And the PFFU & Joint Fire Council by virtue of standing Neutral made great strides in healing the deep wound between fire and police that has existed since 2015 over this issue. That wound has caused major problems in several other areas that we have needed to work together with law enforcement on. Our actions and the outcome of HB 260 has began rebuilding part of the bridge. This is a win. The following are our bills that passed or will be in Interim Work Group: HB 6 (Hutchings): Executive Appropriations. On going funding and the recovery of the shortfall of the Fire Insurance Premium Tax $ that go into our Retirement Trust Fund for the past 2 fiscal years. Myself, Marty Peterson, and Sego Strategies have been very engaged with this for the past 6 months. This impacts future contribution rates, our UAAL rating, T2 discussions, and funds the disability benefit for volunteers. Passed the House & Senate, Enrolled, and the Governor signed. SB 21 (Mayne): Retirement Death benefit Amendments for FF & L.E. Our bill. In the event a member dies and already had enough years of service to retire, he/she will be considered retired. This provides a slightly better benefit to the surviving spouse. Also the bill provides equity between Divisions A & B for both firefighters and law enforcement. Passed the Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. HB 13 (Perry): Peer Support Team Member Protections. Our bill. Provides confidentiality protection for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders that are certified peer support team members. Lines 19 & 57 amended as we requested to accommodate the proper certifying entities for each profession. Passed the House & Senate, and sent for Enrolling. HB 322SO4 (Redd): Non-Emergent Patient Transports. Our bill. This allows session. Ryan Mellor & David Larsen - thank you for running interference for me until the end so I could keep shoring up votes as others worked on final amendments. HB 209 (Kwan): Mental Health Protections for First Responders. Our bill. Provides PTSD treatment coverage to all first responders. Amended to form an Interim Work Study group. We will have 2-4 reps from the PFFU on the project. I testified in support in both the House & Senate Committees. SB 30SO1 (Mayne): Aggravated Murder Amendments. Our bill. Includes Firefighters and other first responders to existing statute in the event an on duty firefighter is murdered. Passed Senate & House. Sent for Enrolling. SB 92 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Attorney Fees Amendments. Caps attorney fees regarding claims & appeals. We supported. Passed Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. SB 235SO6 (Davis, G): Homeless Shelter Funding Amendments. Provides additional funding to Fire & Police Departments that have been impacted by the creation of new homeless services in their jurisdictions. We supported. Passed Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. Tier 2 improvements for Firefighters and Law Enforcement. There are on-going discussions with various audiences. Marty Peterson, Harrison Long, and I have been part of meetings every other month since May of 2017 in conjunction with HB 56 (Maloy): Emergency Personnel Recording Amendments. Strindberg reviewed and states it actually provides more protections for our members. We supported. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. SB 53SO1 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coordination of Benefits. Requires better coordination of benefits between WC and Health Insurance carriers. We supported, failed. HB 72SO2 (Fawson): Recording Amendments Communications of Govt. Employees. Would allow GRAMA requests of emails and texts. Watched. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 187 (Ray): Sheriff Amendments. Gives county sheriffs control over wildfires and SB 63 (Hemmert): Charity Registration Amendments. Changes certain procedures for certain charity organizations. Does not impact us. Watched. Passed, sent for Enrolling. HB 125 (King): Duty to Assist in an Emergency. I testified in support. Doing the representative who is our ally a "solid". Passed committee, Failed House floor vote. Too many liability concerns. Others we watched closely: HB 28 (Moss, J): HB 29 (Moss, J): Public Employee HB 43 (Hall): Blood Testing Amendments. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 110 (Peterson): Lobbyist Licensing Modifications. Died on the vine. HB 128 (Fawson): HB 146 (Sagers): Post Retirement Reemployment Restriction Act Amendments. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 147 (Hall): Retirement Forfeiture for Employment Related Offenses. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 173SO2 (Maloy): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 175SO2 (Stratton): Govt. Oversight. Bad bill. Died on the vine. HB 391SO1 (Peterson,V): Lobbying by State Agencies. No impact to the PFFU. Died on the vine. SB 206 (Weiler): FF/PS Surviving Spouse Trust Fund Amendments. We supported. Passed Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. SB____ (Harper): Utah Communications Authority Amendments. Abandoned. The 2019 Legislative Session began on Friday. Back to work. Fraternally, Jack Tidrow, President Professional Fire Fighters of Utah (801) 718-4392 or president@pffu.org Week # 6 We are heading into the final week. A few of our bills still in play. As in past years we maintain a daily presence at the Capitol throughout the session. New: HB 260SO1 (Ward). Professional Licensing Amendments. This bill amends SB 119 from the 2015 session, which was one of our bills designed to protect the prescription database from being phished by law enforcement without a warrant. Amended to require reasonable suspicion and a case #. The PFFU and the Joint Fire Council stand Neutral (cannot support it unless amended to require a warrant). Passed House, passed Senate Committee, now on Senate floor. HJR 017 (Greene): Right to Work . Bad resolution. As the Utah One Coalition we stuck together once again to defeat another anti labor piece of work. Still undefeated. All members are welcome to attend our scheduled meetings/events. In the event you are not able to attend regular weekly meetings, you are welcome to join me any day that you are available. Texts are the most appropriate method to contact me. Regular weekly meetings are as follows: Wednesdays at 1000-1200 hours: PFFU Huddle. Capitol Bldg Room #105 (next to the UHP office). This is the single best meeting you can attend as we discuss the bills that directly effect the Professional Fire Fighters of Utah and our IAFF affiliate locals. We cover the status of our tracked bills, our actions, and strategize our future actions so our efforts represent the best interests of Thursdays from 0900-1200 hours: Joint Fire Council. Cannon Bldg, room 125. SSL L4080 Dave Larsen serves as Vice Chair. PFFU Pension Rep. Marty Peterson and DVP Zack Hatch also attend to brief the council on all retirement/legislative issues pending. Thefollowing are the bills that we are tracking and actively involved in currently: HB 6 (Hutchings): Executive Appropriations. On going funding and the recovery of the shortfall of the Fire Insurance Premium Tax $ that go into our Retirement Trust Fund for the past 2 fiscal years. Myself and Marty Peterson have been very engaged with this for the past 6 months. This impacts future contribution rates, our UAAL rating, T2 discussions, and funds the disability benefit for volunteers. Passed the House & Senate, Enrolled, and sent to the Governor for signing. SB 21 (Mayne): Retirement Death benefit Amendments for FF & L.E. Our bill. In the event a member dies and already had enough years of service to retire, he/she will be considered retired. This provides a slightly better benefit to the surviving spouse. Also the bill provides equity between Divisions A & B for both firefighters and law enforcement. Passed the Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. HB 13 (Perry): Peer Support Team Member Protections. Our bill. Provides confidentiality protection for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders that are certified peer support team members. Lines 19 & 57 amended as we requested to accommodate the proper certifying entities for each profession. Passed the House & Senate, and sent for Enrolling. HB 322 (Redd): Non-Emergent Patient Transports. Our bill. This allows HB 209 (Kwan): Mental Health Protections for First Responders. Our bill. Provides PTSD treatment coverage to all first responders. Amended to form an Interim Work Study group. We will have 2-4 reps from the PFFU on the project. I testified in support. Passed House, passed Senate Committee, now on Senate floor. Tier 2 improvements for Firefighters and Law Enforcement. There are on-going discussions with various audiences. Marty Peterson, Harrison Long, and I have been part of meetings every other month since May of 2017 in conjunction with B 30SO1 (Mayne): Aggravated Murder Amendments. Our bill. Includes Firefighters to existing statute in the event an on duty firefighter is murdered. Amended, back to House. SB 92 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Attorney Fees Amendments. Caps attorney fees regarding claims & appeals. We support. Passed Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. HB 56 (Maloy): Emergency Personnel Recording Amendments. Strindberg reviewed and states it actually provides more protections for our members. We support. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. SB 53SO1 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coordination of Benefits. Requires better coordination of benefits between WC and Health Insurance carriers. We support. On Senate floor. HB 72SO2 (Fawson): Recording Amendments Communications of Govt. Employees. Would allow GRAMA requests of emails and texts. Watching. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 187 (Ray): Sheriff Amendments. Gives county sheriffs control over wildfires and SB 63 (Hemmert): Charity Registration Amendments. Changes certain procedures for certain charity organizations. Watching. Returned to Rules Committee.
HB 125 (King): Duty to Assist in an Emergency. I testified in support last week. Support. Failed House floor vote. Too many liability concerns. Other bills we are watching closely: HB 28 (Moss, J): HB 29 (Moss, J): Public Employee HB 43 (Hall): Blood Testing Amendments. passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 110 (Peterson): Lobbyist Licensing Modifications. In House Committee. HB 128 (Fawson): HB 146 (Sagers): Post Retirement Reemployment Restriction Act Amendments. HB 147 (Hall): Retirement Forfeiture for Employment Related Offenses. Senate floor. HB 173 (Maloy): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. HB 175SO2 (Stratton): Govt. Oversight. Bad bill. Watching. HB 280 (Thurston): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. SB____ (Weiler): FF/PS Surviving Spouse Trust Fund Amendments. In progress. SB____ (Harper): Utah Communications Authority Amendments. In progress. Week #5 As I am on a short time line, I am doing an abbreviated legislative Update for Week #5. I am only listing our priorities that are still in play going into this next week. HB 175 (Stratton): Oversight Committee Creation. Not needed. Watching. Week #4 The 2018 Utah Legislative Session began on 22 January and runs through midnight on 8 March. As in past years we maintain a daily presence at the Capitol throughout the session. New: HB 260 (Ward). Professional Licensing Amendments. This bill amends SB 119 from the 2015 session, which was one of our bills designed to protect the prescription database from being phished by law enforcement without a warrant. The PFFU has this on “Watch” status, and cannot support it unless amended to require a warrant. Passed House Committee on Friday, onto the House floor. The ACLU actively opposes. The Joint Fire Council to further discuss strategy this next Thursday. All members are welcome to attend our scheduled meetings/events. In the event you are not able to attend regular weekly meetings, you are welcome to join me any day that you are available. Texts are the most appropriate method to contact me. Regular weekly meetings are as follows: Wednesdays from 0630-0800 hours: Wednesdays at 1000-1200 hours: PFFU Huddle. Capitol Bldg Room #105 (next to the UHP office). This is the single best meeting you can attend as we discuss the bills that directly effect the Professional Fire Fighters of Utah and our IAFF affiliate locals. We cover the status of our tracked bills, our actions, and strategize our future actions so our efforts represent the best interests of Thursdays from 0900-1200 hours: Joint Fire Council. Cannon Bldg, room 125. SSL L4080 Dave Larsen serves as Vice Chair. PFFU Pension Rep. Marty Peterson and DVP Zack Hatch also attend to brief the council on all retirement/legislative issues pending. The Utah Fire Caucus Luncheon will be held on Friday 23 Feb., 2018 at noon. Location is the Hall of Governors, which is the ground floor of the Capitol Bldg. If participating, please arrive NLT 1100 hours to receive your briefings. The following are the bills that we are tracking and actively involved in currently: HB 6 (Hutchings): Executive Appropriations. On going funding and the recovery of the shortfall of the Fire Insurance Premium Tax $ that go into our Retirement Trust Fund for the past 2 fiscal years. Myself and Marty Peterson have been very engaged with this for the past 6 months. This impacts future contribution rates, our UAAL rating, T2 discussions, and funds the disability benefit for volunteers. Passed the House & Senate, Enrolled, and sent to the Governor for signing. SB 21 (Mayne): Retirement Death benefit Amendments for FF & L.E. Our bill. In the event a member dies and already had enough years of service to retire, he/she will be considered retired. This provides a slightly better benefit to the surviving spouse. Also the bill provides equity between Divisions A & B for both firefighters and law enforcement. Passed the Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. HB 13 (Perry): Peer Support Team Member Protections. Our bill. Provides confidentiality protection for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders that are certified peer support team members. Lines 19 & 57 amended as we requested to accommodate the proper certifying entities for each profession. Passed the House & Senate, and sent for Enrolling. HB 322 (Redd): Non-Emergent Patient Transports. Our bill. This allows HB 209 (Kwan): Mental Health Protections for First Responders. Our bill. Provides PTSD treatment coverage to all first responders. This will be difficult to pass as written because it targets workers compensation carriers. That is good, but health insurance and retirement system benefits will need addressed also. Amended partially. I testified in support of the project to pass a correct bill. Passed House Committee, on House floor. This bill has a long way to go before all parties are satisfied. Especially me. Tier 2 improvements for Firefighters and Law Enforcement. There are on-going discussions with various audiences. Marty Peterson, Harrison Long, and I have been part of meetings every other month since May of 2017 in conjunction with SB 30 (Mayne): Aggravated Murder Amendments. Our bill. Includes Firefighters to existing statute in the event an on duty firefighter is murdered. On Senate floor. SB 92 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Attorney Fees Amendments. Caps attorney fees regarding claims & appeals. We support. Passed Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. HB 56 (Maloy): Emergency Personnel Recording Amendments. Strindberg reviewed and states it actually provides more protections for our members. We support. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. SB 53SO1 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coordination of Benefits. Requires better coordination of benefits between WC and Health Insurance carriers. We support. HB 72SO2 (Fawson): Recording Amendments Communications of Govt. Employees. Would allow GRAMA requests of emails and texts. Watching. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 187 (Ray): Sheriff Amendments. Gives county sheriffs control over wildfires and SB 63 (Hemmert): Charity Registration Amendments. Changes certain procedures for certain charity organizations. Watching. Returned to Rules Committee. HB 125 (King): Duty to Assist in an Emergency. I testified in support last week. Support. Failed House floor vote. Too many liability concerns. Other bills we are watching closely: HB 28 (Moss, J): HB 29 (Moss, J): Public Employee HB 43 (Hall): Blood Testing Amendments. passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 110 (Peterson): Lobbyist Licensing Modifications. In House Committee. HB 128 (Fawson): HB 146 (Sagers): Post Retirement Reemployment Restriction Act Amendments. HB 147 (Hall): Retirement Forfeiture for Employment Related Offenses. Senate floor. HB 173 (Maloy): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. HB 175SO2 (Stratton): Govt. Oversight. Bad bill. Watching. HB 280 (Thurston): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. HB____ (Greene): Right to Work Amendments. In progress. Probably a bad bill. SB____ (Weiler): FF/PS Surviving Spouse Trust Fund Amendments. In progress. SB____ (Harper): Utah Communications Authority Amendments. In progress.
Week #3 The 2018 Utah Legislative Session began on 22 January and runs through midnight on 8 March. While there are no visible attacks towards us or labor in general, we are always watching. As in past years we will maintain a daily presence at the Capitol throughout the session. See HB 322 (Redd) All members are welcome to attend our scheduled meetings/events. In the event you are not able to attend regular weekly meetings, you are welcome to join me any day that you are available. Texts are the most appropriate method to contact me. Regular weekly meetings are as follows: Wednesdays from 0630-0800 hours: Wednesdays at 1000-1200 hours: PFFU Huddle. Capitol Bldg Room #105 (next to the UHP office). This is the single best meeting you can attend as we discuss the bills that directly effect the Professional Fire Fighters of Utah and our IAFF affiliate locals. We cover the status of our tracked bills, our actions, and strategize our future actions so our efforts represent the best interests of Wednesdays from 1200-1400 hours: Utah One Coalition. Same room as the PFFU Huddles. This coalition is made up of 9 different employee groups (unions & assoc.). Thursdays from 0900-1200 hours: Joint Fire Council. Cannon Bldg, room 125. SSL L4080 Dave Larsen serves as Vice Chair. PFFU Pension Rep. Marty Peterson and DVP Zack Hatch also attend to brief the council on all retirement/legislative issues pending. The Utah Fire Caucus Luncheon will be held on Friday 23 Feb., 2018 at noon. Location is the Hall of Governors, which is the ground floor of the Capitol Bldg. If participating, please arrive NLT 1100 hours to receive your briefings. The following are the bills that we are tracking and actively involved in currently: HB 6 (Hutchings): Executive Appropriations. On going funding and the recovery of the shortfall of the Fire Insurance Premium Tax $ that go into our Retirement Trust Fund for the past 2 fiscal years. Myself and Marty Peterson have been very engaged with this for the past 6 months. This impacts future contribution rates, our UAAL rating, T2 discussions, and funds the disability benefit for volunteers. Passed the House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. SB 21 (Mayne): Retirement Death benefit Amendments for FF & L.E. Our bill. In the event a member dies and already had enough years of service to retire, he/she will be considered retired. This provides a slightly better benefit to the surviving spouse. Also the bill provides equity between Divisions A & B for both firefighters and law enforcement. Passed the Senate & House, sent for Enrolling. HB 13 (Perry): Peer Support Team Member Protections. Our bill. Provides confidentiality protection for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders that are certified peer support team members. Lines 19 & 57 amended as we requested to accommodate the proper certifying entities for each profession. Passed the House, passed Senate Committee, now on Senate floor. HB 322 (Redd): Non-Emergent Patient Transports. Our bill. This allows HB 209 (Kwan): Mental Health Protections for First Responders. Our bill. Provides PTSD treatment coverage to all first responders. This will be difficult to pass as written because it targets workers compensation carriers. That is good, but health insurance and retirement system benefits will need addressed also. Amended partially. I testified in support of the project to pass a correct bill. Passed House Committee, on House floor. This bill has a long way to go before all parties are satisfied. Especially me. Tier 2 improvements for Firefighters and Law Enforcement. While we do not expect a bill this session, there are on-going discussions. Marty Peterson, Harrison Long, and myself have been part of meetings every other month since May of 2017 in conjunction with SB 30 (Mayne): Aggravated Murder Amendments. Our bill. Includes Firefighters to existing statute in the event an on duty firefighter is murdered. On Senate floor. SB 92 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Attorney Fees Amendments. Caps attorney fees regarding claims & appeals. We support. Will be in HSTBUS Committee on Monday. HB 56 (Maloy): Emergency Personnel Recording Amendments. Strindberg reviewed and states it actually provides more protections for our members. We support. Passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. SB 53SO1 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coordination of Benefits. Requires better coordination of benefits between WC and Health Insurance carriers. We support. HB 72SO2 (Fawson): Recording Amendments Communications of Govt. Employees. Would allow GRAMA requests of emails and texts. Strindberg and Sego Strategies to review and give opinions on. Watching. Passed House, on Senate floor. HB 187 (Ray): Sheriff Amendments. Gives county sheriffs control over wildfires and SB 63 (Hemmert): Charity Registration Amendments. Changes certain procedures for certain charity organizations. Watching. Returned to Rules Committee. HB 125 (King): Duty to Assist in an Emergency. I testified in support last week. Support. On House floor. Other bills we are watching closely: HB 28 (Moss, J): HB 29 (Moss, J): Public Employee HB 43 (Hall): Blood Testing Amendments. passed House & Senate, sent for Enrolling. HB 110 (Peterson): Lobbyist Licensing Modifications. In House Committee. HB 128 (Fawson): HB 146 (Sagers): Post Retirement Reemployment Restriction Act Amendments. HB 147 (Hall): Retirement Forfeiture for Employment Related Offenses. Senate floor. HB 173 (Maloy): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. HB 175SO2 (Stratton): Govt. Oversight. Bad bill. Watching. HB 280 (Thurston): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. HB____ (Greene): Right to Work Amendments. In progress. Probably a bad bill. SB____ (Weiler): FF/PS Surviving Spouse Trust Fund Amendments. In progress. SB____ (Harper): Utah Communications Authority Amendments. In progress. Jack Tidrow, President Professional Fire Fighters of Utah (801) 718-4392 or president@pffu.org Week #2 The 2018 Utah Legislative Session began on 22 January and runs through midnight on 8 March. While there are no visible attacks towards us or labor in general, we are always watching. As in past years we will maintain a daily presence at the Capitol throughout the session. See HB 209 (Kwan). All members are welcome to attend our scheduled meetings/events. In the event you are not able to attend regular weekly meetings, you are welcome to join me any day that you are available. Texts are the most appropriate method to contact me. Regular weekly meetings are as follows: Wednesdays from 0630-0800 hours: Wednesdays at 1000-1200 hours: PFFU Huddle. Capitol Bldg Room #105 (next to the UHP office). This is the single best meeting you can attend as we discuss the bills that directly effect the Professional Fire Fighters of Utah and our IAFF affiliate locals. We cover the status of our tracked bills, our actions, and strategize our future actions so our efforts represent the best interests of Wednesdays from 1200-1400 hours: Utah One Coalition. Same room as the PFFU Huddles. This coalition is made up of 9 different employee groups (unions & associations). I serve as the chair, and we can accommodate several guests. Thursdays from 0900-1200 hours: Joint Fire Council. Cannon Bldg, room 125. SSL L4080 Dave Larsen serves as Vice Chair. PFFU Pension Rep. Marty Peterson and DVP Zack Hatch also attend to brief the council on all retirement/legislative issues pending. The Utah Fire Caucus Luncheon will be held on Friday 23 Feb., 2018 at noon. Location is the Hall of Governors, which is the ground floor of the Capitol Bldg. If participating, please arrive NLT 1100 hours to receive your briefings. The following are the bills that we are tracking and actively involved in currently: HB 6 (Hutchings): Executive Appropriations. On going funding and the recovery of the shortfall of the Fire Insurance Premium Tax $ that go into our Retirement Trust Fund for the past 2 fiscal years. Myself and Marty Peterson have been very engaged with this for the past 6 months. This impacts future contribution rates, our UAAL rating, T2 discussions, and funds the disability benefit for volunteers. We are cautiously optimistic this will pass as we have negotiated. We have a plan in the event it is endangered. SB 21 (Mayne): Retirement Death benefit Amendments for FF & L.E. Our bill. In the event a member dies and already had enough years of service to retire, he/she will be considered retired. This provides a slightly better benefit to the surviving spouse. Also the bill provides equity between Divisions A & B for both firefighters and law enforcement. Passed Senate, passed House Committee, now on House floor. HB 13 (Perry): Peer Support Team Member Protections. Our bill. Provides confidentiality protection for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders that are certified peer support team members. Lines 19 & 57 amended as we requested to accommodate the proper certifying entities for each profession. Passed the House, passed Senate Committee, now on Senate floor. HB 322 (Redd): Non-Emergent Patient Transports. Our bill. This allows HB 209 (Kwan): Mental Health Protections for First Responders. Our bill. Provides PTSD treatment coverage to all first responders. This will be difficult to pass as written because it targets workers compensation carriers. That is good, but health insurance and retirement system benefits will need addressed also. Amendment pending as of today. Will be in HSTLAW Committee Tuesday Feb. 6th at 1540 hours. Room 450 of the Capitol Bldg. Need members in uniform to attend. Tier 2 improvements for Firefighters and Law Enforcement. While we do not expect a bill this session, there are on-going discussions. Marty Peterson, Harrison Long, and myself have been part of meetings every other month since May of 2017 in conjunction with SB 30 (Mayne): Aggravated Murder Amendments. Our bill. Includes Firefighters to existing statute in the event an on duty firefighter is murdered. On Senate floor. SB ____ (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coverage for Fire Fighter presumptive Cancer). Pending based on opportunity. HB 56 (Maloy): Emergency Personnel Recording Amendments. We had concerns on this. Strindberg reviewed and states it actually provides more protections for our members. We support. SB 53SO1 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coordination of Benefits. Requires better coordination of benefits between WC and Health Insurance carriers. We support. On Senate floor. HB 72SO2 (Fawson): Recording Amendments Communications of Govt. Employees. Would allow GRAMA requests of emails and texts. We have asked Strindberg and Sego Strategies to review and give opinions on. Watching. HB 187 (Ray): Sheriff Amendments. Gives county sheriffs control over wildfires and SB 63 (Hemmert): Charity Registration Amendments. Changes certain procedures for certain charity organizations. Watching. Returned to Rules Committee. HB 125 (King): Duty to Assist in an Emergency. I testified in support this week. Support. Other bills we are watching closely: HB 28 (Moss, J): Retirement System Amendments. On Senate floor. HB 29 (Moss, J): Public Employee HB 43 (Hall): Blood Testing Amendments. On Senate floor. HB 110 (Peterson): Lobbyist Licensing Modifications. HB 128 (Fawson): HB 146 (Sagers): Post Retirement Reemployment Restriction Act Amendments. HB 147 (Hall): Retirement Forfeiture for Employment Related Offenses. On House floor. HB 173 (Maloy): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. HB 175SO2 (Stratton): Govt. Oversight. Bad bill. Watching. HB 280 (Thurston): Occupational Licensing Amendments. Bad bill. Watching. HB____ (Greene): Right to Work Amendments. In progress. Probably a bad bill. SB____ (Weiler): FF/PS Surviving Spouse Trust Fund Amendments. In progress. SB____ (Harper): Utah Communications Authority Amendments. In progress. Week #1 While there are no visible attacks towards us or labor in general, the first week on the hill proved to be a very busy one. As in past years we will maintain a daily presence at the Capitol throughout the session. All members are welcome to attend our scheduled meetings/events. In the event you are not able to attend regular weekly meetings, you are welcome to join me any day that you are available. Texts are the most appropriate method to contact me. Regular weekly meetings are as follows: Wednesdays from 0630-0800 hours: Wednesdays at 1000-1200 hours: PFFU Huddle. Capitol Bldg room #105 (next to the UHP office). This is the single best meeting you can attend as we discuss the bills that directly effect the Professional Fire Fighters of Utah and our IAFF affiliate locals. We cover the status of our tracked bills, our actions, and strategize our future actions so our efforts represent the best interests of Wednesdays from 1200-1400 hours: Utah One Coalition. Same room as the PFFU Huddles. This coalition is made up of 9 different employee groups (unions & associations). I serve as the chair, and we can accommodate several guests. Thursdays from 0900-1200 hours: Joint Fire Council. Cannon Bldg, room 125. SSL L4080 Dave Larsen serves as Vice Chair. PFFU Pension Rep. Marty Peterson and DVP Zack Hatch also attend to brief the council on all retirement/legislative issues pending. The Utah Fire Caucus Luncheon will be held on Friday 23 Feb., 2018 at noon. Location is the Hall of Governors, which is the ground floor of the Capitol Bldg. If participating, please arrive NLT 1100 hours to receive your briefings. The following are the bills that we are tracking and actively involved in currently: HB 6 (Hutchings): Executive Appropriations. On going funding and the recovery of the shortfall of the Fire Insurance Premium Tax $ that go into our Retirement Trust Fund for the past 2 fiscal years. Myself and Marty Peterson have been very engaged with this for the past 6 months. This impacts future contribution rates, our UAAL rating, T2 discussions, and funds the disability benefit for volunteers. We are cautiously optimistic this will pass as we have negotiated. We have a plan in the event it is endangered. SB 21 (Mayne): Retirement Death benefit Amendments for FF & L.E. Our bill. In the event a member dies and already had enough years of service to retire, he/she will be considered retired. This provides a slightly better benefit to the surviving spouse. Also the bill provides equity between Divisions A & B for both firefighters and law enforcement. Passed Senate, over to House Committee. HB 13 (Perry): Peer Support Team Member Protections. Our bill. Provides confidentiality protection for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders that are certified peer support team members. We have requested amendments to lines 19 & 57 to accommodate the proper certifying entities for each profession. Passed the House, over to Senate Committee. HB____ (Redd): Non-Emergent Patient Transports. Our bill. In final draft, should be opened on Tuesday. This allows HB 209 (Kwan): Mental Health Protections for First Responders. Our bill. Provides PTSD treatment coverage to all first responders. This will be difficult to pass as written because it targets workers compensation carriers. That is good, but health insurance and retirement system benefits will need addressed also. Tier 2 improvements for Firefighters and Law Enforcement. While we do not expect a bill this session, there are on-going discussions. Marty Peterson, Harrison Long, and myself have been part of meetings every other month since May of 2017 in conjunction with SB 30 (Mayne): Aggravated Murder Amendments. Our bill. Includes Firefighters to existing statute in the event an on duty firefighter is murdered. SB ____ (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coverage for Fire Fighters (FF Presumptive Cancer). We are looking to add more to our existing coverage. Nothing solid right now but may have an opening during the session. HB 56 (Maloy): Emergency Personnel Recording Amendments. We had concerns on this. Strindberg reviewed and states it actually provides more protections for our members. We support. SB 53SO1 (Mayne): Workers Compensation Coordination of Benefits. Requires better coordination of benefits between WC and Health Insurance carriers to hopefully benefit the worker involved. We support. HB 72SO2 (Fawson): Recording Amendments Communications of Govt Employees. Would allow GRAMA requests of emails and texts. We have asked Strindberg and Sego Strategies to review and give opinions on. Watching. HB 187 (Ray): Sheriff Amendments. Gives county sheriffs control over wildfires in certain situations. Concerns with line 137. We will follow the lead of the Joint Fire Council & State Fire Marshal regarding this. Watching. SB 63 (Hemmert): Charity Registration Amendments. Changes certain procedures for certain charity organizations. Watching. Other bills we are watching closely: HB 28 (Moss, J): Retirement System Amendments. HB 29 (Moss, J): Public Employee HB 43 (Hall): Blood Testing Amendments. HB 110 (Peterson): Lobbyist Licensing Modifications. HB 128 (Fawson): Hb 146 (Sagers): Post Retirement Reemployment Restriction Act Amendments. HB 147 (Hall): Retirement Forfeiture for Employment Related Offenses. As the session progresses, more bills will be added to our tracking list.
Page Last Updated: Mar 12, 2018 (15:53:05)
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