2024 Legislative Session Week 4

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CHECKING IN AT THE LEGISLATURE: 2024 LEGISLATIVE SESSION WEEK FOUR

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

This week, my bill, H.B. 248 Inmate Amendments, passed the House and Senate Education Committee unanimously and will be voted on the Senate floor next week. I’m grateful to the many people who have worked with me on this bill to change the culture of corrections, and Utah. View my bills for this session here.

Warmest regards,

Melissa

HELPFUL LINKS

To look up bills, watch committee or House voting live, click here
Make sure you are registered as a Republican or Democrat for Caucus Night here
Watch more about my parental leave bill here

UPCOMING EVENTS

You can watch us live on Saturday mornings for legislative updates on my Facebook page or the South Davis Community page.

Caucus Night: March 5th at 7 P.M.

IN THIS ISSUE

FOR UTAH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
IMPORTANT ISSUES
2024 INTERN
FRIENDS ON THE HILL
BILLS PASSED IN THE HOUSE THIS WEEK

FOR UTAH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

Special thanks to Brooke Ballard, and SLP from Spectrum Academy, …., UEA rep Chase Clyde, Royce Van Tassel rep for Charter Schools, Rachel Snyder SLP at Spectrum Academy

HB192 Local Education Agency Employee Paid Leave bill unanimously passed the House Education Committee. This bill will help to retain good teachers by requiring 3-week parental and 6-week postpartum leave for new parents. Individual schools will be required to help pay for employee leave by having a paid time off leave sharing bank-sharing accrued PTO with other employees for illness, pregnancy, parental leave, and other needs. It’s time for our policies to reflect Utah Family First values!

Click here to see Fox 13 talk about the bill.

Another way we are taking care of our teachers in Utah is with HB 221 Stipends for Future Educators which the House unanimously passed. This bill creates a grant program for student teachers, many of whom are unpaid for their work. This will allow them to focus on becoming the best educator they can be by easing their financial burdens. You cam learn more here.

IMPORTANT ISSUES

1. As members of the Utah Legislature, we recognize the egregious actions of State School Board member Natalie Cline. We have started a legislative process to address this. We will go through our options and keep you informed of our progress. See the article here to learn more about our efforts.

2. The health and safety of Utah’s children is of the utmost importance to me. H.B. 148 Artificial Pornographic Images Amendments and H.B. 238 Sexual Exploitation of a Minor Amendments passed the Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee unanimously.

3. Other important bills we passed in the House:

H.B. 13 Infrastructure Financing Districts improves housing affordability
H.B. 191 Electrical Energy Amendments creates a 30-year statewide energy plan
H.B. 90 Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Amendments invests in our outdoor recreation opportunities
H.B. 298 Homeless Services Amendments help address the needs of those without homes.

4. An additional highlight from this week came from Dr Douglas Jones, the founder of the Rocky Mountain Allergy Clinic in Layton, as well as 7 other food, allergy, and immunology clinics in the US and Australia. He presented the Governor a gift from Australia for Utah being the home of innovative world-renowned work in mitigating allergies.

2024 INTERN

Every year, I only have one intern during the 45-day session. This year, my intern is Carly Behrmann, a Junior at Utah Valley University majoring in Public Relations. We met Governor Cox and Lieutenant Governor Henderson on Tuesday.

Reach out to my intern Carly at 385-420-3107 or cbehrmann@le.utah.gov to schedule a tour for small or large groups.

FRIENDS ON THE HILL

Bountiful City Youth Council visited the Capitol and experienced what the legislative process looks like. I love it when I have the opportunity to speak with the youngest generation.

During floor time on Friday, I was able to have three neighbors join me on the floor, Jessica Dunn (resident of Woods Cross), Emily Carr (Network Director at Promise Partnership Utah), and Erienne Peck (Director of Little Orchard Preschool in Bountiful, pictured below).

My dear childhood Bountiful friend, Shauna Murray Chowen, brought her 4th grade class from Centerville Elementary.

FRIENDS ON THE HILL

On the top is a picture of me with Bountiful resident Dalane England and Representative Ray Ward. I also met with Robert Axson (Utah Republic Chair) and his wife, Erin. Republicans in Utah are doing great things! Keep an eye out on social media for incoming information on Caucus Night on March 5th.