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Checking In At The Legislature:
2021 Legislative Session Week 2
The second week of the 2021 Legislative Session has come to an end. Things are starting to move more quickly as bills advance from committees to the House floor.

Here are a few important announcements from this week: 
  • The Capitol is now open to the public, as well as committee meetings. We ask that you wear a mask and practice physical distancing when visiting the Capitol and committee meetings.
  • We've made a lot of progress towards one of our main goals during the legislative session - passing a budget. Our base budget includes more money for public education than ever before - nearly $6.5 billion for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. I am very proud of our work, and I am honored to be apart of this historic budget!
  • I am the Vice-Chair of Higher Education Appropriations. There has been a tremendous amount of change to higher ed since Commissioner Woolstenhulme (a NSL neighbor!) took the helm. (Read more details further down in the newsletter)
  • We hear from each Technical College and University in the state in our committee, who report on efficiencies, COVID impacts, challenges, best practices, tuition, and more. We have the 3rd lowest tuition for post-secondary education in the nation!
     
Multiple members of the legislature are battling COVID, some in serious condition. We continue to pray for them and their families. Stay safe. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me. You can reach me at mballard@le.utah.gov.
 
-Melissa

Upcoming Events:

  • Saturday Morning Town Hall, 8:30-10:00 am

Helpful Links:

  • During the second week of each session, the Legislature passes a base budget for the following fiscal year. Listen here to learn more about Utah’s base budget, including why it’s important and how it came to be. 
  • The Utah Department of Health has created a comprehensive document that answers many questions and provides in-depth information on the vaccine. here

In this issue

  • Bill highlight of the week
  • Keys to Success
  • Meet your state education leaders
  • Passed the base budget with more money for public education than ever before
  • Virtual links to committee meetings and my committees
  • Visitors to the Capitol

Bill Highlight of The Week

This week, I am highlighting my bill, H.B. 132 Sanitation Amendments, that just passed out of committee. This bill will:
  • Adds body piercing to the Department of Health regulations
  • Requires cosmetology facilities to post the top 5 sanitation requirements if they live in a county that doesn’t have yearly inspections (e.g., Davis county only inspects cosmetology facilities if they receive a complaint) 
To learn more about this bill, click here.  
Abby Evans and Candace Daly (Lobbyist for the Utah Beauty School Owners Association), me, Natalie Parkin (owner of Skin Works!), Brenda Scharman (owner of Cameo College of Essential Beauty), Kathy Mills Lynch (tv/movie stylist)

Keys to Success

This program is now available for students grades 7-12, and all adults. The Keys to Success program is a college and career readiness tool for Utah students. The program aims to motivate, connect, and reward students with scholarships and opportunities. For more information, visit www.ktsutah.org and download the App!
Pre-COVID photo with Rick Folkerson, President, Success in Education overseeing Keys to Success (and my awesome brother-in-law).

Meet our state Education leaders

Thanks to Commissioner Dave Woolstenhulme for his team who combined the Tech College Board and Higher Ed Board of Regents. Thanks to his great leadership, the Higher Ed Board of Regents and Technical Colleges are now combined into one,  making room for more efficient use of administration funds, articulation across institutions, defining the mission of each institution, addressing affordability and workforce alignment, to name a few of the changes. https://ushe.edu/the-new-utah-system-of-higher-education/  Unifying higher education in Utah will continue to help students in all areas of our state, both rural and urban, to ease the process of getting into and staying in college. The system comprises eight technical colleges, two community colleges, four regional universities, and two research universities.
 We have the 3rd lowest tuition for post-secondary education in the nation! 
Photo includes State Superintendent Sydnee Dickson, me, Chair of the State School Board of Education Mark Huntsman. (pre-COVID photo)
State Superintendent Sydnee Dickson, Chairman of the Utah School Board of Education Mark Huntsman, Education advisor to the Governor Tami Phyer, Associate commissioner Jared Haines, Deputy Superintendent of Policy Angie Stallings. (pre-COVID photo)

Base Budget

This week we passed a base budget that included a $400 million increase in public education funding and gave our state employees a 3% raise! We also passed H.B. 85, which would provide our senior population a social security tax cut. Both houses also passed S.B. 1 Public Education Base Budget Amendments this week. This is the single biggest investment for public education in state history, with nearly $6.5 billion in funding for FY 2022 and FY 2023.

When I entered public service, one of my top priorities was education funding. I am honored to have been a part of providing our children and teachers much-deserved funding. 

Virtual Access To Meetings

You can click here to see which committees I am in, as well as watch the meetings. I have been assigned to: 
  • Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee
  • House Education Committee
  • House Transportation Committee

Visitors To The Capitol This Week
Congressman Blake Moore
Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith
Congressman Burgess Owens
Learn More About Melissa
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