By Representative Christine Watkins, District 69
Week four and we are officially halfway through the session. Last week, we submitted our sub-appropriation budgets with all the appropriation requests. We had many significant bills pass through the House and met with many incredible people. The session is picking up speed, and I hope you all follow along by going to le.utah.gov.
Clean Slate Utah
The “clean slate” law that was passed in 2019 went into effect on Thursday. This law should wipe nonviolent, low-level crimes from people’s records but does not include felonies, domestic violence, sexual assault, simple assault or DUI-related charges.
A non-profit organization, Clean State Utah, aims to clear over 600,000 criminal records in Utah. Clean Slate Utah is partnering with the State of Utah to educate the public about Utah’s Clean Slate law and who qualifies for automatic record expungement.
The Clean State Utah organization aims to help people access this opportunity and raise awareness of the second chance that so many people deserve. They will also help people who need additional assistance. I am so excited to finally have this bill go in to effect. This will allow people to put their past mistakes behind them.
Finishing BEDL
On Friday, my Business, Economic Development, and Labor Appropriations co-chairs and I presented our budget request to the Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) to finalize the budget. In addition to our request, six other Appropriations Committees presented their budget request to the EAC. After the EAC hears all of the Appropriation Committee’s budget requests, they will finalize the state budget. We won’t know the final results until the last week of the session.
HB 166S01
This week, I presented the first substitute of my bill HB 166, Water Facilities Amendments, to the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee. The bill came to me as a request from a farmer in my district. Another farmer upstream from him had added a ditch and was putting harmful minerals in the regular ditch. The contaminated water is killing crops and damaging property downstream.
This substitute bill modifies criminal and civil provisions related to water facilities, but this section does not include a government entity or a political subdivision of the state. The Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee passed this bill out favorably, so the bill is headed to the House Floor.
Rally for Recovery
I attended the Utah Rally for Recovery on Thursday evening in the Capitol Rotunda. Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA) sponsored this event. This event is intended to raise awareness and celebrate people recovering from addiction and mental illness.
So many incredible people spoke, including people in recovery, allies, leaders, legislators and one of my constituents, Mersades Morgan, the director of the USARA program in Price. To my surprise, I was also given the opportunity to speak at the rally in honor of the organization in my district.
I had Amanda McIntosh, the Suicide Prevention Specialist with the Southeastern Utah Health Department, visit me on the hill. We had a great visit and I applaud these two women for the great and necessary work that they do.
Tax Cut
Last week, the House passed SB 59 Tax Amendments, which will provide a $190 million tax relief for all Utah taxpayers. This tax cut includes a reduction of the income tax rate (from 4.95% to 4.85%), a $16 million earned income tax credit and a $15 million social security tax cut. If your income from social security and other retirement plans does not exceed $31,00 for married filing single, $37,000 filing as a single person (widowed, etc.) or as a couple not making more than $62,000, you will not have to pay state income tax. This bill will be in affect for the 2022 taxable year.
Utah has the #1 Economy in the Country
Last week, the U.S. News and World Report released the economic rankings, which measure each state’s economic stability and potential. Utah was named #1 overall with a GDP of $193 billion.
Thank You
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns. I look forward to hearing from you.
Email: christinewatkins@le.utah.gov
Cell: (435) 650-1969