Week 2 of the Legislative Session

Happy Monday! We are already in week 2 of the legislative session, with only six more weeks to go! There are ## bills before us, and we are hard at work tracking bills that have anything that might directly or indirectly impact Vineyard.

Several of our council members have already met and discussed our goals, and accomplishments as we prepare for upcoming bills and appropriations.

Below are a few highlights from the week

It is still very early in the session, however, bills are under negotiation, with a number of bills already released. A few bills that may affect Vineyard have not been released yet, but are antipated :

1. Transportation Utility Fee Amendments (Rep. Karen Peterson)

2. Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone Amendments (Senator Wayne Harper)

3. Concurrent Resolution Recognizing the Importance of Cross-Issue Growth Impacts (Rep. Bridger Bolinder)

Additionally, the Appropriation Subcommittees began meeting this week . The subcommittee started to hear appropriation requests, base budget bill changes, and state agency presentations. Notably, the Utah Department of Transportation shared their budget requests and priorities with the Infrastructure and General Government Subcommittee Friday morning."

"In the subcommittee presentation, UDOT Executive Director Carlos Braceras raised four “Big Issues”: safety, growth, project cost increases, and transportation air quality conformity"

These are all efforts Vineyard is prioritizing. Growth is coming bringing additional demand to the states transportation system. After studying the traffic and economic needs, UDOT's solution is to invest in multiple modes of transportation: roads, transit, and active transportation networks. Vineyard is working in the same vein in its' municipal planning; preparing to tie into each state network.

UDOT requested $45M for ongoing statewide public transit investment. "The Governor recommended in his proposed budget reallocating 1% of the state sales tax revenues from the Transportation Investment Fund (TIF) to the Transit Transportation Investment Fund (TTIF). In the subcommittee presentation, Director Braceras noted that they are exploring options to base the transfer of funding to TTIF out of future growth in transportation revenues." <Appropriations Tracker>  

Today the Utah League of Cities and Towns Legislative Policy Committee met. It was a great meeting where we discussed upcoming policy that may affect municipalities. Council Member Rasmussen, was also in attendance, as she serves as the council Rep on the Legislative Policy Committee. We are grateful to have these discussions, which bring Vineyards' voice closer to fast moving legislation.

Here were some questions explored:These questions help representatives gage the work it will take to bring a bill to a place that works for city-wise management.

Question 1

If a city does not zone for 1st homes, how do you feel about the state requiring the city to approve applications with small lots (8 Units to an acre) with some that are deed restricted at 120% AMI?

See Question 1 above.

• Very comfortable
• Somewhat comfortable
• Uncertain
• Somewhat Concerned

See All Options

How do you feel about a state agency or another third party reviewing First Homes zoning to determine whether requirements are met?

• Very comfortable
• Somewhat comfortable
• Uncertain
• Somewhat Concerned

See All Options

Below are some of the bills the LPC reviewed today. Here you can follow the Utah League of Cities and Towns Bill Tracker with positions they've taken.

Bills Reviewed:

SB86: Local Gov. Bond Amendments: Lincoln Filmore, Work, Oppose

HB 0013: Infrastructure Financing Districts: James Dunnigan, Work, Position Pending

HB84: School Safety Amendments, Ryan Wilcox, work, position pending (no discussion)

HB251: Post Retirement Reemployment Restrictions , Gwynn, work (Police), Neutral

SB34: Utah State Retirement Revisions, Wayne Harper, Work, Neutral

SB28: Scenic Byway Program Amendments, Wayne Harper, Work, Postion Pending (ProvoC)

Public Safety retention study.

HB207:Homeless Council Amendments, Jack, Work, Support

HB298: Homeless Service Amendments, Clancy, work, Against Current

HB314: Homeless Revisions, Abbott, Against Current

Here are some additional Bill trackers you can follow to view what our other associations are following.

• Utah Association of Counties

• Utah Valley Chamber of Commerces Bill Tracker

• Salt Lake Chamber Legislative Watchlist

• Bike Utah Bill Tracker

"President Stuart Adams and Speaker Mike Schultz shared the importance of multimodal transportation when investing in transportation. They noted that while there has been significant investment in transportation over the past three years (particularly with years of significant state surplus), they hope and plan to see additional transportation investment this legislative session."

Vineyard has a great relationship with both the President and the Speaker of the House, and look forward to working on our transportation planning together. Our resolve is to work together with them and the rest of the Legislature over the next 6 weeks to continue to make progress in providing good state policy and transportation choices to our community.

The Week Ahead

Be sure to mark your calendars for a number of events over the next week:

Today: Jan 22nd - Transit Day on the Hill (11:30-1:30PM): Join transit providers and partners from across the state to hear tips on cleaner, more sustainable development, particularly in building transit oriented communities. 

Jan 23rd - Envision Utah Legislative Breakfast Forum (7:15-9AM): Local leaders will work with Envision Utah board members and staff about issues such as housing attainability, education, disaster resilience, and more. 

Jan 24th - Utah Association of Counties Day on the Hill (7AM): Local Officials will meet and listen to speakers, participate in advocacy boot camps, engage in priority policy discussions, and hear a resolution honoring UAC’s 100th anniversary, and more!

The General Public is invited for Pancakes & Politics to discuss local legislative issues.

02/03/2024 09:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Intermountain American Fork Hospital

170 N 1100 E, American Fork, UT 84003

"This week, the Federal Congress cleared, and the President signed, a stopgap spending bill, which keeps federal agencies funded through early March. Members have noted that passing this measure will allow the body time to finalize FY24 funding bills."

Please contact me if you have any questions! mayor@vineyardutah.org