Highlight Bills

GOOD BILLS

House Bill 3897 (By Cecil Bell) and Senate Bill 2965 (by Brandon Creighton)

Status (4/25): The House Bill has been voted out of the House Land & Resource Management Committee. The Senate Bill was heard in Senate Local Government on 4/24.

These identical bills require a municipality to address the possibility of "service gaps" before it is able to annex ESD territory and remove that territory from the ESD. This bill would ensure that ESD residents aren't left hanging when a city annexes their area without first committing to provide quality emergency services to those residents.

House Bill 5611 (By Tom Oliverson)

Status (4/25): The bill will be heard in the House Subcommittee on County & Regional Government on 4/28.

This bill would allow Emergency Services Districts to provide preventative health services to their community. Mobile Integrated Healthcare/Community Paramedicine can provide valuable preventative care that reduces over-reliance on emergency calls. HB 5611 would give ESDs clear, unambiguous statutory authority to provide these services.

House Bill 1585 (By Cecil Bell) 

Status (4/25): Reported favorably from the House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. The bill was placed on the General State Calendar.

This bill would end the practice of "Traveling Housing Finance Corporations". Traveling HFCs are entities that are formed by a jurisdiction, ostensibly to provide affordable housing, but then purchase property in a different jurisdiction, sometimes hundreds of miles away. The end result is that property is taken off the tax roles in the jurisdiction where the property sits, without any input from the actual taxing entity that still has to provide services. In many cases, the "affordable housing" isn't even really all that much more affordable. This bill is moving fast as there has been a race to complete as many of these deals as possible knowing that legislativce action was forthcoming. Developers, housing authorities, affordable housing advocates, and local governmental entities are all aligned in support of this bill.

House Bill 377 (By Philip Cortez)

Status (3/27): The House Bill has been referred to the House Land & Resource Management Committee.

This bill seeks to curtail "end-around annexations". There are areas within some ESDs that are currently subject to an agreement between a city and a developer that would allow the city to annex the territory once development is complete and developer expenses have been reimbursed. By that point in time, many residents living in the area are unaware that they are subject to such an agreement and may possibly become municipal residents without any input in the process or recourse. This bill would mandate the city to conduct an annexation election to ensure the residents are in favor of being absorbed by the city.

BAD BILLS

Senate Bill 19 (By Mayes Middleton)

Status (3/27): Passed the Senate and referred to the House State Affairs Committee.

This is the bill that would cancel our ability to effectively advocate for Emergency Services Districts at the Legislature. Proponents of the measure refer to the bill as banning "taxpayer funded lobbying," which is something that sounds great, but loses its luster when explained fully. These bills actually Silence Local Officials, effectively allowing the Legislature to operate in a SILO, away from local government taxpayer advocacy.

This bill would restrict individual ESDs from hiring legislative advocates. It would also bar ESDs from being a member of SAFE-D if SAFE-D contracted with legislative advocates.

It would require volunteer Emergency Services District Commissioners to take an even larger individual role in communicating with the Legislature on ESD bills. It's important to remember that the work SAFE-D and individual ESDs do at the Capitol is ON BEHALF OF the local taxpayer. This bill eliminates the ability to speak for your constituents on legislation that could dramatically affect their life safety and protection of property.