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Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is it too late for a compromise on collective bargaining bill? One senator is still trying
Hundreds of teachers gather at the Utah State Capitol to protest a bill that strips public unions of their ability to collectively bargain on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch) A week after the Legislature narrowly passed a controversial bill that bans teacher, firefighter and police unions from collective bargaining, a Utah lawmaker is attempting to work on a compromise. Sen. David Hinkins, R-Ferron, confirmed on Thursday that he's working on a bill that would still allow public unions to collectively bargain, as long as they could get support from a majority of the employees in the organization it represents regardless of whether they're part of the union. The Utah Senate narrowly passed HB267 last week, which bans public unions from collective bargaining, the process where they meet with an employer — in this case, a school district, city, county, or other government entity — to negotiate terms of employment. It now sits on Utah Gov. Spencer Cox's desk, and he has until Wednesday if he chooses to veto it. Hinkins says his bill will give the governor another option that would still allow unions to collectively bargain. If the governor decides to veto HB267, Hinkins says that will create an avenue for his bill. If Cox signs HB267 into law, that will likely mark the end of Hinkins' efforts. Senate abandons compromise with unions, passes ban on public sector collective bargaining In a text message, Cox's office said the governor is aware of ongoing discussions and is 'carefully reviewing the legislation that has reached his desk.' The governor's office did not indicate whether he will sign or veto the bill. It's unlikely Hinkins' bill will get support from Senate leadership. Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, both said the bill was a non-starter on Thursday. 'I think it would be tough to bring this up again,' said Cullimore, who sponsored HB267 in the Senate. 'I mean, for me, I think we landed in the right policy spot.' Adams, who said Hinkins hasn't talked to him about his attempts to find a compromise, echoed Cullimore. 'We learned about Sen. Hinkins' bill from the media, which is kind of interesting up here,' Adams said. 'We've got other issues in front of us, and we're looking forwards not backwards.' Hinkins, when asked about the sentiment from Senate leaders, shrugged it off. 'I've heard that my bill's a non-starter. Well, that's fine. I've had a lot of non-starters that ended up getting passed, too. I've been here long enough to know that one person's opinion is no better than my opinion. You've got to get 15 people who have that same opinion, not one, whether it's the president or majority leader or whoever,' Hinkins told Utah News Dispatch. HB267 drew the ire of thousands of the state's public employees, who protested the bill at every step. Teachers, firefighters, police officers, municipal employees and union advocates, in both the public and private sectors, flooded committee rooms to speak against the bill, backed petitions that garnered thousands of signatures, and gathered en masse in the rotunda in one of the largest and loudest protests inside the Capitol in recent memory. Massive crowd descends on Utah Capitol calling for governor to veto union bill The bill's sponsors — Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, and Cullimore — signaled some intent to work with labor groups on a compromise. After it passed the House with a 42-32 vote, an amended version of the bill was proposed, allowing public unions to still be recognized as a bargaining unit if they hold an election and receive more than 50% support from the employees. For example, if a majority of school district employees vote in favor of the teachers union to represent them in negotiations, the union could engage in collective bargaining. But that compromise was ultimately abandoned, with Cullimore telling reporters that support for the amendment never materialized among public employees. Rather than continue working toward a more popular alternative, the Senate voted 16-13 to pass the bill, with seven Republicans joining the Senate's six Democrats to vote 'no.' Now, Hinkins says he wants to take that amended version of HB267 which was ultimately abandoned, and use it to completely replace a bill he's already sponsoring, SB168. SB168 is a sweeping, complex bill that would have created a Utah Labor Relations board and set a number of guidelines for the state's public unions. It was seen as a counter to HB267 — but Hinkins is now abandoning it, instead using it as a vessel to push the compromise version of HB267. 'If people want representation, by damn, they ought to be able to have it. And some of these teachers want it,' Hinkins said. 'And if the majority wants it, then that's what it should be.' Hinkins couldn't say on Thursday which way the governor was leaning. But if Cox does veto the bill, he said there is enough Republican opposition to HB267 that, at least in the Senate, they couldn't muster the two-thirds majority required to override a veto. When asked for his thoughts about the compromise on Thursday, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said he wasn't sure. 'We'll see what it looks like. … We've got enough to focus on, I don't know what the Senate's going to do with that bill,' he said, reaffirming his support for HB267. 'I have a hard time with collective bargaining in the state of Utah with public employees. I've seen firsthand how it has a negative effect on our kids in our schools,' he said, telling reporters he thinks teachers unions don't always negotiate for conditions that are in the best interest of students, or taxpayers. HB267 was arguably the most controversial law passed this legislative session. But the bill's sponsors say it's a much needed policy to safeguard taxpayer dollars, while making sure all public employees get a voice, regardless of their union membership. Since public institutions don't have the same profit incentive as the private sector, lawmakers say union negotiations can result in scenarios that misuse taxpayer dollars. Essentially, government employees (a teachers union, for example) who are negotiating with other government employees (the school district) don't always have the taxpayer's best interest in mind. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Cullimore and Teuscher also say the bill would give greater voice to public employees, not all of whom are represented by a union. If a teachers union only represents one third of the employees in a school district, it shouldn't be able to negotiate employment contracts on behalf of everyone, they said. Currently, just Salt Lake City's police and fire departments, and a handful of the state's school districts, have unions that engage in collective bargaining, and Cullimore and Teuscher repeatedly said this bill would only impact a small portion of the state's public unions. None of this reasoning sat well with the bill's opponents. They say eliminating collective bargaining makes the state less safe, as unions that represent firefighters, police officers and teachers no longer have the power to ask for improved working conditions, better wages or safety measures. Salt Lake City's Fire Department Union, for example, was able to negotiate for better staffing, which led to 'more people on a fire faster and reduced property damage, civilian injury and firefighter injuries,' said Zach Jeppson, the union president. In addition to the ban on collective bargaining, HB267 would restrict certain government resources from going toward union activity. That includes ensuring taxpayer funds won't pay a public employee for the work they do for a union. And unions wouldn't get special exemptions for using public resources, like property — for instance, if other groups or people have to pay to use a public room or space, so does the union. People who are employed by a union, but aren't actually employed by the entity the union represents (for example, someone who works in an administrative position for a teachers union full time, but isn't actually employed by a school district) would no longer have access to the Utah Retirement System. And the bill would offer professional liability insurance for teachers, which in most cases is only currently offered through a union. Teuscher said that would cost each teacher between $110 to $150 annually. Hinkins' compromise bill would still include these provisions. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Competing Senate bills try to answer the question, how should Utah power new data centers?
Transmission lines lead away from the coal-fired Intermountain Power Plant near Delta, Utah on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) After a couple of years focusing on keeping coal burning to power the state, Republican lawmakers are expanding their focus to cover hyperscale demands, potentially from data and artificial intelligence centers. Two bills establishing requirements to process large-scale electricity service requests are currently being considered in the Senate. One, by Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, hasn't left the rules committee, and the other by Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, who has successfully sponsored substantial energy legislation, has already advanced to the Senate floor. Because there's currently not a specific process to single out large energy users, to serve potential large customers in data centers or other manufacturers, Rocky Mountain Power, the largest electricity provider in the state, must include those loads in its general rate calculations filed to the Utah Public Service Commission. That's what both of those bills are trying to change. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'What my bill file does is allow Rocky Mountain Power to step out of that regulated monopoly space and into the competitive space and contract directly with these large loads,' Sandall told reporters on Wednesday. Under SB132, sponsored by Sandall, Rocky Mountain Power may individually contract with new customers requiring over 50 megawatts of power without affecting demands and rates for existing customers. The utility would have six months to review those novel contracts. 'If at that point in time no deal can be made, or it looks like they are struggling to make a deal, a third-party producer could come in then with the large load under a separate contract,' Sandall said in his presentation to the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee last week. One aspect of Sandall's bill has raised concerns for those who would like to see more renewable energy sources in the state's portfolio — the fact that intermittent energy sources, such as solar and wind, need to be 100% backed up with energy storage to serve large-load contracts. Energy demand from data centers growing faster than West can supply, experts say 'What we don't want to have is billions of dollars of investment under these contracts and an energy source that's not being able to supply the whole base load, then coming to the legislature and saying, 'excuse us now, we've got to have more power,'' Sandall said. 'And where do we leverage that?' SB227, Cullimore's bill, is similar to Sandall's. But, the biggest difference is that Cullimore's proposal doesn't dictate which resources should be included in the contracts with data centers. It's an approach that advocates for renewables prefer, Josh Craft, director of government relations and public affairs for the nonprofit group Utah Clean Energy, said in a statement. 'It is resource neutral and provides a pathway to utilize Utah's incredible clean energy potential,' Craft wrote. 'Utah should be expanding access to affordable, clean energy, not creating barriers that limit options for businesses and communities.' Sandall called that resource neutrality the 'movement of unrestricted energy through the meter,' which is what gives Rocky Mountain Power — and him — some pause. But, while both senators have different approaches, there's a lot that Sandall said he and Cullimore are trying to work out together. After working on his bill for six months, Sandall said he thinks he's getting close to creating a firewall between current customers' rate structure and data centers. Rocky Mountain Power representatives have told him that his bill would allow them to find the power to serve those new, large loads, he told Utah News Dispatch. 'Rocky Mountain Power, quite honestly, has some apprehension around this bill, because they're not used to stepping in a competitive space,' Sandall said. 'And so I've had to bring them along, and they've finally gotten here.' Because data and AI centers are still speculative customers, Michele Beck, director of the Utah Office of Consumer Services, believes it is reasonable to expand views on what models could work for Utah. 'Under the utility model, it's impossible to understand how we can build enough resources fast enough to serve what might be out there, what people are saying is out there,' Beck said about the potential for new data centers in the state. 'So I think it's good to evaluate alternatives, but on the other hand, it needs to be done in a way that protects existing customers.' Sandall's bill does a reasonable job of protecting other customers, she said. His intent, Sandall said, is to be cautious since these contracts are a new space for the state. 'We're having a really hard time making sure that we don't go to deregulation, but we still allow this faster build-out of the energy that we're going to need,' he said. Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, supported the idea of making plans to 'keep a firewall between them and our public utility' since, he said, data centers are willing to pay more for energy, potentially affecting rates for other Utahns. As for which of the bills Senate leadership will end up supporting for final approval? Adams said he expects the process to dictate the answer. 'There's two bills, and they'll work together, and it'll be interesting how they come out.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
