Latest news with #SenateGovernmentOperationsandPoliticalSubdivisionsCommittee
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers look to curb espionage on and around Utah's military bases
An F-22 Raptor prepares for take off at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. (Photo by) Utah lawmakers advanced a bill on Monday that attempts to rein in foreign governments that want to purchase land in Utah, while trying to curb what lawmakers say is a growing form of espionage posing a threat to the state's military installations. HB430 passed out of the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee with unanimous approval from lawmakers. It will now be considered by the entire Senate body. The bill builds on past legislation from Pierucci that targets restricted foreign entities — Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. That includes a law preventing these countries from purchasing land in Utah, and a follow up bill that bars companies associated with these countries from buying land. Pierucci's HB430 has two main focuses. It would require county recorders to provide a form to people purchasing land where they can disclose their relationship with a foreign government. If the person does not disclose connections to a restricted foreign entity (for instance, having served in the Russian military) or that they're buying the land on behalf of a restricted foreign entity, they can be charged with a third-degree felony. And, the bill targets a bizarre form of espionage that Pierucci says is a growing threat. A 2023 report from The Wall Street Journal found more than 100 incidents where Chinese nationals, posing as tourists or food delivery drivers, tried to enter U.S. military bases. 'Depending on who's at the gate, they may let them through,' said Pierucci. 'Those individuals can go take a little drive around the base, take some pictures and leave.' Pierucci's bill would direct food delivery services to designate military bases as off limits, while creating a drop zone outside of the base so people can more securely receive deliveries. 'If someone really needs their Popeyes, or whatever it is, they're going to need to drop it off out front and not go into the base,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah bill to restrict, regulate zoning in newly incorporated areas sparks concern in Ogden Valley
A proposal to restrict zoning and require compensation for downzoning in newly incorporated areas is drawing the attention of some of the people behind the push to incorporate part of the Ogden Valley. "This would create so many problems that are so unsolvable," said Brandi Hammon, who promoted the ballot question last November to turn the expanse around Eden, Wolf Creek and Liberty east of the Wasatch Back in Weber County into a new city. The incorporation measure passed by a wide margin, and the city is to formally come into being next January. Sen. Calvin Musselman, the sponsor of SB322, though, isn't looking for immediate action on the proposal, meant to address downzoning, or implementation of zoning changes imposing new restrictions on land use. Rather, he introduced the bill so the topic could get attention during the legislative interim later this year. "I don't want this bill passed. I just want it to get to interim," he said at a meeting Thursday of the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee. Officials ended up taking no action on the proposal, but its introduction earlier this week sparked a strong response from Ogden Valley incorporation proponents. Hammon worries the proposed change could hamper leaders of the new city, to be elected later this year, as they're trying to get the new locale up and running. A message Wednesday on the Facebook page of the group that spearheaded the incorporation drive, Ogden Valley Incorporation, blasted the legislation and called on Ogden Valley residents to reach out to their representatives to voice opposition. "These new rules DO NOT apply to the county or to other cities who make zoning changes — just our new city. SB322 is a blatant attempt to hobble our new city government," reads the text of a message Ogden Valley Incorporation is calling on city boosters to send to lawmakers. Musselman didn't respond to a query seeking comment, but SB322, as written, would prohibit downzoning for at least a year after an unincorporated area is annexed into a city. It would also require a city to compensate a property owner whose property loses value due to downzoning after incorporation. Incorporation boosters touted incorporation of the Ogden Valley as a way of helping assure local control amid increasing development and growth pressures. The area is home to three ski resorts and Pineview Reservoir and is an increasingly popular getaway draw. But Hammon said downzoning hasn't been an intent of those who promoted incorporation. As is, the Weber County Commission governs the Ogden Valley area to be incorporated until the new city formally materializes in January 2026. "We're not looking at it at all because it's not our intention," Hammon said. At any rate, given the year-plus period between last November's annexation vote and formation of the city next January, developers already have time to develop their land before incorporation becomes official. So many variables figure in determining the potential loss of a parcel's value due to downzoning, meantime, that such a task is incredibly difficult, she said, not that downsizing is contemplated.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate panel advances major change to Utah public records law
A Utah lawmaker removed a controversial piece of his legislation that critics say would gut the state's public records law but left in an equally controversial part that would eliminate a volunteer committee that decides disputes about access to government information. Senate Majority Whip Mike McKell made the changes just prior to a hearing Tuesday on SB277 before the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee. McKell, R-Spanish Fork, told reporters before the meeting that he wants to focus on the process used to seek records under the state's Government Records Access and Management Act or GRAMA, which he described as 'broken.' During the packed meeting, residents panned the legislation, urging the committee to not approve a bill few have had a chance to read and that would hinder transparency and give too much power to one person to decide whether government records are private or public. Still, the revised bill passed out of committee 6-2, though some senators voiced reservations. It now goes to the full House for consideration. SB277 would replace the State Records Committee — a seven-member panel appointed by the governor — with a Government Records Office. The governor would appoint the office's director, who must be an attorney, to a four-year term with Senate approval. The director would oversee an ombudsman who would handle records disputes. The two positions would cost the state an estimated $447,900 a year. 'I think the current records committee process is flawed, and the bill that will continue to move forward with a focus on process,' McKell said. 'It's too slow, it's too inconsistent and we just need to do better.' State and legislative audits found few cases in the past few years were resolved within the 73 days the law requires and last year the average time was 156 days, he said. 'The goal of this legislation is to make sure we have the ability to be efficient and responsive to these record requests. We have missed the mark today and we have to improve and do better,' McKell said. Passing the bill, he said, would reduce delays and increase confidence in government transparency. The Utah Media Coalition, a consortium of news outlets that works to keep government records open, says the State Records Committee has served the state well, noting the courts have affirmed the panel's decisions 98% of the time. 'GRAMA's a marvel. This room is full because people love GRAMA. If you polled the public about GRAMA, it would poll higher than ice cream, it would poll higher than (the late Utah Jazz coach) Jerry Sloan, it would poll higher than Zion National Park,' Mike Judd, a lawyer representing the media coalition, told the committee. Judd said the records committee gets things right and disagrees that a lawyer would make things better. 'This is a citizen-led process,' he said. Utahns of various political persuasions lined up at the hearing to express opposition to the bill and ask lawmakers to keep the records panel intact. Some suggested that if McKell is concerned about a lack of law training on the committee, that one member be a lawyer. Others said the state should spend the annual cost for the two new jobs to provide training for committee members and county clerks who are often tasked with responding to records requests. They also lamented the possible loss of the committee's independence in favor of one person beholden to the governor. The bill allows the governor to fire the director 'with or without cause.' Veteran journalist and former State Records Committee member Tom Haraldsen said decisions are better when a group of people share their thoughts. He said the Legislature not filling vacancies on the panel last year contributed to the backlog of cases. 'I think that the SRC is the last bastion of transparency in this state. It gives an opportunity for every citizen who has a complaint to be heard, to be seen, to voice their concerns, not just simply file paperwork that one person looks at and decides if it's true or valid,' he said. Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, was one of two senators to vote against the measure. He said he agreed that the records committee could benefit from legal advice but that that could be accomplished with a staff position. He said there is a significant benefit to having diverse backgrounds of opinion on a volunteer committee rather than a person's whose 'at-will employment is contingent upon keeping somebody happy that may or may not be happy with certain rulings.' Thatcher also said there's a lot of things right in the bill 'but there's just one thing just I can't get past. ... The public does not feel heard and it's something that we are seeing more and more and hearing more and more. If we listen, what we're hearing is they are concerned about power grabs, they're concerned about not being included in the process. They're concerned about bills not having enough time or enough input, and I agree with them.' The Utah League of Cities and Towns and the Utah System of Higher Education support the bill. 'Of course there's going to be disputes about whether we classify records correctly,' Geoff Landward, state commissioner of higher education, told the Senate committee. 'We think that the question of whether a record is classified correctly is a legal question that requires legal analysis and a determination that's properly handled by legal professionals.' He said that would bring great clarity, consistency and predictability government agencies are seeking in the GRAMA process. Before Tuesday's hearing, McKell pulled one of the most controversial provisions from the bill. His initial version would have removed a longstanding part of the law known as the 'balancing test' used to determine whether public interest warrants releasing records that would otherwise be classified as protected or private. The balancing test — in the law since it took effect in 1992 — is the 'beating heart' of GRAMA, according to the Utah Media Coalition. Without it, government could withhold records even if the public interest in disclosure was compelling and the interests favoring secrecy were nonexistent or minimal. Senate leaders said another lawmaker intends to address the test in separate legislation, though it would likely be limited to records regarding workforce harassment.
