1. THE 2014 UTAH LEGISLATURE:
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2014 AND HOW TO
PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS IN 2015
Mike Bailey
Salt Lake City
April 18, 2014
4850-4250-9850 parsonsbehle.com
Presented to the Real Estate Mastermind Group

2. 2
 Inform you
 Alert you to issues that may affect your
business
 Arm you for discussions at backyard
barbeques
 This presentation is a source of general information for clients and friends of Parsons Behle &
Latimer. Its content should not be construed as legal advice and attendees should not act upon
the information in the presentation without consulting legal counsel.
Goals of Today’s Presentation

3. 3
I. Utah Legislature by the Numbers
II. 2014 Session Review (using themes)
III. Protecting your Business by Playing an
Active Role
Please ask questions throughout
Outline of Presentation

4. 4
61
24
14
5
2014 House and Senate Composition
Republicans Republicans DemocratsDemocrats
House Senate

5. 5
 President Wayne Niederhauser (Real Estate
Broker / Developer)
 Senator Mark Madsen (Real Estate Developer)
 Representative Brad Wilson (Destination
Homes)
 Representative Curt Webb (Title Insurance)
 Representative Roger Barrus (Facility
Construction / Property Development)
 Representative Jack Draxler (Real Estate
Appraiser)
Many Legislators Work in the
Real Estate Industry

6. 6
 Representative Gage Froerer (Real Estate
Brokerage & Property Management)
 Representative Greg Hughes (Construction /
Property Management)
 Representative Keith Grover (“Real Estate”)
 Representative Jeremy Peterson (Real Estate
Broker)
 Representative Dixon Pitcher (Real Estate
Broker, CRS; Land Developer)
Many Legislators Work in the
Real Estate Industry

7. 7
 Large Number of Freshmen in the House
– 20 of 75 in the House were in their second
year
– 11 more beginning their second term
 “Slow and steady” meant many bills were
not heard
 Mood was serious
 Media focused on the “easy” issues
2014 Legislative Session

8. 8
782 764 748
786
504 478
524
484
Comparing Bill Passage Over Time
Bills
Introduced
Bills
Introduced
Bills
Passed
(64%)
Bills
Passed
(62%)
2011 2012 2013
Bills
Introduced
Bills
Passed
(70%)
2014
Bills
Introduced
Bills
Passed
(62%)

9. 9
478
524
484
183 203 217
Even More Bills Passed
in the Final Two Days
Bills
Passed
Bills
Passed
Last 2 days
(39%)
Last 2 days
(38%)
2012 2013
Bills
Passed
Last 2 days
(45%)
2014

10. 10
2014 Bill Passage By The Numbers
Republican -
sponsored
bills that
passed
(89%)
Democrat -
sponsored
bills that
passed
(11%)
2012:
87% Republican
13% Democrat
2013:
94% Republican
6% Democrat

11. 11
 Most Prolific Legislators
Highest bill passage percentage (minimum 10 bills)
– Sen. Lyle Hillyard (17 for 17)
– Sen. Ralph Okerlund (13 for 13)
– Rep. Mel Brown (12 for 12)
– Rep. Jim Dunnigan (12 for 12)
Most bills passed
– Sen. Curt Bramble (19 for 26)
• Including SB 54 – “Count my Vote”
Most bills introduced
– Sen. Curt Bramble 26 (19 for 26)
– Rep. Kraig Powell 20 (6 for 20)
– Sen. Todd Weiler 19 (14 for 19)
2014 Bill Passage By The Numbers

12. 12
78%
73% 76%
56%
73%
56%
Senate Sponsored v. House Sponsored
Passage Rates (Republicans only)
Senate Senate HouseHouse
2012 2013
Senate House
2014

13. 13
Big-Time Changes in the Legislature
 Speaker is done
– Speaker vs. Governor
 Senate Majority Leader may be stepping
down
 House Minority Leader is done
 Lots of Democrats are done
– In Senate (Senators Jones & Robles)
– In House (Representatives
Cosgrove, Seelig, Fisher, Hemingway)

14. 14
The Session’s Broad Themes
Issues Headed
Our Way
Interesting
Heavily debated
& usually received
media attention
Ordinary
Expected,
not surprising

15. 15
Interesting Issues
These bills were heavily debated and
usually received media attention

16. 16
Air Quality – The People Spoke
 Air Quality has Been an Issue for a Few
Years but This Year was Different
 Session Started With Two Bangs and a lot of
Inversions
– First, the Governor discussed Tier III Fuels in his
State of the State
– Second, there was a clean air rally which had
4000 attendees
– Parking was awful

17. 17
Air Quality – The People Spoke

18. 18
And Air Quality Did OK
 Legislators put their money where their
mouth was:
– Enhanced funding for DAQ
– Grant programs for wood-burning stoves
– Replacing dirty diesel school buses
 Not everything passed:
– Quarter-cent sales tax hike
– State vs. federal regulation

19. 19
“No more stringent”
 Utah law says environmental regulations can be
no more stringent than corresponding federal
regulations (except if a certain finding is made)
– David Bird drafted
 Protects business and industry
 Environmentalists: “Chills” new ideas
 Two bills in play:
– Bill to eliminate protection – DIED
– Bill to modify restriction – DIED

20. 20
Anti-Discrimination
 State lawsuit in process
 No consideration of anti-discrimination law
– Activist pressure
 No anti-gay marriage bills allowed either

21. 21
Count My Vote
 CMV organizers gathered 100,000+
signatures
 Pressure on legislature
 Compromise – SB 54
 There is already talk of amending the law

22. 22
SB 54 (Bramble)
 Dual route to the ballot:
– Convention: Same as now
– Signatures
• 28,000 for statewide office
• 2,000 for state Senate seats
• 1,000 for state House seats
– Parties must have open primaries
– May be a moderating factor
 Several legislators may pay the price

23. 23
 It was a tale of two bills
– SB 211 sponsored by Sen. Margaret Dayton
– HB 49 sponsored by Rep. Kay McIff
 SB 211 restored the power of the state water
engineer
 HB 49 modified the procedure for filing a
change application
 Both bills died on the boards
Water

24. 24
Health Care
 Autism Mandate
– “Every Decade we Pass a Mandate – This is
That Mandate”
– Compromise was struck
• Would not affect many large employers
• Diagnosis and Treatment 2-9 years old
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Treatment Plan and Treatment Review
 Cannabis Oil

25. 25
Fun, Odd or Silly Issues Likely to Land a
Legislator on “Jon Stewart’s Daily Show”
 No feral cats, no state gun
 We did get a new state tree (Quaking Aspen
instead of Colorado Blue Spruce) but we
didn’t replace Iowa and New Hampshire as
the state with the earliest presidential primary
 Cities can’t ban specific breeds of dogs – pit
bulls are safe
 It was a very serious session with few
distractions

26. 26
 HB 16 (Webb) Wrongful Lien Amendments
 HB 332 S 01 (Froerer) Real Estate
Amendments
 SB 20 (Harper) Trustee’s Sale for Rental
Property – Sunset Act Amendments
 SB 109 S 02 (Osmond) Radon Awareness
Campaign
Some Real Estate – Related
Bills That Passed

27. 27
 SB 130 (Harper) Trust Deed Foreclosure
Amendments
 SB 147 S 04 (Jones) Residential Rental
Amendments
 SB 189 (Weiler) Residence Lien Restriction
Amendments
Some Real Estate – Related
Bills That Passed

28. 28
Ordinary
Things that were expected or not surprising

29. 29
 Abolished PRADA board & created a
commission (7 legislators, 2 non-legislators)
 Provides for RFPs
 Group to work quickly – hope to get done as
soon as practicable
Prison Relocation

30. 30
Gas Tax
 Persuasive case by Salt Lake Chamber of
Commerce and local government that more
revenues are needed
 Early push to allow 10 cent local option tax faded
 Three bills in play:
– Raise tax by 7.5 cents, phased in – DOA
– Decrease the gas tax, increase the sales tax, but “not a tax
increase” – DIED, killed by sponsor’s own committee.
– Change the way it’s calculated; may have raised tax over
time – DIED

31. 31
Education Funding
 Public education
– Funded new students
– 2.5% increase in per-pupil spending
 High-quality preschool
– Funding by private investors
 Higher education
– 11.2% increase
 STEM
 Speaker’s $300 million initiative fell short

32. 32
Issues That May Be Headed Our Way

33. 33
 Title and Escrow Insurance Related
Amendments
 Uniformity of Healthcare Practice Acts
(DOPL)
 Non Profit Organizations & Tax Issues
 Competency Based Education
 Privatizing State Golf Courses
 Cyber Bullying
Master Study Resolution

34. 34
 Air Quality
 Drone Technology
 DUI Standards
 Water Issues
 Daylight Savings Time
 Minimum Wage
Master Study Resolution

35. 35
How To Succeed
 Relationships with legislators
 Relationships with lobbyists
 Strategic alliances
 Work with trade associations
 Take reasonable positions
 Be ever-vigilant

36. 36
 We strategize with clients
 We monitor the Legislative Session
 We draft legislation
 We help get bills passed
 We help get bills killed
 We seek appropriations
 We help with incentive packages
What We Do

37. 37
 We help with cities, counties, mayors, city
councils, county councils and county
commissions
 We help clients get whatever they need to
protect their businesses (no request is too
difficult)
What We Do

38. 38
A Few Case Studies
 “Four Bill Lift”
– Five-mile buffer zone requirement – DIED
– Bill to give DEQ authority to prohibit incineration if
they decided there was a better technology –
DIED
– Bill to require two-mile buffer zone for new plants
only – PASSED with our amendments
– Resolution giving plant permission to move to
Tooele County – PASSED

39. 39
Solar Production Tax Credit
 Production Tax Credit in place since 2007 for
other renewables
 Solar projects more economically viable than
they were
 One bill in play:
– Provide tax credit for solar - PASSED

40. 40
Access to Voter Registration Data
 Utvoters.com
 Two bills in play:
– Bill that would have made voter registrations
private – DIED
– Bill that makes voter registrations private
except for certain purposes – PASSED once
amended to allow Lexis Nexis to access data

41. 41
Some other successes
 Stopped automatic indexing of gas tax
 Crafted compromise on “no more stringent”
bill
 Killed bill that would have increased car
insurance rates

42. 42
 Get in the Game
– Stay apprised of any developments
• Legislature has study committees that meet monthly
• Master study list gives some idea of issues to be
studied
– As we saw this session, reading the
newspaper is not enough
– If you see an issue of concern, what can you
do about it?
– Contact us. We can help
Protecting Your Business

43. 43
 Be vigilant – stay informed
 Think of ways that legislation can help your
business
– No request is too crazy / it is almost never
too late
 We’re here to help – feel free to call
– regarding business issues…
– or even the state tree
Takeaways

44. 44
 Mike Bailey
direct: (801) 536-6777
cell: (801) 201-0115
email: mbailey@parsonsbehle.com
twitter: @utahcounselor
Thank you