Deseret Morning News
Thursday, February 1, 2007

• A bill that seeks to firm-up deadlines for political candidates to disclose their campaign's finances passed the House Government Operations Committee. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, hopes his bill will encourage candidates to file their information on time.
• Legislation that would provide tax cuts for those for buy environmentally friendly cars ran out of time Thursday. The House Revenue and Taxation Committee failed to vote on a substitute version of Rep. Roz McGee's, D-Salt Lake, HB122. Instead they voted 6-5 to adjourn with the 10 a.m. House Floor session approaching. The bill was part of bi-partisan backed package of energy bills.
• A bill that lowers the big game hunting minimum age to 12 now awaits the governor's pen. The first substitute version of HB67, sponsored in the Senate, by Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem was approved by a vote of 25-3. It passed the House on January 23.
• House members put aside $1.5 million today to conduct a thorough major road corridor study on the west side of Salt Lake County. If land isn't purchased soon, 1,500 houses could be "taken out" to make way for the new road, said Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley.
• Utah voters need clear, exact information on their ballots when deciding local bond elections, a Utah House representative says. Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, has introduced HB393, "Truth in Bonding." Hughes says in recent bond elections, the local government/school district did not put on the ballot exactly how much the bond would raise taxes — be they a transit sales tax or a property tax — for residents.