Helmets to Hardhats Program Day

THEY DEFENDED AMERICA; NOW LET THEM HELP YOU BUILD IT

This afternoon, Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., signed a declaration recognizing Helmets to Hardhats and declared March 30, 2009, as Helmets to Hardhats Program Day.  Helmets to Hardhats is a nonprofit organization hosted by the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment and Veterans’ Employment (CMRAVE), which connects veterans to promising careers in the construction industry.  Utah is the 27th state to recognize the vital role of Helmets to Hardhats.

Among those accompanying Governor Huntsman today for the signing were Senator Gene Davis; Senator Karen Mayne; Terry Schow, Executive Director, Utah Department of Veterans Affairs; General Jeff Burton, Utah National Guard; Major General Peter Cook, U.S. Army Reserves; Steve Hadley, Veterans Outreach Program, Department of Workforce Services; Darrell Roberts, Executive Director, Helmets to Hardhats; Dale Cox, Operating Engineers Local No. 3; Rob Mason, Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons; Jim Judd, president, AFL-CIO; Darlene Goldman, Salt Lake Community College; Dale Brockbank, U.S. Department of Labor; Mark Biloz, Regional Director, Veterans Administration; and numerous others representing the construction industry and armed services.

Helmets to Hardhats provides training and support to veterans returning from military service to facilitate a smooth transition to civilian life.  Veterans log in to http://helmetstohardhats.org, establish an account, and begin their search for a productive career.  The Helmets to Hardhats staff of construction industry and military professionals help guide veterans through their career search, connecting them with apprenticeship programs and providing career advice.  Many Utah veterans have received this training.  Click here for Ami Joi O’Donoghue’s great article in the Deseret News relating Darrell Robert’s personal military experiences.

Information is also available on the site about the Wounded Warrior program, which supports disabled Veterans by providing the tools, information and community that will help Veterans gain careers in the Building and Construction Industry.

Here are some impressive Helmets to Hardhats statistics for 2008:

Unique Visitors – 320,259 unique visitors to the H2H website, an increase of 13% over 2007.

Registered Veterans – 21,694 veterans as candidates, an increase of 14% over 2007.

Veterans Hired – 1,714 veteran hires through H2H, a 10% increase over 2007; 79 of whom are Wounded Warriors.

Job Searches – 510,527 candidate career searches, a 24% increase over 2007.

Job Applications – 5,713 candidates applied for career positions, a 27% increase.

Utah Career Postings – 28

Registered Utah Veterans – 127 veterans, 13 of whom are Wounded Warriors

Utah Hires – 9

Darrell Roberts, Executive Director of Helmets to Hardhats, flanked by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., and Major General Peter Cook, U.S. Army Reserves

 
Governor Huntsman Reads the Declaration

 
Governor Huntsman Signs the Declaration
with Senators Davis and Mayne (on the right)

 
The Participants

 
Darlene Goldman, Darrell Roberts and Senator Mayne

 
Dale Cox, Senator Davis and Darrell Roberts

Perfect Timing

by Senator Gene Davis
Senate District 3

Half way through Utah’s 2009 general legislative session, the United States Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), providing a much-needed influx of cash into Utah’s 2009 and 2010 state budgets.  Commonly known as President Obama’s economic stimulus package, it significantly softened the impact of Utah’s declining state revenue.  Both Senate Democrats and House Democrats favored accepting and using the federal stimulus money and urged their colleagues to support the assistance from the Obama White House.  Budgets of virtually every department in state government were bolstered by stimulus money.   Click here for details from the Legislative Fiscal Analyst.

This year and through 2011, Utah will receive $1.7 billion from ARRA, which will be distributed to targeted departments for specific purposes.  For example:

Federal money reduced the cuts in public education for 2010 from 17% to only 5.2%; higher education from 17.5% to 9%.

The Department of Workforce Services received $19 million for child care funding, $78 million in food stamp funding, and $9 million for temporary assistance for needy families.

The Department of Transportation received $149 million and will use the funds for about 30 highway projects throughout the state.

The Department of Health received $68 million in 2009 and $94 million in 2010 for a temporary increase in the match rate for Medicaid services.

The Department of Human Services received funds for various agencies in the department.

The Department of Economic Development and Revenue received $39 million for weatherization of homes for adding insulation, sealing leaks, and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment; a Community Service Block Grant of $5 million; Homeless Prevention monies of $5.6 million; and $33 million for USTAR to recruit science and technology researchers.

The Legislature passed Senate Bill 260 (second substitute) to create the Housing Relief Restricted Special Revenue Fund using ARRA funds to provide a $6,000 grant for any person who purchases a newly constructed, never-occupied residence in Utah.

From the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, Utah will receive $16.2 million for a variety of efforts such as hiring and support for law enforcement officers; drug and gang task forces; crime prevention, courts, corrections, treatment; and justice information sharing initiatives.

AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON…..

Monies from the stimulus package will preserve jobs and create many new jobs in Utah as the federal government focuses on building and re-building infrastructure.  There are numerous transportation, water, and sewer projects, all of which require manpower.

Accountability is paramount.  President Obama expects the state to be a responsible steward of the federal stimulus funds.  Visit www.recovery.utah.gov for information about Utah’s stimulus money.

Saving Money by Reducing Energy Needs

by Senator Ross Romero
Senate Minority Whip

Whitney Bitner, Rachel Dansie, Hannah Durham, Hannah Hoopes, Lizzie Egan, and Victoria Hoggan are seventh graders at Olympus Junior High School.  The girls call themselves the Green Queens.

This year, the girls participated in the Lexus Environmental Challenge, a contest giving students an opportunity to help their communities.  Their project is to encourage people to have more energy-efficient homes.  They are trying to motivate people to perform an “energy audit” of their homes, evaluating their doors, windows, lights, cooling, and heating.

The Green Queens competed and are now one of 48 teams out of 525 teams to succeed in the first round.  Now the Green Queens are competing in the final World Challenge.  There will be 16 winning teams, and they hope to be one of them.  If they win, the prize will be $50,000!  Olympus Junior High School would receive $10,000, Ms. JoAnne Brown, their outstanding teacher, would receive $5,000 for her classroom, and $35,000 would be divided among the Green Queens for scholarships.

Can you help the Green Queens win the prize?  Visit their blog and make a commitment to do an energy audit of your home.  There are seven days remaining to make your pledge.  March 26 is the last day!  The girls need your help right now!

The Green Queens and President Obama share the same goals for energy efficiency.  Vice President Joe Biden announced last week that Utah will receive, as part of the Obama stimulus package, $37 million for the Weatherization Assistance Program and $35 million for the State Energy Program.  The funding will support weatherization of homes, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks, and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, which will pay for itself many times over.

The Weatherization Assistance Program will allow an average investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and will be available for families making up to 200% of the federal poverty level—or about $44,000 a year for a family of four.

The State Energy Program funding will be available for rebates to consumers for home energy audits or other energy-saving improvements, development of renewable energy projects for clean electricity generation and alternative fuels, promotion of Energy Star products, efficiency upgrades for state and local government buildings, and other innovative state efforts to help families save money on their energy bills.

I also wanted to share my experience with an energy audit I had performed about a year ago.  A representative from Questar came in and spent about and hour looking over my appliances, water heater, insulation and general lay out.  He then suggested some improvements and informed me how Questar and Rocky Mountain Power were participating in the energy audit and reimbursement program together.  To name a few, my audit report recommended additional insulation around electrical outlets, insulation in attic and windows to be replaced. I took the audit’s advice and secured additional insulation and replaced some windows.  I submitted my receipts and received a modest refund for the window replacements.  The attic insulation however was basically covered by the reimbursement program.

I was glad to learn about what I could do to reduce my energy footprint through the energy audit process and have appreciated the per month savings I have received from my audit improvements.  I would highly recommend taking part in this energy audit process and to see how you can make a difference.

Congratulations to the Green Queens for their outstanding efforts.

Legislative Wrap-up with Senator Robles

The office of Senator Luz Robles

Invites you to

A Legislative Wrap-up

A hands-on community forum for understanding
the issues facing the 2009 state legislature!

Sorenson Unity Center
1383 South 900 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84104
Monday, March 23, 2009
6:30 pm-9:00 pm

In a continuing effort to keep citizens of the State of Utah informed about their government, we are planning a Legislative Wrap-up to discuss the current legislative session.  All are welcome to attend this event for free.

Democratic Leadership from both the House and the Senate have been invited, so please come with questions.  This is a unique opportunity to meet with all of the Democratic leadership in one place.  Come learn what the issues are, ask your questions, and enjoy some free food.  Bring friends, family, and anyone in your community who wants to learn more about their government.

Thanks to The Magnificent Seven

THANKS FROM THE SENATE DEMOCRATS

Front Row:  Emily Bennett, Drew Martinez, Michelle Taylor, Matt Beckstead
Back Row:  Jessie France, Reid Luzzader, Scott Sizemore

On the final day of the 2009 Legislative Session, we want to sincerely thank our seven magnificent interns from the University of Utah who have spent the past seven weeks serving the Senate Democrats in the Utah State Senate.  We appreciate the outstanding work of our interns.  It would be impossible to accomplish our legislative tasks without them!

Michelle Taylor is Senator Jones’ intern.
Scott Sizemore is Senator Romero’s intern.
Jessie France is Senator Mayne’s intern.
Drew Martinez is Senator Robles’ intern.
Reid Luzzader is Senator Davis’ intern.
Emily Bennett is Senator Morgan and Senator Goodfellow’s intern.
Matt Beckstead is Senator McCoy’s intern.

This legislative session, President Waddoups gave rulers to each Senator displaying the words “Utah State Senate” to hand out to those who have gone beyond the ordinary and have “measured up.”  Well, in President Waddoups’ estimation, our interns have “measured up,” and he gave a signed ruler to each one at noon today.

President Waddoups with our Interns

Remarkable Kids

Today Utah’s senators enjoyed an outstanding performance from Kindred Spirits, introduced to the body by Senator Patricia Jones.  Kindred Spirits is a nonprofit organization partially funded by the Utah Arts Council, Salt Lake City Arts, and Zoo Arts & Parks.  Several of the kids have also benefited from services of the Utah State Health Department.  Alice Pero is the director (and a talented artist, by the way), and she was accompanying her son Julius Steubing and her sister Renee Perreault.

Sal Jansaan with Salt Lake Community Action Program has been teaching this group about Polynesian art, and they performed two Polynesian dances today at the Senate.  Members of today’s group were:

Adam Persels and Araya Persels with their mother Tina
Celina Woolsiffer with her mother Natalie Jensen
Annabelle Hollberg with her mother Susan Hollberg

Also assisting was Sal’s husband, Evan Jansaan, and Gina Pola-Money from Utah’s Family to Family Health Information Center.

SB 73 - “The Best Bill in the Universe”

by Jessie France
Senator Karen Mayne’s Intern

Electricity was in the air at 10:00 AM today as representatives from Utah’s numerous cities, counties and townships as well as the Utah League of Cities and Towns, The Association of Community Councils Together, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, Utah Association of Special Districts, Rio Tinto, and members of the general public all converged on the Senate floor and gallery.  They came to show their support for Senator Karen Mayne’s S.B. 73 - Unincorporated Areas Amendments.  The bill gives citizens of townships a higher degree of self-determination, allowing them to either join a city, or resist being annexed into a city, depending on the will of the people.  Senator Mayne worked to formulate a compromise amongst individuals from the cities, counties, and townships for months, until finally reaching an agreement with everyone this week.

S.B. 73 passed the Senate unanimously with 19 co-sponsors.  The other senators spoke about how this would help benefit their own constituents, and complimented Senator Mayne on bringing everyone together.  As Senate Minority Leader Pat Jones exclaimed, “This has been a very arduous process.  I have to tell you this is a huge issue in the Millcreek area that I represent…I really appreciate what Senator Mayne has done on this.  She has worked tirelessly.”

S.B. 73 not only received praise from Democrats, but also reached across party lines.  Senator Niederhauser stated, “I also applaud those who have worked on this.  In my senate district, I probably have more county islands than any other senate district in the Salt Lake Valley - one of which is near and dear to me, the Granite area.  So I appreciate what Senator Mayne has done and all of those that have worked on this.”

Senator Mayne also complimented all of those who came together: “I would just like to thank all of the people that are involved with this. It has taken skill, it has taken patience, and it has taken love to make this happen.  All of these people from all over the valley have come together for this common purpose.”

After the senators voted on the bill, Senate President Michael Waddoups stated, “First substitute Senate bill 73 having received twenty-six yea votes, zero nay votes, and three being absent passes this body under suspension of the rules and is the best bill in the Universe.”  S.B. 73 will now move to the House where Representative Greg Hughes will be the floor sponsor.

Senate/House Democrat 2010 Budget Proposal

At noon today, the Senate and House Democrats in the Utah State Senate held a press conference to outline their 2010 budget proposal.  Priorities are:

1.  Protect vital services in priority areas–Public Education, Higher Education, Health and Human Services, and Public Safety.

2.  Make equitable cuts where necessary and possible.

3.  Find new revenue sources.

4.  Utilize federal stimulus dollars.

Senate Minority Leader Patricia Jones and House Minority Leader David Litvack led the discussion outlining their proposal.  Their comments and the entire budget proposal are available on the House Democrats’ website.  Click here to read their remarks and view the budget proposal.

Senate Minority Leader Jones and House Minority Leader Litvack (center)
surrounded by Democrat Senators and Representatives

Gang Legislation

by Senator Luz Robles
Minority Caucus Manager

One of the major issues facing not only my district but also the entire state is an increase in gang activity.  Gangs are not localized only in Salt Lake City or Ogden, but have spread all through the state and are hurting our children and our communities.  One only needs to read the newspaper or watch the news to see the effects of these gangs.

I have participated on the committees that Mayor Becker and Governor Huntsman have put together to address this issue.  I have introduced a resolution that addresses a comprehensive approach to gang-related activities.  The resolution acknowledges that we need to address prevention, intervention and suppression in solving this complicated issue.  Due to the funding shortfall, I believe this is a good start.

This legislative session had several bills that focus only on suppression, and as much as we need those, we need to focus on the other two aspects of the issue.  My bill, S.B.74–At-Risk Student Provisions, addresses early prevention through identification by educators.  Teachers spend eight hours a day with these students and often times could be the best identifiers of potential gang activity.  This bill requires a local school board or governing board of a charter school to enact certain gang prevention and intervention policies.  This will include keeping teachers up-to-date with information to help identify gang activity, give them tools to deal with gang activity, and help the schools to suspend extra-curricular activities while the student is in a known gang.  This last part of the bill has proven extremely successful on the west side of Salt Lake City already with the S.A.L.T. Program, run by Kaisa Kinikini.  I believe this will also be successful in our state, coupled with my second bill dealing with gang reduction, S.J.R. 21.

S.J.R. 21—Joint Resolution on Combating and Reducing Gang Activity—urges state and local governments to take a comprehensive, collaborative, and communitywide approach to combat and reduce gang activity.  I strongly believe just one or two groups will not solve the gang problem; it is going to take a collaborative effort on the part of all involved parties to make a difference.  This resolution allows for this type of collaborative effort, focusing particularly on the most effective practices.  By focusing on the practices that work, we can become more and more effective at reducing gang activity in our communities.

I encourage all of you reading this to contact your legislators and tell them you support these bills, because you are tired of the gang activity in this state.  Together we can call the right attention to the problems and fix this in a comprehensive manner.

As a side note, I would also like to share with you the bill tracking service on the Legislature’s webpage (http://www.le.utah.gov/asp/billtrack/track.asp). This service will allow you to track as many bills as you would like, and will even send you e-mails when the bill is on the move.  It is a valuable resource you can use to become more involved, and we all know how important that is.

Utah Hispanic/Latino Day

by Senator Luz Robles
Senate Minority Caucus Manager
District One

On Wednesday, February 19, Governor Huntsman signed a proclamation declaring it Utah Hispanic/Latino Day.  I was fortunate to be a part of this wonderful and commemorative day.

There were many distinguished guests at the Capitol that day.  Supportive lawmakers such as Senate President Waddoups, local activists, and the Utah Hispanic Latino Legislative Task Force all met to celebrate this commemoration of the largest ethnic minority group in the state of Utah.  Another announcement of equal importance was announced, that of the newly created Hispanic Caucus, which I, along with Senator Ross Romero, Representative Mark Wheatley, and Representative Rebbecca Chavez-Houck, will comprise.

Earlier, both the Senate and the House unanimously passed resolutions honoring the accomplishments of Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante and Father Francisco Atanasio Dominguez.  In the late 18th century, the two missionaries/explorers drew some of the first maps of Utah.  HJR 10 was sponsored by Senator Ross Romero and Representative Mark Wheatley.  The resolution was presented to Bishop John C. Wester of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Bishop John C. Wester, Members of the Catholic Diocese and Others

 
From Left:  Rep. Lorie Fowlke, Sen. Luz Robles, Rep. Mark Wheatley,
Sen. Ross Romero, Rep. David Litvack and Rep. Wayne Harper

 
Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck