Funds to stay with drug enforcement

What the federal government has taken, the House decided the state could give.

The House voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of House Bill 91, sponsored by Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace. The bill moves to the Senate.

The bill moves 8.25 percent of money collected from court fines into a restricted account, which could be used to fund metro narcotic strike forces across the state.

Currently, all the court fines go directly into the general fund and can be used for any program.

Dee said the state has made the metro task forces a high priority because of what they have accomplished.

Over the past five years, strike forces have seized $30 million worth of methamphetamine, Dee said.

The federal government has cut back the amount of money states are receiving from the federal government for drug enforcement, he said.

Assault on police officers bill advances

Assault a police officer once, it's a misdemeanor. Assault an officer a second time and it could be third-degree felony.

The House passed House Bill 70, sponsored by Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, on a 66-5 vote on Tuesday. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, said there have been concerns that a person who is convicted of a felony will lose their privilege of owning a gun.

"There is not a representative on the floor more supportive of gun rights than I am," Wimmer said. "But if (someone) assaults a police officer ... and then are dumb enough to do that again, then a felony is right up the alley."

Drug list bill advances to House

A Senate bill that could save the state millions of dollars in Medicare costs is one step closer to becoming law.

The House Business and Labor Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Senate Bill 42, sponsored by Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden.

The bill now moves to the House. The bill would allow the Utah Department of Health to establish a preferred drug list, or PDL, for Medicaid recipients. It would also allow doctors to override the list if the patient would do better with a different prescription, Christensen said.

Laura Polacheck, with AARP Utah said the state could "see huge savings. States that have this in place are already experiencing cost savings."

Florida saves $240 million a year and Montana saves $5 million, Polacheck said.

Christensen said it is projected that Utah could see a savings from $20 million to $30 million a year.

House OKs traffic ticket quotas bill

A bill to ban traffic ticket quotas passed the House.

House Bill 255, sponsored by Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, goes to the Senate for further debate.

The bill would ban police chiefs from telling officers how many traffic tickets they should write.

"I hate to see this bill pass because of a labor dispute between the city council and the police," said Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem.

Hansen said the ticket quotas are not just an Ogden problem, because he has seen it in other areas of the state.

House passes sale of raw milk bill

A representative who in the past opposed the sale of raw milk sponsored a bill allowing the sale that passed the House Tuesday.

Rep. Kerry Gibson, R-West Weber, said he was opposed last year because of the potential harm it could have done to his industry.

Gibson, a dairy farmer, sponsored House Bill 311, which allows raw milk to be sold in stores under certain conditions. The House voted 65-9 for the bill.

Rep. Phil Riesen, D-Salt Lake City, said the state's Department of Health opposes the bill because of concerns about illnesses caused by untreated food.

Rep. Ben C. Ferry, R-Corinne, said the bill is a compromise between the industry and those who want to buy raw milk.

Bill to restrict meds used in meth

Access to over-the-counter medicines commonly used in the production of methamphetamine would be restricted under a proposal that passed the Senate and is headed to the House.

Senate Bill 112, sponsored by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, requires stores that sell products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, as many cold medicines have, to place the products where customers cannot reach them.

It also restricts the amount of such products consumers can buy or possess at any one time, and requires purchasers to present photo identification.

Finally, it raises the minimum penalty for offenses related to the operation of clandestine meth labs from one year in prison to three years.

The bill passed unanimously

Bill attempts to stop scrap metal theft

An effort to crack down on scrap metal theft from Utah construction sites and other areas cleared its first Senate hurdle on a unanimous vote on Tuesday.

Scrap metal dealers would be required to obtain a fingerprint of anyone from whom they purchase certain metals under Senate Bill 44, sponsored by Sen. Jon Greiner, R-Ogden.

They would also have to maintain running sales records for the previous 12 months. Dealers who violate provisions of the bill would be subject to a class C misdemeanor charge.

Utah has one of the highest incidences of per capita scrap metal theft in the nation, Greiner said.

The bill is now headed for a final reading on the Senate floor after being approved on a 27-0 vote.

-- Standard-Examiner

Bill allows drug treatment screening

A proposal aimed at reducing overcrowding in Utah jails by keeping drug offenders from repeating their crimes passed the state Senate unanimously on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 50, sponsored by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, would allocate more than $33 million over the next two years to create and implement the Drug Offenders Reform Act. The ongoing funding would be subject to future budget constraints.

Under the act, Utahns convicted of a felony drug crime after July 1 this year would be required to participate in a drug treatment screening and assessment process prior to sentencing. Courts would determine the extent to which an offender should enter a treatment program.

Buttars said the bill could save the state more than $1 billion over the next decade by reducing the number of repeat offenders. It goes to the House for further consideration.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A7.