H.B. 360 Information Sheet

The following will be passed out to Senators when my bill comes up for debate either later tonight or tomorrow.

2 Substitute H.B. 360: Land Use Amendments

“We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed, and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.”

·      The right to property is a fundamental right. What to do with that property is essential to that right.

·      There needs to be a balance between the public good and individual liberties.

·      Municipalities and counties are political subdivisions of the state government and are thus subject to laws enacted by our body.

·      We require municipalities and counties to follow exact requirements in building code, yet give them freedom to do what they want in land use.

·      We give municipalities and counties the right to enact stricter requirements than outlined in Utah Code 10-9a and 17-27a. This implies that they:

1.    Be aware of Utah Code regarding land use rules

2.    Make a conscious decision to enact stricter requirements or higher standards than state law dictates

3.    Inform the public of this change

·      H.B. 360 provides one simple thing: TRANSPERANCY

·      When municipalities and counties adopt or modify a land use ordinance, they are already required to give notice by Utah Code 10-9a-205 and 17-27a-205.

·      H.B. 360 has no fiscal impact. It only states that when municipalities and counties have to give notice of land use modifications or adopting new ordinances that they include in that notice whether the ordinance is stricter than state requirements and reference where it is found in Utah Code.

·      This will:

1.    Ensure municipalities and counties are aware of the state’s land use rules

2.    Allow more transparency at the municipality and county levels to those who are directly affected by enactment of stricter land use ordinances

HB 360: Land Use Amendments

My fellow legislators and I spend 45 days every year trying to adjust the swing of the pendulum of law.  It swings back and forth between justice and injustice, rights and wrongs, good and bad, constitutional and unconstitutional. We struggle with trying to determine the difference and balance between the public good and individual rights. I have to admit that my interest and my attitude comes down significantly in the balance on behalf of individual rights because without individual rights there is no public good anyway.

Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland said:

“We must recognize that property rights are essential to human liberty. The individual… has three great rights, equally sacred from arbitrary interference: the right to his life, the right to his liberty, and the right to his property. The three rights are so bound together as to be essentially one right. To give a man his life, but deny him his liberty, is to take from him all that makes life worth living. To give him liberty, but take from him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to still leave him a slave.”

This statement is important and I’m going to tell you why it relates to my bill, HB 360: Land Use Amendments. The Legislature made a decision years ago that I think allowed the pendulum to swing a little too far. This bill doesn’t change that. What it does is make a slight change in having people realize the decisions they make affect people’s individual rights. A number of years ago, the Legislature allowed a rule in our land use planning to say that a city or a county could make a more restrictive, higher standard in their planning and zoning code than the state law allows. What that has done has created a situation where no one pays any attention to the state code. There is a free for all out there and individuals in certain areas of the state in certain circumstances are being subjected to a lot more onerous and abusive laws that control their individual rights to property.

The bill is simple. Currently in state law, when a municipality or county makes a land use revision or change in ordinance, they have to identify it by a public notice and hearing. You and I or anyone else can attend. Unfortunately, unless it is a significant thing, we don’t pay much attention. However, those who are making the decisions and proposals have a responsibility to at least know what the state law is and give notice that perhaps this new ordinance that they are adopting is a higher standard or more restrictive than what we in the Legislature have decided to impose in land use planning. They are political subdivisions of the state of Utah and we have that responsibility to guide this process.

The bill adds the following language to the Utah code regarding municipalities and counties giving public notice for proposed changes:

“if the proposed land use ordinance enacts stricter requirements or higher standards

than are required by this chapter, notice of the stricter requirements or higher standards and a citation to the applicable provision of this chapter”

It is my hope that this will cause those proposing changes to know the state law, and understand that they are making more restrictive requirements. Perhaps I might not live enough to see that pendulum swing back to individual rights, but I know that this is a step in that direction.

You can read the bill and see its current status here:

http://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/HB0360.html

You can listen to my committee presentation here:

http://utahlegislature.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=33&clip_id=19976

HB 248 - Municipal Disconnection Amendments

My bill, HB 248: Municipal Disconnection Amendments, has recently passed both the House and Senate and is awaiting the Governor's signature. The issue that this bill solves involves small cities in my district that have federal lands within their boundaries. These cities have had problems arise in having to provide services to these federal lands, while not being able to collect a tax to pay for these services, shifting the burden to pay for such services on the cities' residents. The bill simply allows cities to initiate disconnection proceedings. The following are the key points of the bill:

• Given the large numbers of federally-owned lands within Utah, the boundaries of many municipalities encompass federally-owned land that is subject to the United States’ sovereign immunity and may not be subject to municipal jurisdiction, such as property taxes, zoning laws, building codes, and other city ordinances.
• The presence of federally-owned land within municipal boundaries creates the potential for situations in which the United States can demand and receive municipal services for federally-owned lands without having to pay for such services.
• Cities and towns in Utah need additional authority to initiate disconnection of property that is not privately owned.
• Utah’s Disconnection Law, Utah Code § 10-2-501 et seq., does not currently allow municipalities to initiate dislocation proceedings on their own, requiring instead that only property owners, including federal agencies, within an area proposed for disconnection can initiate such proceedings.. 
• In many cases, this means that the only way to disconnect federally-owned land from a municipality is if the federal government itself seeks to disconnect such land.
• H.B 248 makes minor amendments that will authorize mayors to initiative disconnection proceedings subject to the approval of a majority of private property owners located within an area proposed for disconnection. 
• Other than a few technical and conforming changes, all other substantive aspects of Utah’s Disconnection Law would remain unchanged.
• Such authority would give Utah municipalities greater leverage when negotiating with federal agencies regarding the payment of municipal services they provide to federally-owned land, and greater recourse should such efforts prove unsuccessful.
• The Utah League of Cities and Towns supports H.B. 248. 

This bill provides a common sense solution, allowing cities to initiate disconnection proceedings while still allowing due process of law. I enjoy working on legislation that directly impacts and helps cities within my district. I look forward to continuing this work and focusing on the concerns of these rural cities.

You can find the status of the bill and its current language here:
http://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/HB0248.html

Rural Caucus

During the legislative session, I enjoy attending the rural caucus each Friday morning. Here we listen to the concerns of the rural population in Utah. My district includes five counties: Summit, Morgan, Duchesne, Rich, and Daggett. These counties have large rural populations with many making a living through agriculture. I also have a personal connection, growing up and learning hard work on the family farm. After teaching for a number of years, I returned to Coalville to continue in the family dairy business. Rural concerns are my concerns and the rural caucus each Friday morning helps me understand and relate to these concerns.

Rural Caucus Every Friday Morning in House Building Room 30

I also enjoy talking with constituents after the caucus meeting. I understand and sympathize with the problems these people encounter on a daily basis. When I first entered the legislature, their were more representatives and senators who came from rural backgrounds. As I've continued my service over of the past 20 years, I have seen this number decrease dramatically. However, I will still continue to represent rural concerns. I believe their contribution to Utah is vital to its success and I will do all I can to protect their interests.

 Rep. Mel Brown with County Commissioners and Rural Constituents

Guests at the State Capitol

One of the things I love about being your representative is the opportunity to meet and welcome constituents to the State Capitol. Earlier in the session, I had the opportunity to welcome 2016 Miss Rodeo Utah, Cassidy Black, and her family. She actually hails from District 53 and is a Coalville native like me! I wish her the best of luck this summer as she competes in the Miss Rodeo America Pageant.

2016 Miss Rodeo Utah, Cassidy Black, with Governor Herbert and others 

I also had the opportunity to meet with students from Morgan Elementary School and recognize on the House floor students from Ecker Hill Middle School. It is great to see students interested in state politics because the decisions we make here greatly affect their lives. The House of Representatives had the privilege to hear from the Morgan High Ovation Choir last week. They were led by their director Michael Mills and I was privileged to have Superintendent Doug Jacobs and Principal Wade Murdock sitting next to me on the House floor as the choir sang. 

Morgan High Ovation Choir with Senators Millner and Christensen 

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a state representative and look forward to meeting more of my constituents as they come to the State Capitol to learn more.

Representative Mel Brown

Welcome and Introduction

Welcome to my blog! This first post will serve as a brief introduction to the Utah State Legislature and highlight some of the things that have occurred thus far this legislative session. The Utah State Legislature is a bicameral body, composed of the Utah House of Representatives and the Utah Senate. I am one of the 75 state representatives in the Utah House of Representatives, and each of us serve two year terms. The Utah Senate has 29 state senators who serve four year terms. The legislative session occurs annually starting on the fourth Monday of January and lasts 45 days. We are now in the fourth week of this session.

One of the main functions of the legislature is to create and adjust the Utah State budget. To do this, members from the House and Senate sit together on the Executive Appropriations Committee and its eight subcommittees to make decisions regarding where money should be appropriated. I currently sit on the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee. In the past three weeks we have met every day, hearing reports from various government agencies, and listening to testimony from Utah citizens who are affected by the services these agencies provide.

Another one of the main functions of the legislature is to create laws. In order to do this, these laws start out as bills and go through the legislative process. I’ve included links to websites below that discuss this process in more detail. One part of the legislative process is the hearing of bills in committees. After bills are first introduced, they are referred to committees where they are discussed in more detail and where the public is given the opportunity to express their opinions. I currently sit on the House Health and Human Services Committee and the House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee.

As a representative, I have the opportunity to draft legislation. I currently have one bill that has passed a committee hearing and is waiting for a vote on the House floor. This bill modifies provisions of the Utah Municipal Code related to the ability of municipalities to initiate disconnection proceedings in a limited circumstance. I am also currently working on introducing a bill that deals with property rights, making municipalities more transparent. You can read the actual text to these bills by following the links below.

I have served as Representative of District 53 since 2007 and have been in the Utah House of Representatives for over 20 years. It has been a privilege to serve you. I hope you find this blog helpful in learning more about what I am doing to better serve you and continue to make Utah great.

Representative Mel Brown

Links to Websites Discussed

You can learn the legislative basics here:

http://www.senatesite.com/home/plethora/citizens-guide-getting-started/

You can find more information of the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee here: http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2016&Com=APPSOC

House Health and Human Services Committee information:

http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2016&Com=HSTHHS

House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee information:

http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2016&Com=HSTNAE

Legislation I’m currently involved with:

http://le.utah.gov/asp/billsintro/RepResults.asp?Listbox3=BROWNMR&cyear=y