SL Trib: Davis County mulls permanent swimming pool ban on diapered babies

The Tribune is reporting that the Davis Health Department is considering whether it would be best to institute a permanent ban on diapered babies in public swimming pools. Considering the likelihood of a rebound on the cryptosporidiosis parasite that struck this year, I favor the ban.

Not only would this preserve and protect the health of the general public, but those infants with still developing immune systems.

Those of us with small babies can wait until our kids are potty trained.

Let The Real Debate Begin

I seem to feel a new vitality for blogging that has been somewhat missing of late. Not because I won anything in last nights vote, but precisely because I lost.

Now that vouchers have expired, I can finally get some serious answers from folks who support education. That includes people from both camps that supported, or opposed vouchers. Sure the rhetoric won't completely vanish, but those who are sincere will re-emerge into the political light and, hopefully, start hammering out some real solutions. I think there are a lot of serious folks who retreated from the heated debate these last few months, that will now open up some good discussions.

North Salt Lake In Discussion Over Library

They have a novel idea on how to do it.

Don't raise taxes. Save for the future!

What a strange idea.

Save.

via Deseret News.

Funding Transportation: Solving Transportation Woes

The Utah Taxpayer is talking about the problems with funding transportation by increasing sales tax. Enjoy!

I have to say, having just returned from Hawaii, which has transportation problems of its own, I have a fresh perspective on the issues that we face here.

First, on Oahu, the highest posted speed limit is 55 miles an hour and the average is 35. Most people obey those limits. It takes a little work to get out of the 'rush' mentality that is in our blood here, but it is liberating to drive slowly. Not once did I fear for my life, which in Utah is an almost daily experience.

Second, on the North Shore, there's only one road to anywhere. They had a mudslide, while we were there, blocking off one direction travel. The solution? Just go the other way and loop around the other side of the island.

Hawaii is considering mass transit options, one form would be a high speed train moving from island to island, but the overall lesson should be that no matter how much money they throw at the problem, they won't 'solve' their transportation issues.

What ought we to do about congestion here? First, it might be wise to not fear, or loath, congestion as we do. Congestion is one sign of a healthy economy, and should give us a sense of the vitality of the people who live here. Second, we could drive responsibly. By all means, use the bus if you can, and obey the speed limit.

Chill out!

No matter how much money we throw at our transportation problems, we won't solve them here so its a good idea just to enjoy the ride.

Public Vs Private Education Conspiracies

Katie Christensen, of the Sutherland Institute, commented on my post "Schools in your area", in response to a theory that suggested that Sutherland wants us to think that private schools are geographical closer than public schools.

...We get our school addresses from the State Board of Education website. We have noticed that some of the addresses listed on that site are wrong...

Now Sutherland had been accused of being biased, which all organizations larger than zero people are. Katie doesn't not seem to be denying that fact. Qualitatively, however, the information that Sutherland has mashed together, in their School locater tool, is not influenced by Sutherland's distinct bias. Sutherland merely runs their calculations against the State Board of Education data.

So, maybe the State Board of Education wants us to think that private schools are more accessible than public schools?

School's In Your Area

I just came across this excellent school locator on the Sutherland Institute Website. You type in your zip code and it provides you with a list of schools, and their distance.

Salt Lake Sites, done by the same person as y-intercept, has made a list of Salt Lake Area Schools with descriptions, which is useful as well.

Splurting And Legislative Musings

In an alternate universe, in which I actually had time to blog today, here is what I would have blogged on. But, in more detail, and you would have laughed so hard that you would now be splurting 2% milk out of your nose, even though here, you only drink skim.

• Longer Legislative sessions
• Appropriations oversight
• Government bodies that lobby for special interest

Let's face it, all three of these topics are side-splitting funny on their face. Underneath, however, there might be some good ideas that could use some fleshing out.

For example, the idea has been proposed to move the first day of the legislature from Martin Luther King day, which has led others to suggest that the entire black history month is out of bounds. Which begs the question as to what you do for black history month on a leap year. One more day of "black history" might have been too much except that it only happens once every four years. Maybe we could give that extra day to another minority group--like, the visigoths.

What if our we had a legislature that only meets every four years, finishing every February 29th? Such a government might accomplish more because the elected would have less time in session to lobby the lobbyists for one more perk, and one more day that month to finish what they started (like that game of 'stack the salt shakers', for one). One rule could be that legislators could only get perks when they are in session.

A lobbyist may be overheard saying, "I'm out of Jazz tickets for this year, but I can book you some for 2012!"

2012 is going to be a great year for the Jazz!

All of these things are thought completely through in my doppelganger's head, but this brain is full of other things right now.

Things like the fact that 'splurting' is not a word, but it should be.

Davis Blogger Meeting: Success

I would count the first Davis Bloggers Meet and Eat a success. If you count Rob Millers little boy, there was a fellowship of nine bloggers that attended the casual event. We had a great time discussing local politics, and the ins and outs of blogging in general. Some ideas that sprang from that meeting.

• We should meet again and give others the chance to come. (I think spouses and children should be specifically invited next time)
  
• Often people are very different in person than on their blog (Some of us are nicer in person) ;)
• The idea of a 'bloggers day' at the legislature.
• Ideas on how to bring more diversity into Davis County politics, and hold our elected officials, and main stream media, accountable.
• That liberals, conservatives, and bloggers can, and do, come together for a free cookie!
• That liberals, conservatives, and bloggers can be on the same team!

I came away realizing that I needed to update my blog with some new links. (I hope you notice the difference) I'm glad that from the time I began blogging, two years ago, that the new media in this county has grown up.

Special thanks to George for sponsoring the cookies, Cutlers for being open at precisely 10AM, even though I arbitrarily picked the time--phew! Thanks to the younger Mr. Miller for humoring us political 'nutcakes', and posing like a pro for the cameras.

Stephenson Vs Hatch

The State Senate is proposing a bill that would require U.S. Senators to recieve counsel from the State legislature and report back. Howard Stephenson asked Orrin Hatch if he would support such a bill. Hatch replied that he had read it and would not, however he had to retract that statement.

Hatch 'clarified' that he had never read the bill but that the U.S. senate did not "give you direction."

Stephenson's choice reply?

"We get a lot of mandates, though. Some of them funded; some of them unfunded."

SB0202S01
Hat tip: SLTrib

Cheatsheet Lege Wrapup

HB0320S01: Recovery of costs involved with illegal immigration(Morgan)-1st Reading-Senate
HB131:Document Fraud(Morgan-Favorable recommendation and scheduled for 1st reading in Senate behind "indoor smoking amendments"
HB437:Limits on Government benefits to aliens(Herrod)- Back in House Rules....will it make it to the Senate?
SB63: Zero Based Budgeting-1st Reading-House. It's been to the Senate.

Lege: Progress Of Various Bills

HB0320S01 will likely make it through the House. The Senate is unknown. It seems to be uncontroversial.

Recovery of Federal Reimbursement:Third Reading, House

HB131 has made it through the House and was heard in the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee this morning.

Document Fraud:House to Senate

HB437 received a favorable vote in a house committee today.

Limitation on Benefits to Illegals:Favorable Recommendation in Committee

Zero Based Budgeting is one area that Wayne Niederhauser and I agree. He proposed the ghastly Restaurant spending bill that I've been fighting.

Zero Based Budgeting has gone through the Senate, and passed its first reading in the House.

State Zero Based Budgeting: Senate to House and Read First time

Reminder: Davis County-centric Searches

If you haven't tried out the Google Search box that appears on my sidebar, give it a whirl. It includes only results from bloggers who live or work in Davis County.

If you blog in Davis County yourself, and can't see results for your blog in the results, send me an email and I'll have you added.

Try it and see what's happening on the home front.

Davis County Custom Search

My Foray Into The Illegal Immigration Fray

I haven't talked about illegal immigration, on this blog, for a couple of good reasons. Here's why.

• Those who do enter this country illegally, do so from locations other than Utah. I'm dedicated to keeping this blog local. (Some would say 'extremely' dedicated.)
• The federal government should be primarily tasked with framing immigration laws, although they do provide funds to local governments to help enforce those laws. I don't address the federal government much here.

Discussions, on this blog, that might result from raising the subject of illegal immigration would quickly descend into realms that I do not wish to traverse. Namely, how to solve it. Let me express my view on this in brief. Just know that I don't want to discuss borders in comments, for reasons listed above, so if you ask my opinion I'm going to want to email you my response. Here it is. I believe a solution ultimately rests on the shoulders of the federal government. I don't think states should "carve out" exceptions to federal law, but are allowed to append to the federal laws where it applies on a local level.

One area which the states carry most of the burden is in solving identity theft.

I will discuss identity theft here, because it is directly a local issue. Identity theft has not been associated with the subject of illegal immigration in the media, but then again, identity theft has not been fully addressed by this state. The link between foreign nationals and identity theft is real, however. A recent raid across several states, of Swift facilities, was done to alleviate rampant identity theft that had taken place. ICE reported 1,282 arrests of foreign nationals. Were each of these arrests to represent one stolen identity, then the problem of identity theft would be bad enough, however, many of these arrests represent multiple identities stolen. This is not simply a problem of stolen bread, but of stolen livelihoods. Families that have been victimized by identity theft are not just lacking in their food stores, but often much more.

ICE has been criticized as "sinister" for framing this as an identity theft issue when the workers should have been deported as illegals only. I can't say that I blame the Feds, though. If they crack down on illegals for immigration offenses only, they would be seen as profilers, and racist. At least with the identity theft charge, they have an indisputable reason to proceed. Indisputable because the stealing of social security numbers, either by plain invention, or more advanced methods is a serious offense!

Or, has the government got a reason to prosecute illegal immigrants for identity theft? These days the government can't enforce the law on identity theft, without public outrage, unless a pedophile, or a drug cartel, is the culprit. Which brings me full circle to the borders which, topically, I'm dancing around. Are drug mules and pedophiles the only people crossing our borders? Absolutely not! This means of course that we shouldn't paint with too broad a stroke and label all foreign nationals as such. It also means that we ought to identify all victims, and all criminals as they are. It seems to me that the wave of illegal immigration is bringing something else on the tide. This "red tide" pollutes everything that it touches including those who work here without permission.

With that background I support Karen Morgan's bill (HB0320) which would go after the federal government for costs incurred to the state by illegal immigration. Also, Morgan's bill (HB0131) that gives stiff penalties to those who commit document fraud to establish a legal status. I support Christopher Herrod's bill (HB0437) to restrict how government benefits are given.

One more thing. Some supporters of these bills may indeed be bigots, zealots, or both. I can't let other peoples weaknesses get in the way of a good idea. I can't judge on that basis, and neither should you.

Hat tip: Deseret News (Focus on Victims of Illegal Immigration)

SB0063:Zero-based Budget

I must confess some ignorance on the concept of government implementing zero-based budgeting, so I've had to do a little research on it. Zero-based budgeting forces an organization to justify the total cost of a program, rather than just the cost of an increase for that program, when an increase is proposed. There is a Senate bill that is getting zero attention from the media that would implement this on a State level. Here is what I've found from other states that have tried this.

California's Senate

"Many commentators credit Peter A. Pyhrr with developing zero-based budgeting as a management tool for Texas Instruments. In 1971, Governor Jimmy Carter applied the concept to state budgeting in Georgia. Other states have since used aspects of the budgeting technique, including Florida, Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia and Rhode Island. After studying the various attempts at using ZBB, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) found that zero-based budgeting has limitations. It concluded, in Fundamentals of Sound State Budgeting Practices, that states have certain rigidities in their spending structure. Specifically: Statutes, obligations to local governments, requirements of the federal government, and other past decisions have many times created state funding commitments that are almost impossible to change very much in the short run. Much state spending, therefore, cannot usefully be subjected to the kind of fundamental reexamination that ZBB in its original form envisions. No state government has ever found this feasible. Even Georgia, where Governor Jimmy Carter introduced ZBB to state budgeting in 1971, employed a much modified form. Given the state's fiscal structure, would the author intend for school funding-including the funding required under Proposition 98-to be subject to a zero-based budgeting approach? Would the VLF backfill be subject to zero-based budgeting? Creating exemptions from the zero-based budgeting methodology will reduce the effectiveness of the bill."

Mackinac Center for Public Policy

"In addition to saving money and improving services, zero-based budgeting may:

• Increase restraint in developing budgets;
• Reduce the entitlement mentality with respect to cost increases; and
• Make budget discussions more meaningful during review sessions.

On the cost side of the equation, zero-based budgeting:

• May increase the time and expense of preparing a budget;
• May be too radical a solution for the task at hand. You don’t need a sledgehammer to pound in a nail;
• Can make matters worse if not done in the right way. A substantial commitment must be made by all involved to ensure that this doesn’t happen."

"...First, the success of such a change like this hinges strongly on leadership that is dedicated to the task. If those appointed to conduct budget reviews are unwilling to truly assess every item in their budget, word will get out quickly that this new budgeting technique is more symbolism than substance. Indeed, it is incumbent upon proponents of zero-based budgeting to ensure that those reviewing the budget do not have a pecuniary interest in maintaining the status quo. Allowing people who will be most affected by the elimination of programs to conduct their own reviews may be counterproductive, since most people are quick to defend their own interests.

Second, don’t attempt to do zero-based budgeting for every department, every year. Such a move may prove impossible to manage. Instead, choose several departments and/or agencies, and rotate through every facet of state government over time. In Oklahoma, which has recently adopted zero-based budgeting, officials are applying the method to two departments and several agencies each year. Once those reviews are complete, the same departments and agencies will not see another zero-based review for eight years.

Third, ensure that each review is conducted by referencing all aspects of a department, agency or program to what its goals are. This makes the very purpose of the entity being reviewed transparent, and can increase the opportunities available for making objective measurements of a department, agency or program’s success rate."

The Pros and Cons of Zero-based Budgeting [Mackinac Center for Public Policy]

SB0063:Zero-based Budget

Careless drivers would be targets, speed limit raised

I like Jenkins Careless Driving bill today more than I did initially. My hesitancy was because it can't always be proved that a person was multi-tasking (i.e. talking on the phone, attending to children, etc) once the officer pulls a driver over. Not if they were pulled over for speeding and the driver was, otherwise in their own lane, and not a danger anyone.

Jenkins has amended the bill so that police can't pile on with these careless driving offenses if the person is only speeding. If, however, they are swerving all over the road, and can't manage multi-tasking, then these might be added to their ticket.

Now it seems that careless driving would require some proof before it is enforced. I can't argue with that.

However, the 5 mile an hour increase, is a problem. I don't think we should change the law to accommodate what people are already doing. There is no data to say that increasing the speed limit will make us safer.

Careless drivers would be targets, speed limit raised

Happy Milton Friedman Day!

A couple of quotes, relevant to some intense debate we've seen in blogoland.

On Education Vouchers

"I want [education] vouchers to be ... available to everyone. They should contain few or no restrictions on how they can be used. We need a system in which the government says to every parent: 'Here is a piece of paper you can use for the education purposes of your child. It will cover the full cost per student at a government school. It is worth X dollars toward the cost of educational services that you purchase from parochial schools, private for-profit schools, private nonprofit schools, or other purveyors of educational services. You may add from your own funds to the voucher if you wish and can afford to.'

...creating a Class-based society

"Empowering parents would generate a competitive education market, which would lead to a burst of innovation and improvement, as competition has done in so many other areas. There's nothing that would do so much to avoid the danger of a two-tiered society, of a class-based society ... "

On Government Waste

"Many people complain about government waste, but I welcome it. ... [W]aste brings home to the public at large the fact that government is not an efficient and effective instrument for achieving its objectives. One of the great causes for hope is a growing disillusionment with the idea that government is the all-wise, all-powerful big brother who can solve every problem that comes along."

There is a PBS Documentary on him that, in Utah should be airing on January 31st at 2:00 AM.

That's no typo. Don't forget to nap before hand, or you could use one of those new-fangled recording dealies.

Hat tip to Larry Kudlow, John Stossel, and Paul Krugman.

Utah Policy Daily: All Right, I'm Calling A Truce

Not that war had ever been declared.

I have been on the attack of Utah Policy Daily. My most recent volley was of the Blog Watch feature. I criticized the fact that Golden, who manages the Blog Watch section, used the word 'here' ad nauseum,(shouldn't Latin be italicized??) instead of listing the name of the actual post.

Well, he's listing the posts by title now.

Yeah, it looks better.

My point in all of this was to say that UPD might better use that space for some other feature. (Some have suggested a Mitt Romney Watch II)

See, it's hard work to manually aggregate a bunch of disparate blog posts together. It can be automated so well as shown here, here, here, and here. I thought I could save Golden some mind-bending labor. But, he seems to be bound and determined to carry on--and to excel at it.

As you were, Golden. Don't let me get in your way.

Olly Olly Oxen Free

I'm going to be sending some emails with specific invitations to a gathering of Davis County bloggers, but I wanted to put out a general invitation first.

If there are any Davis County bloggers, that can prove that they exist in the blogosphere, that would like to meet other bloggers in the County, leave a comment?

This is, likely, going to be a one time deal. But, it will give us a chance to chat, with our actual faces, and our human voices.

Of course, if successful, we'll do this again.

Successful, to me, means that we are able to create a synergy around shared concerns, so that when we return to blogging, that we have a sense of common purpose.

The Demise Of UPD:Blog Watch

It really is time for Utah Policy Daily to put "Blog Watch" out of its misery. Golden filled a niche for a time, but I'm afraid that technology trumps the person, in this case.

Today's "Utah Policy: Blog Watch" was a sad example of how inferior man can be against the machine. Golden Webb repeated the word "here" thirty-eight times, while providing a corresponding link. Not too helpful. On the other hand, the Utah Blog Hive, automatically provides the title of each blog post, plus each of the blogs are, exclusively, searchable from the Hive.

I'm sure that Golden's job has become so painful that he'd probably pull the trigger himself!

Mayor Schaeffermeyer::Got To Like Her Style!

I like NSL's mayor, Shanna Schaeffermeyer. Even if I can't yet spell her name.

She stood up for NSL, fighting a commitment to Legacy Highway, by saying, "For our city, it's pushed so far west that we won't use it."

Contrast that with Centerville's Mayor. Mayor Russell got duped into letting UDOT plan a major artery through town, and downtown. Main Street to be precise.

We need mayors in Davis County that will stand up for the interests of their cities, when the overall goals of the larger state are harmful.

P.S. I hear that Mayor Schaeffermeyer has been holding the South Davis Recreation District board to a higher standard as well.

It doesn't hurt at all that she can't have a seat on the board.

She has a voice. And, she uses it.

Davis County mayors pass transportation resolutions