A number of you have had questions about some of the bills I supported this past legislative session. It’s important to understand that all too often today, those in the media and those who push a political agenda are eager to unfairly represent the facts in a way that demonizes those they don’t agree with, and both sides are guilty of this dishonesty. I appreciate those of you who have reached out to me with questions and I hope to be able to clear up some confusion on a number of issues that have recently been brought to the attention of my constituents.
First of all, let me explain what we did with HB 293. This bill impacts property rates by freezing the basic rate for a period of five years in order to equalize education funding to benefit those areas of the state with lower property values, and thus lower local funding ability. At the same time, it reduces the state income and corporate income tax rate from 5 percent to 4.95 percent.
These changes allowed the state to stave off a much greater tax increase being pushed by those behind the Our Schools Now initiative, which would have included a 9.5 percent sales tax rate increase and a 9 percent income tax rate increase.
SB 136 was the bill that completely restructured UTA in order to reform what has become, by all accounts, a tainted agency, and allow for greater public accountability. As far as tax increases, it allows for a local option sales tax of 0.2 percent for public transit, but this must be approved at the local level, giving communities the ability to decide what makes the most sense for them.
The legislation also included a provision that moves toward a more balanced tax burden for drivers. States have commonly used the gas tax to fund roads and other transportation investment. As more traditional vehicles are replaced with electric and hybrid automobiles, we face a growing problem of fewer dollars to fund the needs of a burgeoning population and increasing demands.
In order to address this issue before it becomes a crisis, the Utah Legislature included in SB 136 a provision that will increase the registration fees of electric and hybrid vehicles to help offset the costs incurred through their use of shared roadways without the requisite tax paid by gas and diesel automobiles.
It only makes sense that as our modes of transportation change, our ways of funding basic infrastructure change as well to match the realities of modern life. This will still only amount to about 50 percent, per vehicle, of what the gas tax would generate, but is a good start to sharing the burden among all users of our roads.
Medicaid expansion has been a hot topic ever since the ACA was instituted, and the Utah Legislature has consistently resisted due to a number of major concerns, including costs that have strained state budgets across the nation. The ACA expansion also creates welfare cliffs that tend to incentivize all the wrong behaviors and keep people from escaping poverty over the long-term.
The current presidential administration, acknowledging these weaknesses in the program, promised flexibility that would allow the states to address these problems. HB 472 contains an enrollment cap that limits our liability and allows an expansion without any new state dollars.
It keeps appropriate incentives in place by including a work requirement for able-bodied adults, thus providing a pathway out of poverty for those who participate. The bill also requires that those who have access to employer-based health insurance and those who make over 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) and therefore qualify for the federal exchange, will not qualify for Medicaid. As a result, this Medicaid expansion ends up looking nothing like the original one instituted under the ACA.
So much of what we do in the Legislature involves a much deeper understanding than can be conveyed in a short news clip or advertisement. I promise that as your representative I will carefully study the issues and listen to all sides to ensure that I do my very best to represent you, my constituents, in the way that you have entrusted me to do.
Representative Carl Albrecht, District 70
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