H.B. 104 State Holiday Amendments: transcript

All of you. Yes, thank you. Um, good to be back in here and seeing you on that particular dais representative. Um, yeah, Seems like we were just here. Um, but yeah, this, this bill is literally the exact same bill that we passed off the floor last year and died on the Senate board. Um, it, uh, makes, uh, the first Tuesday, November election day a state holiday. Um, although with some caveats we're not actually forcing anybody to take the day off. Um, it's kind of a hybrid that way, meaning it'll get the title and hopefully sometime soon when the current administration finalizes their plans, then it'll become a federal holiday. But, uh, until then it'll be state holiday here and we'll do everything we can to encourage folks to vote. Um, and there will be, we've heard from a number of, uh, private folks that are, would love to have, um, a nudge or an excuse to do that, to give their folks some extra time. There are several, uh, pieces to our code that require that, including a couple of hours, including for the private sector already. We're not changing any of those, so there is no fiscal note. This is literally the exact same bill we passed off the floor last year. Happy to answer any questions if there are any.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, what I love about this bill is I see four day weekends in the future with, uh, a Tuesday morning election. We go vote and then barbecuing the rest of the day. So thank, thank you for the bill As long as you vote. That's great. Yeah, I would personally oppose this. If it were warm weather, people would go to the lake instead of voting, but perhaps because it is November, they'll actually go vote. Depends on if it's a La Nina year again. I don't know. That's true. There you go.

Thank, thank you. I I, uh, I appreciate there's no fiscal note, but if it's a, if, if it's a becomes a holiday, what do you anticipate will happen with, uh, what's gonna happen with, with the way the community operates on, on that day, uh, banks and so forth. That'd be up to them. We're not requiring anything. Um, it'd be up to their individual policies. I mean, there's already state code that they're required to give time off with enough notice, uh, to go vote. Uh, my hope is that this would be a good reminder to, to go actually do that, to encourage those, uh, folks to take advantage of that. But there is no requirement for a, a closure or anything like that. So you don't an you don't anticipate any economic ramifications because We, yeah, we, we had this conversation last year, um, when it was like a normal state holiday was required and that we, that argument we could make then, I suppose. But if somebody closes at this point with this one, it's their choice to do that. It's not a Yeah, we're not compelling anything. Yep. Alright. Thank you. Yep.

Okay. Marilyn Momani, I'm a citizen representing myself. I think it's a great idea. I love it. But kind of in line with what Mike Peterson just said, I does the state, if we say it's a holiday, does the state then have to pay overtime to all the employees that are working or the county employees if they're required to work that day? That's my only concern. I, I was a business owner and I worked in Fortune 300 companies for a long time. And so when you say holiday, generally that means overtime. Our firemen getting paid time and a half or double time. I don't know how all that works, but it may be private, uh, business impact. But otherwise I think it's a great idea and it would definitely help to ensure that people can't make the excuse that they don't have time to go vote. So I would support it.

Yeah, Seth Stewart. I'm an American Fork. This makes for great entertainment, frankly. Um, but, uh, in fairness, I will ask that you set aside caucus night as an election holiday as well, because otherwise, uh, you're introducing a selection bias towards democratic candidates with a lowercase d I'm gonna quote to you from New York State Board of Elections v Lopez Torres, which is a Supreme Court case it says to be sure. We have as described below, permitted states to set their faces against party bosses by requiring party candidate selection through processes more favorable to insurgents such as primaries and another case California Democratic Party v Jones. The court says when their nomination depends on the general electorate rather than on the party faithful, it is less likely that party nominees will be equally observant of internal party procedures and equally respectful of party discipline. So the Supreme Court of the United States has recognized that the election method used substantially changes the kind of candidate that gets elected in that election. The Count My Vote initiative, which spearheaded the 2014 sessions SB 54, cited that time and place restrictions preclude many Utahans military personnel, business travelers, missionaries, emergency responders, night shift workers, stay at home, parents with small children from any realistic opportunity to maintain consistent involvement. And that's in reference to the caucus convention system and the fact that it does not enjoy, uh, any kind of, uh, preferred status. As with our general elections, if we were to make caucus night a holiday as well, we could substantially ameliorate those concerns. I'm gonna quote the Supreme Court further. A state may not substitute its judgment for that of the party as to the desirability of a particular internal party structure by having ruled against litigation challenging SB 54 from the 2014 legislative session. Alright, Set the time's up. Thank you.

Thank you. I'd like to make the motion that we favorably recommend House Bill 1 0 4.

like to speak to it? Yeah, Just briefly. I know that the good sponsor has worked on this for a couple years now. I know when I teach American government, one of the things that we look at is the different things countries do to try and incentivize and encourage people to vote. And this one stands out. I think, you know, we have holidays for a lot of different things that range from Groundhog Day to Labor Day. I can think of nothing more important than our elections. And so I support election day and I very much appreciate you did not replace Columbus Day. So thank you.

You. Uh, I just, I think it's important given, uh, that nomination or that recommendation that was purely a financial question last year. I know I love Columbus Day. I'll forgive you next year. Forgot about my passionate Italians body. Okay. No. Um, in all seriousness, uh, one of the first bills that I spoke to on the floor in like 2009 when I was much younger and handsomer had to do with our, our right to vote into a secret ballot. And when we step into that booth was the example I used. Nobody had ever heard of mail-in voting yet, or, uh, any of these other things that this has kind of turned into. But how when we step into that booth, that is our civic sacrament. It's between us and our maker. Nobody else is involved. Nobody else has a say all the time for preparation's over. And it's us, our conscience of God. And we get a chance to, to express that and exercise our faith in this experiment that continues this year with our 250th anniversary. We didn't have that right. I would love more than nothing else than to be able to make it a full state holiday and give it the recognition that it deserves. And bring us back to the culture that I was elected in the first time, honestly, where we met everybody from our neighborhood and went together and lined up, checked our id. Didn't seem to be a problem back then. And, uh, I'd love to do that, but mostly because of what it meant and, um, that participation and that, uh, opportunity for us to, to weigh in together in those elections. And I would love to, to codify that process. So thank you for your work in this committee. I, I was hopeful it would get a chance to come to this committee, uh, last year and then this year. 'cause I know how much you guys have worked on in improving our election system and that you would understand what we were after. So thank you for the opportunity.

I'll waive. Alright. Summations waived.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, this one is the same bill that we had last year. We passed through, uh, I think it died on the Senate board last day, uh, of the session. But the essential part of this one is, uh, that we, um, are making the election day a state holiday. It's not a, a requirement that you take the day off any of those things. We, we had some concerns about that. Um, this is kind of a hybrid of sorts, but it encourages those, uh, who, uh, are voting to be able to give them time to vote on the day and to set that day aside as something special as our, both our civic sacrament and, um, the acts that we take. That that frankly leads us all that separates us from dictatorships around the world. Um, happy to answer any questions, but again, this is the same bill that we passed last year.

Thank you. We'll sponsor a yield to a series of questions. Representative Wilcox, will you yield to a series of questions?

Happy to. Yes. Representative Thurston,

Uh, my first question I may be, my only question is, does this Bill, uh, sorry, actually it's two questions. I'll just ask them together. Does this bill require all state employees to get the day off, including public safety and other workers that necessarily are important for our safety? And the second one is, does the bill require other employers also such as hospitals and healthcare workers to give their employees a day off?

Uh, Mr. Speaker? No. And no.

Okay. Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. There's one portion of this bill that just troubles me a little, a little. So the bill doesn't have a fiscal note in the sense of an an additional amount of tax money the state would have to pay, but the bill does estimate $8 million of lost state productivity, um, during that day. So if, if we're going to think about the cost to the state in terms of lost productivity, if, to me that is a valid way to think of it. To me that's like a fiscal note, um, of $8 million on the bill. We have several different state holidays. We've passed the Juneteenth holiday here recently. Um, to me we need to regard that as an actual cost. To me. We should want this bill $8 million worth before we pass it. And somewhere along the way, if we keep adding holidays on even for very valid, very solemn, very sacred duties as this bill does, then we need to probably not be surprised if there is less output if our departments come back and have to hire more people somewhere to get the same amount of output. So that's just my concern. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I understand that, uh, certainly as the bill does not require, I mean that's certainly an estimate does not require time off for any of those employees. Uh, the current law does though already require at the request of the employee, uh, I believe it's three hours that they are required to give. That's public and private sector. That's not what this bill is. Um, I suppose if, uh, I hope that we're that productive, I should say as state employees, I don't wanna say that we're not, but I also don't want to ever be in a position where we are not doing everything we can to encourage folks to, uh, have confidence in our elections to vote in person. Uh, if that's, if that's what does that for them and to, uh, reinstate that as uh, the, like I said our earlier in my comments, our primary civic sacrament. Um, I will note that I've had conversations as well with, uh, the White House on this and that they have been, uh, moving that direction nationally. This may be a moot point fairly soon. Um, but, uh, whether or not that happens, I think it's an important step for us to take. Thank you Mr.