H.J.R 11 - Health Insurance Reform

Though I do not agree with the current direction of Health Care Reform, Representative Morley's bill to exempt Utah from Health Insurance Reform is a big time waster. During yesterday's Business and Labor Committee HJR 11 was passed 8 to 4; however the interesting part was the lack of information Mr. Morley presented. When asked how many people are uninsured, he was clueless. In the end he appeared to really know nothing about the Utah Health Care System and instead appeared to have an axe to grind against the federal government. He explained he would rather sacrifice his neighbor's health in exchange for Utah's sovereignty.

If you are going to bring a bill like this to the table; please know what you are talking about. This is a waste of time and not the way to fix health care in Utah or America. Lets try coming up with some ideas on how to improve health care. #lame.

For some more time wasters, read yesterday's Standard Examiner Editoral Page.

Affordablity of Student Tuition

During yesterday's Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee we were given a great analysis of the USTAR program and also how tuition compares around the state. Our own Rep. Wallis asked a great question of Dave Buhler from the State Board of Regents. Why is the cost so high at our community colleges in comparison with other western schools? He noticed, though most of our Universities are below the WICHI average, our community colleges are not in comparison. Mr. Buhler explained most states use property tax as well as state appropriations and tuition to lower costs. Since we do not allocate any property tax to community colleges, their costs are much higher.

Mr. Wallis stressed a need to have cheaper options here in Utah. The comment was made a number of times that Utah is above the norm when it comes to number of kids in school. Many families have more than two of their children attending college. This can cause a huge burden on families. Efforts need to be made to bring the cost down to allow more people to attend.

I liked where Rep. Wallis was going with this. Maybe it is time to re-look at how we fund these institutions. I am glad we are making efforts to avoid any cuts this year, but how are we going to be able to fund future growth of Higher Education. If not property tax, then something needs to be looked at to give schools more options of funding.

I smell some new legislation in the future for Mr. Wallis on this issue.

HB 24 - Economic Development Incentives Act Amendments

Rep. Brent Wallis has hit a home run with this bill. HB 24 is straight forward and to the point and brings needed accountability to economic development. We often hear about stimulus programs or incentive programs that lure businesses to Utah and promise job creation. But what if what they say isn't true? Is there any holding these people accountable? Mr. Wallis' bill would require these businesses to prove they have done what they have promised. The amendments state the following:

103 (d) documentation that the business entity has satisfied the performance
benchmarks
104 outlined in the agreement described in Subsection 63M-1-2404 (3)(a), including:
105 (i) significant capital investment:
106 (ii) the creation of high paying jobs;
107 (iii) significant purchases from Utah vendors and providers; or
108 (iv) any combination of Subsections (2)(d)(i), (ii), and (iii).

As you can see, this are significant requirement additions and also needed. If we are going to give tax incentives we must have accountability. This bill is now on its way to the senate having received only nine nay votes in the house.

Great Job Mr. Wallis.

Scott Darrington leaves for Pleasant Grove

Many might not know, but the City Manager Scott Darrington has taken a new job in Pleasant Grove. I thought Scott did a great job here in South Ogden and I had many opportunities to talk to him. Thanks Scott for all you brought to our city and good luck on your next adventure.

Goodbye Barnes Banking Co.

This weekend Barnes Banking Co. aka Barnes Bank closed its doors. After 119 years of business the bank is no more. Where does that leave us here in Utah or the Weber County? Barnes has a branch in South Ogden, as well as a many other places, so this story does hit close to home. Through this event I have realized two things: First, the devastating greed that caused the current financial mess is not isolated only to Wall Street but to Utah as well. Second, the economic woes of the country are just beginning to hit our state and more is to come; therefore we need to me prepared than ever.

The FDIC projects losses will reach $271 Million from the failure of Barnes. These kinds of losses can cripple a community and my heart goes out to the people of Kaysville. I was there first hand watching people coming out, with only $500 of the maximum Saturday withdrawal, wondering what they were going to do next. I saw people boxing their office up and talking about the past 20 years of their life and how they had nowhere to go. What is next? The FDIC will take over for the next 30 days allowing people to pull out their money and then they are gone forever, leaving many without a job and huge hit to our economy.

Folks, you know where I work. I work for a credit union. But never before have I seen a bigger need for people to move their finances to somewhere safe. Credit Unions are non-profit, meaning our primary goal is to make the member [customer] money. Our profits go back to the member in the form of low rates, higher interest; not to mention a 7 percent bonus dividend that we paid this year. At a credit union, you own the financial institution. You get a vote, as a shareholder, on how things should be done.

Though I am inviting you all to come to Goldenwest Credit Union; my real purpose for this post is to bring to light how horrible this bank failure is to our community and how irresponsible this bank has been in letting it happen. I feel the worst is not over in Utah and we must be prepared. If your financial institution isn’t in the top 10 percent in financial strength or isn’t highly rated on websites like bankrate.com, then it is time to move.

Other posts of interest:

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/state/story/Barnes-Bank-shuts-down-Zions-Bank-to-assist/roQDUnceIkWHAzhNcEVpjQ.cspx?rss=1451

http://www.fruitheightsfriends.com/2010/01/barnes-bank-closes-after-119-years-in-business/

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-392710

http://cuesskybox.typepad.com/nexus_connection/2010/01/go-get-em-goldenwest.html

Why South Ogden City is using Social Media Wrong

I read this amazing blog post about social media today. http://www.engagedc.com/2010/01/05/two-cities-two-mayors-two-approaches/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+PatrickRuffini+(Patrick+Ruffini)

It shows two different approaches to social media and also answers the question of previous posts of why social media is important.

With the legislature rearing up and new people running for office in the coming year, social media will be used in some very exciting ways. David Carr of the New York times recently talked in more detail as to why Twitter will endure: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/weekinreview/03carr.html

I encourage our councilmen, mayor and more to be more actively involved with social media. Our new mayor jumped in to twitter and facebook while running for office, but once he was elected he stopped using them. This is concerning to me, since he found it [social media] important enough to use to reach out to people, but now he doesn't care.

Social Media and Political Campaigns

During this last election I made a number of comments to facebook, blogs and twitter. I questioned the methods of those who refused to embrace the idea of social media. I have thought a lot about the questions that came back to me from candidates and readers. As we head into a new world flattened by technology, I believe we will see more candidates and political pundits embracing social media. At the same time we will have many nay sayers to the idea of new technology. The old days of writing letters and phone calls will still exist (for awhile), but are quickly being replaced with emails, twitter and facebook profiles. History is full of examples of people and groups who refused to embrace or even look at change.

Some examples:

1. Western Union. They stated the idea of letter writing would never catch on and telegrams would always be the preferred method of communication.
2. Kodak. They thought no one would ever use a digital camera. Digital is dumb.
3. FranklinCovey. When I worked there they would say, "Paper has been around for 3000 years no one will ever use a digital planner or smartphone."

Each of these companies and their CEO's made fundamental decisions to not look nor embrace changes in technology. In fact they did everything they could to avoid it. You will also notice most of the CEOs left their companies once profits tanked.

Here is an interesting video and article on this very subject posted in UtahPolicy.org .

If you are newly elected or thinking about it, get involved with social media. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish. Don't push it away and write it off as a fad. Really look into this and see what it is all about. It isn't the solution to the best campaign or the best politician. But it is an amazing tool to push to the next level.