Weekly Update 01/18/15

Greetings from the Capitol

The 2015 Legislative Session is just a week away! While I doubt I will ever feel ready for this, I am excited to get started. I have been busy preparing for the session: attending freshman orientation, trainings, budget briefings and a variety of other meetings. I have received my office and floor desk assignments, ID badge, committee assignments, official computer and cell phone. I have also been bombarded by requests to attend a variety of meetings in the coming weeks.

The Session Begins

The session officially kicks off on Monday, January 26, at 10:00 a.m. The opening session will include a tribute to Speaker Lockhart as well as the traditional ceremonial activities. If you want to attend in person, please contact me for details. You can also watch live on the internet (le.utah.gov).

Legislative Team

Michael Farace from Weber State will be helping as my legislative intern for the session.  I am also pleased to introduce our district’s team of legislative volunteers:

Legislative Assistants – Molly McCall (PR45) and Erica Clark (PR01)

District Volunteers – Pat Bird (SP04), Steve Baxter (SP04), Michael Knecht (PR02), and Nate Draschil (PR04)

If you have a little extra time each week and want to be on the team, please let me know.

Week in Review (Highlights)

This week, I have spent a lot of time on the proposed Wood Smoke Ban. The proposal is to add non-inversion days from November to March as days where wood cannot be burned in stoves or fireplaces. In studying this issue, I have reviewed data from the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) that shows that wood smoke has no impact on air quality on non-inversion days. I am opposed to the proposed ban because it restricts freedom, imposes added costs on citizens and will not produce a meaningful improvement in air quality. I encourage constituents to attend the DAQ public hearing on January 29 at 11:00 a.m. at the Historic Utah County Courthouse.  (More info: http://www.deq.utah.gov/Topics/Air/woodburning/rules.htm)

On Friday morning, Utah County legislators were invited to meet with the judges from the 4th District Court and Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant. The main point of the meeting was to help us understand the need for an additional Juvenile Court judge for the district, which has been identified by court administrators as their highest priority. They are also working on a proposal to replace the aging court building on the corner of 100 N and 100 W in Provo.

Upcoming Events

There will be several opportunities to meet with me during the session.  I am hoping to publish dates and places for Town Hall meetings in next week’s update.

I would also like to host a “District 64 Day at the Capitol” if there is sufficient interest. If you would like to come to the capitol during the session for a tour and possibly other events, please e-mail me so we will know if there is enough interest to make it work.

 

3 thoughts on “Weekly Update 01/18/15”

  1. Thank you Representative Thurston for your service. I’m curious to learn more about the information you point to from the DAQ about the effect of wood smoke on non-inversion days. I’m looking all around on their website and haven’t found anything that speaks to that question specifically. As I read the information that they do provide, they do not seem to be making a distinction between inversion and non-inversion days in discussing the significant health risks of wood smoke, not just for the household that burns wood, but for the surrounding neighborhood. Could you point to your information that specifically says that woodsmoke is not injurious to the community on non-inversion days?

    Thanks very much.

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