Friday Facts for April 10, 2020

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Utah League of Cities and Towns

Friday Facts for April 10, 2020

Greetings! We are now four weeks into social distancing in Utah and the Governor announced today that we have three more weeks to go. Next week could be the busiest of them all! This email will update you on what to expect from next week’s unprecedented special session of the legislature (see legislative advocacy section), announce a Monday afternoon town hall for local leaders to help your community prepare your budget (economic & fiscal impact, and best practices), remind you of Tuesday’s virtual town hall with Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, remind you of our legislative training on land use, and spotlight the video interviews that ULCT President and Spanish Fork Council Member Mike Mendenhall did with top-polling gubernatorial candidates prior to social distancing.

covid square

COVID-19: ULCT resources to date

You can review all of our COVID-19 daily emails from last week (and beyond) as well as links to our conference calls, state and federal resources, and more on our new and improved COVID-19 landing page, courtesy of ULCT’s Karson Eilers, on our website HERE

The key highlights from the week include:

  • The Governor’s extension of his “Stay Home, Stay Safe” directive through May 1
  • How your city can help your small businesses apply for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) from the CARES Act
  • Municipal Liquidity Facility from the Federal Reserve
  • The Governor’s order about self-declaration at points of entry
  • Our Tuesday conversation with Lt. Governor Spencer Cox 
  • Today’s briefing from the state.

Legislative Advocacy

Legislative Advocacy

Coming soon: Legislative Special Session

Team ULCT is anxiously engaged in advocating for cities in next week’s expected special session. Our Board of Directors will meet on Monday to consider the bills and concepts. Here is what you need to know:

  1. For the first time ever, the legislature will meet virtually. They are still finalizing the details, but that likely means no committee hearings and legislators will vote on the House and Senate floor from home.
  2. Since amending the constitution, the legislature may exercise for the first time the power to call themselves into session. Traditionally, the Governor would call them and he would identify what went on the agenda. Under the new voter approved process, the legislature can call themselves and set their agenda. Legislative leadership is coordinating which bills their members will consider.
  3. We expect this special session to be the first of several this spring.
  4. As of the time of this writing, all potential bills are still being drafted and nothing is available for review.
  5. We expect legislation concerning: the state budget, the authority of local health departments, the Governor’s exercise of the emergency power, tax collection timing, compensation for businesses impacted by health orders, unemployment insurance, housing and eviction policy, election process, public education, and the implementation of the CARES Act. 
  6. Here are the three biggest issues for cities and towns as of now:
    • Local authority: legislators are considering the roles of staff and boards of local health departments and local elected officials. There is also some discussion around state and local governments compensating those affected by health orders. Team ULCT, and other stakeholders, have raised concerns about respecting the role that we all play in emergency management.
    • Tax collection timing: the legislature will modify tax collection because of the delayed income tax filing date from April 15 to July 15. There are rumblings around changes to the timing of property tax payment or sales tax remittance. Team ULCT, along with many partners, have raised concerns about the consequences of delaying the remittance of sales tax revenues to the state and local governments.
    • CARES Act: the State of Utah will receive $1.25 billion to reimburse the state and local governments for unbudgeted “necessary expenditures.” We are all waiting on the Treasury Department to issue guidance about the definitions of “local government” and “necessary expenditures.” ULCT and the Utah Association of Counties submitted a joint letter from our officers to the Governor and legislative leadership urging cooperation between the state, cities, towns, metro townships, and counties in distributing CARES Act revenue.  Thus far, the response from the Governor and legislative leadership has been positive.

      7.  In addition to the above potential legislative items, Team ULCT submitted a list of               policy and fiscal priorities on Tuesday to the Governor and legislative leadership. Our           Board of Directors will meet on Monday.

As bills become public, we will notify you of the potential impact so that you can immediately follow up with your legislators to offer support or express opposition. Legislative leadership and the Governor have all indicated a desire to work with ULCT as we tackle these unprecedented challenges. As a reminder, our three pillars of legislative engagement are RESPECT, COLLABORATION, and OUTCOMES and we use our three-fold policy prism to evaluate bills.



COVID-19

ULCT Upcoming Events

ULCT's Town Hall for Local Leaders

There are many answers local leaders are seeking as we work to quickly manage the challenges of the coronavirus.  ULCT is working to provide answers to your questions with our regular COVID resources emails, social media updates and links to Governor Herbert's daily briefings, and conversations with Lt. Governor Cox who's leading the state COVID task force.

On Monday, we'll launch a new opportunity to hear from the experts about working through the realities of the pandemic. Join us Monday at 4:00 pm for a virtual forum for Utah's municipal leaders. 

On "ULCT Town Hall for Local Leaders,"  will allow you to hear insight and ask questions of the following panelists:

  • Juliette Tennert, the Director of Economic and Public Policy Research, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute: Pandemic impact on the Utah economy and what it means to city budgets
  • Gary Hill, City Manager, Bountiful City, Quin Bennion, City Manager Vernal City, and Dean Lundell, Finance Director Lehi City: The budget process- optimism vs. pessimism, amending your plan
  • and your correspondent and legislative staff: What the CARES act means to local municipalities and what to expect in the legislative special session. 

Join ULCT's Monday Town Hall


Spencer J. Cox

On Tuesday at 3:30 pm, our ULCT Town Hall for Local Leaders will be another Q&A with Lt. Governor Spencer Cox. 

Please submit your questions for the Lt. Governor by Monday at noon.  You can also ask any questions for Monday's town hall experts by clicking here.

 

Join Tuesday's Q&A with Lt. Governor 


LUAU Logo

Resources and Training

2020 Legislative Update for Planners

April 14, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Virtual training via Zoom

City planners are a devoted bunch... and even a pandemic won't curb an opportunity to share valuable information among these professionals! 

land use

Planners are invited to participate in a virtual training this coming Tuesday... and there is a lot to talk about following the recent legislative session. From affordable housing to subdivision plats, eminent domain to annexation. Presenters will give you information you need to know! This is a virtual training so you can learn simply by joining this webinar.  Questions for our presenters will be facilitated using the chat box.

Presenters: Wilf Sommerkorn, APA Utah Legislative Co-Chair

Angela Price, APA Utah Legislative Co-Chair

Meg Ryan, Utah League of Cities and Towns Land Use Expert

Victoria Ashby, Director of Government Relations, Utah League of Cities and Towns

There is no charge and no need to register, just join us on the webinar this Tuesday.

Click here for zoom coordinates


Spotlight

Spotlight

ULCT's “Questions for the Candidates” 

State leadership has a major impact on the future of our cities and towns. In this election year, there is a packed field of candidates vying for the position of governor.  ULCT believes it’s critically important to understand their vision for the future and assess how well their priorities align with our local community priorities.  Before the pandemic outbreak, ULCT’s Board of Directors worked with staff to identify some of the most pressing concerns we deal with in our cities and towns. We formulated a list of questions about issues such as growth, transportation, tax reform, and economic development to ask the candidates.  ULCT invited the candidates polling above 3% to join League President Mike Mendenhall for an in-depth conversation about these issues. Over the last week we’ve posted these interviews on our ULCT Facebook page and YouTube channel to help you determine who to support, and possibly endorse. We appreciate President Mendenhall’s time and effort that he put into this project and we hope you benefit from watching these 15-minute segments we call ULCT’s Questions for the Candidates.”

Interview with Spencer J. Cox

Interview with Jeff Burningham

Interview with Jon Huntsman

Interview with Thomas Wright 

Interview with Greg Hughes

Interview with Aimee Winder Newton


Newstand

The Newstand