Huntsman signs university residency bill on last possible day

RESIDENCY HELP: Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signs HB 118 while state Rep. Jack Draxler looks on. / Photo by Jen Beasley

By Jen Beasley

March 21, 2007 | Jonny may have come lately, but he did come.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed 13 locally sponsored bills into law Tuesday in Logan, approving them on the last day possible in the 20-day window to sign or veto bills after the 2007 legislative session.

Several of the bills had implications for higher education, including HB 118, which allows universities to choose their own standards for when a student may apply for residency. Under the new law, universities may allow students to file for residency any time after the student has lived in Utah for one continuous year, much sooner than the three-year or 60-credit hour standard it replaced.

State Rep. Jack Draxler said he sponsored the bill in recognition that the previous three-year residency standard, enacted in 2002, had "unintended consequences" for universities, when the specter of paying three years of non-resident tuition drove non-resident students away. Before it was changed in the 2002 legislation, the requirement had been one year.

"We lost the people, we lost the students," Draxler said. "We decided, 'Let's get that back to one year.'"

Also signed into law was HB 241, sponsored by state Rep. Ronda Menlove, which appropriated $1.2 million in funding for the Terrel H. Bell Teaching Incentives Program. The program provides full-tuition loans to students intending to become teachers in needed areas such as science and special education. Students who receive the funding agree to teach in Utah for the equivalent amount of time for which they received the loan. Once their teaching agreement is completed, the loan is waived and does not have to be repaid. Teachers who teach in rural areas are only required to teach for half the amount of time for which they received funding from the program.

April Oostveen, a recipient of the funding who has taken USU satellite courses from Utah Valley State College to become a special education teacher, attended the signing.

"It doesn't pay for books, but it pays for classes, fees, tuition. It's an awesome opportunity for people who are struggling financially," Oostveen said.

"It's a remarkable tribute to Terrel H. Bell," said Huntsman as he signed the bill into law.

In a speech before he signed the bills, Huntsman praised the Legislature for increasing education funding by 23 percent, especially for all-day kindergarten in every school district in the state, and compensation for teachers.

"If we want to incentivize and inspire the next generation of teachers, we have to put compensation on the map," Huntsman said. Huntsman also emphasized the importance of keeping the state economically dynamic, and said the lowering of the state income tax from 7 percent to 5 percent would help Utah to keep up with other states which are burnishing themselves to be a "haven" for companies.

"If we want to do it right in this state 20, 30, 40 years from now, we've got to be that haven," Huntsman said.

Huntsman praised legislators for their work in the session, and for collaborating with the executive branch to craft new laws.

"This was a banner, record, historic year," Huntsman said.

Huntsman said he signed 422 bills from the 2007 session, and did not veto any. However, Huntsman did allow SB155, which exempted radioactive waste disposal facilities from legislative or gubernatorial approval of certain siting requirements, to go into effect without his signature.

The other publicly signed bills were:

--HB 132—Registration and Liscense Requirements for Pesticide Business and Applicators, Rep. Jack R. Draxler.
--HB 36—Income Tax Additions, Subtractions, and Credits for Higher Education Savings, Rep. Fred R. Hunsaker
--HB 110—State Fleet Efficiency Requirements, Rep. Fred R. Hunsaker
--HB 219—Unclaimed Property Act Provisions, Rep. Fred R. Hunsaker
--HB 268—Special Group License Plate Symbol Decal Reorder Amendments, Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove
--HB 47—Pilot Program for Family Preservation Services, Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove
--SB 205—Alcoholic Beverage Control Amendments, Sen. Peter C. Knudson
--SB 217—Science and Technology Education Program Amendments, Sen. Peter C. Knudson
--SB 134—Psychologist Licensing Act, Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard
--SB 92—Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard
--SB 18—Creation of Severance Tax and Infrastructure and Economic Diversification Accounts, Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard

MS
MS