A new university research plan — Science, Technology and Research —proposed by the governor would increase the ability of the University of Utah and USU to hire and keep top researchers whose work could be turned into lucrative start-up businesses.

Minority issues

• A proposal, SB227, to replace illegal immigrants' drivers' licenses with a different color "driving privilege card" that couldn't be used for identification has passed the Senate and is predicted to surface soon in the House.

Another driver's license bill, HB223, is up for Senate approval and would give legal immigrants who aren't eligible to work, such as those on student visas, the ability to obtain a Utah driver's license, or if SB227 passes a "driving privilege card."

• A few other bills that would impact the minority community remain alive.

One, HB327, would require the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code to collect voluntarily provided demographic information on business owners' race and sex.

Two others were referred to either House or Senate Rules committees because they carry a price tag. Neither bill made the budget prioritization list.

Those bills are: SB201, a bill to bolster funding for the Center for Multicultural Health; and HB292, which would codify and fund the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System.

Other issues

• Those who hoped the legislative tussle between banks and credit unions was over once HJR1 passed were disappointed with the appearance, late in the session, of HB277.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, states in part that credit unions are exempt from paying taxes on income because of their status as member-owned and controlled nonprofit cooperatives, defines a "meaningful affinity and bond among (credit union) members" and gives credit union members a "substantive and informed choice" on whether to return excess net income to members as cash dividends or use that income to fund capital improvements and expansions.

Christensen told the committee the intent of HB277 was simply to codify the credit unions' own public position. But Scott Simpson, president of the Utah League of Credit Unions, testified in the Business and Labor Committee hearing that "if the state wants to be, once and for all, out of the credit union business, this will be the bill that facilitates that."