Kerry Bringhurst: It is Thursday, the day we speak with Holly Richardson, editor of Utah Policy as well as a columnist for the Deseret News, also a former lawmaker. She joins us each Thursday to discuss what is happening at the State Capitol.
And we are always interested in legislation that is affecting families and children and especially women here in the state of Utah. I understand, Holly, that student teachers will now be getting a stipend. We discussed that last week - what can you tell us about that legislation?
Holly Richardson: This bill actually has passed all the way out of the House unanimously, and is on the Senate side. So what this bill would do is, say, for student teachers for the semester that they teach, they're still students. And so they're paying tuition, and they're not getting paid as student teachers, making it really hard for some people to complete that part of their training.
So this bill by Rep. Karen Peterson would say that there's a $6,000 stipend for student teachers for the semester that they student teach. It's a grant, the state would fund it, and that is to help them complete their training and get into the schools.
Kerry Bringhurst: Not only good for our children to have that consistency in the education system, but also a great thing for student teachers to encourage them to continue their career. We discussed that last week, we really appreciate the update.
We also talked about a bill addressing child custody and domestic violence. The Om’s Law?
Holly Richardson: His name is Om Gandhi, and he was killed by his father last year in a custody dispute. He was 16 years old.
So what this law would do, and it's being heard today in committee, is say that the courts must take into account credible allegations of child abuse, and any restraining orders that might exist within the family unit.
So in this particular case with Om, his mother had filed a restraining order against the father, had told the judge that there was child abuse, and domestic violence against her. And the judge awarded full custody to the dad. As the mother tried to fight that in the courts, the dad killed his son and then killed himself. And so this bill is one that really starts to address what happens when there's domestic violence within the family and how can that impact child custody decisions.
Kerry Bringhurst: Very important legislation.
And as we continue to talk about issues that impact Utah women, jobs are always an issue that we talk about, and in this case, the Utah Legislature will be discussing a bill that would allow eyelash technicians to get their own license. Not to assume that women are the only ones who are eyelash technicians. But this is definitely something that might help in the job security area.
Holly Richardson: That’s right. And the reason it does is because this bill would take out eyelash technicians and eyebrow technicians from the overall cosmetology law. So right now they need to be licensed under the Cosmetology Act, which is 1600 hours of training.
What this bill would do is say, look, we just want specifically eyelashes and eyebrows, it's going to be 200 hours of training, they'll have their own license, and they won't have to do the full cosmetology one, which makes it more accessible for moms or other women who want to do that as a business.
Kerry Bringhurst: Also more affordable.
Holly Richardson: Yes, for sure.
Kerry Bringhurst: Well, Holly, we appreciate this update, and we look forward to having more conversations as the Utah Legislative Session continues. And as always, we appreciate your time.
Holly Richardson: It's my pleasure. And you know, we're halfway done now, so it's gonna go faster.
Kerry Bringhurst: Holly is the editor of Utah Policy. You can check out her following of the Utah Legislative Session, including bills related to Utah women, children and families, but many other bills that are of importance.
Holly Richardson: If you go to utahpolicy.com and sign up for the newsletter, that is where you'll get the most information. The newsletter comes out every morning around 7:30am
