Wednesday afternoon, the Utah House resurrected and then passed a bill allowing public employees with mental disabilities to receive the same disability benefits as those with physical impairments.
HB105 from Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, creates a three-year pilot program offering full disability benefits for public employees who cannot work because of a mental disability. Current Utah law cuts off benefits for a mental disability after two years, while benefits for a physical disability may be extended.
“Do we believe that mental disabilities are just as real as physical disabilities?” Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, asked his colleagues. “Unfortunately, the world discriminates in many ways against people with mental illness, and it’s a stigma we’re trying to change.”
Objections to the legislation mostly revolved around the added cost of extending those benefits. The bill carries an estimated price tag of just over $2.7 million annually.
Rep. Casey Snider, R-Paradise, warned against creating another government entitlement program, which he says has led the U.S. to the brink of economic collapse.
“When I look at this state, we are well funded, and we are looking at a future that is financially fiscally stable. When I look to D.C., I see the complete opposite. I see entitlement programs running amok. They are collapsing that system, and ultimately that will all come back to fall down on us,” Snider said.
Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Highland, urged another no vote from his colleagues, warning pilot programs have a habit of becoming permanent.
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“It starts with a pilot program with a limited amount of funding. Then you go to the people receiving the benefits, and you have them mass email the legislature on the next go around when it is up for more funding, and it’s no longer a pilot program,” Brammer said. “That’s the secret recipe for getting a large program into law.”
King angrily pushed back against those concerns, noting the pilot program requires a yearly review to determine if an individual on disability can return to work.
“It is putting in place a greater mechanism to ensure that these individuals are likely to get back to work. Isn’t that what we want for them?” King said. “I supposed in some way that’s an entitlement program, but it’s one that pays off.”
On Tuesday, King’s bill fell on the House floor without debate on a 28-43 vote. Less than 24 hours later, 11 Republicans switched from no to yes votes, and the bill passed 38-30.
