Utah League of Cities and Towns reviews week 6 bills, flags judiciary and transportation measures

Utah League of Cities and Towns First Vice President Kate Bradshaw briefed the League’s Legislative Policy Committee at the State Capitol on the fast-moving ‘week 6’ of the state legislative session, urging municipal officials to watch several bills that the League is tracking.

“This is the week where every bill is trying to make it out of the chamber that it started in,” Bradshaw said, describing the rush of activity as higher-numbered bills seek transmittal to the opposite chamber.

The update covered revenue and taxation proposals, competing transportation utility fee bills, an omnibus transportation substitute that League staff said could impose new planning requirements for Salt Lake City, changes to judicial retention and judicial evaluation, and several housing and short-term rental measures. The League announced formal positions on some bills and said it was monitoring or continuing negotiations on others.

Bradshaw said the League is concerned about a bill that would require opinion and questions on ballot measures for all tax increases (referred to in the meeting as HB 511). The committee discussed two competing transportation utility fee bills: Senate Bill 310 (opposed by the League because the League said it carves out a single entity) and HB 454 (sponsored by Representative Peterson), which the League described as carefully negotiated and one it supports because it aims to preserve local fee authority while providing protections. League staff also briefed the committee on the Transportation Omnibus, Senate Bill 195, saying a substitute introduced the prior week added planning requirements that, as drafted, would impose new impediments for Salt Lake City and could set a precedent affecting other municipalities.

In the judiciary space, the League moved to oppose bills that would raise retention thresholds and change judicial oversight. The meeting discussed HB 451, which would raise the retention threshold for judges from a simple majority to a 67% requirement for retention (the League recorded opposition). The League also opposed HB 512, which would replace the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) with a legislative commission that would evaluate judges and inform ballot language.

The League reported support for SB 277 (identified at the meeting as a GRAMA-related bill) and discussed HB 444, a data privacy amendments package; a representative from the state privacy office, Chris Bramwell, addressed the committee and answered questions on the privacy draft. The committee also noted SB 154 (legislative audit amendments) and the related SJR 4 as items of concern because of provisions the League said could affect attorney–client privilege; the League said some language had improved but concerns remained.

On county formation, the League noted a Representative Tuscher bill (referred to as HB 533 in the meeting) that would permit county splits in a first-class county with more than one million residents — an item the League is monitoring because of implications for Salt Lake County and for municipalities that could form a new county if they meet population thresholds mentioned in the bill. In housing, the League said several bills are advancing in ways it supports, including HB 37 and HB 368, while calling attention to Senate Bill 262 for language that would require general plans to be adopted by ordinance.

No formal votes were recorded during the League’s committee update. Bradshaw closed by praising League staff for their late and early work on complex, technical bills and asked members to send “prayers, thoughts, snacks to the league staff.”

Looking ahead, the League urged members to monitor committee calendars closely during the coming days as bills move quickly between chambers and to expect additional substitutes and amendments on items such as short-term rentals and the transportation omnibus.