Utah Senate advances broad package of bills on third reading, including child-welfare and school-discipline measures

The Utah State Senate on third reading approved a broad package of bills and resolutions, moving measures addressing child-welfare evidence standards, transit and public-district governance, school emergency interventions and seclusion, and other policy changes to the House for consideration.

Several measures passed unanimously or with large margins. First substitute Senate Bill 177, addressing juvenile-court evidence and reunification-service considerations in child-abuse and neglect cases, passed 26-0. First substitute Senate Bill 174, clarifying roles for transit district boards, the Department of Transportation and fare-approval processes for the Utah Transit Authority, passed 26-0. Second substitute Senate Bill 170, which establishes a statutory framework for “emergency safety interventions” in schools and codifies parent notification and rulemaking authority for the State Board of Education, passed 28-0.

Other bills cleared the Senate with larger majorities: first substitute Senate Bill 150 (class-action treatment under state law) passed 28-0; first substitute Senate Bill 157 (ensuring juveniles are offered counsel before declining nonjudicial adjustment) passed 29-0; and second substitute Senate Bill 196 (physical-therapist practice clarifications tied to insurer cost-sharing language) passed 28-0. A second substitute to Senate Bill 140 (law-enforcement DNA amendments, including an expungement-notification provision added in substitution) passed 28-8.

One measure drew more divided votes. First substitute Senate Bill 78, establishing a state ombuds office for unsheltered (homeless) individuals and including a five-year sunset, passed 18-8. Sponsors described the office as a data-collection and oversight position to better coordinate services for people living unsheltered; supporters…