Utah House approves a package of bills on Feb. 5, including adoption, protection-order and licensing changes

The Utah House of Representatives on Feb. 5 passed a group of bills and adopted committee reports covering adoption law changes, cross-border protection orders, commercial driver licensing compliance, and other statutory updates.

The measures approved included adoption modifications that remove certain home-study requirements in specified step-parent situations, reciprocity for Canadian protection orders, clarifications to commercial driver licensing tied to a federal drug-and-alcohol database, and corrections to which state parks may access a UDOT-managed access-road fund. Many bills passed unanimously or with large majorities.

The adoption amendments bill (House Bill 141) sponsored on the floor by Representative Shipp passed the House by voice vote and was recorded as 75 yes, 0 no. Representative Shipp described the bill with a real-world example of a step-parent seeking to finalize an adoption after the biological parent had died and said the measure eliminates a duplicative home study when a child has lived with the prospective parent for at least one year: "if the person has been living in the home has the relationship for at least 1 year or more that they don't have to do a home study." The bill will be sent to the Senate for consideration.

The House also approved House Bill 159, titled "protection order amendments," by a recorded vote of 71 yes, 0 no. Representative Tuscher told colleagues the bill aligns Utah practice to recognize protection orders issued in Canada and said Canada reciprocates on its side; she added that the bill preserves a party's ability to challenge orders issued in bad faith. The bill was sent to the Senate.

On federal-compliance matters, the House passed Senate Bill 59, which updates commercial driver's license procedures to require checks of the national drug-and-alcohol clearinghouse. Representative Eliason said the changes bring state practice into alignment with federal requirements and stressed the funding and safety implications: "if we don't comply with this, we'll lose federal highway funding." SB 59 passed 73 yes, 0 no and will be returned to the Senate.

The House approved technical and administrative measures including: - Senate Bill 34 (mineral surety study), directing the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining to study surety requirements for mineral operations: passed 73 yes, 0 no; the sponsor waived summation and the bill will be sent to the Senate for signature. - House Bill 345 (State Park Road amendments), which adds two recently created parks to the State Parks access-road fund eligibility managed by the Utah Department of Transportation, ensuring those parks can access the same road-maintenance funds as other parks: passed 75 yes, 0 no. - Third substitute Senate Bill 41 (kidnap and child abuse offender registry recodification), described on the floor as a nonpolicy recodification to improve public readability: passed 74 yes, 0 no.

Consumer- and business-focused measures cleared the House as well. Representative Bennion guided House Bill 99 (residential mortgage loan amendments) through adoption of an amendment clarifying penalties; Bennion said the bill restricts mortgage professionals from buying or selling consumers' mortgage-application data to reduce solicitation. HB 99 passed 73 yes, 0 no. Representative Lee led House Bill 114 (Architects Licensing Act amendments) with an amendment intended to bring stakeholders to agreement; the amended bill passed 74 yes, 0 no.

Liability and small-business measures also advanced. House Bill 98 (landowner liability amendments) adds two activities (Via Ferrata and target shooting) to an existing list of recreational activities covered by landowner liability protections; it passed 72 yes, 0 no. Several committee reports were adopted earlier in the floor session, and multiple bills were read for the first time and referred to standing committees.

Votes at a glance (items with recorded passage on Feb. 5 floor): - HB 141, Adoption Modifications — passed 75 yes, 0 no — sponsor: Representative Shipp — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - HB 159, Protection Order Amendments — passed 71 yes, 0 no — sponsor: Representative Tuscher — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - SB 14, Private Sale of a Firearm (sunset review amendments) — passed 71 yes, 0 no — sponsor (House): Representative Wilcox — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - SB 41 (3rd sub), Kidnap and Child Abuse Offender Registry Amendments — passed 74 yes, 0 no — sponsor (House): Representative Win — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - HB 345, State Park Road Amendments — passed 75 yes, 0 no — sponsor: Representative Sawyer — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - SB 34, Mineral Surety Study — passed 73 yes, 0 no — sponsor (House): Representative de Fay — outcome: approved; will be signed by Speaker and sent to Senate president. - SB 59, Commercial Driver License Revisions — passed 73 yes, 0 no — sponsor (House presenter): Representative Eliason — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - HB 99, Residential Mortgage Loan Amendments (as amended) — passed 73 yes, 0 no — sponsor: Representative Bennion — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - HB 114, Architects Licensing Act Amendments (as amended) — passed 74 yes, 0 no — sponsor: Representative Lee — outcome: approved; sent to Senate. - HB 98, Landowner Liability Amendments — passed 72 yes, 0 no — sponsor: Representative Shallenberger — outcome: approved; sent to Senate.

What the House did not decide today: several bills were read for the first time and referred to committee, some measures were circled (held from immediate consideration) and other items were placed on committee calendars or the consent calendar for later action. Where the House record shows only a referral or a committee assignment, no final action was reported on the floor during this session.

The House recessed for caucus and additional committee work; remaining calendar items and consent-calendar votes will be handled in subsequent floor time or committee action.