House adopts contested building-code amendment; Senate Bill 187 passes House as amended

The Utah House of Representatives spent floor time Thursday debating proposed amendments to building-code language and then voted to adopt an amendment, which backers said the Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing requested and which supporters in the Home Builders Association also favored.

Representative Hall told the House she "rises in support of these amendments," and urged colleagues to approve the change, saying the department had requested it and the Home Builders Association supported it. Opponents warned the change had been tried and failed previously and that inserting it now could effectively kill the measure in the Senate. Representative Bradford, carrying the bill for Senator Nielsen, said the bill had been "carefully crafted to develop a consensus," and that the amendment could jeopardize that consensus.

After questions and exchanges on the floor, the motion to amend (listed on the pink sheet dated 02/24/1992 under Representative Ellickson's name) was put to a division vote and passed by 44 yes to 22 no. The floor then voted on Senate Bill 187 as amended; the bill passed the House 48 yes to 15 no and was referred back to the Senate for further action.

The debate covered whether local application amendments could be adopted by the division by rule and whether the board could make such amendments without separate legislative action. Members who opposed the amendment described prior failed attempts to insert the same language and cautioned that the change could undo careful legislative compromise. Supporters argued the amendment addressed technical matters the division and industry had requested and that without it the department might prefer no bill.

The House returned the amended Senate bill to the Senate for its consideration. No additional committee referrals were announced on the floor.