Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Study Resolution topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House adopts master study resolution with wide-ranging additions, including meal-prep and federal facilities studies
Summary
House Joint Resolution 35, the annual master study resolution, was amended on the floor to add study items including home-business meal preparation for homebound persons, reciprocal hazardous-waste fee study, arts-access review, federal facilities management, and more; the House passed the resolution 71–0.
The Utah House on March 3 adopted House Joint Resolution 35 — the chamber’s annual "master study" resolution — after a series of floor amendments that added, deleted and redirected study assignments to legislative committees.
Representative Martin R. Stevens introduced HJR35 as the list that assigns additional investigations and study responsibilities to committees this session: "This is the master study resolution that we run every year." Sponsors and members then offered a sequence of amendments targeting specific study entries.
Key floor changes adopted or considered included: • A motion to add a study of the appropriateness of allowing the health department to regulate preparation of meals in private homes for homebound and needy persons (added on the floor). • Deletion of item number 105 (a study concerning school trust lands) at the request of a member who said existing processes already address the subject. • Removal of a proposed study item concerning privatization of certain UDOT functions; members recommended referring that subject to the existing privatization policy board rather than duplicating work in the master study resolution. • Addition of a study to examine reciprocal hazardous-waste fees (to study whether wastes considered hazardous in other states should be treated as hazardous in Utah). • Insertion of a study item on arts access that would examine the Arts Council’s role and advisory-committee membership. • Adding federal-facilities-management in Utah to study the impact of Department of Defense and Department of Energy GRAMA records on state management. • Adding House Bill 387 to study the effects of changes to the state's SSI benefit on recipients. • Several education-related items were added or confirmed, including language promoting "excellent education" in public schools and a study on school-district activity-travel equalization.
A light-hearted floor moment: Representative Pignelli moved, apparently in jest, to study "the extended use of sweaters by elected officials"; that motion failed. Other amendments were withdrawn when members confirmed the subject already appeared elsewhere in the resolution.
After the amendment process concluded, the House adopted HJR35 as amended. The reading clerk announced: "House joint resolution 35 as amended... having received 71 affirmative and 0 negative votes, passes this body and will be referred to the senate for their further consideration." Committees will now be responsible for conducting the assigned studies and reporting back to the Legislature as directed by the resolution.
Why it matters: The master study resolution sets the session's research and oversight priorities and can shape committee agendas for the year. By adding items ranging from public-health meal prep in private homes to federal facilities and hazardous-waste issues, the House directed staff and committees to investigate policy areas that could result in future bills or administrative changes.
Next steps: The adopted study items will be assigned to the named committees; committees, staff and stakeholders will prepare briefings and testimony as those studies are scheduled.
