Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Boards And Commissions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah House accepts Senate’s ‘gender’ amendment to boards-and-commissions bill after close votes
Summary
After heated debate, the Utah House first rejected, then accepted a Senate amendment to add the word “gender” to House Bill 33 (boards and commissions database). The chamber passed the bill as amended and returned it to the Senate for signature.
The Utah House voted on Feb. 9 to accept a Senate amendment adding the word “gender” to House Bill 33, a measure to create a database of boards and commissions.
Representative Jordan Tanner, sponsor of H.B. 33, moved that the House refuse to concur with the Senate’s change, saying the House had previously rejected adding gender and warning the amendment could open the database to other categories. A member supporting the amendment countered that adding gender would allow the Legislature to monitor compliance with prior House legislation that recommended gender balance on boards and commissions.
The motion to refuse to concur failed on the roll call read aloud in the chamber. After that vote, Representative Jensen moved that the House concur with the Senate amendment; that motion passed. The House then voted to pass H.B. 33 as amended and returned it to the Senate for the Speaker’s signature; the clerk read the final tally aloud as 67 affirmative and 1 negative.
Supporters said including gender in the data would create a simple, enforceable way to determine whether boards are meeting earlier recommendations on representation. Opponents warned that specifying gender in data collection could expand reporting expectations and that the panel-level selection process might be better left to existing rules.
The Speaker’s office will transmit the amended bill back to the Senate for its consideration.
