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Utah House advances wide slate of bills, including post-conviction limits and breastfeeding protection
Summary
On Feb. 13, 1995, the Utah House adopted a broad consent calendar and passed a number of bills — including a one-year limit for post-conviction relief, protections for breastfeeding in public, and measures on oil-and-gas royalty payments — and sent them to the Senate.
The Utah House of Representatives convened Feb. 13 and cleared a large set of bills and committee reports, passing measures on criminal appeals, public breastfeeding protections, oil-and-gas royalty payments and multiple technical and administrative changes.
Among the bills the chamber approved, Senate Bill 30, revising the post-conviction statute of limitations, passed on a recorded vote after floor explanation. Representative Hartward, speaking for the bill, said it generally establishes a one-year window after the conclusion of the ordinary appeal process for a defendant to file a petition for post-conviction relief and a separate one-year window after discovery of legitimate new evidence (including DNA) to file such petitions. The measure passed 69-0 and will be transmitted to the Senate.
House Bill 2 62, described as protecting breastfeeding from being treated as lewd or indecent exposure, was presented as a narrowly tailored statute that imposes no penalties and aims to prevent harassment of women who nurse in public. The sponsor summarized committee testimony that women had faced harassment; the House recorded 68-0 for passage and forwarded the bill to the Senate.
Other bills approved included legislation to standardize payments to oil-and-gas royalty owners (HB269), and multiple bills returned to the Senate after concurrence votes on House bills amended in the Senate (for example, HB21 — trust fund for people with disabilities — concurred 60-4). The House also adopted a first-substitute version of HB9, strengthening internal-audit requirements for agencies, which passed 69-2 and will go to the Senate.
Numerous committee reports were adopted and a broad consent calendar was approved, sending items such as HB254 (equity tax on state land), HB161 (special-district amendments), and many others to committee or to the Senate for further consideration. Committee chairs reported favorable recommendations before brief sponsor explanations and voice or recorded votes.
The House concluded the morning session with routine announcements and adjourned until 9:30 a.m. the following day.
Voting outcomes and formal actions described above reflect the tallies announced on the House floor.
