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Utah House rejects moves to bring 'English as official language' bill to full floor debate
Summary
The House defeated motions to lift House Bill 189 from committee for full floor debate. Sponsors said constituents demanded action; opponents called the maneuver procedural and warned the measure would provoke long, divisive debate. Two different motions to advance the bill failed on recorded votes.
The Utah House on Feb. 20 defeated efforts to move House Bill 189, a bill proposing English as the state's official language, out of the Government Operations Committee for immediate floor consideration.
A sponsor asked that HB189 be lifted from committee and placed on the third-reading calendar so the full chamber could "vote it up or down." Supporters said district surveys showed strong backing and argued the matter should be decided by the full House rather than remain in committee. Representative Dave Jones warned against the timing: "it's getting pretty late in the session and my fear is that a bill of this nature is going to be very divisive," and urged following the committee process.
Members repeatedly debated procedure. Opponents said the bill had been heard in committee and that standard practice should be respected; others said lifting a defeated committee bill would open the door to many similar moves. A substitute motion to lift HB189 and send it to Rules failed 31–34, according to the House roll call. The main motion to lift the bill and place it on the third-reading calendar later failed 27–38.
Because the House did not formally advance the measure, HB189 remains in committee and no further floor action was taken that day. Sponsors said that if the Legislature takes no action they may pursue a referendum, but no formal referendum was initiated during the session.
The House returned to other business without passage of HB189; the failure to lift the bill preserves the committee's hold and defers any floor debate to a future time if the committee or Rules reintroduce it.
