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House debates and amends bill to require motorboat endorsement on driver’s license; sponsors cite safety, fiscal gaps remain
Summary
House debate on HB 141 produced adoption of Amendment 2 and detailed Q&A on enforcement, age limits and fiscal impacts. Sponsor said a $5 endorsement and a 10‑horsepower threshold will improve safety; opponents raised enforcement and reciprocal‑livery concerns and sought to delete livery language. Division vote pending at transcript end.
Representative Pace, sponsor of House Bill 141, won early approval for Amendment 2 and offered an extended presentation of the bill, which would create a motorboat endorsement on a Utah driver’s license for vessels with engines greater than 10 horsepower and take effect with penalties beginning Jan. 1, 2006.
Pace said the endorsement would be an optional one‑time endorsement applied when a driver appears for license issuance or renewal; the endorsement fee would be $5 for five years. He described plans for a short knowledge test administered by the Driver License Division and said no mandatory classroom course is required. “This is a 64 page bill,” Pace said, framing the measure as a comprehensive safety package for increasing watercraft use.
Sponsor remarks included safety examples and results from a recent boating show quiz where average scores were near 5.3 out of 10 on basic rules of the road. Pace and staff estimated about 2,700 applications per year under the amended assumptions; the Driver License Division’s cost was estimated at $166,800 with $156,300 in revenue, leaving a $10,500 start‑up difference that Pace said would be covered by restricted boating funds for the first year.
Members raised detailed questions: Representative Lockhart asked whether a 16‑year‑old endorsement would impose the same passenger or graduated licensing restrictions that apply to teen drivers on roadways; Pace replied that those specific driving restrictions would not automatically transfer unless added to the bill. Representatives also asked about reciprocity on boundary waters (e.g., Bear Lake), and Pace said other states’ certifications or approved courses could be accepted under interstate arrangements and national standards.
Debate turned to business impacts: the bill would require boat rental businesses to register with Parks and Recreation for a $25 annual fee and would allow licensed liveries to issue a 14‑day temporary permit after training and an affidavit. Representative Harper moved to delete the new livery language, citing possible reciprocal charges and unintended consequences with neighboring states; Pace resisted deletion, saying liveries support the approach.
At the close of the transcript excerpt, the House had adopted Amendment 2 and was proceeding on the motion to delete the livery language; a division vote had been called and voting on that amendment was open. The final disposition of the broader bill was not recorded in the excerpt.
