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House votes to attach minority committee report to journal after heated floor debate
Summary
After a prolonged procedural dispute, the Utah House voted to attach a minority report from the Business and Labor Committee to the House journal. Lawmakers debated whether rules require merely filing a dissent or a floor vote to print that dissent; the motion to attach the minority report passed by recorded vote.
The Utah House of Representatives voted to include a minority committee report in the official House journal after extended debate over parliamentary procedure.
Representative Jay Alexander, who led the floor discussion, said, “if you really listen to that minority report, they not only slam the task force, but even the fact that we take votes in this body and make a decision as a body,” underscoring why members wanted the dissent aired on the floor. Members argued about whether House rules require only filing a minority report with the committee or whether the full House must vote to include that dissent in the journal.
The Speaker defended his ruling that the body should decide whether to attach the minority report and open the matter to a vote. In explaining his decision, the Speaker said he had ruled the minority report could be attached as an appendage and that the House would “vote on whether or not it’s printed upon the pages of the house journal as part of that report.”
Representative Christiansen challenged the Chair’s procedure and urged restraint, saying the rules only require that a minority may file a report and that “it should simply be duly noted that it’s been filed.” Others argued that reading the minority text on the floor gives it broader circulation and effectively editorializes what are normally committee-level documents.
After voice votes, points of order and a division (members standing for a recorded count), the House reported the final recorded tally as 58 yes and 14 no, and the motion to attach the minority report to the House journal passed. The Speaker said he would ask the Rules Committee to consider changing the handling of minority reports to clarify the process.
The vote concludes the dispute over whether dissenting committee views should be printed with committee reports. Members who opposed floor reading of the minority text said the committee process already provides a record; backers said the journal should reflect substantive disagreement.
