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House advances dozens of mostly technical bills on consent calendar; votes at a glance
Summary
On Feb. 9 the Utah House approved a long consent calendar, passing a series of technical and policy bills (including restitution, DNA testing funding, farmers market exemptions and a theater-recording prohibition) and referring them to the Senate.
The Utah House advanced a large consent calendar on Friday, Feb. 9, passing a series of bills ranging from criminal-code cleanups to agriculture exemptions and funding clarifications.
The most immediate actions were procedural votes that moved bills to the Senate or approved technical changes. First Substitute House Bill 147 (restitution amendments) — described by Representative Kevin Garn as requiring courts to reduce unpaid restitution or fines to judgment and forward them to the Office of State Debt Collection, and preventing juvenile expungement while restitution remains unpaid — passed and was referred to the Senate. “The first thing it does is it mandates that at the time the court terminates formal jurisdiction that any unpaid restitution orders or fines would be reduced to judgment,” Representative Garn said.
Other consent-calendar items that passed included:
- Senate Bill 86 (repeal of libel and slander provisions): Passed 70-0. Representative Wyatt argued the measure removes provisions the state Supreme Court had held unconstitutional and preserves sections needed for legitimate problems.
- House Bill 356 (DNA exoneration amendments): Passed (reported 70-0). Representative David Litvak said the bill establishes a funding source from the Department of Corrections’ DNA specimen restricted account for rare tests that state labs cannot perform.
- House Bill 145 (farmers market exemptions): Passed 72-0. Representative Rhonda Rudd Menlove said the bill exempts farmers selling unprocessed raw foods from certain food-handler requirements and allows indemnification under municipal or county agreements.
- House Bill 344 (state fleet vehicle definitions): Passed (reported 71-0). Representative Brad King said the bill narrows the vehicles tracked by fleet services, exempting golf carts, motorized maintenance mules and riding lawn mowers.
- Senate Bill 97 (Constitutional Revision Commission membership): Passed 72-0. Representative Hunsaker said the bill clarifies that the 12-year limit on members applies only to consecutive service.
- First Substitute House Bill 129 (land use provisions): Passed 70-0. Representative Michael Morley described it as restoring language removed inadvertently in a prior bill and broadening references to land-use authorities.
- House Bill 262 (search warrant amendments): Passed (reported 72-0). Representative Scott Wyatt said it moves technical warrant rules to the rules of criminal procedure under the Supreme Court’s oversight.
- House Bill 367 (Global Positioning Reference Network): Passed 72-0; Representative Corey Holdaway called the measure technical and said it renames an advisory committee and changes membership.
- House Bill 279 (camcorder piracy of media): Passed 73-0. Representative Garn said unauthorized recording in theaters costs the industry about $3.5 billion annually and that the Motion Picture Association of America supports the legislation.
- House Bill 307 (certified investment advisor): Passed 72-0. Representative Julie Fisher told the House the bill would limit certain public endowment investments to certified advisors at the request of public treasurers.
- First Substitute House Bill 114 (prisoner long-term health care): Passed 70-1. The bill sets training requirements and establishes a tracking system for inmates placed in community long-term care facilities.
- House Bill 56 (Emergency Administration of Epinephrine): The House concurred with Senate amendments and then passed final passage (reported 70-0).
Many of the bills were described on the floor as technical corrections or funding clarifications and were sent to the Senate for further consideration. Most votes recorded a unanimous or near-unanimous tally; recorded tallies are reported above according to the floor record.
What’s next: The bills passed on the consent calendar will proceed to the Senate for consideration or further action as indicated. The House recessed until 2:00 p.m. after completing the morning’s business.
Votes referenced in this summary are taken from the House floor record and the speakers’ on-the-record descriptions.
