House passes bill to define legislative space, scheduling and preservation at Utah Capitol complex

The Utah House on Jan. 30 passed House Bill 317 to formalize control, maintenance and scheduling across the Capitol Hill complex, including the Capitol building and adjacent East and West buildings, and to address parking allocations and preservation of historical artifacts.

Sponsor Representative Wayne Harper said the bill writes into law floor-by-floor designations showing which areas are public, which are maintenance, and which are for secured legislative access, and it sets out how the Capitol Preservation Board will maintain artifacts and restored finishes. "What House Bill 317 does is it reduces to writing ... floor by floor ... what areas are public ... what areas are maintenance ... what areas are our secured access for the legislators," Harper said. He also told the House that the Supreme Court will retain ceremonial chambers in the Capitol "pursuant to the Constitution," and that the fiscal analyst has detailed charts on plan sizes and allocations.

Representatives asked about the effective date (tied to the planned move back into the Capitol) and whether the court had been consulted for scheduling; Harper said Chief Justice Durham serves on the Capitol Reservation Board and that court concerns had been addressed. After floor questions and summation, the House recorded a roll-call vote of 67 yes, 0 no and referred the bill to the Senate.

The sponsor said public opening ceremonies and educational programs are planned around the move and that committee members with an interest can consult fiscal-analyst materials for more detail.