Utah House spreads intent language, forms working group after Senate sends bill to repeal HB 477

The Utah House of Representatives on March 25, 2011 accepted a Senate message transmitting House Bill 1,001 — a measure to repeal former House Bill 477 — and approved language stating the repeal is intended to allow a working group to study the state’s GRAMA code and recommend statutory changes to better protect constituents’ privacy.

Clerk Annette B. Moore read the Senate communication that the Senate had receded from its amendments and passed HB 1,001 and that the measure was transmitted for the Speaker’s signature. After the reading, Representative Christiansen moved that the House "spread" on the pages of the House Journal an intent statement explaining the action and the next steps. "The intent of the Utah House of Representatives in voting to repeal former House Bill 477 is to allow a working group that has been formed to meet and study and hold public hearings over a fixed time period and then recommend to the Utah legislature those changes in current statute that will result in the best public policy for our state," Christiansen said as he read the circulated language.

Christiansen described the working group’s composition as "assigned leaders, business, media and community leaders, and other respected professionals and members of the public," and said the group could reconvene later if additional deliberations were desired. Representative Dougal later added that the working group is tentatively scheduled to meet Wednesday mornings in the Senate Building (Room 210) and emphasized the group is informal and voluntary; "These are not formal task forces ... they do not get compensated for these various meetings," Dougal said.

The Speaker called for discussion on the motion to spread the intent language; none was offered, and the House approved the motion by voice. The Speaker directed staff to place the language in the Journal and to make minor corrections to the bound record for the First Special Session.

Votes at a glance: The House passed by voice vote the motion to spread the intent language regarding the repeal of former HB 477 and the formation of the working group; it also approved motions to appoint committees to notify the governor and the Senate and later voted to adjourn sine die. Vote tallies were taken by voice and numerical counts were not specified in the transcript.

The working group’s stated purpose is to study GRAMA (the Government Records Access and Management Act) issues raised by the repeal and to hold public hearings before recommending statutory changes intended to better protect reasonable privacy and confidentiality interests of individuals who communicate with elected representatives. The House instructed staff to enroll the Senate-passed bill and to record the intent language in the Journal. The legislature adjourned sine die after the House approved motions authorizing appointments to notify the governor and the Senate and receiving the governor’s message that he had no further business.

Implementation: The working group was described as volunteer-based and informal; the first meeting location and weekly day (Wednesday mornings, Senate Building Room 210) were announced, but no fixed deadline, membership list, or reporting date beyond the Journal entry was specified in the transcript.