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House advances multiple base budgets and passes a set of bills in unanimous or strong votes
Summary
On Feb. 1, 2013, the Utah House lifted three Senate base budget bills to third reading, passed them, and approved a slate of House bills including expungement reforms, water-capture rules and technical licensing changes. Several items were approved unanimously; others passed with recorded opposition.
The Utah House on Feb. 1 moved quickly through a series of budget and policy measures, lifting three Senate-originating base budgets to the top of the Senate third-reading calendar and approving multiple House bills and resolutions.
Members voted to lift Senate Bill 1 (public education base budget), Senate Bill 5 (natural resources, agriculture and environmental quality base budget) and Senate Bill 6 (retirement and independent entities base budget) for immediate third-reading consideration. Representative Last, the House sponsor for SB 1, described it as "just the base budget bill" that "essentially sets the budget exactly where it was last year" with a few statutory adjustments. The House later reported SB 1 passed 70-0; SB 5 passed 69-0; and SB 6 passed 72-0.
The House also acted on a range of House bills and resolutions. Key roll-call outcomes included:
- House Bill 35 (retirement analysis for new public entities): passed 73-0. Representative Ipsen said the measure requires entities seeking recognition to notify the state retirement office to avoid future liabilities.
- House Bill 14 (requirements to change form of county government): passed 61-11; Representative Grover said the bill corrects a 2011 statutory inconsistency around threshold calculations tied to presidential-election votes.
- House Bill 48 (medical reserve corps liability protections, as amended): passed 72-0. Representative Red said the bill extends liability protections to Medical Reserve Corps volunteers while preserving exclusions for gross negligence.
- House Bill 36 (storm-water capture amendments): passed 72-0 after a failed amendment that would have limited the use of captured water in development-rights determinations.
- House Bill 33 (expungement process amendments): passed 72-0 after a detailed sponsor presentation. Representative Hutchings summarized the bill as widening the eligibility window for certain substance-related expungements and streamlining the process between the Board of Pardons and the courts.
Other measures approved included HJR 7 (compensation of in-session employees) which passed 68-0. Several bills were circled for additional work or referred to standing committees for further consideration.
What happens next: Passed bills will be signed by the Speaker and transmitted to the Senate or, for Senate bills that passed the House, returned to the Senate for the President's signature and further action. Several items were noted as base budgets; further appropriations and policy changes are expected in subsequent bills.
