Utah House advances Senate base budgets, approves custody and construction code changes and passes opioid-insurance reporting bill

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House convened on Feb. 6, 2017, and on a packed morning calendar approved several Senate base budget bills, passed custody and construction-code changes and approved a revised measure addressing insurers' reporting on opioid-related policies.

House members approved first substitute Senate Bill 1 (public education base budget), first substitute SB 5 (natural resources, agriculture and environmental quality), first substitute SB 6 (executive offices and criminal justice) and first substitute SB 7 (social services) and returned them to the Senate for signature. Representative McKay summarized SB 1 as setting base budgets for the minimum school program and related education agencies and said, "the WPU value is the same levels appropriated in fiscal year 2017," noting the FY2017 WPU was $3,184. SB 1 passed the House 75–0; SB 5 passed 73–0; SB 6 passed 73–0; and SB 7 passed 74–0.

Why it matters: those base budgets establish the starting point for appropriation levels the Legislature will refine during the supplemental and general budget process this session.

On policy bills, the House passed House Bill 150, custody amendments related to parents with disabilities. Sponsor Representative Arendt told colleagues the bill requires courts to make specific findings if they infer that a parent's disability limits their parenting, saying the measure "properly places the burden on the parent who wants…