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House approves substitute to road-tolling bill after hours of debate
Summary
After several hours of questioning and amendments, the Utah House voted 49–21 to pass a substituted version of Senate Bill 71, expanding tools for electronic toll collection while requiring studies and procedural safeguards before implementation.
The Utah House on Feb. 28 advanced a substituted version of Senate Bill 71, a measure that expands the state’s ability to collect tolls electronically and to use photographic and video technology to identify vehicles for billing and enforcement. The House approved the fourth substitute, 49 yea to 21 nay, and returned the measure to the Senate for further consideration.
Representative Schultz, the House sponsor, said the change is meant to modernize toll collection and improve enforcement, including on high-occupancy vehicle lanes. “This bill does not allow for tolling of Little Cottonwood Canyon,” he told colleagues, and emphasized that the measure, as written, would still require NEPA review, a public process and Transportation Commission approvals before any tolling is implemented.
Supporters framed SB 71 as a step to address an unsustainable transportation funding model. “User fees are as close as we can get, in my opinion, to the way that we need to assess taxes for services,” Representative Sandoval said in floor debate, and proponents argued that electronic collection would lower operating and maintenance costs compared with staffed toll booths.
Opponents raised concerns about privacy, out‑of‑state billing, penalties and the possibility existing roads could be tolled if expanded. Representative Thurston asked whether the bill would allow billing out‑of‑state drivers, referencing systems that mail bills to drivers who do not have in‑state accounts; the sponsor said the substitute directs UDOT, the Division of Motor Vehicles and related divisions to study how that would work. On privacy, the sponsor pointed to language requiring collected information to be treated as a protected record and purged after tolls are collected.
Lawmakers also probed how leased and rental vehicles and enforcement (including penalties for unauthorized HOV use) would be handled; the sponsor said the bill adds a study requirement to address handling of leased/rental and out‑of‑state vehicles.
The House adopted an amendment to add the study requirements and to clarify scope; the motion to adopt the amendment carried. Representative Schultz urged colleagues to view SB 71 as a “baby step forward” to study and modernize the state’s approach to paying for highways.
The fourth substitute passed and was returned to the Senate for consideration and signature, leaving open the later administrative decisions and potential local processes that would be required to implement any tolling on specific corridors.
