Utah Senate rejects 12-month cooling-off rule for former legislators seeking paid lobbying work

Senators on the Utah Senate floor on Feb. 10 debated and then rejected Senate Bill 193, a measure from sponsor Senator Scott Howell that would have imposed a 12-month cooling-off period restricting former legislators and certain state officials from registering as paid lobbyists before the Legislature.

Howell, introducing the bill, said the measure was aimed at public perception and fairness: "SB 193 simply says that after your term has ended as a legislator or an executive position, that there's a cooling off period of approximately 12 months before you could come back and lobby," he said on the floor, framing it as consistent with similar federal proposals.

Opponents argued the bill was too broad or risked unintended consequences. Senator Stevenson declared a conflict and warned the bill “seems to specifically target me,” noting concerns about whether the provision would bar former legislators from returning to prior jobs. Other senators pushed for exemptions for full-time statewide elected officers, full-time state employees and persons appointed by the governor, and questioned whether the restriction should apply to private lawyers or firms that employ former members.

During debate senators raised practical clarifications: the sponsor said the restriction would apply only to paid lobbying before the Legislature (not to lobbying executive branch agencies) and that the bill included an effective date of January 1996 to avoid immediate harm to those currently registered. Senators pressed whether individuals who join law or accounting firms would be barred if their firms engaged in lobbying; counsel advised firms would decide how to handle registration and the firm itself could lobby while the individual, if not personally doing the lobbying, would be exempt from registration.

A series of amendments were proposed and adopted in attempts to narrow or clarify the bill's scope — including language to target full-time statewide elected officers and full-time state employees — but the measure ultimately failed on a roll-call vote. The clerk recorded 12 yeas, 15 nays and 2 absent; the bill failed and was filed.

Following the vote members returned to other floor business and scheduling. The Senate adjourned until 10 a.m. the next day.