Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Senate defeats motion to refuse House amendments on fall‑protection language, strikes enacting clause on occupational‑safety bill
Summary
Lawmakers debated an amendment to Senate Bill 22 that would delay implementation of new federal OSHA fall‑protection rules and direct the state division not to follow them. Senators split over worker safety, costs for small builders and constitutional risk; the motion to refuse the House amendment failed and the Senate later moved to strike the bill—s enacting clause and concur.
The Utah Senate spent more than an hour Tuesday debating House amendments to Senate Bill 22, a package of occupational‑safety changes that includes language dealing with fall‑protection rules adopted by the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Senator Robert Steiner, sponsor of the Senate motion, urged rejection of the House amendment, arguing it "tells one of our agencies to disobey federal law" and would invite federal primacy and constitutional problems. "By this amendment, we are directing the state OSHA division to disobey a federal law," Steiner said on the floor, framing his objection in constitutional terms.
Opponents of the House amendment focused on worker safety and on the amendment—s practical effect. Senator Maine said the new federal standards "apply to all people working above 6 feet" and warned that delaying them would leave the state with "nothing on the books" because, he said, the older standards had been replaced. Maine pressed colleagues to avoid a change that, in his view, would eliminate protection for workers at height.
Other senators…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
