Utah Senate advances wide swath of bills in Feb. 23 floor session; debates school conduct, fleet centralization and clean-fuel incentives

The Utah State Senate convened Feb. 23, 1996, and moved a large consent calendar of House bills, took final or advanced action on multiple Senate measures and debated several committee bills that drew substantive floor discussion.

On the consent calendar and routine business, the chamber approved a series of House bills and readied them for return to the House for enrollment. Notable consent-calendar actions included House Bill 185 (sanitary/cemetery maintenance district amendments), which the Senate ordered recorded as a unanimous favorable action (17 aye votes; 12 absent); House Bill 244 (staggered special-district terms) recorded 19 aye, 0 nay, 10 absent; House Bill 208 (notice-of-lien filing technical cleanup) recorded 21 aye, 0 nay, 7 absent; House Bill 124 (teacher-certification removal; sets a preponderance-of-evidence standard) recorded 23 aye, 0 nay, 6 absent; and House Bill 190 (income tax refund repeal special tax refund) recorded 24 aye, 0 nay, 5 absent. Several other consent items were similarly passed and returned for the House’s signature.

On measures that drew more debate: - SJR 17 (first substitute), a resolution to clarify that constitutional references to “education” include public K–12 and higher education, passed on roll call 22–3 with 4 absent after questions and a short exchange on final passage.

- SB…