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Utah Senate rejects bill to redirect developmental‑center land revenues to Utah Valley State College
Summary
After hours of debate over whether lease or sale proceeds from developmental‑center property should be available to Utah Valley State College, the Senate defeated Senate Bill 196 on Feb. 26, 1997, with a 9–14 vote. Proponents said the trust fund would not be threatened; opponents argued the trust exists to protect people with disabilities.
The Utah Senate on Feb. 26, 1997, voted down Senate Bill 196, a measure that would have allowed surplus buildings and land associated with a developmental center to be used to support leases and campus needs at Utah Valley State College.
Supporters, led on the floor by Senator McAllister, said the bill is an opportunity to repurpose underused state property to meet urgent campus growth needs and would not imperil the statutory trust set up to benefit people with disabilities. "I just simply like to to reiterate the fact that that we feel that there is adequate funding, that the trust is not threatened," McAllister said in floor remarks urging passage.
Opponents pressed a contrasting view, arguing the trust fund and the needs of people with severe disabilities must take priority. Senator Holmgren, who declared a personal conflict because a family member resides at the training school, warned of a moral duty to preserve the trust. "I have a real severe interest in this area and would very definitely declare conflict of interest," Holmgren said. Senator Maine emphasized the trust’s purpose: "This is the only thing that the people with disabilities have is their trust fund."
Several senators described the political and ethical difficulty of choosing between expanding higher education capacity and protecting a fund established, in their view, to support vulnerable residents. Senator Tanner summarized the tension for some members: the measure "puts me in the rock and the hard place" of balancing a growing college’s needs against obligations to disabled constituents.
The vote concluded the debate: the presiding officer announced that "a bill 1 96 has 9 yay votes, 14 no votes, and fails to pass." Because the bill did not receive final passage, the Senate did not authorize the proposed use of future lease or sale proceeds for Utah Valley State College, and the trust fund’s existing allocations remain unchanged.
Next steps: with SB196 failing, sponsors and supporters may pursue alternative options, such as seeking explicit donor or trust‑holder permission, legislative changes at a later date, or separate funding avenues for the college. The Senate recessed for caucus and further business afterward.
