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Utah Senate advances a slate of bills, sending multiple measures to third reading or back to the House
Summary
The Utah Senate on Jan. 27 advanced a series of House and Senate measures — including HJR 3, HB13, HB175, HB188 and a set of Senate bills — voting them to the third-reading calendar or returning them to the House. Several votes were unanimous; the session included appropriations, technical fixes and policy changes.
The Utah Senate on Jan. 27 moved a package of bills forward, approving a mix of procedural actions, policy changes and appropriations and referring measures either back to the House for concurrence or to the Senate's third-reading calendar.
In a procedural action early in the session, the chamber reconsidered House Joint Resolution 3 and removed a Fulton amendment that had restricted the House and Senate rules committees from releasing certain ethics-related bills; the Senate voted to rescind the amendment and the measure was returned to the House (reported 26 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent).
The Senate passed House Bill 13 (Public Service Commission reporting) to require annual rather than biennial reporting and referred it back to the House for final signature (reported roll-call: 25 aye, 0 nay, 4 absent). The body also approved House Bill 175, setting registration requirements for falconry practitioners and associated fees (27 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent), and House Bill 188, reauthorizing the State Water Development Commission through Dec. 30, 2003 (reported final: 26 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent).
On the Senate calendar, the chamber passed SB82 (practice of medicine) to add 'administer anesthesia' to the Physician Practice Act definitions; the Senate also agreed to spread intent language on the Senate Journal clarifying the amendment does not affect other licenses (28 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent). The Senate took up a number of second-reading items under a suspension of the 24-hour rule to expedite floor consideration.
Other measures moved forward to the third-reading calendar or were reported out by committee. Notable actions included: SB95 (appropriation for assistive technology) advanced for prioritization and carries a fiscal note (reported fiscal ask of $300,000); SB16 (gang enhancement amendments) was discussed and advanced after the sponsor said it aligns the evidentiary standard for enhancement determinations with other sentencing criteria; and SB32 (reckless endangerment) was presented as a gap-filling criminal statute. SB73 (child-care tax credit for businesses), SB33 (venue of action cleanup), and other bills were also advanced.
Many roll-call tallies were settled on the floor after members raised requests to have votes recorded; where the chair noted a corrected tally, the adjusted totals were reflected in the final announcements. The session concluded with ceremonial recognitions, including visiting students and Miss Utah, and the Senate dissolving into a committee of the whole.
Votes at a glance (as announced on the floor): HJR 3 reconsideration and amendment removal ' 26 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent; HB13 ' 25 aye, 0 nay, 4 absent; HB175 ' 27 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent; HB188 ' 26 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent; SB82 ' 28 aye, 0 nay, 1 absent; SB16 ' reported 27 aye (motion carried; transcript records 2 nay votes noted elsewhere); SB32 ' recorded and corrected on the floor to 27 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent; SB95 ' 25 aye, 0 nay, 4 absent (to third reading); SB73 ' 26 aye, 0 nay, 3 absent; SB33 ' 27 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent; SCR2 ' 25 aye, 0 nay, 4 absent (carried to third reading).
The Senate will take up third-reading action on several of these measures in subsequent floor sessions and will return bills requiring House concurrence to the lower chamber for final action.
