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Senate advances multiple bills in Jan. 20 session; votes at a glance
Summary
The Utah Senate approved a slate of third‑reading measures on Jan. 20, 2005, including a rules recodification, tax and registration changes, tourism funding and liability and trust‑fund amendments. Several measures passed unanimously or with large majorities; one liability bill was advanced after extended debate.
The Utah State Senate on Jan. 20, 2005, passed a series of bills on third reading and sent them to the House for consideration, while advancing other measures to later action.
Among measures the Senate passed were Senate Joint Resolution 4 (rules recodification), which cleared the body by roll call with 27 yes, 0 nay and 2 absent; Senate Bill 11 (initiative‑petition signature verification), Senate Bill 76 (Navajo Trust Fund sunset extension) and Senate Bill 36 (clarification on sales and use taxation for retrieving pawnshop collateral), all recorded as passing on unanimous or near‑unanimous votes. First substitute Senate Bill 23 — a change in non‑automobile vehicle registration to an age‑based system and the removal of a previously proposed ‘hold harmless’ provision for counties — also passed as substituted.
Senate Bill 78 (technical corrections to optional county government language) and Senate Bill 95 (clarifying the Utah Museum of Fine Arts as a state institution and related responsibilities) were passed and referred to the House. Senate Bill 7, a tourism funding and marketing bill that sponsors discussed as including a $10 million appropriation and tweaks to budget‑base language, passed by roll call after floor amendments and debate.
A more contested measure on the floor was Senate Bill 16, which would give parts of the Department of Workforce Services authority to access financial records for criminal investigations. Senators debated privacy and bank‑secrecy concerns, and several senators changed votes before the final tally; the bill was recorded as passing with a reduced margin after vote changes on the floor.
Votes at a glance (selected outcomes reported on the floor): - SJR 4 (rules recodification): 27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent — passed and referred to the House. - SB 11 (initiative petition verification): 27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent — passed and referred to the House. - SB 76 (Navajo Trust Fund amendments): 27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent — passed and referred to the House. - SB 78 (optional forms of county government): 26 yes, 0 nay, 3 absent — passed and referred to the House. - SB 36 (sales and use tax technical fix): 27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent — passed and referred to the House. - SB 7 (tourism funding and marketing): 26 yes, 1 nay, 2 absent — passed and referred to the House. - SB 16 (Dept. of Workforce Services access to financial records): final recorded passage after vote changes 20 yes, 7 nay, 2 absent — passed and referred to the House. - First substitute SB 23 (non‑automobile vehicle registration substitute): 20 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent — passed as substituted and referred to the House. - SB 95 (Utah Museum of Fine Arts statute clarification): passed and referred to the House (roll call reported on the floor).
Why it matters: the package moves a range of policy and technical changes through the Legislature — from procedural housekeeping to revenue and liability changes — advancing them to the House for consideration. The session combined short, uncontroversial technical fixes with longer floor debate on insurance and privacy implications for bills such as SB 16.
What’s next: bills passed by the Senate will be transmitted to the House for its consideration; measures advanced to third reading will return to the floor for final passage votes in future sessions. The Senate also scheduled two time‑certain items for the morning: remarks from the outgoing Utah State University president and the governor’s constitutionally required State of the State address.
