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Senate advances dozens of bills in block vote; key measures on licensing, finance and crime move forward
Summary
In a fast-moving floor session, the Utah Senate adopted committee assignments, approved numerous bills on third reading and passed amendments on measures covering plumbing licensure, punitive-damages discovery, court restitution rules and updates to financial regulator fees. Several measures were advanced by voice or roll call with recorded tallies.
The Utah State Senate met in floor session and advanced a large group of bills, adopting committee assignments and carrying dozens of third-reading items with multiple floor amendments.
Senators voted to amend and read for the third time several bills on policy and administration. Notable outcomes included the floor amendment to first substitute Senate Bill 69 (substituting the phrase 'reasonably likely' for 'highly likely') which passed and the bill recorded 24 yes, 0 nay, 5 absent. First substitute Senate Bill 122, which removes archaic criminal-defamation provisions from the Utah Code, passed its floor vote with 23 yes, 0 nay, 6 absent. Senate Bill 134 (foreign-judgment duration) and Senate Bill 148 (limits on discovery of a defendant’s wealth in punitive-damages cases) each passed by recorded roll calls; SB 148 was amended on the floor and recorded 25 yes, 0 nay, 4 absent.
Other recorded third-reading results announced on the floor included SB 159 (adding a district court judge in the fourth judicial district) at 26 yes, 0 nay, 3 absent; SB 171 (judiciary housekeeping) at 26 yes, 0 nay, 3 absent; SB 68 (plumbing license qualifications, as amended) at 28 yes, 0 nay, 1 absent; SB 162 (DFI enforcement clarifications) at 27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent; SB 169 (adding 'dental prosthesis' to a tax-exemption definition) at 27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent; and SB 182 (direct-sales/pyramid-scheme enforcement) at 26 yes, 0 nay, 3 absent.
Several items were circled for further work: first substitute SB 150 (restitution amendments) was circulated for additional drafting and stakeholder consultation after floor debate over whether court-ordered restitution should be a prerequisite to expungement or plea reductions.
The Senate also considered and rejected several floor amendments to SB 189, a bill revising procedures for the Constitutional Revision Commission, after extended debate about the commission’s technical drafting role versus policy influence. The floor concluded with routine announcements and a motion to adjourn until 10 a.m. the next day.
Votes cited above and other roll-call tallies were announced on the Senate floor by the president or clerk during the session. The clerk’s floor announcements and roll-call tallies served as the official record for outcomes reported here.
