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Senate Advances Budget and Policy Bills in Rapid Votes; SB 3, SB 6, SB 9–11 and Many Others Move to House
Summary
During a busy Jan. 17 floor session the Utah Senate passed a number of consent and third‑reading items — including the base school budget (SB 3, amended), health and human services housekeeping (SB 6), and several election/open‑meetings and tax bills — most by unanimous or near‑unanimous roll call.
The Utah Senate used a fast floor calendar on Jan. 17 to advance numerous bills with limited debate, moving a wide set of policy and budget measures to the House for consideration.
Key measures passed or advanced: The Senate read and passed multiple third‑reading bills by roll call, including SB 3 (minimum school program base budget, amended to include special-education teachers in the signing-bonus provision), SB 6 (health and human services sunset and reporting amendments), SB 9–11 (open‑meetings and election‑code cleanups and clarifications), SB 12 (electronic meeting procedures requiring governing bodies to adopt rules before holding electronic meetings), SB 14 (insurance department sunset changes), SB 17 (highway transfer process amendments) and several tax and sales‑tax exemption measures (e.g., SB 29, SB 30). Many of these passed with tallies reported as 27 or 28 yes votes and no recorded nays. Several items were placed on the second‑reading calendar and assigned to committees earlier in the session.
Budget highlights from SB 3 (base school budget): Sponsor Senator Stevenson summarized the base budget components and growth assumptions, citing figures for enrollment growth and program increases: $61,000,000 for the uniform school fund (enrollment growth), $59,000,000 for WPU enrollment growth, nearly $9,000,000 for charter school growth, $16,600,000 for voted/board leeway increases and a $24,000,000 local revenue offset. A technical amendment to include special‑education teachers in a bonus program was offered, explained as correcting drafting errors, and was adopted unanimously.
Procedure and calendar changes: The rules committee reported recommendations for assignment of bills; Senator Wadhams presented a Senate resolution to clarify consent‑calendar procedures and how a bill is uncircled or placed back for debate, including how to handle votes on the consent calendar if a 'no' is heard. The body also approved temporary suspension of the 24‑hour requirement to take up second‑reading items placed on the calendar earlier in the day.
Votes at a glance: The floor recorded many unanimous or near‑unanimous votes (common tallies: 27–28 yes, 0 nay, 1–2 absent) for bills sent to the House. When the electronic board failed for SJR 3, the chamber retook the roll call manually to confirm results.
What’s next: Bills advanced on Jan. 17 will be considered in the House and in relevant committees; sponsors noted that some items (notably major projects like the Lake Powell Pipeline) will require additional hearings, financing details and implementation steps.
