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Votes at a glance: key bills the Utah Senate approved Feb. 20, 2007
Summary
The Utah Senate passed a slate of bills Feb. 20 under suspension of the rules, including public-utilities amendments, election-law modifications, rural broadband funding and several technical housekeeping measures; tallies and immediate next steps are listed.
SALT LAKE CITY — During its Feb. 20 session the Utah Senate approved multiple bills for referral to the House or for further reading. Recorded actions and roll-call tallies from the floor follow.
Summary of notable outcomes
- Senate Bill 235 (Public utilities amendments): Amended on three floor amendments to clarify rulemaking and limits on competitive use of confidential information. Passed under suspension of the rules (28 yes, 0 no, 1 absent). (Sponsor: Senator Bell.)
- Senate Bill 241 (Election law modifications): Permits counting absentee ballots prior to canvass without releasing results early; requires public reporting of absentee and provisional ballot counts and adjusts candidate filing timing for the western presidential primary. Passed under suspension (27 yes, 0 no, 2 absent). (Sponsor: Senator Knudson.)
- Senate Bill 268 (Rural Broadband Service Fund): Creates a restricted account to subsidize broadband deployment in unserved rural areas, to be administered by the Governor's Office of Economic Development; debate included whether to explicitly include wireless technologies. Passed (26 yes, 0 no, 3 absent). (Sponsor: Senator Hickman.)
- Senate Bill 71 (County recorder amendments): Technical housekeeping requested by county recorders; passed (27 yes, 0 no, 2 absent). (Sponsor: Senator Stowell.)
- Senate Bill 167 (Utah Sports Authority): Second substitute approved and read for the third time (28 yes, 0 no, 1 absent); creates a sports authority, incorporates the Pete Suazo Boxing Commission and includes a fiscal note (~$170,000). (Sponsor: Senator Dimitrich.)
- Senate Bill 187 (Relocation Assistance Act amendments): Raised the cap on certain relocation reimbursement for displaced businesses from $10,000 to $50,000; passed under suspension (26 yes, 0 no, 3 absent). (Sponsor: Senator Hilliard.)
- Senate Bill 255 (Crane safety amendments): Annual crane-safety housekeeping passed (25 yes, 0 no, 4 absent). (Sponsor: Senator Davis.)
Other actions
Several other bills were placed on calendars, circled for further reading, or returned to rules as noted on the floor. The Senate adjourned until the next scheduled session after completing the day's calendar.
What comes next
Bills passed under suspension are referred to the House for consideration. Measures advanced for third reading will return to the Senate calendar for final action.
