Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Votes topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah Senate advances a slate of bills on consent and third‑reading calendars, approves education, public‑health and regulatory measures
Summary
The Utah Senate approved multiple bills on the consent and third‑reading calendars, including amendments to servicemember protections, school epinephrine access, health‑facility committee membership, pandemic preparedness liability protection, teacher certification benefits, and several regulatory and funding measures; several bills passed by recorded tallies as announced on the floor.
The Utah State Senate took up a long third‑reading and consent agenda and recorded votes on a range of bills affecting servicemembers, schools, health facilities, scholarship policy and regulatory matters.
On the consent calendar the Senate recorded and announced passage of multiple bills as read into the record. The presiding officer announced the following results as presented on the floor:
- Senate Bill 274 (amendments to the Utah Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) passed with the unanimous vote recorded and announced as 27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent. Sponsor: Senator Knudson. The measure prohibits eviction of service members on state active duty when a lease is $2,400/month or less.
- House Bill 101 (Amendments to Emergency Injection for Anaphylactic Reaction Act) passed as announced (26 yes, 0 nay, 3 absent). Sponsor: Senator Dayton. The bill clarifies that schools and school boards may not prohibit teachers from receiving training to administer or store epinephrine auto‑injectors.
- House Bill 268 (Health Facility Committee membership), House Bill 277 (Pandemic Preparedness Amendment), Senate Bill 198 (Child Support Technical Amendment), second substitute House Bill 125 (Department of Agriculture and Food Amendment), House Bill 288 (9/11 Committee membership increase), and other consent items were read and the presiding officer announced passage for each in sequence; where explicit vote counts were announced by the President, those counts are noted in the Senate record and will accompany the enrolled bills transmitted to the House or signed in open session as indicated.
On the third‑reading calendar the Senate considered and acted on these items, as announced on the floor:
- Senate Bill 174 (Dental Practice Act amendments) was passed (announced as 24 yes, 0 nay, 5 absent) and referred to the House. Sponsor: Senator Knudson.
- Senate Bill 91 (benefits to American Board Certified Teachers) passed final passage with a recorded tally announced as 19 yes, 6 nay, 4 absent. Sponsor: Senator Mason.
- First substitute Senate Bill 180 (Regent Scholarship Program) passed after debate; sponsor provided a fiscal note and the chamber noted an appropriation request listed in the fiscal note of $7,500,000 ongoing and $50,000,000 one‑time; the bill passed on the floor as announced and was referred to the House for further action.
- First substitute Senate Bill 93 (direct‑entry midwife licensure) passed on a recorded roll call after extensive debate; the vote announcement recorded 24 yes, 4 no, 1 absent. Sponsor: Senator Dayton; dissenting senators raised concerns that the bill’s language might reach further than the intended 16 licensed midwives and expressed process concerns.
- First substitute Senate Bill 59 (wildlife amendments) was uncircled and passed as announced (27 yes, 0 nay, 2 absent); sponsor described the bill as restoring flexibility to the Department of Wildlife to set hunting openings.
- Senate Bill 176 (unemployment insurance contribution rate amendments) and Second Substitute Senate Bill 184 (child care licensing exemption) were considered and passed as announced on the floor; SB176 was presented as a bipartisan measure affecting reserve bands rather than an immediate rate increase.
Why it matters: The batch of measures includes immediate operational changes for schools and health facilities, protections for service members, changes to scholarship program authority and funding requests, and regulatory housekeeping that will affect state agencies and constituents. Several bills included fiscal notes and appropriations language the Senate specifically noted during debate.
What to watch next: Enrolled bills will be transmitted to the House or signed in open session as recorded by the Senate clerk; House Bill 125 was amended and will be returned to the House for further action as announced by the President.
Note on vote counts: vote tallies reported here are those announced by the presiding officer in the Senate transcript and where the transcript was unclear about a precise tally the article notes the outcome as "passed" and defers to the official enrolled bill record for the final certified count.
