Senate adopts amendments and passes bill to repeal HB 477, requests interim public review of GRAMA

The Utah Senate on March 25 passed House Bill 1,001, a measure to repeal House Bill 477 from the 2011 session, and added intent language asking that any follow-up work be considered in public interim committee hearings. Under the rules suspension for final passage, the bill passed the Senate by recorded vote, 19 yeas to 5 nays, with four senators absent.

Senator Jenkins, sponsor of HB 1,001, told the Senate the amendment he offered would preserve the repeal while signaling to the governor that the Legislature expects further work: "This simply is an intent statement back to the governor that, we expect him to call us back into session so that we can in fact deal with this at that time." Jenkins said the amendment was meant to keep pressure on a legislative working group charged with developing replacement options rather than lock the panel to a single outcome.

The Senate also adopted an amendment offered by Senator Bramble that asks the legislative management committee to refer government records issues to one or more interim committees during the 2011 interim and requests that those interim committees hold at least two meetings that include opportunities for public comment. Bramble said the amendment would "give the public the confidence" that deliberations would be formally recorded and openly vetted if legislation follows the working group's recommendations.

Opponents argued the amendments went beyond the governor's special-session call, which they said was narrowly limited to repealing HB 477. Senator Romero said the narrow purpose of the call meant the Senate should not expand the agenda and called the motion "arbitrary and capricious" because the amendment set a date without the working group's input. The President referred the point of order to the Rules Chair, who ruled the amendment in order; the Senate sustained the Chair's ruling on a recorded vote earlier in the debate.

Several senators explained their votes at length on the floor. Senator Reed warned the chamber that media coverage had been "slanted" and criticized what he described as one-sided reporting, while other senators emphasized the need to restore public trust and update records law for modern communications. Senators on both sides said they wanted the working group’s work to include broad public participation.

After the House informed the Senate it would not concur with the Senate amendments, the Senate voted to recede from several of its earlier amendments and returned the bill to the House. The Senate then moved, under suspension of rules, for final passage of HB 1,001 as amended; the measure passed and was signed in open session by the President for return to the House for the Speaker’s signature.

The President summarized the next steps: the volunteer working group will address roughly 36–40 questions about GRAMA (the Government Records Access and Management Act), focusing on what is public versus private, retention and indexing of electronic communications, and cost allocation. He invited the public to follow and participate in the group's meetings and noted the Senate had spread intent language on the Senate Journal requesting the governor reconvene the Legislature after that work is complete.

The Senate adjourned sine die following appointment of committees to wait upon the governor and the House.