Utah Senate advances a slate of bills, passes wildfire resolution and honors political scientist Dan Jones

SALT LAKE CITY — On day 30 of the 2013 Utah legislative session the Utah State Senate cleared a series of third‑reading items, adopted a concurrent resolution recognizing wildfire response last season and paused to honor Dr. Dan Jones for more than five decades of teaching and public service.

The Senate took up a lengthy third‑reading calendar and recorded final passage for a number of measures. Roll calls and clerk statements in the chamber show the passage of several bills and resolutions that will be transmitted to the Utah House for further consideration.

One of the day’s time‑certain items, House Concurrent Resolution 4, was introduced by Senator Stan (Senator Maine) to recognize firefighters and local responders for work during the 2012 fire season. Maine told the chamber the state saw an "unprecedented number of large fires" and said, "Utah averaged a large fire every day during this period," noting acres burned and a record number of structures lost. The Senate suspended rules to consider the resolution and passed it by recorded vote (25 yea, 0 nay, 4 absent). The resolution will be sent to the House for the speaker’s signature.

On several bills, sponsors summarized intent and the chamber proceeded to recorded votes. Among the…