Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Floor Session Roundup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah Senate passes wide package of bills; key measures on ethics, education and public records advance
Summary
The Utah Senate cleared a broad slate of legislation, including joint rules on compensation, lobbyist disclosure amendments, and a $275,000 pilot for student-centered learning. Several measures passed unanimously or by large margins and were dispatched to the House.
The Utah Senate convened for its 29th day and moved a large group of measures across the floor, approving joint and standalone resolutions, technical corrections and policy bills on education, ethics, public records and infrastructure.
Among bills passed were SJR 16, a joint-rules resolution adjusting legislative compensation and expense language; SR 2 clarifying per diem; technical fixes to the criminal code (HB 290); and a string of substantive policy bills sent to the House for consideration. Several bills were decided by unanimous or near-unanimous votes and placed for transmittal.
Notable outcomes at a glance: - SJR 16 (legislative compensation/expense revisions): Passed (23 yeas, 0 nays, 6 absent). Sent to the House. - SR 2 (Senate rules per diem clarification): Passed (25 yeas, 0 nays, 4 absent). Sent to enrolling. - HB 290 (Criminal Code technical correction): Passed (23 yeas, 0 nays, 6 absent). Signed by the President for transmittal. - SS HB 261 (domestic animal disposition): Passed (25 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent). Allows owners to bury deceased animals on property within a reasonable period. - SB 187 (highway rights-of-way amendments): Passed (26 yeas, 0 nays, 3 absent). Sponsor said the bill narrows certain barricade requirements for private rights-of-way. - SB 158 (cemetery records and policies): Passed (27 yeas, 0 nays, 2 absent). Sponsor said it “creates a new section 8-6-2, policies adopted and records kept by cemeteries.” - SB 178 (controlled substance database access): Passed (27 yeas, 0 nays, 2 absent). Authorizes pharmacist-in-charge to designate up to three technicians to access the database for pharmacy business. - SB 44 (workers’ compensation, employee misconduct): Passed (27 yeas, 0 nays, 2 absent). Adjusts disability pay rules when substance misuse is involved. - SB 96 (Veterans Assistance Registry): Passed (28 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent). Establishes a voluntary registry at the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs linking veterans to nonprofit repair/assistance providers. - SB 43 (intergenerational poverty interventions in public schools): Passed (roll call; margin reported as passing with absent members). Sponsor described competitive grant funding for LEAs to support students in intergenerational poverty. - SB 97 (Lobbyist Disclosure and Regulation Act — third substitute): Passed (28 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent). The substitute clarified definitions and added a requirement that registered lobbyists or principals disclose donated hours spent helping a candidate in midterm vacancy contests. - SS SB 135 (voter registration timing): Passed (26 yeas, 1 nay, 2 absent). Lowers the pre-election registration cutoff to six days and allows certain late-turned-in registrations to be accepted one day later. - SS SB 45 (Military Installation Development Authority amendments): Passed (23 yeas, 4 nays, 2 absent). An amendment reinstated certain local taxing authority related to energy tax. - SB 172 (Capital Improvement and Capital Development Project Amendments): Read for third time (26 yeas, 0 nays, 3 absent). Maintains capital improvement fund at 1.1% and limits future face funding without a two-thirds vote. - SB 52 (utility relocation on highway projects): Read for third time (24 yeas, 0 nays, 5 absent). Sponsor said it clarifies private vs. public utility responsibilities to reduce litigation. - SB 149 (Drowsy Driving Awareness Week, first substitute): Passed (25 yeas, 0 nays, 4 absent). Designates an August week for awareness; sponsor said there are no penalty changes in the substitute. - SB 162 (secondhand sales amendments, first substitute): Passed (24 yeas, 0 nays, 5 absent). Exempts certain retail media store-credit transactions from the 15-day hold requirement. - SJR 13 (ethics commission eligibility): Passed (25 yeas, 0 nays, 4 absent). Modifies eligibility requirements for members of the independent legislative ethics commission.
Several bills were ‘circled’ (deferred) for follow-up, and the Senate set a time certain for debate on school-security legislation with students present on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The chamber recessed until 2:00 p.m. for afternoon business.
Quotes from the floor reflected procedural and sponsor explanations. For example, Senator Jenkins said of the cemetery bill: “It creates a new section 8-6-2, policies adopted and records kept by cemeteries.” Senator Weiler summarized the lobbyist-disclosure substitute as defining activity and requiring disclosure of donated hours when a lobbyist helps a candidate in a midterm vacancy.
What’s next: most bills passed by the Senate will be transmitted to the House for further consideration; a number of measures were moved to third reading and several were set for future floor debate.
