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Utah Senate advances wide slate of House bills, including drone limits and new energy and health measures
Summary
On March 2, 2016 the Utah Senate received House messages, adopted committee reports and moved multiple House bills to third reading, approving measures that restrict drone flights near wildfires, permit pharmacy donation of sealed medications to clinics, and expand options for residential solar power purchase agreements.
The Utah Senate convened March 2 and advanced a large group of House measures to the third-reading calendar, passing or placing on third reading several bills on public safety, health and energy.
Senators approved first substitute House Bill 126 to make it illegal to fly an unmanned aircraft within a three-mile area around an active wildfire without coordination with the incident commander, with scaled penalties for interference and narrow exemptions for coordinated flights by public utilities, media and insurers. The measure received 20 yea votes, 0 nays and 9 absences and was placed at the bottom of the third-reading calendar.
The chamber also approved a third substitute of House Bill 236 to create a process for pharmacies to accept sealed, in-date medications and re-dispense them to free clinics and charitable providers, aiming to help patients who are uninsured or cannot afford co-pays. Senators discussed safety controls and donor definitions; the third substitute passed with 22 yea votes, 0 nays and 7 absences.
On energy policy, the Senate advanced House Bill 244, which would allow certain solar power providers to sell electricity directly to residential customers under power purchase agreements and requires disclosure and consumer protections in those contracts. The bill was placed on the third reading calendar after a favorable vote (21 yea, 0 nay, 8 absent).
Other measures moved by the Senate included bills to streamline business interactions with a proposed single sign-on portal, a broad insurance cleanup bill, election law revisions, and bills addressing transit district officer requirements and after-school program standards. Several bills were circled, tabled on third or sent to the rules committee pending fiscal notes.
The session concluded with routine committee report adoptions and a motion to adjourn until 10 a.m. the following day.
