Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legislative Roundup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah Senate ends session by passing large package of bills, appointing conference committees
Summary
On the final day of its 2017 session the Utah Senate cleared a wide set of bills under suspension of the rules, including measures on solid-waste fee allocation, construction-trades licensing, governmental immunity, short-term rental advertising, and reforms for involuntary substance-use treatment; several items were circled for further review and a conference committee was appointed on affordable housing amendments.
The Utah State Senate convened for its final day and moved quickly through a long agenda, passing a bundle of bills under suspension of the rules and lifting several items for later review. President Niederhauser declared a quorum and senators handled the consent calendar before taking up a sequence of second- and third-reading bills.
Major floor actions included the passage of a fifth substitute to House Bill 115, which spreads oversight fees in the solid-waste sector to equalize the fee burden among private and public waste handlers; the Senate recorded the fifth substitute of HB 115 as passing with 27 yea votes and 1 nay. The chamber approved a substitute to House Bill 273 to set a five-year look‑back period for construction-trades licensing violations and to allow the licensing division to process multiple violations either together or separately. Senators also passed bills clarifying when law‑enforcement body‑worn cameras must be turned off in hospitals and clinics and a government immunity bill intended to restore legislative clarity after recent court decisions.
The Senate approved second substitute House Bill 286, a measure that allows relatives to petition a court for essential treatment of an adult with a substance-use disorder in defined emergency and nonemergency circumstances (including a 72‑hour evaluation pathway), and second substitute House Bill 253 concerning short‑term rental advertising and local land‑use authority. The body adopted House Concurrent Resolution 26 urging accelerated restoration efforts for Utah Lake, calling for improved water clarity, invasive-species management and fisheries recovery.
Several bills were circled for additional review by senators, and the chamber received communications from the House refusing to concur on some amendments (notably to affordable housing amendments). The Senate moved to refuse receding and appointed a conference committee to reconcile fiscal-note differences and disputed amendments.
The Senate recessed to 2:00 p.m. after completing floor action for the session day. Bills passed by the Senate will be transmitted to the House for the speaker’s signature or moved to conference as noted.
Votes at a glance
- Fifth Substitute House Bill 115 (solid-waste fee revisions): Passed, 27–1. Sponsor: Senator Bramble. - First Substitute House Bill 273 (construction trades licensing penalties): Passed (vote recorded on the floor under suspension of rules). Sponsor: Senator Buxton. - First Substitute House Bill 278 (Expenses of Minor Children Amendments): Passed (consent calendar). Sponsor: Senator Weiler. - House Bill 435 (clarifications for body‑worn cameras in clinics/hospitals): Passed, recorded as unanimous in the transcript. - House Bill 376 (eviction/evidentiary hearing timing; landlord-tenant): Passed under suspension of rules. Sponsor: Senator Weiler. - Second Substitute House Bill 286 (involuntary treatment/relative petition for substance-use disorder): Passed under suspension of rules. Sponsors and backers described the balance between civil‑liberty protections and treatment access. - Second Substitute House Bill 253 (short-term rental advertising and land-use authority): Passed, roll-call recorded 28–0 with one absent. Sponsor: Senator Adams. - House Concurrent Resolution 26 (urging restoration of Utah Lake): Adopted by the Senate. Sponsor: Senator Henderson.
What to watch next: conference committee meetings on disputed affordable-housing amendments and the House’s requests to recede from Senate amendments. Bills passed by the Senate will proceed to the House for concurrence or the speaker’s signature as applicable.
