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Senate passes wide slate of bills, including waste‑management, VW mitigation fund and reforms on sexual‑assault kit processing
Summary
The Utah Senate approved a large group of concurrence and second‑reading items March 7, sending multiple bills back to the House for enrollment or further consideration, including First Substitute SB79 (waste management), SJR6 (lease of water rights), SB246 (pharmacy practice), HB200 (sexual‑assault kit processing) and legislation to receive Volkswagen mitigation funds.
The Utah Senate on March 7 moved a long list of bills through concurrence and final passage, approving measures across environmental policy, public safety, health and administrative reform and returning them to the House for enrollment or signature.
Among the bills approved were First Substitute Senate Bill 79 (waste‑management amendments), which the clerk recorded as having received 22 yea votes and 0 nays; First Substitute Senate Bill 181 on high‑priority transportation corridors; First Substitute Senate Joint Resolution 6 authorizing the lease of water rights by the State Developmental Center (28 yea, 0 nay); and First Substitute Senate Bill 246, Pharmacy Practice Act Amendments (28 yea, 0 nay). The chamber also approved House Bill 200 on sexual‑assault kit processing under suspension of the rules (24 yea, 0 nay) and House Bill 121 to create a Local Food Advisory Council (23 yea, 0 nay).
In a matter with statewide environmental and funding implications, the Senate passed House Concurrent Resolution 8, a procedural step authorizing the state to participate in the Volkswagen mitigation settlement and directing the Department of Environmental Quality to receive and administer mitigation funds for eligible air‑quality projects. Separately, the Senate approved House Bill 183 to establish a state fund to receive and manage the Volkswagen settlement mitigation dollars.
Other notable approvals included bills addressing automated traffic enforcement on school buses, child welfare and criminal justice reforms, and various House fiscal‑note bills the House had asked the Senate to lift for action. Where bills were amended on the floor, sponsors explained the changes before votes; several measures were handled under suspension of the usual three‑reading requirement.
What’s next: most passed items will be returned to the House for the Speaker’s signature and enrollment; several contentious or policy‑heavy items were referred to interim study (for example, long‑term health‑plan actuarial policy) for further work.
