Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House adopts substitute for economic development bill to create 'Utah Works' program
Summary
The House adopted a fourth substitute to S.B. 172 that moves the STEM Action Center into the Division of Heritage and Arts, retains the Pete Suazo athletic commission in GOED, requires a strategic plan from GOED and creates the Utah Works program under Talent Ready Utah; the vote was unanimous 69–0 on the floor.
The Utah House on March 13 adopted a fourth substitute to Senate Bill 172 by voice vote and later recorded as 69–0. The substitute relocates the STEM Action Center from the governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) to the Division of Heritage and Arts, removes the Pete Suazo Athletic Commission from that transfer, requires GOED to develop a strategic plan, and creates a new Utah Works workforce program inside Talent Ready Utah.
Sponsor Representative Peterson described the substitute as a realignment intended to sharpen the governor’s office focus on attracting companies to the state while creating in-state training programs. The sponsor said funding in the fiscal note supports setup and ongoing costs for the Utah Works program and that the million-dollar ongoing amount in the fiscal note is intended to sustain training programs rather than create permanent FTE commitments.
Representative Aaron and others asked whether the state energy office remained affected by the substitute; Peterson said the earlier state energy office changes were removed from this substitute. Questions about FTEs and fiscal details drew responses that the fiscal note focused on program funding and that FTE counts were not specified on the floor.
Next steps: The substitute was adopted and the bill passed the House; it will be returned to the Senate for their consideration.
