Ben Winslow is a reporter with FOX 13 covering a variety of topics including politics, polygamy, vice and courts.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Legislature has adjourned, passing a $29 billion budget and hundreds of new laws that will impact your life.
Lawmakers also passed a bill that shifts funds into an account in anticipation of venue upgrades for the 2034 Winter Olympics that Salt Lake City is currently bidding for.Governor Spencer Cox asked for hundreds of millions of dollars for housing and homelessness, but got only some of that. Lawmakers did do something to find more money.
A bill to expand who can inspect homes faced initial objection from cities, but was amended to let someone seek a third party inspector if they can’t get it done quickly by a municipality. Rep. Marsha Judkins proposed a bill to require landlords to give tenants more notice if they’re going to raise the rent. It passed the House, but failed to pass the Senate.As always, the biggest battle for education is one around funding. Lawmakers did appropriate hundreds of millions of dollars more for public education in the form of teacher salaries, paid professional hours and the weighted pupil unit.
A bill by Rep. Tim Jimenez to offer trainings to teachers to carry concealed weapons . But a requirement that schools post signs that warn it is “not a gun free zone” was stripped out of the bill. A separate bill to teach firearm safety in schools did not advance. A bill that would have demanded that classrooms be “neutral” in response to a what its sponsor called a “perception” that some ideologies are being pushed on students. It faced pushback from Republicans and Democrats alike on the House floor and it failed to pass the House.
A bill passed that would offer teachers more money for classroom supplies, instead of having them dip into their own pocketbooks. Elementary school teachers will get $500, while secondary school teachers get $250. Student surveys will be “opt-in” but the Student Health and Risk Prevention survey, which has been the subject of scrutiny by conservative state school board members, will remain under a bill that passed the legislature.A bill that would “re-license” abortion clinics in Utah passed. The bill’s sponsor, House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, said it was designed to simplify questions about the legality of Utah’s abortion “trigger law” before the state Supreme Court.
A bill expanding crime victim rights before the parole board and in sentencing consideration passed. That same bill also made it a crime of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, even if the defendant is 18 and still in high school at the time of the crime. A separate bill made it a crime for a person in a position of trust to engage in sexual activity with a high school student, even if that student is over 18. Lawmakers made “pantsing” a misdemeanor crime.Rep.
A bill to have the Utah Highway Patrol take over policing of Salt Lake City International Airport was introduced, but never got a hearing. A bill that lets people who accidentally brings a firearm to the airport to get a warning on their first violation. Any seized firearm must be returned within three days.
Utah’s Department of Natural Resources will consolidate its policing agencies into one under a bill that passed. Protesters showed up to demonstrate against a bill that would ban flavored vape juices and ban non-FDA approved substances. Vape shop owners argued it could put them out of business. Sen. Jennifer Plumb’s bill passed. The legislature also passed Rep. Thomas Peterson’s bill that lets minors enroll in nicotine cessation programs without having to inform their parents.
Rep. Kera Birkeland passed a bill that would have the state seek to remove personal information about lawmakers from the internet. The bill is designed to avoid doxxing. House Majority Leader Jefferson Moss passed a bill setting guardrails around state data collection and protecting against breaches.
A bill that some initially worried could have placed restrictions on drag shows and Pride parades under Utah’s “lewdness involving a child” statute passed after being modified to effectively limit its application to people engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior targeted at a child. Lawmakers passed Rep. Brady Brammer’s bill that prohibits an employer from compelling an employee to act in a manner that the employee believes would burden or offend the employee's “sincerely held religious beliefs” in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Employers must accommodate a religious expression unless it interferes with an employer’s core mission.
A bill passed by Rep. Candice Pierucci seeks to get transit service to a fast growing area of Salt Lake County.Currently, Riverton, Herriman and surrounding communities do not have dedicated bus service. Her bill shifts some funding toward grants to start up transit service in the communities. Rep. Cory Maloy originally proposed to have snowplows declared emergency vehicles alongside ambulances and fire trucks. The bill was amended to allow them to use brighter lights.Rep. Andrew Stoddard passed a bill that says a vehicle operator intending to turn left is not required to yield the right-of-way to a vehicle operator approaching from the opposite direction that fails to stop when required by a stop sign or red signal at the intersection.
GOVERNANCEA bill that tweaks Utah’s public records laws generated controversy. Sen. Curt Bramble’s bill blocks the calendars of some public officials from view. He argued it was clarifying existing law, but the bill passed out of the legislature on the same day a judge ruled that Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes’ calendar ought to be public. The bill also gives attorney fees to those who prevail for their trouble. Governor Spencer Cox signed it less than 24 hours later.
A bipartisan bill to have metro townships like Kearns and Magna incorporate into cities passed the legislature. Lawmakers ran a series of bills that went after foreign interests, including one that requires military permission for certain land uses near an installation and another that blocks restricted foreign governments like China, North Korea, Iran and Russia from owning lands in Utah . If they already own the land? They’ll be forced to sell.
A bill by Rep. Phil Lyman that modifies the income level for “circuit breaker” property tax relief to make more people eligible passed. Unions were effective in killing a bill that sought to make state employees who are “career service” status into “at will” employees. Bills passed that expand on state plans for the Inland Port and Point of the Mountain Development projects.WATER AND THE GREAT SALT LAKE The Great Salt Lake had a great year in the legislature, politically speaking. The imperiled lake saw millions more in funding allocated and some significant bills. Rep. Casey Snider’s bill rewrote how mineral extraction companies use water on the lake and passed with the support of Republican leaders over the objections of at least one mineral company.
A bill to study how to get more water from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake passed. Lawmakers also repealed a law they previously passed that allowed proposals like the controversial Utah Lake “islands” project.A bill to carve out parts of rural Utah from secondary water metering, which tracks outdoor water use, passed the legislature.
Lawmakers also passed a bill that advocates for state interests on federal energy and environmental programs and authorized a study for a state fuel storage reserve. Bills were run taking aim at local decisions to block mining operations, but was ultimately amended to become a study of mining operations and critical infrastructure in the state.
Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands will do a study on wildland urban interface, which are homes built up against wilderness areas, under a bill that passed. Rep. Stephanie Gricius’ resolution to allow parties in a civil lawsuit to seek a new judge passed over objections it would open the door to “judge shopping” for someone more favorable to a case.
A bill to require child welfare caseworkers to wear bodycams and get a warrant before entering a home in some cases was introduced, but never got a hearing. A piece of legislation dubbed the “Medicaid Doomsday Bill” envisioned a scenario of funding shortfalls. But the notion of knocking tens of thousands of Utahns off of coverage brought out health care organizations and community advocates. On the House floor, Rep. Brady Brammer conceded he did not have the votes to pass it and it never advanced.
After years of trying, House Minority Whip Jennifer Dailey-Provost secured some money for people on the waitlist for services for those with disabilities. She has argued it is not enough. Sen. Curt Bramble passed a bill requiring patients to be notified if they are being treated with stem cells or placental tissue.
A bill to abandon Utah’s system of automatically mailing active registered voters their ballots and instead have them request a mail-in ballot was introduced, but never got a hearing. Rep. Christine Watkins introduced a bill to offer a sales tax break for construction or remodeling of child care centers. The bill never got a hearing.
Rep. Jason Kyle ran a proposed constitutional amendment that would “prohibit an elector for President and Vice President of the United States to vote for any person based on voting results in any other state.” It also never got considered.A proposed constitutional amendment to require a citizen ballot initiative to have a 60% threshold of passage should it raises taxes was introduced, but abandoned by lawmakers .
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