Utah Senate approves Rules Committee report, assigns bills to committees and sets conference committee on H.B. 270

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Senate approved the Rules Committee report and directed a long list of bills to standing committees, the chamber’s presiding officer announced at the opening of Day 41.

The report, signed by Committee Chair David Buxton, listed assignments including House Bill 155 (fireworks provisions), H.B. 461 (childcare grant amendments), H.B. 483 (construction trade amendments), H.B. 496 (public land use amendments) and H.B. 520 (fallow land amendments), among others. "Motion to approve the Rules Committee Report," the presiding officer said; members answered "Aye" and the motion passed with no recorded opposition. The bills will be sent to the named committees as written.

The Chief Clerk, Megan S. Allen, relayed communications from the House that several Senate-origin bills had been passed and sent to the president for signature for enrollment, including S.B. 101 (limited liability company amendments) and S.B. 188 (professional licensing revisions). She also transmitted multiple House bills that had been concurred in or substituted and sent to the Senate, among them third substitute H.B. 31 (agritourism amendments) and first substitute H.B. 443 (Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act amendments).

On a dispute over second substitute H.B. 270 (multi-county appraisal trust modifications), the House refused to concur with the Senate amendments and requested the Senate recede. The Senate voted not to recede, instead establishing a conference committee to resolve differences. Senators named to the committee included Senator Bickers (committee lead), Senator Harper and Senator Kwan; a tentative meeting time of 3:30 p.m. in the Senate Caucus Room was set, subject to developments in the House.

Committee reports later in the day included a favorable recommendation from the Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee on first substitute H.B. 464 (social media amendments) and multiple favorable reports from the Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee on measures including first substitute H.B. 80 (candidate and office holder disclosure modifications) and H.B. 146 (human trafficking amendments). During a reading of committee business, the chamber experienced an audio echo; Senators resolved the technical issue and approved a lighthearted procedural motion described on the floor as a motion "to saunter."

No final floor actions were recorded in the transcript beyond approval of the Rules Committee report and establishment of the conference committee on H.B. 270. The Senate returned several enrolled bills to the president’s desk for signature and sent assigned bills to standing committees for further consideration.