Utah House approves a slate of bills on education, public safety, taxation and health

The Utah House of Representatives on Jan. 26 adopted several committee reports and cleared a package of bills across policy areas including education, public safety, taxation, and health.

Committee reports from Business & Labor, Economic Development and Education were adopted in voice votes, sending multiple bills to calendars. Representative Corey Malloy and Representative Jefferson Enquist each moved committee reports that the chamber approved.

On the third-reading calendar the House approved:

- HB 333 (fireworks modifications): Sponsor Representative Dunnigan described the bill as a technical cleanup that lets fire districts issue fireworks permits and aligns state references to federal fireworks classifications. The House passed HB 333, 72–0; it will be transmitted to the Senate.

- HB 176 (elected official vacancy amendments): Sponsor Representative Wilcox said the bill updates state code to match federal requirements allowing service members to serve in local offices and to receive temporary replacements; passed 74–0.

- First substitute HB 20 (parental rights amendments): Representative Birkland said the bill requires a signature to document consent in termination of parental rights cases; passed 70–0.

- Second substitute HB 83 (consolidation of statutes on threats): Representative Stoddard said the substitute unifies statutes on threats to voters, elected officials and party officials for clarity; passed 75–0.

- HB 94 (civil commitment examiner requirements): Representative Abbott said the bill allows doctoral-level nurse practitioners with mental-health experience to perform civil-commitment exams to improve access and lower cost; passed 75–0.

- HB 95 (repeal of liability of relatives statute): Representative Stoddard said the bill repeals an apparently unused 1977 statute regarding relatives’ liability for others’ debts; passed 75–0.

- HB 18 (mineral production tax withholding amendments): Representative Bollinger said the committee bill aligns withholding and reporting timeframes and reduces the mineral producer withholding from 5% to follow applicable tax rates; passed 75–0.

- First substitute HB 113 (rural county jail facilities tax): Representative Shipp described a voter-approved local-option sales tax (up to 40 basis points) to fund building or remodeling county jails in eligible rural counties; passed 74–0.

The House also authorized the Speaker to sign a citation honoring educator Richard Ochoa for 45 years of service at Alta High School, placed SCR 3 on a time-certain calendar for Jan. 31 at 11:30 a.m., and approved the Rules Committee report assigning numerous bills to standing committees. Representative Moss moved and the House adjourned until Jan. 30 at 11 a.m.

Votes listed above reflect the counts recorded on the House floor transcript for the Jan. 26 session; where sponsors provided only a floor summary, the chamber’s official enrolled bill and committee files should be consulted for final statutory language.