(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...With 14 days left in the 2013 General Legislative Session, representatives from Tooele County have met with varied success shepherding their measures through the Utah Legislature. After two previous attempts, Rep. Doug Sagers, R-Tooele, was successful in gaining legislative support for his proposed changes to the utility facility siting review process.
Sagers’ House Bill 60 passed the House with a 75-0 vote and 27-0 in the Senate. The measure is now on its way to the governor’s desk.
Sagers’ bill removes the Utility Facility Review Board from the Department of Commerce. It establishes requirements for the board to set a schedule for the review process and to hold a hearing on the merits of a siting within 60 days of the board’s initial review.
The bill also extends the time period for issuing a final written decision from 45 to 75 days following the initial hearing. Sagers is also sponsoring House Bill 95.
H.B. 95 clarifies under what conditions employers must make contributions to the state retirement system for employees that have been re-employed after retirement.
H.B. 95 passed the House 73-0 and was approved by a Senate committee with a 5-0 vote. The bill is now waiting for a vote by the full Senate.
A third bill sponsored by Sagers, House Bill 128, lessens the time that must pass before a judge may consider reducing a suspended drivers license, as a result of a DUI conviction, from two years to six months. H.B. 128 passed the House with a 72- 0 vote and has been sent to the Senate for consideration. Rep. Merrill Nelson, RGrantsville, introduced four bills in his first session in the House.
House Bill 89, sponsored by Nelson, provides for a judicial appeal of a suspension or revocation of the certification of a peace officer by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. H.B. 89 was passed by the House with a 70-0 vote and is now waiting for a hearing by the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice committee.
Nelson’s House Bill 86 allows taxing entities to delay approval of their budget if they don’t receive their certified tax rate on time.
H.B. 86 was approved by the House with a 72-0 vote but is being held in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. The committee has had the bill for two weeks but it has yet to consider it.
Nelson’s House Bill 144 places a non-voting member from Tooele and Box Elder Counties to the Utah Transit Authority’s board of trustees. The bill was approved by the House Transportation Committee and is waiting for a vote by the full House.
House Bill 231, another bill sponsored by Nelson, allows facilities disposing of hazardous waste, such as EnergySolutions, to pass on fees imposed by the state to the generators of the waste.
H.B. 231 was approved by the House with a 73-0 vote and the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee with a 6-0 vote. The bill is now waiting for consideration by the full Senate.
As of Thursday morning 141 of the 480 bills introduced in the 2013 legislature have been passed. The 2013 legislative session ends March 14.
