The second week of the 2023 legislative session is wrapping up and unlike most years, legislators did not save the most controversial bills for last.
Last week, an education bill (HB215) combining educational savings accounts and a $4,200 raise for teachers began moving through the legislature at a fast clip. Democratic legislators offered multiple amendments and substitute bills, all of which were voted down. As we conclude this week, it has passed all the way through the House and Senate and is sitting on the governor’s desk, waiting for his signature. This bill passed by at least two-thirds in both the House and Senate, making it both veto-proof and referendum-proof.
There were four bills relating to transgender minors that were voted on this week. The first, SB16, deals with sex-change surgeries and hormonal treatments. Physicians would be prohibited from performing sex-change surgeries and it would be “unprofessional conduct” if they do so. The bill was amended on the House floor to remove the end-date of a four-year moratorium on administering puberty blockers, which has the effect of making the ban permanent. It also allows for retroactive revocation of consent, meaning patients could sue their doctor for procedures and treatment they previously agreed to, and the effective date was changed to “immediately.” The changes were approved by the Senate, also in a veto-proof and referendum-proof super-majority and now heads to the governor for his signature.
The second bill relating to transgender minors is SB93, which prevents minors from changing their birth certificates. It has passed out of the Senate and is on the House side, waiting for a committee hearing. The third bill is SB100, which requires schools to allow parents to access any information regarding their child, including gender identity, and prohibits schools from interfering with that right. That bill is due to be heard by the House Health and Human Services committee on Friday afternoon, where it is expected to pass. The fourth bill affecting transgender youth was HB132, which also prohibited “sex transitioning procedures” on minors. It failed 9-5 in committee, although much of the bill was incorporated into the changes to SB16.
SB117, a bill requiring all police departments in the state to use a lethality assessment protocol, passed out of committee unanimously, after emotional testimony from Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and her aunt and uncle, speaking about the murder of Mandy Mayne, the lieutenant governor’s cousin. Mayne was killed by her ex-husband, Taylor Martin, in August after he showed up at her work and threatened her two days in a row.
The lethality assessment protocol is currently voluntary and about half of the state’s police departments now use it. The law would set into statute the 11 questions law enforcement officers would be required to ask victims when responding to domestic violence calls, including whether or not the aggressor has easy access to a gun, has ever threatened to kill the victim’s children, if the victim believes the aggressor would try to kill them and whether or not the aggressor has ever tried to choke the victim. The bill would also create data-sharing that would allow responding officers to access information on-scene, including information about prior domestic violence calls.
Two election bills passed the House Government Operations committee, both sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan. HB202 changes the threshold for signature gatherers to the current number or 3% of the registered voters of the qualified political party where the candidate resides, whichever is greater. Many heavily Republican districts will see the required number of signatures go up. The other bill is HB205, a bill to change how primary elections are done. Teuscher is proposing that all political entities conducting primaries move to a “contingent” system of voting. Similar to “ranked-choice” voting where a voter ranks the candidates in order of preference and “approval” voting where voters select as many of the candidates that they approve of, this method would distribute votes among only the top two candidates until a 50% plus one threshold is reached.
HB40, Indian Child Welfare Amendments, is sponsored by Rep. Christine Watkins, R-Price, and Sen. Dave Hinkins, R-Orangeville, and seeks to codify into Utah law provisions of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act. The purpose of the law is to “preserve and strengthen Indian families and Indian culture,” as it applies to removing children from their biological families and placing them in foster or adoptive homes. The eight federally recognized tribes residing in Utah, the attorney general’s office, the Utah Committee on Juvenile Justice, Voices for Utah Children and other key stakeholders worked on and support this bill. There were no public comments in opposition to this bill, but it was held in the House Judiciary committee because of concerns of some legislators. Held bills may or may not be heard again later in the session.
Additional bills moving this week: celebrating Halloween the last Friday of October; a bill expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage; a bill that would allow spouses of first responders to access mental health services; a bill that would eliminate “gas chamber euthanasia” in animal shelters is out of committee, as is a bill prohibiting businesses from requiring proof of vaccination.
You can follow any committee or floor hearing at le.utah.gov
Holly Richardson is the editor of Utah Policy, a daily newsletter about Utah politics and policies.