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SALT LAKE CITY — Here are the bills Utah lawmakers are currently looking at, including criminalizing 'revenge porn', language for the child sex abuse law, electric car fees and funding for deaf and blind classrooms. Gov. Herbert also tried to convince lawmakers to accept new federal funding for Medicaid.
House postpones action on goblin toppler bill
Concern that its language is too vague or its penalties too harsh led a committee of Utah lawmakers to delay action Thursday on the so-called goblin toppler bill.
Rep. Dixon Pitcher, R-Ogden, sponsored HB68 in response to the October case of two Utah Boy Scout leaders whose alleged destruction of a unique geologic formation called a "hoodoo" sparked international outrage.
House approves bill to criminalize 'revenge porn'
A House committee gave a favorable recommendation Thursday to a bill looking to criminalize so-called “revenge porn.”
If HB71 becomes law, it would modify Utah's criminal code to make it a third-degree felony to distribute “intimate images” without the subject’s consent. The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee sent the bill to the full House with a 6-1 vote.
The bill addresses nonconsensual pornography, which is commonly referred to as revenge porn — the publication of explicit photos and videos without the permission from the subject, usually by a previous significant other, with the intent to cause emotional distress or harm.
House unanimously passes bill to clarify sexual abuse of child law
A House committee unanimously recommended a bill Thursday to clarify the term “position of special trust” in cases of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
HB257, sponsored by Rep. Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, moves higher in the state code the original list of people who fall under the category of “position of trust.”
Gov. Herbert tries to convince lawmakers to accept new Medicaid funding
Gov. Gary Herbert described his plan for Medicaid expansion as a tough sell to the Utah Legislature, especially over the issue of accepting the federal funding available, during a meeting Thursday with the Deseret News Editorial Board.
"We've got to get people to understand this ought to be based on common sense and adhere to concern for the taxpayer as opposed to ideology — because we don't like Obamacare, therefore we won't take a federal dollar," Herbert said.
The GOP governor said there is resistance by some lawmakers to using federal dollars offered through the Affordable Care Act.
Proposed bill would increase fees for electric, other alternative fuel cars
A Republican lawmaker is being blasted by Utah Democratic Party officials who say his bill to increase registration fees for electric cars and other alternative fuel vehicles does nothing to help clean up the air.
Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, said the criticism is baseless. SB139, he said, is about road maintenance and fairness.
"This does nothing to disrespect the importance of alternative fuel vehicles or the importance of air quality," Harper said. "These cars are still having the same impact as other vehicles, but they do not have to pay for the wear and tear on our roads."
Teens, advocates, legislators, rally for regulation of e-cigarettes
Warnings against the use of electronic cigarettes and calls for them to be regulated echoed in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning.
Tobacco Free Education Day at the Capitol was attended by teens, legislators, advocates against tobacco, health care professionals and members of the tobacco industry. They shared statistics and stories about tobacco use, specifically related to e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are cartridges filled with a nicotine solution heated into a vapor by a battery-powered coil. They are marketed to be safer than regular cigarettes and to help smokers quit.
Republican lawmakers unwilling to take action on prison relocation
House Republicans weren't ready Thursday to back moving the state prison despite hearing much of the same analysis that convinced the Prison Relocation and Development Authority to recommend relocation a day earlier.
"I believe personally the window of opportunity is closing on this particular issue," House Majority Leader Brad Dee, R-Odgen, told the caucus after a presentation on the benefits of building a new prison and freeing up the Draper site for redevelopment.
Dee asked the majority caucus to support a resolution yet to be drafted by Rep. Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, that would support relocating the prison. The resolution, Dee said, would not state where or how a new prison would be built.
Deaf, blind students have class on Capitol Hill as school asks for funding
Trace Malone wrote a letter to his state legislator and didn't ask for anything except for a quick handshake.
"It was the coolest letter, hand-addressed and written in Braille," said Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry. He said he couldn't pass up the chance to meet 15-year-old Trace, of Ogden, who is blind.
"These are the reasons I'm elected," Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, said Thursday as he led kindergarteners from the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind through various restricted areas of the Capitol. He said they had "special VIP access" for the day.
The school set up a makeshift classroom at the Capitol, hoping to give lawmakers a glimpse of what deaf and blind education is all about.
