SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that bars doctors from using telemedicine to remotely prescribe abortion-inducing medication passed the House, an euthanasia reform bill passed a committee and a bigamy bill that was held last week has gained committee approval.

A daylight saving time exemption resolution died in a committee when it failed to get enough votes to advance.

Here's a roundup of what's happening on the Hill:

Senate OKs sending more money to poorer school districts

The Utah Senate has approved a bill that sends one-third of new education spending each year toward the state's poorest school districts.

Bill sponsor Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, said SB80 is needed to help poorer school districts that aren't able to bring in enough money through property taxes to adequately fund education.

Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, spoke out against the proposal, saying that making a decision about which schools should get extra funding should be based on more than just zip codes.

Algal bloom outbreak, Tibble Fork Dam and other spills prompt funding requests

The Utah Division of Water Quality wants to boost its preparedness for a summer potentially accompanied by harmful algal bloom outbreaks by hiring a pair of part-time employees to monitor 19 at-risk reservoirs or lakes.

Walt Baker, division director, said the one-time money of $123,000 from the general fund will augment the agency's response to any onset of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, which can contain toxins that cause nerve or liver damage upon exposure.

Baker, who made the request to the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday, said last summer's unprecedented outbreaks at Utah Lake, Payson Lakes and Scofield Reservoir strained the resources of the agency as it grappled with the demands of emergency testing, paying for out-of-state lab analysis and in-state monitoring.

Baker also wants lawmakers' permission to dip into the Utah Wastewater Loan Program account to hire a full-time, permanent spill coordinator at $102,900 a year.

Bill barring remote abortion pill dispensing passes in House

A bill that bars doctors from using telemedicine to remotely prescribe abortion-inducing medication advanced through the Utah Legislature on Tuesday despite warnings from Democrats that it will likely be challenged in court.

Utah's Republican-controlled House voted to approve HB154, which mainly promotes the use of telemedicine, a growing practice in which doctors use images and webcams to consult with patients, typically far away or in rural areas, and treat them.

But a provision at the very bottom of the legislation says doctors cannot prescribe abortion-inducing medication remotely.

Euthanasia reform moves forward in the senate

It was standing room only for those with both two and four legs Tuesday as Utah lawmakers considered a bill that would ban the use of gas chambers as a method of euthanasia at animal shelters.

"I believe that how we care for animals and how we treat animals says a lot about us," said Sen. Peter Knudson, R-Brigham City.

Most of those who packed a Senate committee room to listen to the discussion and provide testimony about euthanasia of shelter animals supported Knudson's bill, SB56, calling the use of lethal injection much more humane than a carbon-monoxide gas chamber.

"This bill is to put euthanasia in a situation where animals receive less stress and a proper farewell, if you will," Knudson said.

Bigamy bill gains House committee approval

A bill held last week after hours of testimony about polygamy was advanced Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee after the penalty for bigamy along with child abuse, fraud and other crimes was enhanced.

HB99, sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, had focused only on defining bigamy as both purporting to marry someone while already married and co-habiting with that person in an effort to comply with recent court rulings.

But the committee chose not to take action on that bill last week after hearing often emotional stories about both abuses associated with polygamy and the fear otherwise law-abiding people practicing polygamy have of being prosecuted.

What was added to the bill by the committee was a provision spelling out that taking "steps to protect the safety and welfare" of children in a polygamist relationship could be used as a defense.

Resolution on daylight saving time exemption dies in committee

A legislative resolution that would have put a nonbinding opinion question to voters on whether Utah should be exempt from daylight saving time — thus avoiding changing clocks twice a year — will not see the light of day after it was killed in committee Tuesday.

HJR2, sponsored by Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, sought to have the question of exempting Utah from daylight saving time put on the ballot in the 2018 general election.

Citing greater incidences of heart attacks, strokes and automobile accidents caused by the stress of adjusting to the time change, Thurston said voters ought to have a chance to weigh in on the issue.

Contributing: Associated Press, Amy Joi O'Donoghue, Michelle Price, Ryan Morgan, Lisa Riley Roche

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