SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would ban gas chambers for animals failed in a House vote, Gov. Herbert met with Obama and asked him not to create any new national monuments in Utah, a Medicare expansion bill got a surprise pass and a Senate panel advanced a bill that would repeal the death penalty.

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

Bill to ban gas chamber use at animal shelters fails in House

A bill that would ban animal euthanasia by gas chamber failed in the House on Tuesday.

HB187, sponsored by Rep. Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, would have impacted the seven animal shelters in the state that still use carbon monoxide chambers.

"We need to leave some options open for those people who care and care deeply for those animals to euthanize them in more than just one way at the end of their life," said Rep. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton.

Rep. Brad King, D-Price, read a letter from the Carbon County Animal Shelter that said while the shelter does everything in its power to avoid euthanizing animals, employees would like to be able to have the option to use a gas chamber when they feel it is more humane.

Senate panel advances bill to repeal Utah death penalty

Salt Lake defense attorney David Shapiro has a very personal reason for opposing the death penalty.

His parents were brutally murdered in Arizona four years ago, and the accused killer has yet to go to trial in the capital case.

Shapiro told the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday that he's seen what it's like for victims to endure decades of appeals that typify death penalty cases. Life without parole, he said, is a much more harsh penalty, and then the case is over.

"That, to me, honors my parents' memory. Killing the person in my mind and for my parents would not be an honor to their memory. It would be just the opposite," he said as his twin brother, Steve, also an attorney, listened with tears in his eyes.

Committee members weighed Shapiro's emotional testimony and other comments for and against capital punishment before voting 5-2 to move SB189 to the Senate floor.

The bill would prohibit state prosecutors from charging a capital offense for aggravated murder committed before May 10, 2016, in which the death penalty has not been sought. It would also outlaw capital punishment in aggravated murder cases from that date forward.

Yesterday's roundup:

Marriage license bill could save Utah $2M per year; State growth down $10M

A bill that would give a $20 marriage license discount to couples who go to marriage counseling could save the state a lot of money, Utah Rep. Mia Love gave her annual address and the legislature has $10 million less to spend this year.

Student immunizations bill heads to House floor

A bill that would require parents to watch an educational video before exempting their children from vaccinations passed a House committee on its third try.

HB221, which passed the House Health and Human Services Committee on a 7-3 vote Monday, goes to the House floor next.

The bill underwent several changes after being held twice in committee. Debate became heated at times during those meetings, with opponents arguing that the bill punishes parents who choose not to immunize their children.

Kristin Chevrier, who spoke at the second committee meeting on the bill, said she has collected 50 letters from parents of children who were injured by vaccines.

"I appreciate the intent of the bill, but I have concerns," Chevrier said.

Senate committee backs full Medicaid expansion, but limited House bill expected

Last year's most hotly debated legislative topic is finally heating up in the final weeks of the session, with a Senate committee voting Tuesday to advance a Democratic bill calling for full Medicaid expansion.

The surprise 5-1 vote by the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on SB77, sponsored by Sen. Minority Leader Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, comes as a new Medicaid plan backed by House leaders is about to be introduced.

A long-awaited proposal by House Majority Leader Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, expected Wednesday, is being touted as the House GOP's alternative to Gov. Gary Herbert's Healthy Utah plan and its short-lived successor, UtahAccess+.

Healthy Utah failed in the House in 2015 despite backing from the Republican governor and the GOP-controlled Senate. The second plan, from Herbert and GOP legislative leaders, surfaced late last year but had little support.

Unless the state accepts Medicaid expansion or comes up with a plan acceptable to the federal government, some 63,000 low-income Utahns can't qualify for the health care subsidies available under President Barack Obama's health care law.

House passes bill shifting control of key legislative committees to majority

A bill shifting control of key legislative committees to the majority passed the Utah House on Tuesday with a number of Republicans opposed to changing the structure in place since 1975.

The sponsor of HB220, Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, said his intent in adding majority members to the Legislative Management Committee and Legislative Audit Subcommittee was to reflect the actual makeup of the Legislature.

"It's not about power. It's not about partisanship. It's not about politics," Christensen said, describing the move as the principles of proportionality "inherent in a representative democracy."

Republicans currently hold a supermajority in both the House and the Senate. Twenty-one GOP representatives joined the 12 Democrats in the House in opposing the bill, which has the backing of House leadership.

House Minority Caucus Manager Patrice Arent, D-Millcreek, raised concerns about the impact of the majority controlling the management committee that hires legislative staff, along with performing other administrative functions.

"Changing who does the hiring changes the nature of our staff," said Arent, a former legislative attorney. She said if the committee is seen as partisan, it will be harder for the Legislature to hire and keep attorneys, fiscal analysts and auditors.

Lawmakers sideline health care cost-sharing bill

After clearing the House with ease, a bill that would strengthen exemptions for religious health care cost-sharing organizations was tabled in a Senate committee Tuesday.

Health care sharing ministries — a Christian-based alternative to the Affordable Care Act that is growing increasingly popular — are already exempt from the state insurance code due to their religious nature, according to attorney Mike Sharman, who represents Liberty HealthShare.

But Sharman said the language of the exemption isn't clear enough.

If the state insurance department "chose to get aggressive toward us … they could bring this against us," he said.

Representatives from other health care sharing ministries disagreed with Sharman and spoke out against HB113.

Many objected to a compromise in the bill that would require health sharing ministries to print a disclosure statement with their applications clarifying that the consumer's health care expenses are not guaranteed to be covered.

Measure aims to grow Utah jobs, cut pollution

A Utah County lawmaker is proposing to allow businesses to tap into a state revolving loan fund to upgrade pollution controls to the best available technology, provided the result is new jobs with above-average wages for workers.

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, is running SB186, which would give businesses financial assistance to upgrade pollution equipment approved by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Qualifying businesses would have to be located in areas in Utah that currently exceed federal pollution limits set by the EPA, or what's called non-attainment zones.

If there are no similar grants or assistance available, and the company meets the qualifications, money would be available from the already established Industrial Assistance Account via a revolving low-interest loan.

Herbert to Obama: No new national monuments in Utah

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert hand-delivered a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday urging him to refrain from creating any new national monuments in Utah and instead allow the local process to unfold.

Herbert, in Washington, D.C., for a White House press briefing, also met with President Obama, personally reminding him of the resentment that persists nearly 20 years later in the wake of the 1996 designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Utah leaders only learned of that 1996 designation — which set aside land 2 times larger than the entire state of Rhode Island — via media and absent any state or local collaboration, Herbert said.

In his letter, the governor also pointed to the current anti-federal sentiment related to government land management agencies and how any designation would simply fuel that anger in Utah.

"Given the heated and antagonistic environment, which exists currently related to public lands, I respectfully ask you to refrain from using the Antiquities Act to designate a national monument in Utah," the letter said. "History shows that this sort of action will only exacerbate an already tense situation and will further perpetuate the long-standing public lands conflict."

Contributing: Emily Larson, Dennis Romboy, Daphne Chen, Lisa Riley Roche, Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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