Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would recognize postpartum depression as a public health issue, and another measure that would mean more election polling places for Utahns both passed out of committee on Utah's Capitol Hill Tuesday.
For those and other stories below, click the headline to read the story.
Committee OKs measure recognizing postpartum depression as 'public health issue'
Kelsie Oliver said she had a wonderful experience delivering her baby girl last year, and "everything was going great."
That is, until about three days after delivery.
"I (started) feeling strange, but I didn't tell anyone," Oliver told state lawmakers Tuesday.
Soon, Oliver started experiencing "intrusive thoughts," which she called "the worst things you could can ever picture doing to your baby."
A legislative measure recognizing postpartum depression and anxiety as "a serious statewide public health issue" passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday after hearing Oliver's impassioned testimony and the support of several experts.
House committee advances bill requiring more polling places, other changes for voters
A bill that would make a number of changes to how Utahns vote, including adding more polling places, was advanced Tuesday by the House Government Operations Committee.
HB218, sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, would require counties to have at least one polling place for every 5,000 voters, even if elections are being conducted largely by mail.
The only elections that could be handled entirely by mail under the bill, which committee members voted 6-3 to send to the full House, would be those held solely for a referendum challenging a local tax law.
Bill would ensure state oversight of oil and gas production in Utah
The Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee endorsed legislation Tuesday that would put into law the "bright line of authority" Utah has over oil and gas production, as opposed to state and local government.
SB191, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, establishes that state authority in instances where state and local government may pass ordinances and rules that thwart mineral production.
Bill requiring greater crisis line accessibility in Utah moves forward
A bill requiring all Utah suicide hotlines to be available or capable of rolling over to other lines at all times was approved by the Senate on Tuesday for a third reading.
HB41 passed its second reading by a 27-0 vote, and its third reading is now tabled until later in the legislative session when state lawmakers consider which bills to prioritize funding for. The measure also requests $2.3 million in ongoing funding for Utah crisis lines.
HB41's sponsor, Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, has called it "Hannah's Bill," so-named after Hannah Warburton, a Weber High School student who took her own life in 2014 a short time after a phone call she made to her psychologist went unanswered.
Senate OKs bill punishing abortion providers for not giving required info
The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would punish health care providers who fail to show an explanatory module to a patient before they get an abortion.
The Senate passed SB118 with a vote of 26 to 1 after no questions for sponsor Sen. Todd Weiler were posed during floor debate. The bill will now be considered in the House of Representatives.
Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, cast the only dissenting vote.
Committee OKs resolution allowing sale of property for Utah County connector
A resolution allowing the Utah Developmental Center in American Fork to sell or lease four of the center's 250 acres needed to connect two area roads was advanced Tuesday by the Senate Transportation Committee.
HJR7, sponsored by Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine, would allow a project to connect North County Boulevard and the Alpine Highway that's been in the works for some nine years to go forward.
Nearly $5 million has been set aside to acquire the land and adjacent properties have been purchased, Andrew Jackson, executive director of the Mountainland Association of Governments, told the committee.
