Estimated read time: 4-5 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 — Utah's "porn czar" position will be eliminated under a bill approved by a Senate committee Thursday. Also, an auto registration bill failed, and three outgoing university presidents got a sweet sendoff.
In the roundup below, click on the headline for the complete story.
No more 'porn czar' in Utah
A Senate committee approved a bill with little discussion Thursday that will eliminate the "porn czar" position created in 2000.
Rep. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, is sponsoring HB50 to repeal the provision that created the Obscenity and Pornography Complaints Ombudsman Office. The position was created to help communities better understand and strengthen their pornography laws and ordinances and advise local governments about strategies to restrict, suppress or eliminate obscenity and pornography.
McKell said HB50 is a "straight-up repeal." The committee voted unanimously to push it through.
Auto registration bill fails to advance in legislative committee
A bill that would repeal the requirement to have automobile registration papers present in the vehicle failed to advance past a legislative committee Wednesday.
HB161, sponsored by Rep. Christine Watkins, R-Price, failed to advance in the House Transportation Committee, with lawmakers voting 5-5 to send the bill to the full House for more debate.
"It would be nice to have one more thing off the books,” Watkins said.
Lawmaker proposes court process for transgender Utahns to legally change their gender
To correct what he sees as a hole in Utah law, a state senator proposed a bill Thursday creating a process for transgender people to legally change their gender through the courts.
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said he's convinced the Legislature has failed judges because it has not provided them with guidelines for considering petitions seeking to change one's gender on a birth certificate.
"We’ve given them absolutely no guidance on what factors to consider if they get a petition," he said. "I’m trying to fill that gap because right now the judges are forced to legislate from the bench because I believe the Legislature has failed in its duty to fill in those blanks."
Student activists share 'Breathing Stories,' call for lawmakers to clean up Utah's air
Nicole Milavetz loves to hike, except when it makes her sick.
The West High senior also enjoys riding her bike to school, she said, though the dirty air along the Wasatch Front — particularly during wintertime inversions — makes that a risky decision.
"The problem has become pretty extreme," she said.
Milavetz and her fellow members of the West High School Environmental Club visited the Capitol on Thursday to chat with state lawmakers about Utah's poor air quality and how it impacts their lives.
Are college tuition waivers self-imposed budget cuts?
State college and university tuition waivers totaling more than $138 million in the past year piqued the attention of state lawmakers Thursday as a budget subcommittee settled on base budget recommendations for the state's public education system.
Tuition waivers are a form of financial aid used to help students pay for college. Some colleges and universities even call them scholarships.
According to a brief prepared by legislative fiscal analysts, state colleges and universities have increased total tuition waived from "$81 million in FY 2014 to $138.1 million in FY 2017."
This represents a 70.6 percent increase over a three-year period.
Bill seeks to modify Utah traffic code to permit robots to roam sidewalks
A bill that would modify Utah traffic code to permit automated personal delivery robots to roam sidewalks advanced through a House committee by a unanimous vote Wednesday.
"Today, we'd like to present a bill that deals with an upcoming technology and industry," the bill's sponsor, Rep. Stewart Barlow, R-Fruit Heights, told the House Transportation Committee.
At Barlow's signal, a young man with a remote control drove one such personal delivery device into the room to present it before the committee.
"These things haul," Barlow said. "They do about 4 mph."
3 outgoing Utah university presidents get a 'sweet' send-off
The Utah Legislature's Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee gave the outgoing presidents of the University of Utah, Utah Valley University and Weber State University a "sweet" send-off Thursday morning, gifting each with a basket of their favorite treats and a collective standing ovation.
U. President David Pershing is retiring from the top administrative position he's held since 2012 to return to the university's chemical engineering faculty. His successor, Ruth Watkins, was appointed Jan. 18.
The same day, Weber State President Charles A. Wight announced he is a finalist in presidential searches elsewhere and he announced his plans to step down from the Ogden university.
UVU President Matthew Holland is stepping down because he has been called as a mission president by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission starting in July.
