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Richard Piatt ReportingUtah legislators are passing their favorite bills any way they can this week. One example is a gun owner's rights bill that was resurrected from the brink of failure this week.
Senate bill 24 would have let anyone over age 18 carry a loaded gun in their car, even without a permit. Serious questions about whether a bullet could be allowed in the chamber, ready to fire, put it on hold last week.
Then, Senate Republicans in a committee tried to pass the bill quickly, but failed when their colleagues found out what was going on. The end result, after another go-round today, is a watered-down version of the bill. It says you can carry a gun in a glove box or container, but the bullet can't be in the chamber. And, parliamentary tactics aside, both Republicans and Democrats seem satisfied with the new changes.
Sen. Mark Madsen, Bill Sponsor (R) Lehi: "In the final analysis, didn't have an effect on the outcome of the bill, but it was kind of fun that day."
Sen. Mike Dmitrich, Senate Minority Leader: "You don't put a bullet in the chamber. So they made all those corrections and it's a good bill now."
Now the full Senate will consider that one.
Also today, the full Senate passed stiffer penalties for illegal street racing, a bill that resulted from an Eyewitness news investigation on street racing in Utah. A House committee okay'd a bill to create a private-public partnership to build toll roads. And the House passed a bill that would halt parental custody rights against the wishes of a biological or adoptive parent. The bill is in response to a court case involving a lesbian couple and their daughter.
Meantime, the stalemate between the House and Senate continues on the budget. It looks like modest raises for state employees, a 5 percent hike for schools, and tax reform is a big question mark right now.
