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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Legislature continued their 2015 meetings by addressing a rally that children held to get clean buses for a cleaner future.
The Legislature discussed other bills for the safety and future of children by looking at funding for dyslexic children and background checks for daycare centers.
Here is a look at the highlights of this session:
Schoolchildren and clean air advocacy groups rallied Thursday in the rotunda at the Utah Capitol, urging support for a measure that would replace nearly 200 of the worst polluting school buses in the state's fleet.
The event urged passage of HB49, sponsored by Rep. Steve Handy, R-Layton, a measure that has already received a thumbs up from one committee.
His bill now awaits action in the Utah House. It calls for $20 million in one-time money to replace school buses older than 2002 models and mandates that the buses not be sold, but destroyed and replaced with natural gas burning vehicles.
Certain exempt providers of child care in Utah, including church groups and some charter schools, are not required to perform or submit background checks to the state or reveal their exempt status to patrons, and a bill is trying to change that.
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, is backing the bill, SB12, hoping to require exempt providers to become more transparent, giving parents the ability to make a more educated choice on where they leave their children.
Lawmakers recommended a bill Thursday that would give more teachers training and resources to help children with dyslexia.
SB117 would implement a three-year pilot program where $650,000 in one-time funds would be set aside to train teachers on how to recognize and intervene for students with dyslexia. The money would also purchase research-based curriculum materials for children with the disability.
Schools would apply for the funds through the Utah State Office of Education, which would award up to $30,000 per school district.
Another $100,000 would be used to track the program's effectiveness throughout the three years of its operation.
Utah's wild horse and burro population would be best served under the oversight of the state, not the federal government, according to a resolution that received enthusiastic endorsement Thursday by a legislative committee.
SJR7, sponsored by Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, urges Congress to convey authority to Utah to manage wild horses and burros and directs the establishment of programs should that occur.
Vickers said the resolution sends a strong message that Utah is better equipped to handle issues of overpopulation and range degradation — problems that supporters of the effort contend have been ignored by the Bureau of Land Management.
Lawmakers give initial nod to fund state plan to address Alzheimer's disease
Lawmakers supported a bill Thursday that would help implement Utah's State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, which has been dormant since the 2012 Legislature adopted it.
"There are many families in our state who, day in and day out, are grappling with the decisions of taking care of their family members with Alzheimer's disease," said Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City. "They are working hard to keep them from becoming wards of the state."
The bill would designate Alzheimer's as a public health concern and direct the Utah Department of Health to incorporate an action plan to inform the public and medical communities about the disease and its prevalence into the state budget.
Utah House panel passes bill restricting young people from smoke shops
A House panel endorsed a bill Friday that clarifies that people under age 19 are prohibited from entering a tobacco shop unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
HB131, sponsored by Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, also says parents or guardians may not allow anyone under 19 who accompanies them in a store to buy cigarettes, tobacco or e-cigarettes.
The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approved the bill Friday. It now goes to the House floor.
Stricter seat belt law will save lives, lawmaker says
Brown testified in favor of a bill that would make not wearing a seat belt a primary offense, meaning police officers could pull over motorists for failing to buckle up.
A seat belt violation is currently a secondary law. Officers may ticket offenders who they have stopped for another reason.
"We don't need force officers to look for something else to pull people over. If they see someone clearly not wearing a safety belt, law enforcement officers ought to be able to make the traffic stop and issue a citation if necessary," said Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper and sponsor of HB79.
Perry's bill would allow courts to waive the $45 fine if a violator takes a 30-minute seat belt education course.
The committee passed the bill 7-2, and it now goes to the House floor.
Melissa Brown's daughter would have turned 18 on Friday, but she and a friend died 18 months ago when they were thrown from a pickup truck that crashed on I-15.
