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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill requiring the full Legislature to vote on the site of a new state prison and create a new commission to oversee the move now awaits Gov. Gary Herbert’s consideration.
HB454 specifies that the Legislature’s Prison Relocation Commission does not have the final say on where the Utah State Prison, currently in Draper, will be relocated.
The bill’s sponsor, House Majority Assistant Whip Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, had pitched a proposal earlier in the session to let the commission choose the site, but Herbert suggested he would veto any attempt to take away his and the Legislature’s authority over the matter.
House GOP caucus members had also expressed little interest in the proposal.
The House passed the bill Thursday night after it was amended to allow local authorities in communities where the new prison is built the option to raise sales taxes slightly to help pay for infrastructure needs.
The House’s final vote was 59-14.
