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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate passed several bills Monday, including one that will require fetal anesthesia before an elective abortion, a bill that will allow the state to collect child support from same-sex parents and a bill that allows certain types of alcohol to be purchased through drive-thrus.
A bill regulating police body-cams advanced and a proposal to expand public preschool throughout Utah got unanimous approval from a committee.
Here's what's happening during the last week of Utah's legislative session:
Utah Senate passes bill to require fetal anesthesia before elective abortions
The Utah Senate passed an amended bill Monday that would require Utah doctors to administer anesthesia to a fetus before an abortion based on the belief that the unborn child can feel pain.
The law would now only apply to elective abortions.
"If we're going to forfeit the life of a child, we at least ought to have the humanity to protect them from pain," said Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo.
SB234 requires doctors to administer an anesthetic or analgesic to eliminate or alleviate "organic" pain in an abortion performed after 20 or more weeks of gestation.
Lawmaker proposes to teach gun sellers to recognize suicidal customers
On Dec. 5, 2015, Jade Lubeck lost her 21-year-old sister to suicide.
Cheyenne Lubeck was driving home to Salt Lake City from southern Utah, made a stop in Orem to purchase a gun, and returned home to end her life, her sister said.
"It is possible my sister might still be alive today if a gun shop dealer or owner, trained in recognizing signs of suicide risk, refused to sell her a gun that she used to kill herself that afternoon," Jade Lubeck said, expressing support for HB477 during a committee meeting Monday.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, would create a program to teach firearm dealers how to identify suicidal customers.
The program would be voluntary for each dealer, but the state would provide grants to offset the cost of educating employees.
The bill would also give firearm dealers the option to put gun safety pamphlets in their stores.
Public preschool expansion gets early OK from House
A proposal to expand public preschool offerings for Utah's youngest students is on its way to the House after getting unanimous support from a committee of lawmakers Monday.
The bill also received financial backing from legislative leaders last week as they pieced together a final budget proposal for the state.
Lawmakers hope more than $11 million set aside in SB101 will help an additional 3,000 to 4,000 preschoolers develop foundational academic skills, especially if they show early signs of struggling in school.
Last week's Legislative roundup:
The bill is also intended to give parents more options in helping their children prepare for kindergarten. Those additional preschool options could include private schools, in-home online programs, or charter schools, which previously haven't been allowed to administer preschool under state law.
"We really want to be able to provide more options for parents, and we want to make sure it's high-quality" preschool, said bill sponsor Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden. "We want to make sure more of our students enter school-ready."
Lawmakers move forward on low polluting water heaters
A measure that helps pave the way to cleaner burning natural gas water heaters in Utah received unanimous approval from a committee of lawmakers on Monday and now advances for the consideration of the full Senate.
HB250, sponsored by Rep. Edward Redd, R-Logan, directs the Utah Division of Air Quality to move forward on a rule that would require the ultra-low nitrogen oxide burning natural gas water heaters be sold by retailers after July 2018.
Presented in the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment standing committee by Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, the measure has a two-year implementation window for state regulators to work out any concerns that may arise over the appliances' performance.
Jenkins said the heaters represent the "low-hanging fruit" of effective steps the state can make in its fight to curb air pollution.
Senate passes bill allowing state to collect child support from gay parents
A controversial bill allowing the state to collect child support from same-sex parents no longer removes the words mother and father from Utah's paternity law.
SB179 initially would have changed dozens of references in the Uniform Parentage Act to reflect legalized same-sex marriage. It proposed to change "man" or "woman to "person" and "father" to "parent," for example, in the law, which deals with paternity and parental rights.
"I've really cut it back," Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said before the Senate passed the new bill 17-9. It now goes to the House.
Hillyard's bill would now give the Utah Office of Recovery Services legal standing to collect child support from a gay parent without changing those terms in the law. The scope is more narrow but the intent is the same, he said.
Senate passes bill clarifying drive-thru alcohol sales
The Senate passed a bill Monday clarifying the sale of alcohol through drive-up windows.
A Senate committee last week approved a bill that would have prevented all drive-thru alcohol sales. But sponsor Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, made clear in an amended version of SB250 that stores may continue to sell 3.2 percent beer in cans or sealed packages through drive-up service as some cities allow.
"You can't sell a glass of wine through a drive-in window, you can't sell a glass of beer through a drive-in window, and you can't sell a prepared drink," Stevenson said. Utah law prohibits open containers in vehicles.
Five Utah Starbucks, which sells coffee through drive-up windows, recently obtained a state liquor license to sell beer and wine along with food for the "Starbucks Evenings" dining program. Starbucks must comply with the same regulations that restaurants that offer alcohol follow.
Bill regulating police body cameras moves forward
State lawmakers appear to have settled on legislation regulating police use of body-worn cameras.
The Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approved HB300 on Monday. Meantime, Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, pulled his similar but competing bill and is now the Senate sponsor for Rep. Dan McCay's measure. It now moves to the Senate floor.
The major difference between the two bills was whether the Legislature or the state's Peace Officer Standards and Training division would set minimum standards for how police agencies use the emerging technology.
Under HB300, the Legislature would make those policies.
Contributing Dennis Romboy, Emily Larson, Morgan Jacobsen, Amy Joi O'Donoghue









