Bill banning ticket quotas passes; public breastfeeding bill advances

Bill banning ticket quotas passes; public breastfeeding bill advances

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate passed a bill banning law enforcement ticket quotas, a bill that will allow mothers to breastfeed in public advanced and lawmakers have an additional $581 million in revenue to spend during this session. Here's a roundup of what's happening on the Hill:

Utah Senate passes ban on law enforcement ticket quotas

Cities may soon have to find other ways to collect revenue, now that a prohibition on law enforcement ticket quotas passed the Senate.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, the sponsor of SB154, amended the bill to protect the rights of officers to collect useful data while still prohibiting the requirement of ticket quotas being placed upon them by their superiors.

The bill specifically penalizes any sanctions placed or punishments performed on an officer for failing to meet a certain amounts of arrests made or tickets written.

Controversial water bills taking aim at Salt Lake City

Decades of tension over Wasatch Canyon development, water access, transparency on water rates and Salt Lake City water regulations bubbled over Wednesday in a legislative committee endorsement of two reform bills.

"We know we are the second driest state in the nation and we know we have one of the fastest growing populations," said Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan, pushing for endorsement of her water transparency bill, HB124.

The measure, which passed on a 11-1 vote, calls for cities of the first class — those with 100,000 or more people — to make public certain municipal water information, including maps of service areas, water rates, the amount of water that may delivered outside its municipal boundary and more.

Utah lawmakers advance resolution calling on attorney general to directly sue opioid manufacturers

State lawmakers Wednesday advanced a resolution urging the Utah attorney general to sue opioid manufacturers "to hold them accountable for the destruction and devastation they have inflicted upon the citizens of the state."

HJR12 requests that Attorney General Sean Reyes "immediately and publicly commit to directly filing suit against prescription opioid manufacturers, instead of joining a suit with other plaintiffs, in order to seek the maximum award for damages from prescription opioid manufacturers for the citizens of the state."

Though resolutions are not binding, the measure's sponsor, Rep. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork, told fellow legislators that its passage would serve to implore Reyes that "now is the time. Let's not slow the process. You have full legislative support to move forward with that action today."

The committee voted unanimously to favorably recommend the resolution to the full House of Representatives.

Bill allowing mothers to breastfeed in public passes in Utah House

Nursing mothers would be free to breast-feed their babies in public places under a bill the Utah House passed Wednesday.

HB196 prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy in places of public accommodation and allows a woman to breast-feed in those places.

The House passed the bill 66-5. It now goes to the Senate.

Utah House votes to restrict noncompete contracts in broadcast media

The House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday that would restrict the use of noncompete contracts in the broadcasting industry in Utah after amending the bill to not target all media.

"As I look around and hear the different stories and as these issue are brought to me, it is clear to me that the abuses inside the broadcasting industry with these noncompetes are widespread," Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said during floor debate his bill, HB241.

Schultz pointed to dozens of emails he said he has received from journalists who "absolutely" favor the measure but fear retribution from their stations if they speak out.

Utah's major television stations — KSL, KUTV, KTVX and KSTU — oppose the bill. They contend that they put many thousands of dollars into developing and promoting on-air personalities that viewers have come to trust as credible sources of news.

Pornography's harms, refusal skills key components of revised Utah sex ed bill

Pornography's harms and refusal skills are key components of a revised sex education bill, HB268, now before the Utah House of Representatives.

Rep. Justin Fawson, R-North Ogden, said state lawmakers in the 2016 legislative session declared pornography a public health crisis.

"We haven’t done a lot with it since then. This really is an important step," said Fawson, sponsor of SB268.

The latest version of HB268 was unanimously endorsed by the House Education Committee on Tuesday and referred to the full House for its consideration.

Utah lawmakers now have $581M in additional revenues

Lawmakers now have a total of $581 million in additional revenues to spend this session — and that's not counting the $80 million windfall expected as a result of federal tax changes.

The final estimates add $126 million in anticipated revenue growth and $83 million to the budget surplus to the $327 million in revenue growth or ongoing money, and $45 million in surplus or one-time funds already expected.

"Now the real work begins," Senate Budget Chairman Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, told the Senate on Wednesday after announcing the numbers. "We do have the money to answer some of the problems."

The revenue estimates also include $68 million in cuts made earlier in the session by legislative appropriations committees, money expected to be added back now that base budgets have been approved.

Contributing: Preston Cathart, Amy Joi O'Donoghue, Ben Lockhart, Dennis Romboy, Marjorie Cortez, Lisa Riley Roche

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