Bills

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

“How did the Legislative session go this year?”  That’s the question we’ve been asked a lot since the Utah Legislative session ended last month.  We’ll admit that there were some intense moments during the session, but overall, we felt like the session ended positively for Utah families.  

Our wonderful BYU-Idaho Interns Miriam, Kadee and McKayla worked with us at the Capitol every day. We researched and compiled fact sheets for legislators, spoke one-on-one with legislators, and testified in committee meetings for or against bills that impact children and families.  Click here for some fun photos of our Legislative Team at work! 

In our previous email, we discussed several bills that came up earlier in the session. Today’s report adds the bills we were watching later in the session.  We invite you to read our summary of the bills, and see how your Representative and Senator voted.  You may also be interested in reading some of the Legislator’s quotes during the bill debates, below.

Thank you so much for contacting your Utah State Legislators about bills that matter to your family — and please take a moment to thank Governor Herbert for signing the highly contested .05 DUI bill by calling his office at 801-538-1000 and leaving a short message with the secretary.

Warm Regards, 
Laura Bunker and Rose Marie Murray 
Family Policy Resource 

SUMMARY OF BILLS:

WE SUPPORTED:
  • SB 196 HEALTH EDUCATION AMENDMENTS Sen. Stuart Adams PASSED and SIGNED BY GOVERNOR HERBERT
    • This bill removes language prohibiting the advocacy of homosexuality in health instruction in public schools, and replaces it with language prohibiting “premarital or extramarital sexual activity.”  
    • We supported this bill because physically and emotionally, the safest, healthiest course for all young people is abstinence before marriage and fidelity after.
    • To see how each Legislator voted, click here and here. To listen to Committee Hearings and Floor Debate on SB 196 click here. For media coverage click here. 
    • See the Legislator quotes on this bill, below.
  • HB 141 UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION AMENDMENTS Rep. Keven Stratton PASSED and SIGNED BY GOVERNOR HERBERT
    • This bill requires an abortion provider to inform a woman seeking a drug-induced abortion, that if she takes the first drug (mifepristone) and does not take the second dose (misoprostol) her pregnancy may continue. 
    • We supported this bill because a woman is empowered when she is given all the facts to make the most informed choice for her and her baby.   
    • To see how each Legislator voted, click here and here. To listen to Committee Hearings and Floor Debate on HB 141 click here. For media coverage click here.
    • See the Legislator quotes on this bill, below.
  • SB 82 LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY USE AMENDMENTS Sen.Todd Weiler PASSED UNANIMOUSLY and SIGNED BY GOVERNOR HERBERT 
    • This bill requires public libraries to install pornography-blocking filters on their wireless networks. (Library computers are already filtered.)
    • We supported this bill because patrons expect the library Wi-Fi to be safe for their children who access internet on their personal laptops, tablets or smart phones. 
    • To see how each Legislator voted, click here and here.  To listen to Committee Hearings and Floor Debate on SB 82 click here. For media coverage click here.
  • SB 185 CAUSE OF ACTION FOR MINORS INJURED BY PORNOGRAPHY  Sen. Todd Weiler  PASSED and SIGNED BY GOVERNOR HERBERT
    • This bill establishes a cause of action (the ability to sue) for children who suffer "emotional or psychological harm" from viewing online pornography, unless the porn site posts a clear warning that pornography is harmful. 
    • We supported this bill because it would encourage online pornography distributors to verify a viewer's age and post a clear content warning about the dangers of pornographic material.
    • To see how each Legislator voted, click here and here.  To listen to Committee Hearings and Floor Debate on SB 185 click here. For media coverage click here.
  • HB 155 DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE Rep. Norm Thurston PASSED and SIGNED BY GOVERNOR HERBERT
    • This bill reduces the blood alcohol content limit for driving under the influence from .08 to .05.  
    • We supported this bill because Drivers with a BAC between .05 and .079 are seven times more likely to be in a fatal crash, than a driver who has not been drinking alcohol. Click here for data and info. 
    • To see how each Legislator voted, click here and here.  To listen to Committee Hearings and Floor Debate on HB 155 click here. For media coverage click here.
WE OPPOSED: 
  • HB 76 END OF LIFE OPTIONS ACT Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck FAILED 
    • This bill would have legalized assisted suicide in Utah by giving doctors the right to prescribe a lethal drug that a person would take to end their life. 
    • We opposed this bill because legalizing assisted suicide does not remain limited to terminally ill adults, it negatively impacts current suicide rates, and it limits patient choice by denying coverage for valuable medical treatments.
    • To see how the Legislative Committee voted, click here.  To listen to the Committee Hearing click here.  For media coverage click here.  
    • This was the third time this bill has come before the Utah Legislature, and the sponsor has promised to bring it back next year.  
  • SJR 10 JOINT RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION Sen. Jim Dabakis  FAILED
    • If this resolution had passed in Utah (other states have passed it in previous years, and some states are currently trying to pass it), then Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) supporters would have been closer to appealing to Congress to adopt the ERA to the US Constitution. 
    • We opposed this bill because the Equal Rights Amendment would eliminate legal recognition of the natural differences and unique qualities of male and female. As a  result, society would suffer as nuclear family life would be disrupted. For example,  in the name of equality, women would be pushed into the workforce, leaving home and children. This would necessitate new government solutions for caring for children.  The ERA would also remove the right of women to be exempt from the draft. 
  • HB 442  ALCOHOL AMENDMENTS  Rep. Brad Wilson PASSED and SIGNED BY GOVERNOR HERBERT
    • This bill gives restaurants the option of replacing the alcohol barrier with a 10 foot space between the bar and seating, or a railing 5 feet away from the bar. 
    • We opposed this bill because as we stated in our Deseret News Op-Ed, alcohol  barriers in restaurants are part of a culture that puts children first. They are a visual cue to children that alcohol is different than soft drinks and coffee, and must be treated with care and caution. Utah's alcohol laws have not hurt business or tourism as claimed by supporters of this bill. The state of Utah is still Forbes’ #1 best state for business, and Fodor’s Travel named Utah as the #1 travel destination in the world. 
    • To see how each Legislator voted, click here and here.  To listen to Committee Hearings and Floor Debate on HB 442 click here.  For media coverage click here. 
    • See the Legislator quotes on this bill, below.
LEGISLATOR QUOTES: 

  • Senator Stuart Adams: (bill sponsor) “What this bill does is allows us to focus on making sure we treat everyone equally, and the state has a compelling interest to teach all children. What the bill doesn’t do is change any type of instruction. Utah is still abstinence-based.  It does not eliminate the parent opt-in for sex-ed.  That stays in place.  It doesn’t change the content of the state’s core health education on human sexuality.”
  • Senator Adams further explained in a letter to his constituents, “Right now, Equality Utah and the National Center for Lesbian Rights that is based in California are suing the state claiming that having words in our statute that “prohibit instruction in the advocacy of homosexuality” is a form of discrimination.  The case is currently making its way through the courts.  I have been working with the Attorney General’s office and we are in hopes that if those words are taken out we can deflect the lawsuit. . . . I see this as a proactive and preemptive approach to protecting the current programs we have.”  (quoted with permission)
  • Representative Keven Stratton: (Bill Sponsor) How I honor womanhood, and the dignity and the grace, and all that it adds to the human experience. I’m grateful for those on both sides of this issue that have, with civility, and yearning desires, expressed themselves. And I’m so grateful for my mother and each of our mothers whose choice to carry us and give us birth is a remarkable blessing to all of us today. 
  • Representative Raymond Ward: (a Physician) I rise in support of this bill. I want to commend the good sponsor because he has gone to, and worked with, the community of physicians who work with women in these difficult situations, with the medical association as a whole, and with the ObGyn association in particular, so that they also feel that this language in the bill is medically accurate.  Not only is it accurate, it’s reasonable and important information for a woman to have if she finds herself in this difficult situation.  
  • Representative Brian King: (opposing the bill) I don’t want to hear anybody stand up and talk to me about babies, that we’re killing babies. What we’re talking about are zygotes, and embryos, and fetuses. When I hear an individual refer to an unborn child as a ‘baby,’ I know immediately, they’re not to be taken seriously. I hear it all the time from folks up here, and I’m going to say to everyone, “it’s wrong.”  It’s wrong when we do it that way. 
  • Representative Susan Duckworth: This decision is a woman’s decision to make.  I’m opposing the fact that men continually make these presentations and these arguments about what should be done to a woman’s body and they have no idea what goes on in a woman’s body.  
  • Representative Karianne Lisonbee: I rise as a woman in support of this bill.  I’ve responded to many emails from people not in my district, opposing this bill.  Interestingly, most do not understand this bill.  This bill is very simple.  It is an informed-consent bill. There is no reference to anything in this bill that has not been clinically proven.    
  • Representative LaVar Christensen: I express strong support for the bill. I believe, as in our founding document, that there is a Creator, and for that reason, I would suggest there is most definitely life in the womb, and that the constitution protects life and liberty.  And so we balance. With respect to the opposing view, I must disagree with the proposition that our vocabulary and terminology is somehow wrong, and that we are to accept the alternative premise that there is no life until a breath is taken.  This is something that is very profound.  We’ve tried to strike the balance that allows for the mother to make her own choice, and this is trying to give her everything she needs to make that choice. 
  • Representative Susan Pulsipher:I rise in support of this bill.  As a woman, the quality of my decisions are dependent on the quality of information I have.  This bill simply gives women additional information when making that decision.
  • Representative Kim Coleman: I don’t think anything honors or respects the dignity of a woman more than believing she can handle information and make decisions based on information. 
  • (In addition to removing the requirement for alcohol barriers in restaurants, HB 442 reduced the distance between an alcohol outlet and a church, school, park or library, from the previously required 600 feet, down to 300 feet pedestrian route, or 200 feet straight line.)
  • Senator Iwomoto:  (opposing the bill) I have a real concern with [reducing] the distances from [bars] to churches.  The Japanese church of Christ and the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple have been there almost 100 years. Now it’s 300 feet, and that area across the street is not developed, and now with this, we have no bargaining power, because they’ve wanted to develop bars and things, and we’ve had at least this 600 foot rule, that we could talk and bargain, this takes away every power our church has to bargain, and the distance is closer to our church.  I would hope we could find some way to work around this because it will greatly impact that community. 

  • Senator Lyle Hillyard: (opposing the bill)  I have no idea the impact this bill’s going to have on my constituents.  I don’t drink, I don’t understand all these implications of all the things you’ve talked about.  It’s really a “trust me” bill. But I’ll tell you the thing that bothers me most is the emails and contacts I’m getting are from the groups who oppose the bill, saying that it opens up drinking too much to visibility to families, and it will make alcohol more available, and with that, automatically there comes a risk of people over-imbibing, people driving under the influence of alcohol, those kinds of things that we do not want in our state, or anybody wants in their state.  The opposition I’m getting is from people who think we’re going too far with this particular thing.
  • I don’t know, maybe we’re playing to an image just like [my colleagues] the lawyers in the Uniform Law Commission played, the public perception by those who compete against us for tourism seem to think that we have a problem here with getting alcohol. 
  • So I ask myself this question: “If this bill passes, and is wrong, how difficult will it be to come again to get the changes made in the bill?”  If on the other hand, this bill is defeated, we’ll still have people talking, working through those issues, and we could hopefully come up with another bill.” I think based on that, and we have not had a committee hearing in the Senate, we’ve not had a chance to have input in the bill, other than all the work that Senator Stevenson’s done, but I think all of us need to be more involved in it rather than just simply a presentation, the next to the last night of the session, on something so significant, which I think is based on the premise that we have some crazy alcohol laws here in Utah.  At least my friends from the Uniform Law Commission from all over the United States who were here, found to be not of substance. 
  • So I speak against the bill, only because I think we’re putting it too fast through the session, I think we need more input in the discussion.  Thank you. 

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