Week 2

Week 2 of the Legislative Session is in the books! It was a busy week setting the base budgets for the state, hearing interim session bills and working on upcoming legislation in committees. I also met with the US Forest Services and US Representative Burgess Owens and his staff to discuss plans to continue to repair the road in Santaquin Canyon. I am also working on an educational sandbox bill, providing educators with another tool to innovate. More to come on this. 

This week we started the 2022 Legislative Session. It was exciting to get back to work serving you with my fellow legislators. A highlight of the week was meeting in person in the State Capitol Building, allowing me the chance to meet the Santaquin Youth Council and students from Mt. Nebo. Our future is in good hands! 

Utah lawmakers met together for interim on Tuesday, May 18th to discuss important issues impacting our state. In addition to study items, the committees discussed the following bills, which were presented and debated during the special session. The following day, the Legislature was called into a special session to address timely and important issues including, accepting federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and clean up bills from the past general session. You can learn more about each of these bills here.

The Legislature will meet on May 18 for interim meetings. You can view interim committee assignments here. On May 19, we will convene in a special session to appropriate federal COVID-19 relief funds. Review Utah’s budget and find out more information here.

The 2021 Utah State Legislative Session has come to an end. The days were long but the session went by quickly. After a lot of work and negotiation both of my bills passed during the final week. HB 262 Children's Health Insurance Amendments provides funding for outreach programs to get more children insured under the state's Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). HB 287 Nurse Practice Act Amendments modifies the requirements a nurse practitioner must meet before they can prescribe certain medications. I am proud that my bills addressing health care received support in the legislature and I am thankful to my colleagues for their support. 

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The final days of the session are quickly approaching! We began the session with 4 policy priorities and are making great progress in each area:

• Broaden Economic Success
• Build a Connected Future
• Extend Opportunity to All
• Balance Emergency Powers

To learn more about the 2021 House Majority Policy Priorities, click here.

Week five is over and there are only two weeks left. Over 140 bills have been passed by the Legislature and sent to the Governor for his review. This week I presented two bills on the House Floor, H.B. 262 and H.B. 287, both trying to address healthcare issues in Utah. 

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We are over half way through the 2021 Legislative Session. There are fewer subcommittee meetings now but voting on the House floor is ramping up. Over 90 bills have passed by the Legislature and sent to the Governor. Hundreds more will be passed in the coming weeks. Here is a sample of things that are happening: 

House Policy Priorities | Covid-19 Vaccines | Fallen Officer Resolution

This week, the House passed HB 86 Social Security Tax Amendments which provides tax relief for many living on a fixed income.

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee also passed HB 161 Military Retirement Tax Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Candice Pierucci. This bill creates a nonrefundable income tax credit for military retirement pay.

During the second week of each session, the Legislature passes a base budget for the following fiscal year. This week’s podcast features Representative Brad Last, Chair of the Executive Appropriations Committee. Listen here to learn more about Utah’s base budget including why it’s important and how it came to be.

Additionally, S.B. 1 Public Education Base Budget Amendments passed both the House and the Senate this week. This is the single biggest investment for public education in state history with nearly $6.5 billion in funding for FY 2022 and FY 2023.

Here are some of the base budgets that were passed:

• H.B. 1 Higher Education Base Budget
• H.B. 4 Business, Economic Development, and Labor Base Budget
• H.B. 6 Infrastructure and General Government Base Budget
• H.B. 7 National Guard, Veterans Affairs, and Legislature Base Budget