![Adjourn]()
Wrapping up the 2014 session
At midnight Thursday night, the Utah legislature concluded their work and adjourned the 2014 general session “sine die.”
As the session wound down, here are some bills you may or may not have been following:
*SB54, Elections Amendments, passed both the Senate, the House and has already been signed by the Governor. The version that is now law was a compromise bill between the Count My Vote proponents and the Utah legislature. It preserves the caucus/convention system, offers an alternate path to the ballot and allows unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries.
*HB261 Domestic Horse Disposal This bill allows owners to bury dead cows, horses, mules, goats, sheep, and pigs on their own property. You never know when this might come in handy.
*HB105 Plant Extract Amendments This bill has been in the news all year as lawmakers have discussed the role that hemp extract (cannabidiol oil) could have in treating intractable seizures in children. In the end, through much discussion and numerous revisions, the bill has passed both the House and Senate by wide margins and will be signed by the Governor. Hats off to moms Jennifer May and Annette Maughn who spear-headed the effort to bring relief to suffering children.
*SB57 Autism Services Amendments This bill amends the Insurance Code to provide health benefit plan coverage for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder. Sponsored by Senator Shiozawa and carried in the House by Majority Leader Brad Dee, this bill passed by wide margins in both bodies.
*HB127 Consumer Lending Amendments This bill was sponsored by Rep Jim Dunnigan and Senator Bramble and firms up regulations on payday lenders. After months of discussion about the payday lending industry’s involvement with former Attorney General John Swallow, the bill sailed through both bodies with only 4 no votes along the way.
Equity funding for UVU finally passed. Rep Keith Grover has done a great job “keeping the bunnies on the bus” (my favorite line of the session). UVU now has a much more level playing field.
Those are some of the bills I followed this year. How about you?
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