2nd Week of Session 2024 | Marsha Judkins for Utah Legislative District 61

We finished the first full week of the legislative session on Friday and passed our base budgets, which means we won’t be shutting down the Utah government any time soon. 😁 This email is a potpourri of information that I hope you find interesting.

So Many Bills!

I have heard concerns about how many bills have been introduced. I have to admit, I don’t love (or even like) all of them, and I don’t love how much time it takes to get a good understand of all the bills that make it to the House Floor. However, there are a lot of good bills in the mix that change statute for the better. Some make changes that should have been made long ago. Here are a couple of examples that I voted on last week:

HB 144 Vehicle Accident Liability, which clarifies that if someone runs a red light or goes through a stop sign, they are liable for the accident if they hit someone who is turning left.

HB 107 Recycling Facility Transparency Amendments requires recycling haulers to gather and submit data on how much recycling they collect that actually makes it to a recycling facility. Cities will be required to provide that information to the residents. I always wonder as I am rinsing out my milk containers and cans if any of the stuff I put in the recycle bin actually gets recycled.

My Bills

HB 224 Medical Surgery Amendments has been assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee. Last session, we passed a medical surgery procedures bill prohibiting primary and secondary sex characteristic surgeries on minors with gender dysphoria. We determined, as a legislature, that a minor was too young to be making these life altering decisions. This bill creates a consistent policy for these surgery restrictions by prohibiting primary and secondary sex characteristic surgeries for all minors, unless these surgeries are medically necessary. This bill will only affect minors who are getting elective breast augmentation surgeries, which is a trend. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers aesthetic breast augmentation for minors to be an off-label use and has not approved this surgery in patients younger than 18.

I presented HB 259 Juvenile Interrogation Amendments in Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee today and it was passed out unanimously. It is an update to a bill I sponsored two years ago that requires and parent, guardian, or friendly adult to be present in a juvenile interrogation. This bill allows for the parent or friendly adult to be present on-line and requires an interpreter if the child or parent needs one. It also requires a law enforcement agency to make an audio or visual recording of a juvenile interrogation, which is already required for adult interrogations and is standard practice. It also gives guidance to the courts for when the audio/visual equipment fails or when the statute isn’t followed.

Trending Bills

You can find what bills are trending, or have received the most “clicks” on le.utah.gov. Some of the bills have already passed through the process, some are still in Rules and will never make it to another committee, and the rest are in between in the process. Here is the current list.

HB0257 Sex-Based Designations for Privacy, Anti-Bullying, and Women’s Opportunities (Rep. Birkeland)
HB0261 Equal Opportunity Initiatives (Rep. Hall)
HB0285 Labor Union Amendments (Rep. Teuscher)
SB0057 Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act (Sen. Sandall)
HB0029 Sensitive Material Review Amendments (Rep. Ivory)
HB0269 Ten Commandments in Public Schools (Rep. Petersen)
HB0011 Water Efficient Landscaping Requirements (Rep. Owens)
HB0253 Use of Sex-designated Facilities in Public and Higher Education (Rep. Lyman)
HJR012 Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution – Public Education System (Rep. Lee)

Budget Poll

Our rainy day funds are full, and we have a budget surplus this year. I would like your input on what you think the legislature should do with your money.

Click on this link or copy and paste the following in your browser: https://forms.gle/xBdgDu5BqW9Pijy67

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments and have a great week! Thanks!

Facebook Fridays and Mondays with Marsha!

Every Friday I discuss the week’s highlights and talk more in-depth about exciting issues! I’d love to have you join! Unfortunately, I’m not sure when I will have time during each Friday to do the Live video–it is usually in the afternoon or early evening–but you can always watch them later on my page.

Click here for my page: https://www.facebook.com/marshajudkinsUT61/

Every Monday, I post a short video on Instagram about the legislative process or a current issue. You can view those on Instagram by searching for marshajudkins.

How to Join Meetings, Participate in Public Comments, and Join on Zoom!

1. Go to https://le.utah.gov
2. Click Committees
3. Select the Committee you are interested in
4. This page gives information on where and when the meeting is.
5. Click the Electronic Participation Available “?” to join the live Zoom (public comment is available online or in person as long as the form is completed before 7:00 am the day of the committee )

Every legislative committee meeting and Floor time can be accessed live or watched/listened to later.

Bills Passed by the House 2nd Week

H.R. 3 House Resolution to Recognize Janice Gadd

H.B. 70 Fatality Review Amendments

H.B. 81 Domestic Violence Modifications

H.B. 91 Utah Office of Regulatory Relief Revisions

H.B. 73 Rehabilitation Services Amendments

H.B. 26 Correctional Facility Amendments

H.B. 44 Social Work Licensure Compact

H.B. 49 Justice Court Reform Task Force Sunset Extension

H.B. 11 Water Efficient Landscaping Requirements

H.J.R. 1 Joint Resolution Supporting Justice Court Reform

H.B. 77 Division of Human Resource Management Amendment