4th Week of Session | Marsha Judkins for Utah Legislative District 61

We are more than half-way through. Here are some of my bills and where they are in the process.

HB0355 Residential Rental Modifications: This bill creates for an industry best practice of providing tenants with a 60 day advance notice of a rent increase with exemptions for month-to-month contracts and several other situations.

This bill is beneficial for both tenants and landlords. It is good for landlords because finding a new renter can be difficult and expensive, as are situations where a tenant can’t pay the rent. It is good for the tenant because it gives them time to figure out if they can absorb the increase in their budget or if they need to find a new place. (As we all know, finding an affordable place to rent is increasingly difficult.)

I presented this bill to the House Business and Labor Committee and it passed out unanimously. It has the full support of the Utah Rental Housing Association and Housing advocates, and has gotten some press. The following two articles tell more about it. It will be voted on in the House this week.

Compromise bill giving Utah tenants more notice of rent increases moves forward

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/landlords-may-have-give-tenants-60-day-notice-rent-increases

HB 321 Eviction Records Amendments: This is an update to a billI sponsored two years ago which created the first eviction expungement program in the nation. This bill has helped landlords to collect money that they may not have collected otherwise as renters are required to pay their balance due to access expungement, and it has has helped renters by allowing them to get an eviction expunged, which removes that huge barrier to finding good housing.

About 50% of evictions are dismissed, which means that a tenant pays all accrued rent, other money due, and other costs within three calendar days of receiving the notice of eviction. In statute, these evictions will be automatically expunged after three years: this bill reduces that time to 120 days. This bill passed unanimously out of Business and Labor and will be heard on the House Floor this week.

HB 259 Juvenile Interrogation Amendments: This bill should sound a bit familiar because it also modifies a bill that I sponsored and that passed two years ago. That bill required a parent or friendly adult to be present when a juvenile is being interrogated by law enforcement. HB 259 takes care of some things we missed in the original bill.

This bill:

Allows for a parent or friendly adult to be present on-line
Requires an interpreter if needed for the child or parent
Requires a law enforcement agency to make an audio or visual recording of a juvenile interrogation (which is already required in statute for adult interrogations)
Gives guidance to the courts for when the audio/visual equipment fails or when the statute isn’t followed

HB 259 represents a collaborative effort, and is supported by the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, the Utah Law Enforcement Legislative Committee, the Statewide Association of Prosecutors, the Utah Juvenile Defender Attorneys, and the Defense Attorney for Balanced Criminal Justice.

It is on the Senate consent calendar, which means it just needs one more vote on it, and then it will be sent to the Governor for signing. YAY!
HB 224 Medical Surgery Amendments: Last session, the legislature 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 and body altering medical decisions. This bill creates a consistent policy for these surgery restrictions by banning primary and secondary sex characteristic surgeries for all minors, unless these surgeries are medically necessary or indicated.

Breast augmentation surgeries are occurring here in Utah. I strongly feel that minors are not mature enough to make these decisions, whether because of body dysmorphia (a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance) or gender dysphoria (distress that a person has because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity).I presented this bill to the House Health and Human Services committee; it passed unanimously and is now on the House reading calendar.

Facebook Fridays!

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/

Mondays with Marsha on Instagram

You can also follow me on Instagram. Each Monday I post a 3-4 minute video talking about bills, the process, behind the scenes, budget, etc.

How to Join Legislative Committee 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.

Here is a photo of me presenting the rent bill with the Utah Rental Housing Association. 🙂

Facebook Fridays!

Mondays with Marsha on Instagram

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

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