Latest news with #H.B.269
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislature day 9: Votes on public unions and transgender student housing expected
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — As the second week of the legislature comes to a close, two major bills regarding unions and transgender housing will be coming to a head in the Senate chambers. Here are votes, hearings, and bills you should probably watch for today. With voting sessions set to begin at 11 a.m. today, there are two bills we are watching as they enter the Senate. The first is H.B. 269, which passed through committee early Thursday afternoon and is expected to be debated on the Senates 2nd reading calendar. The second is H.B. 267, the controversial labor union bill seeking to do away with collective bargaining for public workers in Utah. After passing its second reading yesterday, the bill is expected to be given a final vote sometime during todays voting session. Senator Kirk Cullimore (R- District 19), the bills Senate sponsor, revealed yesterday during a press conference that a compromise has been made on the bill. It will now allow for collective bargaining only if 50% of those employed by the public employer voted to be represented by collective bargaining. With this change, if the bill passes its final vote in the Senate it will need to go back to the House for a final vote before being sent to the governor for approval. Friday afternoon is set to be jam-packed as several legislative, appropriations, and audit hearings have been scheduled ranging across several topics. Here are ones that we are watching. Starting the day at 8 a.m. is the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee. The committee is set to hear several presentations related to environmental condition, including air quality, dust, waste water, and radiation control. The next hearing we are watching is the House Education Committee. Set to begin at 2 p.m., three bills will be discussed that affect stipends for student teachers, reinvestment in higher education, and revises sex educational rules and grant parents more say in the mental health programs in schools. The House Health and Human Services Committee is next with two bills of note being discussed today. The first is H.B. 84, which would designate food that contains vaccine or vaccine materials as a drug. The second is H.B. 294 — or Infectious Disease Procedures Amendments — which would prohibit 'place[s] of public accommodation or enterprise regulated by the state' from require individuals to wear face mask as a condition to them entering said space. Next up is the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee. Two bills in particular catch the eye that will be heard from today. The first is S.B. 155, which seeks to move certain offensives off the lifetime sex offender list, and require a period of 10 years on the registry. The second is H.B. 22, which clarifies that children can not be prosecuted for sexual solicitation or prostitution, and separates existing offenses into separate ones depending on the age of those involved. Within the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee. We are watching S.B. 187, which is a bill to address the procurement of critical minerals in the state. Finally, with the Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee, we are watching a bill that would add incentives to building Wind and Solar farms. Later in the afternoon at 4 p.m., the Legislative Audit Subcommittee will be hearing an audit of the performance of the attorney general in this last year, with responses given by current Attorney General Derek Brown. For more coverage of the 2025 General Session, be sure to visit Inside Utah Politics for more updates and legislative news! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Transgender dorm bill passes decisively in House, moves on to Senate
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A bill that would mandate sex-designated dorms and prevent transgender students from using dorms aligning with their preferred identity has passed the House and is moving on to the Senate. Passing decisively in a party-line 59-13-3 vote, H.B. 269 — titled 'Privacy Protections in Sex-designated Areas' — has begun to move through the legislature as its consideration has spawned fierce debate around transgender rights within the general session. READ NEXT: Utah lawmakers introduce transgender bills, address pronoun use in schools During the Jan. 28 session on the floor, lawmakers gave passionate speeches, both in favor and in opposition of the bill. Supporters of the bill argued it balanced interests between those seeking privacy in student housing and transgender people by providing a gender-neutral option. 'I think it carefully balances two competing interests,' Rep. Calvin Roberts (R – District 46) began during the House debate. 'The right of privacy for our daughters, our nieces, our sisters in their private dormitories, while also ensuring respect for our transgender community by providing access to gender-neutral housing accommodations.' Several lawmakers rose against the legislation, saying it unfairly targets transgender individuals. 'This does not feel like the Utah way,' said Rep. Sahara Hayes (D – District 32). 'This feels like being pushed aside and being scapegoated again, and again, and again.' After the debate on the bill ended, Rep. Stephanie Gricius (R – District 50) — the sponsor of H.B. 269 — offered a last note of encouragement to lawmakers, saying no one deserves to be harassed, 'trans or otherwise.' 'This is a sensitive and emotional issue, but no person deserves harassment, trans or otherwise,' Gricius began. 'Dorms are a place where people are particularly vulnerable. This is [a] place where students are living, they are sleeping, and by providing clear guidance and expectations for everyone from the onset, it will help ensure the rights of all people are protected.' After the bill passed, House Democrats released a statement speaking out against the bill. We are heartbroken that yet another bill targeting our trans community has passed out of the House floor, despite unanimous opposition from our caucus,' the statement reads. 'The bill debated today prohibits trans students from living in sex-designated dormitories that align with their gender identity at Utah's public colleges and universities. We stand firmly against legislation rooted in fear and harmful rhetoric.' House Democrats on H.B. 269 moving to Senate The bill has been delivered to the Senate for introduction. It would need to pass the Senate, be reviewed again by the House, and be signed by Gov. Spencer Cox before becoming law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
