After 45 days in session, lawmakers passed 591 bills, a record number for the Utah Legislature.

The Legislature passed bills banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public entities, including higher education; lowering the state income tax rate; and restricting transgender people’s access to public restrooms.

Lawmakers representing Utah County got busy as well, addressing things like homelessness, mental health and Utah Lake. Here are some of what Utah County’s legislators did during this year’s legislative session.

Education

A bill from Sen. Keith Grover addresses school district separations and was inspired by the failed Proposition 2 in 2022 that would have split Alpine School District.

The bill won’t change how a city or citizens initiate the process of splitting a district. Its focus is to provide a trigger based on the student population where a feasibility study is automatically done and would be completed by the state’s legislative auditor’s office.

Alpine School District is currently conducting another district reconfiguration study, which will explore the option of a district split.

A bill from Sen. Mike Kennedy came after public outcry toward state school board member Natalie Cline falsely labeling a high school girl as transgender on social media, leading to online attacks toward the athlete. Shortly after, Kennedy introduced a bill expanding protections for records regarding transgender student-athletes.

Transgender athletes in Utah must be evaluated by a state commission, Utah’s School Activity Eligibility Commission, to determine if they are eligible to participate in school sports. The Utah Legislature passed a bill in 2022 prohibiting youth transgender athletes from participating in school sports, but that ban is not completely implemented while a lawsuit is pending.

Under Kennedy’s bill, meetings to discuss an athlete’s eligibility are now exempt from Utah public meeting laws, all records related to the commission are protected, and a meeting for discussing an athlete’s eligibility is removed from the reasons for a closed meeting.

The Alpine senator’s bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Kara Birkeland, whose comment on Cline’s controversial Facebook post raised questions, The Salt Lake Tribune reported, when she revealed how many athletes the commission had reviewed and the decisions, information that was protected. The comment did not reveal any personal information about the athletes.

Criminal justice and homelessness

Provo Rep. Tyler Clancy pushed forward a bill to revamp the Utah Homelessness Council, require more detailed data gathering on homelessness and remove some limitations on unsanctioned camping enforcement during a code blue alert.

It would replace Utah’s current 29-member homelessness council and create a Utah Homeless Services Board consisting of nine voting members. The legislation also requires more detailed data gathering on homelessness and the progress toward eliminating homelessness as well as a detailed yearly progress report.

Another bill passed by Clancy addressed mental health services and went through multiple revisions as it made its way through both the Senate and the House.

The original version of the bill would have sold the Utah State Hospital property in Provo, but the lawmaker later removed that provision of the bill due to feedback he received from state agencies.

The legislation extends the maximum time an individual can be involuntarily committed from 24 hours to 72 hours and creates statewide standards for when a patient is discharged.

Sen. Keith Grover passed legislation to require “Youth Service Organizations” to do sex offender registry checks on volunteers and employees in an effort to protect youth who access these organizations.

It defines a “Youth Services Organization” as any “sports league, athletic association, church or religious organization, scouting organization, or similar formally organized association, league, or organization, that provides recreational, educational, cultural, or social programs or activities to 25 or more children.”

That definition would include organizations like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A church spokesperson previously told the Daily Herald the organization is in support of the legislation.

Youth service workers also would be required to undergo training regarding child abuse and neglect identification and reporting.

A bill passed by Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, adds artificially generated visual productions into the definition of child sexual abuse material if the production depicts what appears to be a minor “engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”

Water and natural resources

Two bills addressing Utah Lake passed through the Legislature. One was to repeal the 2018 legislation that would have allowed for the Utah Lake island and dredging project and another was to study the feasibility of transferring water from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake.

Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, sponsored a bill to repeal the Utah Lake Restoration Act, which he sponsored in 2018. That bill would have allowed for the controversial Lake Restorations Solutions project, which would have dredged the Utah Lake and built islands.

The project was found to likely be unconstitutional as it would have turned over sovereign state land to a private developer.

Another bill from Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, funds a study of Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake, specifically on the feasibility of transferring water from Utah Lake into the Great Salt Lake.

It also would direct the state to study ecological issues in Utah Lake, such as the removal of invasive species and improving the lake’s water quality.

Government transparency and regulation

Bramble passed legislation, co-sponsored by Brammer, to make elected government officials’ and employees’ calendars protected, meaning those records cannot be requested under Utah’s public records law.

That law passed just days after a judge ruled that the Utah Attorney General’s Office must turn over Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes’ calendar to reporters who had requested it. The bill will not impact the judge’s ruling, as the records were requested prior to passage.

Reyes recently has come under fire for his involvement with Tim Ballard, founder of the nonprofit Operational Underground Railroad, who is being sued by multiple women accusing him of sexual harassment and assault. Reyes is not seeking reelection this November.

Utah made some tweaks to the state’s liquor laws, increasing the price markup on alcoholic products sold in state liquor stores by 0.5%, banning frozen alcohol products in state stores and liquor containing more than 80% alcohol, and increasing the number of liquor licenses that can be issued.

The bill, which Rep. Jeff Burton ran, also allows liquor stores to create a program for customers to voluntarily round up purchases, with the funds going toward addressing homelessness.

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