By the Office of Representative Carl Albrecht
Thursday, March 12 is the last day of the 2020 General Session.
Monday began with the last day of Standing Committees, where Representative Carl Albrecht chaired the last Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology meeting of the 2020 General Session. He also presented his bill, HB 438 in the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee.
Starting Monday afternoon, floor time began and continued until Thursday evening.
To wrap up, here are some of the major bills passed from the session:
- A proposed Constitutional change that will go to a citizen vote in November to modify the Constitutional Earmark. If approved, this would solve the States Revenue Structural Imbalance and stabilize the Education Fund. This measure was agreed upon by the Legislature and All Education Groups on March 11. Refer to le.utah.gov for more information.
- Also, Utah passed the daylight savings time bill and if four other Western States follow suit, along with approval by the Federal Government, Utah will switch to daylight savings time year round. In the meantime, enjoy the switch.
- The budget approved was $20 billion, and it included a 6% WPU increase for public schools, 3% increase for public employees, plus some targeted increases along with a 2.5% increase in higher education funding.
Below are the bills that Representative Albrecht proposed and passed this session:
- B. 66 – Wildland Fire Prevention Amendments: Requires electricity providers to develop plans regarding the prevention of wildfires.
- B. 85 – Federal Designations Amendments: Clean up bill from last year.
- B. 125 – Wildlife Amendments: Allows the Division of Wildlife Resources to give out more permits for hunting cougars and bears if deer herd numbers do not meet management objectives in the various hunting units.
- B. 280 – Transient Tax Provisions: Alleviates areas greatly affected by tourism by giving them more resources to help with infrastructure needs.
- B. 438 – Background Check Information Retention Amendments: Amends how the Utah Public Health Department can handle background checks.
Along with the Senate bills sponsored by Representative Albrecht:
- B. 51 – Secondary Water Requirements (Sen. Anderegg): Repeals outdated language and exempts counties of the 4th through 6th class.
- B. 95 – Economic Development Amendments (Sen. Sandall): Creates the Rural County Grant Program that allows counties class 3rd through 6th class to participate in the grant program if they create a County Economic Development Advisory Board.
- B. 100 – State Institutional Trust Lands Administration Amendments (Sen. Okerlund): States circumstances under which a meeting of the board of the State Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) may be closed for property sale negotiations.
- B. 148 – Oil and Gas Modifications (Sen. Okerlund): This bill gives the Division and the Oil and Gas Board the ability to administratively levy and collect fines against companies who do not comply, as is the standard in many of our neighboring states.
- B. 154 – Taxed Interlocal Entity Amendments (Sen. Hinkins): Will create an economic stimulus for several rural communities in Central Utah, allowing IPP to use hydrogen as a possible future fuel.
This session has been very successful for Representative Albrecht, as all of his bills were passed, along with many of his appropriation requests being approved to allocate funds to many rural Utah projects and initiatives.
Representative Albrecht is grateful for the opportunity to serve and the support you have given him throughout the session and the past two years. He expresses his thanks to you!
On Friday morning, Representative Albrecht will officially begin his campaign as he will file for reelection. He will continue to be a strong advocate for Rural Utah as in the past.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please continue to reach out to Rep. Albrecht.
carlalbrecht@le.utah.gov
(435) 979-6578