On Jan. 16, Utah’s 2024 legislative session will begin. With it will come a plethora of bills up for debate, consideration, voting and perhaps passage.
While there are over 100 bills and joint resolutions sponsored by members of Utah’s House and Senate, Utahns throughout the state as well as residents of Summit and Wasatch counties will see the direct effects of some more than others if they make it in front of Gov. Spencer Cox for his approval.
School Threat Penalty Amendments
On Dec. 15, North Summit School District was among several throughout the state that evacuated its facilities after receiving an email stating bombs would detonate in a school, though a specific school was not named.
Along with those attending North Summit schools, students and staff of Weber School District, Uintah School District, Beaver County School District, Washington County School District and Ogden School District were left wondering if the threat was legitimate until the Utah Department of Public Safety released a statement saying it was a hoax.
In March, police departments throughout the state were called with reports of active shooters in schools. Those reports also turned out to be false.
The School Threat Penalty Amendments would make the consequences of calling in such faulty reports or threats more serious.
If the bill is passed, those who threaten to use a firearm or weapon of mass destruction against a school can be charged with a third degree felony whether the threat is meant to actually harm people or just disrupt schools.
Currently such action is a class A misdemeanor.
The bill also allows for individuals who falsely report emergencies they know do not exist to any emergency responders to be charged with a second degree felony. Those who assist or cause them to do so would face the same charge.
License Plate Revisions
If someone feels the vibe of your car is disrupted by Utah’s current legal requirement necessitating license plates on both the back and front of their car, this could be their lucky session.
A current Senate bill proposes freeing front bumpers through getting rid of the dual-identification plate requirement.
Though divisions will be able to issue two plates to interstate commerce vehicles upon request, vehicle owners will generally only need one unobstructed plate attached to the rear of their cars.
This could be especially good news for people like Warehouse CEO Jake Wolf, whose luxury car club members wouldn’t be thrilled if taking their Ferrari around the Jordanelle Reservoir or through Echo Canyon meant needing to put a license plate on the front.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure Modifications
With Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority’s involvement in the Mayflower Mountain Resort, its partnership with Deer Valley Resort, and its recent decision to accept Sundance Mountain Resort’s invitation to help establish a hotel that would be used in a wounded veteran program, people have grown speculative that the land use authority group could be used by individuals to leverage their standings among luxury developers.
Modifications sponsored by state Rep. Paul Cutler to Utah’s conflict of interest disclosure rules could help alleviate some of those fears.
If passed, the changes would necessitate that appointed or elected officers for land use authority groups such as MIDA would face penalties if they declined to disclose a conflict of interest, adding the group to the code in a drafted update that also includes the Utah Inland Port Authority and the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority.
As well as ensuring MIDA officials are included in state conflict of interest laws, the bill would also remove officials who don’t appropriately disclose conflicts from office and leave them guilty of a class A misdemeanor.