Utah Gov. turns 56 bills into new Utah laws, several involve Bears Ears

CEDAR CITY, UT — Gov. Spencer Cox turned 56  bills into new Utah laws on Monday at a signing ceremony at the Governor’s rural office on the campus of Southern Utah University. 

Several bill sponsors attended the signing ceremony as well. They include Rep. Carl Albrecht, Rep. Scott Chew, Sen. Luz Escamilla, Sen. David Hinkins, Sen. Don Ipson, Rep. Steven Lund, Rep. Ashlee Matthews, Sen. Derrin Owens, Sen. Lowry Snow, and Sen. Evan Vickers.

“These legislative partners represent the interests of their communities and all Utahns admirably,” Gov. Cox said.

“We thank them for their service and look forward to continuing to serve Utahns together through meaningful and productive legislation.”

English in government documents, Bears Ears among subjects in new laws

Among the bills signed into new Utah laws are:

• HB341, which creates an advisory committee comprised of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah Ouray, Hopi Nation, and the Zuni Tribe, the tribes included in the presidential proclamation made by President Obama in 2016;

• HB279, which creates the Dixie State University Higher Education for Incarcerated Youth Program, which will provide certain higher education opportunities to students in certain types of custody;

• HB217, creating the Utah Office of Regulatory Relief within the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. It also creates the General Regulatory Sandbox Program, which according to the Deseret News will make it easier for innovators to bend or avoid some standing state rules that would make it difficult for a new idea to receive a “real-world tryout;”

• HCR12, a resolution that seeks to gives the state of Utah, including state and federal representatives, a seat at the table when it comes to the creation of national monuments. At issue is the varying treatments of Utah national monuments and their size by presidents from different political parties; and

• SB114, which addresses the English language as it pertains to the government of the state of Utah. SB114 removes a provision requiring all official government documents to be in English.

Governor Cox has signed 446 bills since the end of the 2021 Legislative Session on March 5. And his signing deadline is on Thursday, March 25.

OTHER READING:

• Utah lawmaker fighting COVID-19 makes surprise legislature appearance

• After heated Twitter exchange, Utah woman spends day with lawmaker

• A rocky corner in southern Utah has brought 5 tribes together. An executive order is reviving effort to protect them

 

Follow @SimoneSeikaly