Salt Lake Tribune
Weekly Ad Specials
Utah's Legislature is wasting no time getting into controversy
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Lawmakers are slated today to debate eight high-profile bills in committee meetings, most of them early in the morning. The proposals include:

* A ban on smoking in private clubs.

* The repeal of the sales tax on food.

* A requirement that teachers tell students evolution is only a theory, about which scientists disagree.

* More lobbyist reporting requirements for gifts provided to lawmakers.

* An exemption to the public records law for e-mails sent to legislators and public officials.

* The ability to have a loaded gun in a car.

* And two abortion bills - one requiring parental consent when minors seek an abortion. The other would require a doctor to tell a patient who is at least 20 weeks pregnant that a fetus can feel pain during an abortion procedure.

"We wanted to get the big bills out there early," said House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander, who is sponsoring HB101 to increase reporting requirements for lobbyists. "We didn't want people to say we are trying to ram these things through."

A complete schedule of legislative committees is available online at http://www.sltrib.com. Members of the public can read the full text of bills or listen to live audio of committee debates on the state legislative Web site, http://www.le.state.ut.us.

- Matt Canham

Article Tools

 
Affiliates and Partners