Stiffer animal-torture

penalties are rejected

Lawmakers don't want to increase the punishment for torturing animals.

House members Tuesday amended HB61, stripping out sections that would have raised the penalty from a class A misdemeanor to a third-degree felony.

Sponsoring Rep. Scott Wyatt, R-Logan, tried unsuccessfully to convince his colleagues that his bill is meant to intervene in the lives of potential serial killers, many of whom started out torturing pets.

"This bill does not create rights for animals," Wyatt said. "This bill is a people bill."

But lawmakers brainstormed a series of problems with the legislation.

Orem Republican Rep. Margaret Dayton watched a limping calf carried out on a stretcher at a rodeo. Kaysville Republican Rep. Doug Aagard worried about the cats that get into rat poison he spreads.

And Orem Republican Rep. Lorie Fowlke warned of prison overcrowding and increased law enforcement costs with a higher penalty.

-Rebecca Walsh

Child care

House votes to ban

licenses for criminals

A bill forbidding the state from issuing child care licenses to known criminals passed the House 38-36 on Tuesday, narrowly escaping defeat by rural Republican lawmakers who argued it's too punitive.

HB245 would require day care providers, their on-site family members and staff to pass a criminal background check. It now goes to the Senate.

Utah Health Department licensors could overlook some misdemeanors, such as traffic violations or shoplifting, but the bill doesn't spell out which ones would be exempt.

"This does paint a pretty broad brush," said Lewiston Republican Rep. Craig Buttars, posing a hypothetical.

What if the teen son of an in-home care provider is caught "spotlighting" and slapped with a hunting violation? "I advocate taking steps to protect children, but this possibly could go in the wrong direction," Buttars said.

Sponsoring Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-East Millcreek, said the law already gives licensors ample discretion over what constitutes a crime. She argued for putting the safety of Utah's children first, citing two recent probes that found a total of 84 in-home and commercial child care providers had criminals on staff or living on site.

- Kirsten Stewart

National elections

Committee supports

Western primary

The Senate will consider a measure that would make Utah part of a super primary of Western states, moving it to the "front of the line" in national presidential politics.

Approved unanimously Tuesday in the Senate Government Operations Committee, SB60 calls for a Western States Presidential Primary to be held the first Tuesday of February every four years.

"That way we could become a player in the presidential election process rather than an observer," said Mike Mower, spokesman for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who supports the primary.

"If Utah does nothing, we will be considered a reliably red state and may, or may not, have candidates wave at us as they fly over."

Utah participated in a Western states primary in 2000. But the idea of a state-funded election was dropped in 2004, when there was no Republican primary because President Bush was handed the party's nomination.

- Glen Warchol

Same-sex couples

Panel delays action

on child-custody bill

A bill aimed at shutting down gay couples' efforts to legally define their families raised so many questions lawmakers put off action on the legislation Tuesday in the House Judiciary Committee.

Draper Republican Rep. LaVar Christensen's HB148 stems from a lesbian partner's custody battle before the Utah Supreme Court. In that still-pending case, a district court judge awarded visitation to the former lesbian partner of the child's biological mother. Under Christensen's legislation, unmarried heterosexual or gay couples could not make custody agreements. That right would be reserved for married couples. In a legal battle, a court could not award custody or visitation against the biological parent's wishes.

During an hourlong debate Tuesday, lawmakers wondered how the bill would affect single mothers, abused spouses, grandparents and step-parents. Legal Aid Society, the Utah Domestic Violence Council, Utah Children and Equality Utah all are opposed to the bill.

- Rebecca Walsh

Outdoor life

Lower age limits

for hunting advance

A House committee on Tuesday advanced legislation that could mean younger hunters in the field.

Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, is sponsoring two bills that would lower the age requirements for hunting. Both advanced to the full House.

HB328 would eliminate the age requirements for hunting small game.

Under current law budding hunters must wait until age 11 to apply for permits. Oda's bill leaves it up to parents to decide when their kids are ready to begin hunting.

His other bill, HB329, would lower the age limit for hunting big game from 14 to 12. Hunters under 14 would still be excluded from some types of permits, like once-in-a-lifetime and limited entry hunts.

Under both bills young hunters would need to be accompanied by a parent or other responsible adult over the age of 21.

- Katie Drake

Traffic safety

Tougher seat-belt

plan meets resistance

A bill to stiffen the state's seat belt law is struggling to stay afloat in the Senate, where champions of personal choice attacked it Tuesday. It survived its first floor vote but faces a second test today

Sponsored by Democrat Sen. Karen Hale, SB98 would allow police to stop vehicles if they saw a passenger was not belted. Present law says police can only cite adult motorists for failing to use seat belts if they have stopped them for another infraction.

"This is a case of taking away a personal choice or freedom without sufficient cause," said Sen. Allen Christensen.

The North Ogden Republican acknowledged the validity of Hale's stories of "unbelted human missiles" and statistics of crash victims being 31 times more likely to die in an accident if they are not wearing a seat belt.

But he dismissed the numbers, "We could also falsely assume all those choosing to wear seat belts will be killed in accidents and we will have 100 percent compliance."

- Glen Warchol