Senate votes to save Utah Marriage Commission

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Mar 12 2013 06:35 pm • Last Updated Mar 18 2013 11:33 am

The Utah Senate decided Tuesday to codify and save the Utah Marriage Commission as federal funding that has supported it is evaporating.

It voted 22-2 to pass HB147 to write into state law the commission that was created 15 years ago by administrative action, and provide an estimated $8,800 a year to fund its activities. The bill now goes to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature.

Sponsoring Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, earlier said it is needed because since 1960, "the marriage rate has declined by one-third, the divorce rate has doubled, and more than one half of all first-born children are born out of wedlock."

The commission does such things as help provide marriage handbooks for those obtaining marriage licenses, supports the strongermarriage.org website and hosts classes and seminars with tips to form strong marriages.

Lee Davidson

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.