Commitment training would reduce license fee

The House passed a bill Wednesday that would allow couples to get a $20 discount on the marriage license fee if they are willing to undergo eight hours of marriage preparation education.

The training, which could include religious instruction, must include discussions of commitment, communication, conflict resolution and financial management, according to HB8, sponsored by Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City.

The bill will now go before the Senate.

- Matt Canham

Veto override

House gets bill limiting guv's N-waste power

Senators split largely along partisan lines, 22 to 6, to send legislation governing radioactive waste landfills to the House. Sen. Howard Stephenson's SB70 would shrink the governor's authority over waste sites by allowing a legislative override of his veto.

- Rebecca Walsh

Property rights

Eminent domain limit advances in Senate

Utah senators gave preliminary approval Wednesday to legislation that would limit local government's use of eminent domain for redevelopment projects. SB117 stems in part from Ogden's battle to condemn homes to clear the way for a new Wal-Mart. The legislation requires that city councils approve a condemnation. Cities would have to notify property owners of every meeting where the topic would be discussed. And cities would have to mediate cases where property owners fought condemnation, rather than suing.

- Rebecca Walsh

Statewide standard

House panel passes bill

on restaurant sanitation

Rep. Stephen D. Clark loves Mexican food. But after a meal in a Utah County restaurant made him ill, Clark, R-Provo, is questioning the sanitation of Utah's eating establishments. He is sponsoring HB114, which would standardize the minimum sanitation requirements for Utah restaurants.

The bill, which Tuesday passed out of the House Business and Labor Committee, would give the state two full-time employees who would develop consistent rules and regulations for the entire state.

Kathy Froerer, executive director of the Utah Association of Local Health Departments, said that while local inspectors conducted 7,600 restaurant inspections last year, the state still reported 148 infections from food-borne illness.

- Katie Drake

Bear River plannin

House water project bills head to the Senate

A bill that would greenlight planning and preconstruction for the Bear River water development project was approved by the House with some modifications Tuesday, along with a bill that would provide a funding mechanism for both the Bear River project and Lake Powell pipeline. Both measures now go to the Senate.

HB45 sponsor Rep. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, amended his bill to allow for the construction of the project in phases, bypassing a requirement that 70 percent of the water rights for the entire project be sold before construction can commence.

The House also approved HB47, which would lift the 1/16th of a cent cap on sales tax revenue that is now funneled to water projects. The change would mean annual increases of about $6 million, say supporters.

- Joe Baird