Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, passed the most bills during the 2023 general session, and freshman Rep. Quinn Kotter, R-West Valley City, was the lawmaker who voted \
Lawmakers have only 45 days to write, debate and pass laws each year in Utah. The last couple of days of the session are always a mad rush of legislation.
A push to mandate members of religious clergy report child sexual abuse when it s brought to their attention is facing pushback from churches throughout the United States. That s the case in Utah, where four separate proposals to narrow the so-called clergy-penitent privilege loophole have not received hearings in the statehouse as lawmakers prepare to adjourn for the year. Religious groups who want to maintain the status quo argue the First Amendment protects the seal of confession and have revisited a years-long lobbying strategy that includes circulating questionable studies about the effects of reforms. Similar proposals are also under debate in states including Vermont, Washington and Kansas.