Thursday February 25, 2021
A bill that would have allowed Moab City to establish a nighttime curfew for ATVs on local roads failed by a narrow margin in the Utah Senate on Wednesday. Today on the news, we speak with Moab City Mayor Emily Niehaus, who championed the legislation. Niehaus reacts to the vote, and discusses other strategies to curb noise impacts from ATVs, including stepped-up noise enforcement and sociological research on visitation.
Show Notes
| Updated: 7:07 p.m.
Itâs full speed ahead for the bill to limit the governorâs emergency powers during a long-term event, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.
SB195 moved forward in the Utah Senate on Monday unanimously and won final Senate approval Tuesday. The bill from Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, is a response to the continuous state of emergency the state has been under for almost a year in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
As previously reported, the bill would not impact the governorâs ability to respond to an emergency as it happens, but if the emergency declaration lasts beyond 30 days, then lawmakers could get involved. State and local health departments could do the same.
Bill requiring fathers to pay 50% of pregnancy costs clears the Senate
The bill would apply to a pregnant mother’s health insurance premiums and all medical costs related to the pregnancy from conception to birth.
(Teresa Crawford | AP file photo) In this Aug. 7, 2018, file photo, a doctor performs an ultrasound scan on a pregnant woman at a hospital in Chicago. A bill that passed through the Utah Senate on Thursday would require a biological father to pay half of the out-of-pocket pregnancy costs for the woman carrying their unborn child.
| Feb. 18, 2021, 11:49 p.m.
HB113, which requires a final procedural vote in the Senate before heading to the governor for his signature or veto, would apply to a pregnant mother’s health insurance premiums and all medical costs related to the pregnancy from conception to birth.
The Utah Senate on Thursday passed two bills in the effort to reform how police and emergency medical services respond to those suffering mental health emergencies.
SB53 would allow EMTs and firefighters to receive training specifically to respond to mental health calls. Then, agencies throughout the state could form teams made up of those trained EMTs, who would be dedicated specifically to mental health emergencies.
Under the bill, mental health EMT teams would not take on the role of therapists. Instead, they would triage people and help them find the resources they need, bill sponsor Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, has said.
Cities and agencies would also not be required to hire mental-health trained EMTs under the bill, he said.
As the Senate debated the bill on Thursday, Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, questioned whether it would take resources away from the state s Mobile Crisis Outreach Teams, which include licensed mental health professionals.