Proposed constitutional amendment would increase money lawmakers can spend and cut in a special session
Lawmakers say current rules tied their hands too much when adjusting the budget during the pandemic.
(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) Utah lawmakers are pushing a constitutional amendment that would allow them to spend, and cut more money from the budget during a special session. This March 14, 2019, file photo shows the Utah House in session.
| March 1, 2021, 10:48 p.m.
Legislators want to ask Utah voters to loosen their purse strings a little under a proposed constitutional amendment designed to tweak the rules for some special legislative sessions.
Utah lawmakers are backing off a plan to borrow more than $1 billion to pay for transportation and infrastructure projects. Instead, they'll pay for those items with more cash and less borrowing.
Money would fund construction at the inland port and elsewhere.
(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) A map shows the extensive boundary of the planned Inland port development, displayed during a news conference at the Utah Capitol, Jan. 22, 2020. Primary among issues described in a new report are human health impacts from increased pollution the port will bring. On Monday, a Senate panel advanced a proposal to create a $115 million loan fund to assist in needed improvements of roads, water and electric systems in the inland port area of Salt Lake City, the Point of the Mountain and in other large-scale developents.
Sen. Mike McKell’s bill aims to make social media moderation practices more transparent.
(Noah Berger | AP file photo) A sign hangs at Twitter headquarters on, Jan. 11, 2021, in San Francisco. A Utah lawmaker wants to crack down on social media censoring or restricting free speech.
| Feb. 26, 2021, 10:15 p.m.
Spanish Fork Sen. Mike McKell swears his bill targeting social media platforms that censor posts by Utah account holders is not a reaction to so-called “cancel culture.” He just wants some transparency in their decision-making.
“Our social media platforms have become a de facto public forum,” said McKell, an attorney. “We’ve seen some of the big social media platforms pulling folks off, and this requires clear information from a social media platform about their moderation practices.”
| Updated: 1:32 a.m.
Utah legislative leaders said the process of setting next year’s $21.7 billion budget was one of the easiest they’ve ever experienced. Having more than $1.5 billion in extra money to spend can help clear any roadblocks that pop up.
“This is probably the smoothest budgeting process I’ve seen in my nearly decade of doing budget negotiations with the Senate,” House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, told reporters Friday.
Last year, the unfolding coronavirus pandemic forced legislators to cut nearly $1 billion from the budget they had approved just a few months earlier. But, the economic damage from COVID-19 was not nearly as bad as they predicted.