Dear Business Community,

We are now three weeks into the 2020 Utah Legislative Session and the Legislature has introduced over 500 bills for consideration — a majority of them of interest to the business community and related to the Salt Lake Chamber’s legislative priority areas.

After the repeal of the recent tax legislation, information related to available revenue numbers for FY2021 has been uncertain. The result has been an inability for the Legislature to commit to any policies that have a fiscal impact and, accordingly, much uncertainty related to many of the Chamber’s policy priorities and other significant policies. However, as the announcement of revenue numbers is expected next week, we anticipate that the direction on large policy priorities will start to become more clear. We understand that significant policy decisions often come with a large cost, and we appreciate the difficult decisions lawmakers have to make as they carefully prioritize the many important policy decisions within the available tax revenue.

Among those policies is SB 95, Economic Development Amendments, sponsored by Senator Scott Sandall. SB 95 consolidates many of the existing rural incentive programs and creates the Rural County Grant Program which will maximize resources dedicated to rural economic development. The program will make available at least $200,000 to each participating county to help them implement their county economic priorities and facilitate business recruitment and development. The Chamber is very supportive of this effort to enable rural counties and prioritize their individual needs.

As always, please reach out to our team if you have questions or information related to any legislation. Your input is valuable as we speak on behalf of our members, and we are here to answer any questions you may have as well as to help you connect with your legislators and other policy leaders.

Best,

Salt Lake Chamber Policy Team

Priority Votes

 

Number Bill Title Sponsor Position
H.B. 68 Apprenticeship and Work-based Learning Amendments Rep. Gibson Priority
H.B. 99 Enhanced Kindergarten Amendments Rep. Snow Priority
H.B. 259 Electric Vehicle Charging Network Rep. Spendlove Priority
H.J.R. 13 Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution – State Board of Education Rep. Ballard Priority
S.B. 26 Water Banking Amendments Sen. Iwamoto Priority
S.B. 39 Affordable Housing Amendments Sen. Anderegg Priority
S.B. 51 Secondary Water Requirements Sen. Anderegg Priority
S.B. 69 Tax Credit for Educator Expenses Sen. Anderegg Priority
S.B. 95 Economic Development Amendments Sen. Sandall Priority

Bills Worth Watching