2020 Legislative Updates: Week Two – February 3-7

Dear Business Community,

During this second week of the 2020 Utah Legislative Session, many bills of interest to the business community were introduced and moved through committee. At this point the legislature has introduced over 400 bills and more than half of them impact the businesses and economy of this state.

Several priority bills for the Salt Lake Chamber were addressed in committee this week:

S.B. 39, Affordable Housing Amendments, sponsored by Senator Jake Anderegg, was heard and passed out of committee on Tuesday. The Chamber and many of our partners spoke in favor of this legislation that was the product of the Utah Commission on Housing Affordability. This bill is one effort among many to help address Utah’s housing gap and is an important step in addressing this issue. If passed, S.B. 39 would provide rental assistance to families at risk of homelessness, gap financing of private activity bond financed rental housing and assistance with pre-development costs for affordable housing projects in rural Utah. As this bill has a significant funding request the bill will have a major hurdle to overcome separate from the support of the policy.

We encourage you to reach out to your legislator to express the importance of housing affordability to you and your business. If you have any questions or concerns, or need help connecting with your legislator, please reach out to our team.

H.B. 99, Enhanced Kindergarten Amendments, sponsored by Representative Lowry Snow, was heard in the House Education Committee. The Chamber and others came together to testify in support of this bill that would expand access to enhanced kindergarten opportunities for children in Utah. Studies show that this program will improve student outcomes in the short- and long-term, which means this investment is an investment in Utah’s workforce.

We recommend that you review the bills listed in the categories below to learn more about legislation that could impact you and your business. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to our team. 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

Bills Worth Watching

• Business Climate – click here
• Education – click here
• Labor & Employment – click here
• Housing Affordability – click here
• Transportation – click here
• Environment & Natural Resources – click here
• Health Care – click here
• Community – click here
• Other – click here