Week 5 Updates: February 20-24
Dear Business Community, 
 
Week 5 of the 2017 Utah General Legislative Session was one of the most exciting weeks yet, with significant movement on our priorities and many other important bills advancing through. With less than two weeks left, many critical conversations continue to advance including the broader topic of tax reform and education funding.    
 
The Chamber's priority education bills took crucial strides this week as many advanced through the process. Including H.B. 168 - Kindergarten Supplemental Enrichment Program, which passed the House and moved onto Senate Education Committee, and  S.B. 117 - Higher Education Performance Funding, which passed the Senate and moved onto House Education Committee.  
 
Regulation and infrastructure have also continued to be at the forefront of our activities as H.B. 272 - Regulatory Impact Amendments, and S.B. 204 - Public Private Partnerships, will both be on their respective body's floor in these final two weeks of the session.  
 
Additionally, we are working with legislative leadership and the Governor's Office as the discussions around tax reform continue to advance. We will keep you apprised of any major developments.
 
Lastly, we successfully defeated H.B. 81 - Post-employment Restrictive Covenants Amendments last Friday after our update. The bill was outside of our process and agreement with legislative leadership. This evening the results of our research on non-competes will be available at www.slchamber.com/noncompetestudy
                                                                           
We are also planning two open houses at the Salt Lake Chamber with the Cicero research team to review the data with those interested. Please click the date to register to attend.
As we enter the last two weeks of the session, we want to thank you for all your engagement and urge you to continue to reach out to representatives. As always the business community voice must be heard as the major issues are decided.
 
Salt Lake Chamber Policy Team
Priority Votes 

During the legislative session, the Salt Lake Chamber Executive Board designates top priorities of the business community as Priority Votes. The Chamber's Priority Votes are considered the most critical bills during the legislative session and are used to determine the Chamber's Business Champion Awards. Below are the most recently declared priority votes. 

Click "View Full List of Priority Votes" to view bill status and bill description on our internal bill dashboard. 

Most Recent Priority Votes:

Bill Number 
Bill Title 
Sponsor
Position
Kindergarten Supplemental Enrichment Program
Rep. Snow
Support
Joint Resolution Regarding Jobs in Rural Utah Sen. Van Tassell 
Support
Public-Private Partnerships Sen. Okerlund
Support
Sales Tax Collection Amendments
Sen. Bramble
Support
Air Quality Policy Advisory Board
Rep. Hawkes
Support

Bills Worth Watching

Each week, the Chamber's policy team tracks relevant bills by subject so you can stay up to date on legislation that impacts you and your business. We have 20 high-priority bills with 16 priority votes issued, 84 medium and 112 low priority bills on our watch lists. We are supporting 59 bills, opposing 9 bills and monitoring 148 others. 

We encourage you to click on the sections below to view bill descriptions and status updates via the Chamber's internal bill dashboard.

My Education, Our Future

Envision Utah has been working with some of Utah's top education experts to identify specific actions that would make (or are already making) the biggest positive impact on Utah's students. 

From this, 'My Education, Our Future' was developed. The goal is to help everyone in Utah understand the specific actions we can take to ensure all Utahns get the kind of education that leads to lead to prosperous communities, strong families, and great quality of life.

In the News  
Policy Events 
Cybersecurity Conference

The Salt Lake Chamber is co-hosting a National Cybersecurity Conference with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, March 23rd, 2017 from 7:30am-1:30 pm at Marriott University Park. 

Register  Here
To see th e business community's other legislative prioritie s, visit sl chamber.com  
A b by Osborne
Director of Government Relations
801-831- 6116
M ichael Parker
Director of Public Policy 
801-541-8466