SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Legislature will reconvene on Wednesday, May 17 to address concerns about statewide flooding and to possibly amend a gun law.
Under his constitutional authority, Gov. Spencer Cox issued a call for that special session late Friday.
The first item of business on the agenda of the special session will be for lawmakers to extend Utah’s current state of emergency.
The governor declared a state of emergency on April 18 due to the potential of statewide flooding from Utah’s record snowpack this winter. As spring temperatures rise, so does the risk of avalanches, mudslides and flooding.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Utah lawmakers were concerned that the governor’s powers to issue and reissue state of emergency declarations were too broad. So the 2021 general session of the Legislature limited that power to 30-days and required the governor to call lawmakers together in a special session to extend any future state of emergency.
Given the current situation, Cox is anticipating no opposition to extending his emergency declaration. House Speaker Brad Wilson (R-Kaysville) has already signaled his support of the governor.
Lawmakers will also be asked to “…reallocate funds (in the fiscal years 2023 and 2024 budgets) to address the cost of snow removal, flooding, flood response and mitigation” during the upcoming special session.
Finally, the legislative special session will be asked to close a loophole that was recently found in House Bill 225 (Firearm Possession Amendments).
That bill was passed by lawmakers in their 2023 General Session.
That new law expands the definition of a person restricted from possessing a firearm to include a foreign national in the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa.
H.B. 225 also requires that appropriate law enforcement agencies be notified whenever a restricted person attempts to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer.
Lawmakers will be asked to add an additional amendment to H.B. 225 to specify that a foreign national on a non-immigrant work visa is also barred from possessing or owning a firearm.
That latter amendment was erroneously thought to be part of federal law.