Your up-to-the-hour look at Day 43 of the 2019 Utah Legislature

SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers have finished up with most committee meetings as the 2019 legislative session nears an end, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of work yet to be done.

Legislators will continue to hammer out a budgetplan for the coming year before Thursday's midnight deadline for the session.

There are also plenty of bills awaiting debate on both the House and Senate floors, including:

HB320, which restricts cities from banning plastic grocery bags;

HB324, which raises the legal age to use tobacco products;

HB136, which bans abortions after 18 weeks of gestation

Here's what happened on March 8, the 39th day of the 2019 session:

• With just three days left in the legislative session, House and Senate Republican leaders remained divided over a House plan to withhold $400 million in spending until tax reform is approved in a special session.
• Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announced she directed city attorneys to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the creation of the Utah Inland Port Authority.
• The Utah House Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to hold HB190, named for a University of Utah student who was gunned down last fall, after a motion to move it forward failed with a 3-9 vote.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2TyhZCq