Rally Happening For Medicaid As 2019 Legislative Session Kicks Off
Jan 28, 2019, 8:23 AM | Updated: 1:49 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Legislative Session kicked Monday morning, and lawmakers will be tackling several high-profile bills.
It will include bills on tax reform, eliminating Daylight Saving Time, sex education, abortion and the Medicaid expansion.
A rally in favor of the Medicaid expansion will take place in the Capitol rotunda as politicians are expected to make changes to a ballot initiative that was passed by voters in November 2018. The rally is set for later Monday afternoon.
The Medicaid expansion was slated to begin April 1, but changes legislators are considering could push that date back for months or even years. Any changes made would be to control costs, lawmakers said.
Other bills include HB 66, which aims to get rid of the biannual time switch in Utah, leaving the state on Mountain Daylight Time year-round.
HB 71 would make changes to the way sex education is taught in public schools. The bill would allow health education instructors to include “medical characteristics, effectiveness and limitations of contraceptive methods or devices.”
If passed, it would change Utah’s longstanding abstinence-only education model.
Two separate abortion bills are also expected to be introduced. One bill would ban abortions that are sought because the fetus has Down Syndrome, and the other bill would ban any abortion after 15 weeks. The current law bans abortions after 20 weeks.
The session will be led by new House Speaker Greg Wilson.
The gavel will drop 10 a.m.
