Lawmakers Tackle Police Restraint, Budget Issues In Special Session

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – During Thursday’s special session, the Utah State Legislature passed a bill banning police chokeholds while working to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers believe the state is in a good position to make the financial moves it must make to help individuals, businesses and institutions recover from the crisis.

They have come up with a modified budget they think strikes a balance between meeting immediate needs and preparing for the future.

Due to lost revenue from the coronavirus, the state faces a projected deficit of $93 million in one-time funding and $757 million in ongoing funding in the general and education funds.

“We find ourselves here about to make incredibly hard decisions about budget cuts and policies that will support individuals, organizations and businesses impacted by global pandemic,” said House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, during his remarks at the opening of the session.

They will make targeted cuts and use $100 million from the rainy day fund, which will be treated as a loan lawmakers will try to replace in July.

They were also looking at options to only reduce the state budget by 1.7% while making modest increases in funding for education and social services.

Senate leadership also talked about continuing efforts to re-open the economy while coronavirus cases remain high.

“If we can protect that medically frail population we can allow a lot of the non-medically frail in our population to resume what would be normal activities, work and other things,” said Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton.

He urged everyone to continue to wear masks and social distance.

The House also overwhelmingly passed a bill that bans police officers in Utah from using a chokehold, or a knee on the neck, to restrain anyone.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, said law enforcement leaders she has spoken with have told her that those techniques have not been used thus far in the state. But this bill will make sure that none of those techniques are ever taught or used.

“The purpose of this bill, one of the purposes, is to prevent this from happening in the future and to assure the public that this will not happen in the future,” Hollins said.

Despite some concerns about specifics and proposed amendments, it passed with a 69-5 vote.

“Not only is this an important piece of legislation. But, it sends a message to all of our constituents about our values and where we want our society to be,” said Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake City.

The state senate also passed the bill, which will now go to Gov. Gary Herbert to be signed.

Herbert also issued an executive order Thursday moving nine rural Utah counties to green or “new normal” status on Friday.