2017 session: Where bills stood as lawmakers went home

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah legislators closed out their 2017 session at midnight Friday, having passed more than 500 bills, including alcohol reforms and a last-minute change to the state’s bigamy ban.

Legislators also passed proposals to lower the minimum age to obtain a concealed-carry permit from 21 to 18 and one that would require doctors to inform women that a medication-induced abortion could be halted after taking just one of two pills.

Here’s a look at where key issues landed this year:

ALCOHOL

A bill aimed at tightening the rules for alcohol and another that would loosen them are both heading to the governor’s desk for final consideration. One proposal would allow Utah restaurants to prepare alcoholic drinks in full view of adult customers, easing a longtime, quirky rule in the Mormon-majority state that requires restaurant workers to mix and pour drinks behind a barrier. The other bill could give Utah the strictest DUI threshold in the nation, by lowering the limit for a driver’s blood-alcohol content to 0.05 percent, down from 0.08 percent.

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ABORTION

Lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill requiring doctors to tell women that a medication-induced abortion could be halted after taking just one of two pills, though doctors’ groups say there is no conclusive data to back up that claim. Another bill that initially looked to ban doctors using telemedicine to remotely prescribe abortion-inducing drugs has made it through the Legislature after its sponsor removed the abortion-related language from the bill.

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POLYGAMY

As midnight approached, the Senate passed a bill that would leave those convicted under Utah’s bigamy law facing harsher penalties for other crimes such as domestic abuse. Utah’s current polygamy law bars married people from living with an extra spouse or claiming to have a second purported “spiritual spouse.”

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SEX ED

Lawmakers in the Senate gave one of the final approvals needed for a proposal that would get rid of a state law that bans the “advocacy of homosexuality” in schools, a move driven by a court challenge from gay rights groups.

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PORNOGRAPHY

Two proposals by Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, that seek to crack down on pornography easily made it through the Legislature. One proposal would allow pornography distributors to be sued if a minor exposed to the material says they were hurt by it, while the other would require public libraries to install blockers on their wireless networks to prevent people from viewing obscene content in libraries.

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GUNS

Legislators considered two bills this year addressing concealed-carry permits for guns. One allowing those 21 and over to carry concealed weapons without a permit died after its sponsor stepped away from it. Another proposal that would lower the minimum age to obtain a concealed-carry permit to 18, down from 21, received approval Thursday from the Senate.

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PUBLIC LANDS

GOP legislators incensed by the designation of Utah’s new Bears Ears National Monument passed a resolution calling for President Donald Trump to undo it. The move led to a falling out with the outdoor recreation industry, which pulled a lucrative semiannual show from the state out of protest.

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TAX OVERHAULS

Under pressure from a looming ballot initiative asking voters to raise Utah income taxes to pay for schools, Gov. Gary Herbert asked state lawmakers to instead scrutinize other tax policies to see if the state can’t free up other money. Legislators considered several changes, but backed away in their final days before any bill came out. They plan to spend this summer studying tax rates, exemptions, credits and carve-outs.

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CAR SAFETY INSPECTION

Utah lawmakers voted to eliminate a requirement that cars undergo periodic safety inspections, joining a number of other states that have scrapped such rules in recent years. Utah currently requires such inspections for cars, with annual inspections mandated after a vehicle becomes 10 years old. In return for cutting the $15 inspections, the measure would make it a permanent primary offense to not wear a seat belt in a car.

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HOMELESSNESS

Utah lawmakers approved about $10 million to help with three homeless resource centers to deal with Salt Lake City’s overflowing downtown shelter. Two new shelters will be built in the city and a third is planned elsewhere in Salt Lake County. Legislators also passed a proposal offering tax credits for affordable housing projects.