SALT LAKE CITY – With an absolute minimum of drama, the Utah Legislature convened in special session on May 17, passed legislation requested by the Gov. Spencer Cox and went home again.
Cox signed the three bills passed by legislators into law the following day. The most important of those, Cox said in his monthly news conference, will allow local Utah governments access to state emergency response funds for flooding.
City and County governments have been petitioning the state government for funds to pay for sand bags and heavy equipment to dredge canals and waterways.
The Legislature responded with $33 million in emergency funds for those purposes, thanks to House Bill 1001 (Emergency Response Funding).
“We won’t be able to pay for everything,” Cox admitted, “but certainly we can pay for some of that.”
In his news conference, Cox explained that the record snowfall over the winter months has been a mixed blessing for Utahns.
That snow, which has gone a long way toward replenishing the Great Salt Lake and depleted reservoir levels, has also raised the threat of local flooding throughout the state as the snowpack in the mountains melts.
In mid-April, Cox declared a state of emergency because of that threat and many local governments have since followed suit.
Just this week, Cache County Executive David Zook issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency here in Cache County.
In that declaration, Zook said that local emergency response operations – including disaster preparations and planning, distribution of resources and other protective measures – have strained the resources of multiple agencies and may exceed the financial ability of Cache County to absorb.
On Thursday, Cox acknowledged that the central and northern portions of Utah are still very much at risk of flooding.
Approval of the emergency funding was never in question during the special session, although some lawmakers expressed concern about a deadline for the emergency powers being granted to Cox under H.B. 1001.
In the end, lawmakers compromised by cutting off the state of emergency effective Aug. 15.
Cox told reporters he was untroubled by that deadline, given that additional emergency funding will be available after July 1, when the fiscal year 2024 budget takes effect.
In addition to H.B. 1001 (Emergency Response Funding), sponsored by Rep. Val Peterson (R-Orem), Utah legislators also passed House Bill 1002 (Restricted Persons Amendments), sponsored by Rep. Ryan Wilcox (R-Ogden), and House Bill 1003 (Firefighter Death Benefit Amendments), sponsored by Rep. Casey Snider (R-Paradise), during their special session on May 17.