So we have reached that time in the legislative cycle where lawmakers frantically try to get their bills heard during this legislative session. You see, last Thursday was the last day to submit bills without the House or Senate considering it beforehand.

In an effort to get things in order, lawmakers will – in legislative speak – have the “bill numbered by title without any substance.” These bills are known as “boxcars” in political jargon, and act as a way for lawmakers to hold their place in line when they are finally ready to put a bill froward. Now these bills have nothing in them and literally consist of just the bills name, number, and sponsor – no change of legal code, not radical ideas that would plunge the state into chaos, no…just the bills name, number, and sponsor.

But, man, some of them are sooooo tantalizing; here are a few I would love to write about if they just had some meat to them:

H.B. 171 – Children’s Health Insurance Program Amendments – K. Holdaway
H.B. 335 – Health Insurance Transparency – J. Biskupski
H.B. 336 – Concealed Firearms Amendments – C. Wimmer
H.B. 339 – Legislator – Benefit Plans – E. Hutchings
H.B. 347 – Alcoholic Beverage Control Act Modifications – G. Hughes
H.B. 349 – Heavy Beer Amendments – C. Oda
H.B. 376 – Revisions to Alcoholic Beverage Control Act – G. Hughes
H.B. 384 – Public Lewdness Amendments – D. Ipson
H.B. 400 – Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission amendments – C. Oda
H.B. 405 – Geothermal Pool Amendments – K. Sumsion
H.B. 414 – Eminent Domain Modifications – C. Frank
H.B. 417 – Revision to Local Government – M. Noel
H.B. 426 – Tobacco Monies – M. Newbold
H.B. 428 – Unemployment Insurance Amendments – S. Mascaro
H.B. 440 – Nuclear Power Generation and Distribution – J. Seegmiller
S.B. 72 – Taxes on Motor Fuels – J. Valentine
S.B. 190 – Acquisition of a Billboard by Eminent Domain – W. Niederhauser
S.B. 203 – Revisions to Transportation – S. Jenkins
S.B. 205 – Redevelopment Agency Amendments – C. Bramble
S.B. 215 – License Plates Amendments – G. Bell
S.B. 218 – License Plates Modifications – P. Knudson
S.B. 223 – City and County Carbon Credits for Sequestration of Waste Stream Materials – R. Romero
S.B. 224 – Highway Construction Material Amendments – C. Bramble
S.B. 239 – Transportation Revisions – S. Killpack

Again, these bills have nothing in them, they could either be really good, really bad, or really boring – the possibilities are endless! Odds are most of these things will not make it past the naming stage and simply fizzle out.