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Inland port, beer sales and more on agenda for special legislative session in Utah Wednesday

Posted at 7:27 AM, Jul 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-18 09:28:51-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah legislators will discuss a variety of issues Wednesday in a special session.

One of the highest profile topics under discussion is the inland port in Salt Lake City.

The Business and Labor Interim Committee will consider new legislation to add provisions and make changes to the Inland Port Authority, which was created during the regular session earlier this year.

Earlier this week, state and city leaders reached a deal on the inland port that involved shrinking its size to address environmental concerns and give the city more tax authority.

The Law Enforcement Committee will also meet Wednesday, and among the items on their agenda are changes to Utah's laws regarding DUI and distracted driving. The committee will look at the upcoming changes to DUI laws and discuss their effectiveness.

Utah's legal limit for DUI is set to drop from .08 to .05 on New Year's Eve.

The committee will also look into legislation to stop the use of handheld mobile devices, including cell phones, while operating a vehicle.

The Judiciary Committee will be discussing the process to legally change a person's sex in Utah. A bill seeking to address the process failed in the previous legislative session.

Also on Wednesday's agenda, lawmakers will address an issue with recent changes to alcohol laws. When the legislature began requiring all grocery and convenience stores selling beer to fall under state supervision, they did not create the ability to give "conditional licenses" for those businesses.

The licenses are generally used when a business has met the majority of the requirements but is waiting on one last bit of bureaucracy. The DABC says passing this fix will help them keep businesses licensed without any future problems.