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Bill to expand Utah's animal cruelty laws is resurrected and passed

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SALT LAKE CITY — Proof that a bill is never truly dead on Utah's Capitol Hill: House Bill 112, sponsored by Rep. Marsha Judkins, R-Provo, died earlier this week on a 36-37 vote.

The bill, which expands Utah's animal cruelty laws to criminalize all kinds of animal fighting (right now, state law only covers cockfighting and dogfighting) was resurrected on Friday and passed on a 55-18 vote.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

How can a bill be resurrected like that? Under procedures in the House, a lawmaker who manages to successfully persuade a large part of the House to reconsider their actions can bring it back to the floor for yet another vote. In this case, Rep. Judkins apparently persuaded a very large number of people to support her bill.