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A Recap of the 2022 Legislative Session
ADVOCACY
REFLECTING ON THE 2022 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
BY CRAIG AND RYAN PETERSON
On March 4, the 2022 Utah Legislative Session adjourned “sine die,” which means “without any future date being designated.” It is the fancy way for the legislature to end the session at midnight on the 45th day.
This session saw a significant return to normal compared to the mostly online session of 2021. Gone were the endless Zoom meetings and no more committee meeting rooms with only 10 chairs available to the public. Legislators were willing to come off the floor into the hallways and have meetings during floor time. It was rare to see anyone wearing masks. Other than a few minor restrictions that will probably be here to stay, things felt back to normal.
The session started with a bang as the Legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution 3 on the third day with an immediate effective date. This resolution closed a loophole created last year that allowed the executive of a city or county to issue a mask mandate. Under SJR3, the local health department may issue a mask mandate, but the council is able to overturn it by a majority vote. The resolution also allowed the state Legislature to provide a final check should the council vote differently from what the Legislature would prefer. The debate was heated, and it came down to a 45-29 vote in the House of Representatives in favor. There were a few other COVID19-focused bills during the session, including House Bill 183, which paused the “test to stay” program. Many legislators felt that the program was being abused in order to force more remote learning, instead of keeping kids in the classrooms.
This session was significantly quieter on the topic of taxes. The most noteworthy tax bill was Senator Dan McCay’s Senate Bill 59. SB59 lowered the income tax rate from 4.95% to 4.85%. For an average family of four earning $72,000 a year, that will be about $98 back in their pocket. The bill also increased the income threshold to qualify for the social security income tax credit. For those married filing jointly, for example, the threshold was increased from $50,000 to $62,000. Republican leaders also included a state earned income tax credit in order to gain some additional support from their Democrat colleagues.
Last year, the Legislature raised the personal property tax exemption from $15,000 to $25,000. This provided some relief to some 30,000 additional small businesses. This year, HB199 improved upon this change by shortening the time needed to file a return from five years to one. This should help improve the experience of tax payers and their CPAs by removing the hassle of filing such a long time after they are exempt.
Near the end of the session, Rep. Robert Spendlove introduced HB444, an income tax revision bill dealing with the State and Local Tax (SALT) issue. The UACPA was able to participate to a point, but the bill moved forward without much significant discussion. As has been seen in other states that have passed SALT legislation, there are often changes that need to be made in the next few years following the implementation of the new law. We anticipate that being the case here in Utah as well. If any of you would like to participate in a SALT working group during the year, please reach out to Susan Speirs (ss@uacpa.org).
Once again, there were a few bills dealing with the changing landscape of professional licensure. Gov. Cox made it clear, immediately after taking office, that he didn’t want Utah to have the hurdles of licensure act as barriers to entry to certain professions. He asked that all license requirements be reviewed to determine whether or not changes were necessary. We will continue to work with your association
leadership to make sure that the CPA license in Utah continues to be valuable and well respected.
As is typical with a legislative session, lawmakers debated a number of often controversial issues. They worked on bills dealing with everything from water and air quality to voting laws and homelessness. They fought over alcohol, law enforcement, and a study on the use of psychedelics as a mental health treatment. There were meetings that were calm and quiet, and others that saw people forcefully removed from the room and arrested. At the end of the 45 days, the Legislature had passed hundreds of bills, balanced a record $25 billion budget, and dedicated $1 billon directly to transportation.
Utah continues to be a bright spot in the country with an incredibly strong economy. For the first time in Utah’s recorded history, the state’s population growth has been more from in-migration than from in-state births. Utah leaders have a responsibility to prepare for the unprecedented growth that will surely continue to occur. As we have said many times before, it is an honor for us to represent the CPA profession on Utah’s Capitol Hill. We look forward to continuing to work with the UACPA to protect the interests of the profession into the future. n
Craig Peterson, senior partner of Peterson Consulting Group, has been involved in legislative processes for almost 40 years as a State Representative, State Senator, and Republican Senate Majority Leader. During the past 20 years, he has been a lobbyist, successfully representing a broad spectrum of clients.
Ryan Peterson is the managing partner of Peterson Consulting Group. He has been a contract lobbyist in the state of Utah for 12 years. He received a degree in economics from the University of Utah with a focus on statistics and econometrics. He is an avid golfer and resides in Salt Lake City.
