State representatives provided a report of the 2019 Utah legislative session during the Vernal Chamber luncheon on Tuesday. Among the bills discussed, Representative Scott Chew shared that having the homeless shelter funding bill lower the bed count was a particular success for rural Utah. A bill passed last year required counties to pay into a fund that benefitted only shelters that had at least 50 beds. In response, Chew sponsored a bill this year to have that bed count lowered to 25 which then allows smaller shelters like Turning Point Shelter to receive some of that funding paid to the state. Among many topics, Senator Ron Winterton mentioned that he proposed a bill to have more mineral lease money distributed to the 7 County Coalition and that the proposal will be studied this summer and brought back with recommendations. Both Representative Chew and Senator Winterton expressed their desire to hear from the people of the Uintah Basin.
