An important legislative deadline for policy bills passed last week with Governor Stitt signing dozens of bills into law. However, two bills last week received a veto from the Governor, House Bill 2088 and House Bill 2090.
In his veto message for HB 2088, Stitt explained the exemption for the Legislature and Judiciary from fees and costs of services rendered by appropriated state agencies would shift some costs onto those agencies.
“House Bill 2088 contains no language guaranteeing additional appropriation to cover the cost of services to be provided to the Legislature and Judiciary, potentially resulting in a costly negative fiscal impact in the future. This unnecessary shift in responsibility does not comply with this Administration’s standards of accountability and transparency,” wrote Stitt.
HB 2090 would add two seats to the Rural Broadband Expansion Council. Stitt calls the recently formed organization an “unnecessary task force.” He voted the bill which created the Council last session, but the veto was overridden.
“Digital transformation has been and remains a top priority for my Administration. Shortly after taking office, this Administration created a broadband task force and brought together key stakeholders to focus on improving broadband in our state. As a result, our state’s broadband service has improved from 47th to 25th in the nation during my time in office. We brought together key players in this arena and the Administration’s task force yielded great results. This legislation does nothing to improve a duplicative task force,” wrote Stitt.
