Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Give back to public media by supporting Utah Public Radio! Your donation is essential to help us reach our goal. GIVE NOW

Utah Legislative Session Ending After Beer, Medicaid Deals

Pixabay

Utah lawmakers are winding down their annual session after reaching a deal to allow more alcohol in beer, passing a ban on most abortions after 18 weeks and scaling back a voter-approved Medicaid expansion.

Other failed to pass, including a ban on LGBT conversion therapy. The legislative session ends Thursday.

Lawmakers also decided to postpone action on sweeping tax reform, although they wrote fail-safes into the state's $19 billion budget to ensure that action happens later this year.

Some of the actions sparked protests, such as the move to shrink Medicaid expansion and the failure of the conversion-therapy ban.

Lawmakers say the Medicaid decisions were essential to controlling long-term costs, but on conversion therapy, they vowed to continue the conversation.