One of Gov. Spencer Cox’s top priorities this session, the Beehive Development Agency, which would have given his office significant new powers over large development projects in Utah, appears to have died without even getting a vote in the Senate.
The new agency would be able to identify projects that would have a major economic impact on the state and to designate a project area — with the approval of the city or county where it is located — and use up to 75% of the taxes within the area on infrastructure or other subsidies for the project.
The sponsor of SB337, Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Cottonwood Heights, suggested it could be used for things like nuclear power projects, major manufacturing facilities or large-scale housing and retail projects.
But Tuesday was the last night for the Senate to pass its own bills out of that chamber, and the Senate adjourned Tuesday night without SB337 coming up for a vote.
Nothing is all the way dead until the session ends Friday at the stroke of midnight. The guts of the Beehive agency could be tucked into another bill that is further along in the process, but it would take an extraordinary effort and support in both the House and Senate.
If the bill fails, it’s due in large part to the widespread backlash to the original version that had no limits on where projects could be created or how large they could be. The earlier version of the bill said the new agency could establish the projects anywhere it wanted without any approval from the cities or counties hosting the project site, but those local governments would be required to cooperate with the project — providing police, fire, sewer, water and other services.
The bill was scaled back last week and squeaked through a Senate committee, despite members of the public from across the political spectrum calling it “a huge power grab” that was being rushed through the process in the closing days of the session.
Cullimore made the pitch that the bill was an effort to coordinate the various incentives the state can offer to businesses that want to invest in the state, streamlining the process and giving Utah an advantage when it comes to competing with other states.
Republican senators huddled in a closed caucus to debate the fate of the bill Tuesday night before emerging and deciding to go home without bringing it up for a vote.
Cullimore did not respond to text messages asking if he believed the bill was officially dead for this session.
This story is developing and will be updated.
