The Utah Senate Health and Human Services Committee considered and moved multiple bills on Feb. 20. Below are brief summaries of each item the committee advanced, with the committee’s recorded action.

SB 312 — Pharmacy practice amendments
- What it does: Allows narrow additional pharmacist authorities in four defined situations (examples cited: contraceptive dispensing consultation, inhaler spacer education), clarifies pharmacy audit date‑range language with PBMs, and expands the definition of hospital pharmacy for a charitable prescription drug recycling program.
- Committee action: Committee adopted first substitute and favorably recommended SB 312 to the full Senate.
- Tally: Committee reported a favorable recommendation and the substitute was passed out of committee.

HB 347 — Behavioral health licensure and Medicaid preferred drug list amendments
- What it does: For certain adult behavioral‑health providers that hold national accreditation, the substitute reduces duplicative annual in‑person inspections (state may still inspect on complaint or violation); it also adjusts Medicaid preferred‑drug‑list authority to manage psychotropic medication classes (grandfathering current users on non‑preferred drugs), restoring management tools for the Medicaid pharmacy program.
- Committee action: Committee favorably recommended the substitute to the full Senate.

HB 296 — Recovery residence / sober‑living classification amendments
- What it does: Adjusts categorization so some recovery residences can qualify under an alternative standard (an OR rather than AND construction) to reflect non‑clinical, peer‑led facilities that do not use licensed clinicians; sponsors said oversight and licensing requirements remain in place. Committee discussion included concerns about predatory sober‑living operations and the need to preserve safeguards.
- Committee action: Committee adopted the first substitute and passed the bill out favorably (vote recorded as 3–1 in committee discussion).

HB 54 — Industrial hemp (annual cleanup) amendments
- What it does: Technical updates for the industrial hemp program, clarifies background‑check language and strengthens product‑safety and retail‑security provisions (examples: camera requirements at points of sale, clarifying prohibited psychotropic THC products on shelves). Department of Agriculture and Food staff and industry stakeholders testified in support.
- Committee action: Committee adopted an amendment and favorably recommended first substitute HB 54 to the full Senate.

SCR 5 — Concurrent resolution: Radon action and awareness month
- What it does: A nonbinding resolution declaring a month of radon awareness and encouraging testing; testimony emphasized radon’s contribution to lung‑cancer deaths and urged public education.
- Committee action: Committee favorably recommended SCR 5 to the Senate.

Notes on procedure: For each item above, the committee record indicates adoption of substitutes or amendments where noted and favorable recommendations to the full Senate. Exact roll‑call vote tallies are not always explicit for every motion in the transcript; the committee frequently used voice votes and recorded the outcome in committee minutes.