Wayne Harper

Last updated
Wayne Harper
Wayne Harper.JPG
Harper in February 2014
Member of the Utah Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2013

2016 sponsored bills

[11]
Bill Number and TitleStatus of Bill
S.B. 6 Infrastructure and General Government Base BudgetGovernor Signed 2/16/2016
S.B. 11 Cancellation of Auto Insurance CoverageGovernor Signed 3/21/2016
S.B. 22 Foreclosure of Residential Rental PropertyGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 31 Tax Commission Levy ProcessGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 65 Sales and Use Tax Reporting RequirementsSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 68 Property Tax AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 74 Aviation AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 82 Child Welfare ModificationsGovernor Signed 3/23/2016
S.B. 86 Sales and Use Tax Compliance AmendmentsSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 135 Administrative Law Judge AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/23/2016
S.B. 151 Community Development and Renewal Agencies Act RevisionsGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 158 Juvenile Court and Child Abuse AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 160 Federal Funds Budget Reserve AccountSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 182 Sales and Use Tax RevisionsSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 193 Utah Communications Authority Act AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/22/2016
S.B 210 Unmanned Vehicle RevisionsSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 220 Non Judicial Foreclosure AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/25/2016
S.C.R. 2 Concurrent Resolution in Support of Sales and Use Tax Transactional EquityGovernor Signed 3/17/2016
S.J.R. 3 Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution-Property Tax ExemptionsSenate/To Lieutenant Governor 3/16/2016

Notable legislation

In 2016 Senator Harper passed Senate Bill 210, which outlines and regulates the use of recreational drones in Utah. The law also gives local police the authority to shoot down drones if they are not in compliance with the law, and if being shot down does not pose a threat to people or animals. This bill does not apply to commercial drones. [12]

Controversial legislation

In 2018 Harper sponsored SB136 which was signed into law. Among other provisions, SB136 includes an additional annual registration fee of up to $120 on clean air vehicles. [13] The additional fees were opposed by air quality advocates such as the nonprofits Breathe Utah, and Utah Clean Energy which has stated the fees are misguided. [14] [15] [16] Clean air advocates have voiced concerns that the additional fees will slow electric vehicle adoption and promote poorer air quality in Utah. There are an estimated 1,000–2,000 deaths in Utah annually due to poor air quality, [17] and emissions from gasoline and diesel powered vehicles, are the primary cause of pollution. [18]

In 2021 Harper sponsored HB209 [19] to increase EV fees in Utah to $300 annually in addition to normal registration costs. [20] HB209 did not pass. In 2023 Harper sponsored HB301, which passed, and will levy a tax of 12.5% on electricity at EV charging stations. [21] This adds a third tax at charging stations in Utah on top of existing sales and franchise taxes, and some analyses estimate some EV owners will pay twice as much tax as gasoline fueled vehicle drivers. [22]

In February 2025, Harper introduced SB195, which removed Salt Lake City's authority to plan its own streets. [23] [24] In support of the bill, Harper cited a paper critical of the city's safe streets initiative that was reportedly largely AI-generated. [25]

References

  1. ↑ "Wayne Harper's Biography". Project Vote Smart . Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Harper, Wayne". Utah State Senate. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Wayne Harper's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Wayne Harper and Monnica Manuel hope to capture Utah Senate District 16 seat". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  5. ↑ Beal-Cvetko, Bridger; Aug. 7, KSL com | Posted-; P.m, 2024 at 1:07. "Utah state Sen. Wayne Harper to lead National Conference of State Legislatures". www.ksl.com. Retrieved 2025-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "District 6 Senator - Utah State Senate". senate.utah.gov. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  7. ↑ "NCSL Current and Past Presidents, 1975-2024". NCSL. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  8. ↑ "2012 General Canvass Report". Salt Lake City, Utah: Lieutenant Governor of Utah. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Wayne Harper - Ballotpedia". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  10. ↑ "Election Results". www.saltlakecounty.gov. 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  11. ↑ "2016 -- Legislation(Senate)". le.utah.gov. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  12. ↑ "New drone bill proposed in Utah –police could potentially shoot drones out of the sky | JD Supra". JD Supra. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  13. ↑ Harper, Wayne A. "S.B. 136 Transportation Governance Amendments".
  14. ↑ "SB 136 Transportation Governance Amendments". Breathe Utah. Retrieved Nov 30, 2019.
  15. ↑ O'Donoghue, Amy Joi (Mar 1, 2018). "Clean energy advocates decry proposed electric, hybrid vehicle fees". KSL . Retrieved Nov 30, 2019.
  16. ↑ Craft, Josh; Emerson, Kevin (Mar 17, 2018). "Commentary: The 2018 Utah legislative session brought us a win for clean energy and climate". Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved Nov 30, 2019. When Utahns are taking personal steps to improve air quality by purchasing a clean vehicle, tacking on another fee is misguided.
  17. ↑ "Heart and Blood Vessels". uphe.org. Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. Sep 7, 2019. Retrieved Dec 7, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Pollution Sources". kued.org. KUED. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019.
  19. ↑ "H.B. 209 Vehicle Registration Fee Revisions". utah.gov. Utah State Legislature . Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  20. ↑ Hutson, Sonja (February 1, 2021). "Utah Bill To Raise Electric Vehicle Fees By Up To 400% Sparks Debate On Air Quality And Road Usage". KUER. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  21. ↑ "H.B. 301 Transportation Tax Amendments". utah.gov. Utah State Legislature . Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  22. ↑ Harden, Tracy (February 23, 2021). "Tracy Harden: Added tax on EV users won't improve Utah's air quality". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Updated: Salt Lake City's plans to build safer streets may hit a dead end — at least for a while". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2025-07-14.
  24. ↑ "Big transportation bill raises conerns about state control over Salt Lake City streets". ABC4 Utah. 2025-02-22. Archived from the original on 2025-02-23. Retrieved 2025-07-14.
  25. ↑ Anderson, Taylor (2025-07-07). "Did Two University of Utah Professors Use AI to Take SLC's Streets Away?". Building Salt Lake. Retrieved 2025-07-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.