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Utah Women's Coalition Discusses Bills Passed in 2016 Legislative Session

utahstatecapitol.utah.gov

  Legislators held a panel discussion last Friday to review the 2016 Utah legislative session, and the impact it had on women. 

The Utah Women’s Coalition, a group who helps women gain economic, social and political status in Utah, took part in a panel to discuss how bills passed in the 2016 session affected them.

“So, it was a panel discussion at the Hinckley Institute of Politics. We had four legislators present. It was Senator Iwamoto, Representative Edwards, Representative Romero, and Representative Spackman-Moss. It was just an informal conversation about how women faired overall this past legislative session. So there was some conversation about some specific bills that each of the Legislators ran, some specific bills that impacted women. ”

That was Stephanie Pitcher, of the Utah Women’s Coalition. She says bills like H.B. 437, which deals with health care revisions, homelessness, and substance abuse issues, affected men more than women.

“And so, of the lower income individuals that will be covered under this bill, it provides a priority category for homeless individuals, individuals that have been involved in the justice system, and then substance abuse problems or mental health.”

Pitcher says women fared far worse than men when it came to mental health problems.