Jon Huntsman Jr.
Jon Huntsman Jr. served as Governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009, and subsequently as U.S. ambassador to China and to Russia. His entries are the earliest for any individual in the archive, dating from 2007 and 2008, and record legislation he signed while governor.
2008 Events (1)
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed SB 299, preempting local civil-union and domestic-partnership registries statewide
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed S.B. 299 ("Revision to Local Government") on March 14, 2008, enacting Utah Code 10-8-1.5 and 17-50-324. The law permits municipalities to extend individual employment benefits to a "financially dependent or interdependent adult designee" but bars any county or municipal registry from defining, identifying, or recognizing a domestic partnership, civil union, or cohabitation relationship other than marriage, voiding inconsistent local ordinances such as Salt Lake City's concurrent registry.
2007 Events (2)
Utah Gov. Huntsman signed HB 343, codifying married-couple preference that excluded same-sex couples from adoption and foster placement
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed H.B. 343 on March 14, 2007, codifying a married-couple preference and cohabitation-based bar into the state's adoption and foster-placement law. Because Utah did not recognize same-sex marriage in 2007, the marriage-based mechanism categorically excluded same-sex couples from the preferred adoption tier and from eligibility for joint foster placement, while leaving married opposite-sex couples and non-cohabiting single adults eligible. The law extended into statute a policy the Division of Child and Family Services had first adopted administratively in 1999.
Utah Gov. Huntsman signed Student Clubs Act requiring parental consent to join school clubs; sponsor said it targets gay-straight alliances
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed HB236, the Student Clubs Amendments ("Student Clubs Act"), into law on 2007-03-09, requiring written parental consent before a student may join any noncurricular club and letting school officials deny club authorization on vague grounds including protecting students' "moral well-being" and maintaining "socially appropriate" behavior. Chief House sponsor Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, said the bill "makes it easier for schools to deny noncurricular clubs like gay-straight alliances."