The House vote came after an attempt narrowly failed in a 34-36 vote to modify the bill to prohibit local registries and put stricter limits on how cities and counties can offer benefits to adult designees of employees.

Rep. Michael Noel, R-Kanab, said the bill needed changing because extending benefits beyond simple health insurance is "problematic for me and may have unintended consequences."

Salt Lake City Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love said city officials were relieved that SB299 passed without Noel's amendment. "It would have killed the registry and hurt our adult-designee benefits ordinance," she said.

Love said the city will have to make minor changes to the registry, but nothing substantive.

"We're appreciative that Sen. Bell and others were willing to work for hours with us, crafting language that would allow our registry to stand," she said. "We appreciate that they recognize this is something important to Salt Lake City residents."

Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, said Noel's version of the bill would go so far as to disqualify some Salt Lake City employees from insurance they already have by requiring financial dependence.

That means, Biskupski said, that some designees of city employees would "have to choose to give up their health insurance or give up their job. ... It gets in the way of what the city is trying to do, which is insure as many people as they can."

If the House had approved the changes, it could have led to a late-night showdown between the House and Senate. Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, had told reporters Wednesday that he supported SB299, as Bell presented it.

---

E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com; jpage@desnews.com