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Two Utah lawmakers have asked legislative attorneys to draft bills seeking to end the “clergy exception” to required child abuse reporting.

Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, and Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, have each opened bill files to be considered during the Utah Legislature’s 2023 general session. In 2020, Romero introduced HB90, seeking to eliminate the clergy exception in state statute. The bill was numbered and introduced but was held in the House Rules Committee.

The two plan to work cooperatively during the next legislative session, Romero said.

“Most likely, one of us will run the bill. We agreed to support each other because we both want to get rid of the exception,” she said responding to questions by text.

Lyman said in a statement Friday that he was moved to take action in light of “recent news stories have shown example after example of failed systems that should be protecting underage, vulnerable children.”

The Associated Press published a story last week about how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints handled child sexual abuse cases in Arizona and West Virginia. The article focused on the church’s abuse help line, which provides professional legal and clinical advice on abuse cases to Latter-day Saint bishops and branch presidents, laymen who are not professionally trained clergy.

The church released a statement that took issue with the AP story, saying the news outlet “seriously mischaracterized” the purpose of the help line designed to assist local church leaders when members confess that they have perpetrated abuse.

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Lyman said the long-standing clergy exception raises concerns.

“I believe lawmakers, regardless of religious or political affiliation, must revisit this critical state statute to provide much needed clarity in the law. Families and individuals devastated by physical, emotional or sexual abuse should find safety and protection in the law, not loopholes,” Lyman said.

According to the Division of Child and Family Services’ child protective services website, “Utah law requires any person who has reason to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse, neglect, or dependency to immediately notify the nearest office of Child and Family Services, a peace officer, or a law enforcement agency. Abuse, neglect or dependency of a child can be physical, emotional or sexual.”

State statute says that the reporting requirement “does not apply to a member of the clergy, with regard to any confession made to the member of the clergy while functioning in the ministerial capacity of the member of the clergy and without the consent of the individual making the confession, if:

“While I understand and deeply value the confession process, providing an exception for clergy when it comes to reporting abuse creates unnecessary ambiguity for both the clergy member and for the person who is confessing. Worse yet, it can delay intervention for innocent victims. There are too many heartbreaking stories of abuse in Utah and across the nation of help that never came or came too late,” Lyman said.

The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City declined to comment until the legislation is made public.

In 2020, the Diocese called on Catholics to contact legislators and urge them to oppose HB90, which Jean Hill, the diocese’s Director of Life, Justice and Peace, wrote “forces individuals to choose between the most sacrosanct part of their religious beliefs and imprisonment — the very situation the First Amendment was meant to protect against. We must resist the intrusion of civil authorities into the sacred domain of personal conscience and religious practice.”

Romero said she intends to run a similar bill in 2023 but she and Lyman plan to meet soon to discuss their approach. “I might make some changes once I’ve consulted with experts and other states that have passed similar legislation,” she said.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposals.

Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman blamed diversity, equity and inclusion for the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore.

Officials say a cargo ship caused the collapse when it struck a bridge support in the Patapsco River.

Driving the news: Lyman (R-Blanding) drew criticism Tuesday when he shared a post on X from the "Young Conservative Federation," noting that Baltimore Port Commissioner Karenthia Barber has a background in "diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging."

Between the lines: He later told the Salt Lake Tribune his social media team created the post, but he neither retracted nor disputed it — or his other posts Tuesday that characterized DEI as deadly.

The big picture: The bridge collapse is just the latest in a string of problems right wing activists have blamed on "DEI" programs.

The other side: "Calling any and all failures of governments, institutions, engineering, or businesses the sole fault of 'DEI initiatives' ... has become coded for 'they put black people in charge instead of white people,'" posted Wall Street trader and podcaster Ben Cahn.

Worth your time: Axios' Zachary Basu and Sara Fischer break down how X became a hotbed of misinformation about the bridge collapse.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to included Lyman's comments to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Producer/Reporter

SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding is defending a post made Tuesday, that said Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies had something to do with the Baltimore bridge collapse.

He said his post was making a correlation between the two, not necessarily a “causation.”

Soon after the bridge collapsed, Lyman took to X to reshare a post from an account called the Young Conservative Federation.

The post claimed that commissioners for the port of Baltimore were merely hired based on diversity requirements.

His repost added the following statement: “This is what happens when you have Governors who prioritize diversity over the wellbeing and security of citizens.”

He further went on to post “DEI = DIE.”

— Phil Lyman for Governor (@phil_lyman) March 26, 2024

The post drew correlation, not causation

Lyman told KSL NewsRadio that he still stands for this idea, despite the controversy it has caused.

“There’s a lot of criticism, and X is the wild west out there,” Lyman said.

He said he takes responsibility for his account, “Phil Lyman for Governor.” But, he said he did have someone from his team put that on social media.

“I have a person on my staff who’s from Baltimore. That was kind of his take right off the bat,” he said.

Ultimately, Lyman said the post was making a correlation between DEI policies and the incident.

“You know, are we prioritizing the well-being and security of citizens, or are we prioritizing diversity?” he asked. “The correlation is simply that [Baltimore has] a robust DEI program that oversees the port, that oversees the bridge, and they had a catastrophe that was either intentional or unintentional.”

He said if anything, his post should let people know that his gubernatorial campaign doesn’t support DEI at all.

“We’re not proponents of DEI, we’re not proponents of hiring people based on DEI, or implementing DEI in Utah at our universities, at our schools,” Lyman said. “When those types of things influence policy, often the outcomes are not what we would have hoped. This was a bad outcome. DEI was a high priority for this county and this port, and that’s the only correlation.”

Related: Fathers, entrepreneurs among presumed dead after Baltimore bridge collapse

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A legislative committee did not advance a bill to overturn last year’s bill authorizing a new Utah flag.

A legislative committee was not in the mood to give opponents of Utah’s new state flag another lifeline in their continuing quixotic quest to overturn the adoption of the new banner on Thursday. As a last resort, they’re turning to federal court.

After more than an hour of debate and public comment, the House Economic Development and Workforce Services committee punted on HB436, sponsored by Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding. Lyman’s bill aimed to restore the traditional historical state flag as the only official flag, nixing the modern redesign adopted by the Legislature last year. Any future change to the flag would not be up to lawmakers but subject to a vote of the people.

“This is not about do you like the new flag, or do you like the old flag. This is about process. It’s about fairness,” Lyman, who is running for governor this year, said. “There are a group of people who feel like the old flag was taken away from them without a voice. And we feel like this is the people’s bill, and the people should be able to decide on flags going forward.”

While Lyman’s bill is not officially dead for this session, it is in legislative hospice. There’s a chance the committee could bring it back for another hearing, but that’s unlikely. Lyman could try a long-shot parliamentary gambit to bring his bill directly to the House floor, but that would require support from a majority of his colleagues. Given Thursday’s outcome, it isn’t easy to see where he might find enough votes to circumvent the committee decision.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Melissa Garff Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, makes a comment on HB 436, about Utah flag amendments, during a committee meeting talking , at the Capitol, on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.

Rep. Melissa Garff-Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, scolded anti-flag activists for using bullying tactics and intimidation against those who disagreed with them.

“Last year, there were some who were calling legislators ‘public enemy number one’ for supporting the new flag. I’m here to say we have a lot more severe public enemies than a symbol,” Ballard said. “I would love for you to channel your energy into how we can preserve our principles and the values that are important to us and work together against the real threats that we have.”

Jack Norton echoed Ballard’s complaint, detailing aggressive online bullying at the hands of those who want to get rid of the new state flag.

“I’ve been belittled. I’ve been mocked. I’ve been called a communist. I’ve been called ‘woke.’ I’ve even been accused of being a burner account for Sen. Dan McCay (the sponsor of last year’s flag change legislation),” Norton said.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jack Norton makes a comment during the public comment period speaking against HB 436, Utah flag amendments, at the Capitol, on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.

Opponents have struggled mightily to get the public to care about which flag happens to fly as Utah’s sigil. After a failed referendum to overturn the Legislature’s decision, they forged ahead with a ballot initiative similar to Lyman’s bill. That initiative effort appears to be on the precipice of failure as organizers are more than 50,000 signatures short of the minimum needed to qualify for November’s ballot with less than a week remaining before the Feb. 15 deadline.

In a tacit admission that failure is imminent, organizers sent a letter to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson asking that she unilaterally extend the timeline for gathering signatures by more than five months. They also requested that she ignore several laws regarding signature gathering and accept signature packets submitted after deadlines.

Henderson said their request was unreasonable in her response to the group, which was shared with The Salt Lake Tribune.

“State statute does not allow me the enforcement discretion you are seeking. I have no authority to waive or modify these laws and am obligated to apply them uniformly,” Henderson wrote.

Henderson did order her staff to audit the signature packets that had been rejected so far. That examination found some packets that had been rejected improperly, but also that the group had possibly engaged in subterfuge to get signatures accepted that were not eligible.

“These alterations appeared to be an effort to disguise the date of the initial signatures in the packets,” Henderson wrote.

Unwilling to concede defeat, the initiative organizers filed a lawsuit in federal court that claimed Utah’s laws governing signature gathering for ballot initiatives were too restrictive and violated the U.S. and Utah State Constitutions. They’re requesting an extension to the signature gathering deadline until July 8.

The suit argues regulations on paid signature gatherers for ballot initiatives are so restrictive that they must be overturned on constitutional grounds. Petition circulators for citizen initiatives can only be paid hourly rather than per signature. They must also be Utah residents and wear a nametag indicating they’re being compensated for collecting signatures. There are no such requirements for paid signature gathering for political candidates.

In the end people will judge you by what you do, not by what you say. I have a couple of mantras that have guided my life. One is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emmerson which says, “God will not have his work made manifest by cowards,” and the other is “Hard work is its own reward.” Too often people are too worried about getting credit. Like Ronal Reagan said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t worry about who gets credit.” Two years after moving back to Blanding, I was thrust into running my own CPA firm following the unexpected death of my father, who was also my employer in the CPA firm. As I contemplated the viability of the firm, I settled on the realization that there was an obvious need for accounting services in my immediate surrounding, and that I had an obvious skill to help. For 35 years that has guided my path both as a businessman and as a public servant. Soon, I met Nettie Prack and together we formed the Diabetes Control Project in Montezuma Creek. Working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, we secured a 638 contract. That experience led to the formation of Utah Navajo Health Systems, where I was instrumental early on. I also worked as the CFO for Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado, AZ. At the same time, I helped a client transition his small air ambulance business into a fledgling startup known as Eagle Air Med, then Guardian Flight, which is now an international air ambulance company. In 2005, I helped start the Blanding Rotary Club. I was the club’s charter president and the first Paul Harris Fellow. Political office was never something I aspired to, but my community engagement drew me to it. In 2008, I contacted Mark Maryboy and asked him if he would help me close out Utah Navajo Development Council by acting as an interim CEO. He proposed that, instead of closing UNDC, we repurpose it to become the managing entity of the Utah Navajo Trust Fund. That effort failed, but not before it launched the Utah Navajo Water Settlement discussions. Meeting with senators, congressmen, legislators, and commissioners revealed that there was an obvious need and that I might have the skills to help. I ran successfully for county commissioner and now, as a state legislator, I look for the obvious needs and try to find the obvious, or not so obvious, solutions. My engagement is always with my whole self and not in words only. My service has been a sacrifice for me and my family, but we have seen the fruits of that sacrifice. Power and water to Westwater community, creating the San Rafael Research Center while chairing the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, finalizing the Navajo Water Settlement, and many other battles fought and (sometimes) won, have been rewarding. I find great satisfaction and consider it one of my greatest blessings to serve the people of District 69. Thank you!