A bill that could direct more than $50 million toward developing a deep-water export terminal on the West Coast passed the House on Wednesday.
Supporters of the legislation couched it as a way to bolster state industries by making coal, soda ash, alfalfa, grain and other rural products available to a global market.
"This is important to rural Utah," Rep. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, told fellow lawmakers ahead of the 51-19 vote.
Opponents of the measure questioned the merits of sending millions of dollars out-of-state rather than spending it on projects inside Utah.
The bill, SB248, would require the state’s Community Impact Board to look at supporting a “bulk commodities ocean terminal project” with money from mining, oil and gas royalties.