Protecting Your Rights Means Protecting Everyone’s

H.B. 38 Criminal Offenses Modifications

Sponsor: Rep. Ryan Wilcox
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Criminal Justice

Overview: 

• This bill enhances and expands criminal penalties for several offenses, which will only lead to greater criminalization and mass incarceration. It reduces the number of people required to be considered a "criminal street gang" from three or more to two or more people. It imposes enhanced penalties on offenses involving criminal street gangs or organized criminal groups. The bill also amends many theft and retail theft sentencing enhancements to include prior convictions committed in other jurisdictions.

H.B. 49: Juror Eligibility Amendments

Sponsor: Sen. Derrin Owens & Rep. Ballard
Position: Support
Issue Area: Criminal Justice

Overview: 

• This bill restores the rights of individuals who have been convicted of a felony in state or federal court to serve on a jury so long as their conviction was expunged or reduced to a misdemeanor or at least ten years have passed after the individual's conviction or incarceration (whichever is later).

H.B. 69: Ballot Information Accessibility Amendments (Support)

Sponsor: Rep. Stephanie Gricius
Position: Support
Issue Area: Voting

Overview: 

• This bill protects the secrecy of ballots and election security. Subject to certain exceptions, it makes it unlawful for election officials or county clerks to disclose information relating to whether an individual has voted in person or otherwise, the method by which someone has returned their ballot or the date on which a person voted or returned their ballot.

H.B. 77: Flag Display Amendments (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Trevor Lee
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: LGBTQ+

Overview: 

• This bill is a direct attack on young LGBTQ+ Utahns and their teachers. The bill would prohibit teachers and school administrators from displaying Pride flags in classrooms and schools. The only flags allowed on school grounds under the bill are the U.S. flag, Utah flag, POW/MIA flag, the flag of Native tribes, military flags, local municipality flags, flags of a Utah college or university, a school flag, or a flag that relates to the current classroom curriculum. This bill will undermine teachers' efforts to make LGTBQ+ students feel safe and welcome in schools. The bill creates a private right of action that would allow parents to file an action in state court alleging a violation of the law.

H.B. 101: Ballot Proposition Amendments (Support)

Sponsor: Rep. Angela Romero
Position: Support
Issue Area: Voting 

Overview: 

• This bill would require the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel to prepare an impartial ballot title and analysis for a proposed constitutional amendment and an impartial analysis of a statewide initiative or referendum.

H.B. 170: Initiatives and Referenda Amendments (Support)

Sponsor: Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost
Position: Support
Issue Area: Voting

Overview: 

• This bill estabishes new requirements and proedures regarding ballot initiatives. The bill would require the Office of Legislative Reserch and General Counsel to draft an impartial petition summary of any law proposed by statewide initiative or a law that a statewide referendum seeks to overturm. It would require that impartial petition summary be included with the signature packets for a ststewide initiative or referendum so that signers of the petition can review it prior to signing.

H.B. 183: Noncitizen Restricted Person Amendments (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Karianne Lisonbee
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Immigration

Overview: 

• This bill prohibits individuals who have applications pending for asylum or temporary protected status from possessing, purchasing, transferring, or owning dangerous weapons.

H.B. 205: Ballot Counting and Ballot Drop Box (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Norman Thurston
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Voting

Overview: 

• This bill would significantly alter the process of returning your ballot. It requires that ballots be received by the time polls close on election day, as opposed to current law which allows voters to postmark their ballots the day before election day. This bill strips control from voters — who have the ability control when they mail their ballots, but have no control over when their ballot is ultimately delivered by the USPS — and only serves to introduce uncertainty into the voting process.

H.B. 213: Voting Revisions (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Rex Shipp
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Voting

Overview: 

• This bill would gut vote by mail, which is hugely popular in the state of Utah with over 90% of Utahns utilizing vote by mail in recent elections. The bill would require a voter to proactively request a ballot to vote by mail starting in 2026. The voter would have to make a request to a poll worker or on their voter registration form or by submitting a separate form. Mail ballots will not be sent to anyone who does not request one. Furthermore, mail ballots will not be sent to voters who have previously requested a mail ballot if that voter fails to vote in even one general election and fails to make a new request for a mail ballot.

H.B. 214: Employer Verification Amendments (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Neil Walter
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Immigration

Overview: 

• This bill would require all private businesses that employ five or moe employees to verify the legal working status of its employees using e-verify. Current law only requires this of private businesses that employ 150 or more. Additionally, the bill provides criminal penalties for individuals who use fraudulent identification to obtain employment. 

HB224: Inmate Reentry, Finances, and Debt Modifications (Support)

Sponsor: Rep. Melissa Ballard, Sen. Michael McKell
Position: Support
Issue Area: Prison & Jails

Overview: 

This bill requires county jails and state agencies to manage inmates’ debt information, suspend interest on debts during and after incarceration, expand reentry services, and educate inmates on debt management with implementation delays. It would also allow child support orders to be suspended during incarceration and resume 90 days post-release.

H.B. 226: Criminal Amendments (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Candice Pierucci
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Immigration

Overview: 

• Only in 2019 did Utah pass a law clarifying that misdemeanor convictions in Utah cannot be interpreted as aggravated felonies for immigration purposes and helping non-citizens avoid automatic deportation for minor crimes like shoplifting. This bill would undo that and increase the penalty for Class A misdemeanors from 364 days to 365 days, triggering automatic deportation under federal law.
• This bill would also allow the state attorney general to dissolve a nonprofit organization convicted under federal or state law of aiding the entry of noncitizens into the country. Additionally, the bill allows the state attorney general to revoke the authority of foreign nonprofits to operate in Utah if they have been convicted under these human smuggling statutes.
• The bill also requires that courts automatically consider foreign nationals a flight risk when considering whether to grant them pre-trial release.
• The bill requires that county sheriffs and the Utah Department of Corrections notify ICE before releasing noncitizens from county jails and state prisons who are charged with violent felonies and coordinate with federal authorities to transfer custody of that individual into federal custody. The bill also adds an individual’s immigration status to the pre-trial information that must be submitted to the court after an arrest.

TAKE ACTION

H.B. 233: School Curriculum Amendments (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Nicholeen Peck
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Reproductive Rights

Overview: 

• This bill would prohibit school districts and local education agencies from allowing entities that perform elective abortions, including Planned Parenthood, to provide health-related instruction or materials in public schools. 

H.B. 250: Public Employee Gender-specific Language Requirements (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Nicholeen Peck
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: 

Overview: 

• This bill would prohibit the State Board of Education's local education agency or school district from disciplining employees who fail to use students' preferred names, pronouns, or other gender-specific language. Furthermore, the bill would impose similar restrictions on public employers. It would require public employers to exempt individuals from any policy requiring the use of preferred gender-specific language if the individual's religious belief conflicted with the policy.

H.B. 252: Transgender State Custody Amendments (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Karianne Lisonbee
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: LGBTQ+

Overview: 

• This bill would prohibit the Department of Corrections from initiating gender-affirming care for incarcerated Utahns. The bill would also deny appropriate housing for trans youth who are incarcerated in juvenile detention facilities.

H.B. 269: Privacy Protections in Sex-designated Areas (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Stephanie Gricius, Sen. Brady Brammer
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: LGBTQ+

Overview: 

• This bill further restricts the rights of trans people in Utah. Under the bill, trans students who live in sex-segregated dormitory housing in public colleges and universities must be assigned housing that aligns with their biological sex at birth. Colleges and universities already have processes through which housing assignments can be changed at a student's request. This bill is a redundant piece of legislation that only further marginalizes trans-Utahns.

Take Action Here

H.B. 300: Amendments to Election Law (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep. Jefferson Burton
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Voting

Overview: 

• This bill would essentially end the enormously popular vote by mail in Utah. With few exceptions, the bill would require voters to return their ballots in person to a polling location or dropbox staffed by two poll workers.

  Utah is a leader in vote-by-mail nationally—over 90% of Utah voters cast their ballots by mail. This bill would impose a huge administrative burden on election clerks and the state while subjecting Utah voters to long lines and other hurdles to voting. This bill will make it harder for people to vote in Utah.

S.B. 73: Statewide Initiatives Amendments (Oppose)

Sponsor: Rep.Jason Kyle, Sen. Lincoln Fillmore
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Voting

Overview: 

• This bill will make it significantly harder for citizens to run ballot initiatives. The bill would require the full text of citizen ballot initiatives to be published in every issue of every newspaper in every county for 60 days before an election. Furthermore, it would require the citizens who sponsor a ballot initiative to identify the funding sources that will be used to pay for the initiative and detail how other programs in the budget will be impacted if it passes. The legislature had legislative staff to handle these requirements, but no such resources are available to regular citizens who want to run ballot initiatives.

S.B. 90: Unlawful Presence Criminal Enhancement Amendments( Oppose)

Sponsor: Sen. Calvin Musselman
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Immigration

Overview: 

• This bill would enhance criminal penalties for individuals who have been convicted of unlawful re-entry in the past.

S.B. 105: Student Privacy and Modesty in Public Education (Support)

Sponsor: Sen. Jen Plumb
Position: Support
Issue Area: LGBTQ+

Overview: 

• This bill would prohibit any requirement that a student undress or change clothing in the presence of another individual regardless of whether the student is in a bathroom or changing room. It would require schools to provide single-occupant facilities or floor-to-ceiling doors or curtains for privacy in changing facilities to ensure student privacy.

SB183: Inmate Amendments (Support)

Sponsor: Sen. Stephanie Pitcher
Position: Support
Issue Area: Prison & Jails

Overview: 

• This bill would allow the Department of Corrections to provide a Financial Literacy class that covers strategies for saving and managing money earned through employment, including employment while incarcerated.

S.J.R. 2:Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution - Statewide Initiatives (Oppose)

Sponsor: Sen. Lincoln Filmore
Position: Oppose
Issue Area: Voting

Overview: 

• This joint resolution proposes amending the state constitution to require ballot initiatives that would impose a new or increase an existing tax to pass by a 60% threshold instead of the existing 50% threshold.