Good Government
Better Utah Position Key Support = 
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H.B. 214 - Election Modifications Requires mail-in ballots to be received by the election officer before the polls close on election day for the ballot to be counted, changing it from the current requirement that mail-in ballots be postmarked before election day. Held in House Committee
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H.B. 28 - Emergency Responder Voting Amendments Allows registered voters assisting with emergencies on election day to cast an electronic ballot if the area affected by the emergency is located outside the voter’s county of residence. Failed in House
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H.B. 284 - Initiative Amendments Contingent on the passage of H.J.R. 14, requires statewide initiatives that impose new taxes or increase tax rates to receive greater than 60% approval to pass; and requires statewide initiatives to include descriptions of how the proposed law will be funded, a description of new taxes or increased tax rates,a description of the amount and source of new revenues, and a description of existing line items or programs that will receive less funding in order to fund the proposed law and amount by which that funding will be reduced. Passed in House; Passed in Senate Committee but died on Senate floor
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H.B. 290 - Ranked Choice Voting Amendments Modifies the repeal date of the Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project, which allows municipalities to use ranked choice voting in lieu of primary elections, from January 1, 2026 to May 1, 2024. Passed in House; Failed in Senate
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H.B. 36 - Open and Public Meetings Act Amendments Clarifies and tightens definitions of “meetings” in Utah’s Open and Public Meetings law; prohibits members of a public body that constitute a quorum from acting together outside a meeting in a concerted and deliberate manner to predetermine an action to be taken by the public body at a meeting on a relevant manner. Passed in House and Senate
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H.B. 380 - Attorney General Amendments Clarifies that the Utah Attorney General is a full-time employee of the state and prohibits them from engaging in the private practice of the law. Passed in House and Senate
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H.B. 79 - Initiatives and Referenda Amendments Modifies ballot initiative and referendum signature requirements to comply with the Americans for Disabilities Act. Passed in House and Senate
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H.B. 80 - Candidate and Officeholder Disclosure Modifications Requires elected officers of all state political subdivisions and land use authorities to file annual conflict of interest disclosure statements; requires disclosure statements to be posted online and requires the Lt. Governor to create a directory of all conflict of interest disclosures on their website, along with campaign finance statements from candidates for municipal and county offices; standardizes the level at which conflicts of interests must be disclosed at $5,000. Passed in House and Senate
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H.J.R 14 - Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution - Statewide Initiatives Proposes an amendment to the Utah Constitution to require that statewide ballot initiatives that propose new taxes or tax increases receive at least 60% approval to pass. Passed in House; Passed in Senate Committee but died on Senate floor
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Allows each side in a civil action pending in a court in a county with seven or more district court judges to file a motion to change a judge as a matter of right, as long as the party can attest in good faith that the notice is not being filed to delay any action or proceeding and is not being made on the grounds of race, gender, or religious affiliation. Passed in House and Senate Joint Resolutions do not require the signature of the governor
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S.B. 131 - Information Technology Act Amendments Requires audio or visual communications to include disclosures if they were substantially produced with artificial intelligence and are intended to influence voting. Passed in Senate and House
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S.B. 211 - Generational Water Infrastructure Amendments Creates a new “Water District Water Development Council” composed of the state’s four largest water districts and the Utah Division of Water Resources to plan for “generational water infrastructure” and advance the responsible development of water to address “generational need for adequate and reliable water supplies,” but exempts the Council from the “Open and Public Meetings Act” and the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Passed in Senate and House
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S.B. 240 - Government Records Access and Management Act Amendments Exempts the daily calendars of elected officials from disclosure under the Government Records Access and Management Act. Passed in Senate and House Signed by Governor Cox on 2/28/24
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S.B. 273 - Amendments Related to District Attorney in County of the First Class Requires the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office to track time spent by prosecutors on each criminal case, the average amount of taxpayer dollars spent per case, and the cumulative total hours worked and the number of cases in certain categories; and allows the Revitalization Zone Committee established under S.B. 272 to recommend to the Utah Supreme Court that it appoint a replacement prosecutor to prosecute crimes within the project area in place of the district attorney if the committee determines, by majority vote in a public meeting, that the district attorney has failed or refused to adequately prosecute crimes within the project area. Passed in Senate and House
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S.B. 57 - Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act Allows the Legislature, by concurrent resolution, to prohibit the enforcement of a federal directive within the state by government officers if the Legislature determines the federal statute, executive order, rule, or regulation violates the principles of state sovereignty. Passed in Senate and House Signed by Governor Cox 1/31/24
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S.B. 69 - Income Tax Amendments Reduces the corporate and individual income tax rate from 4.65% to 4.55%, a reduction in income tax funds of about $201.4 million in FY 2025 and $167.7 million in ongoing funding. Passed in Senate and House
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H.B. 162 - Voter Accessibility Amendments Requires election officials to provide an accessible voting option for voters with disabilities. Passed in House and Senate
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H.B. 171 - Alternative Voting Methods Modifications Repeals the Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project, including the ability for cities to use ranked choice voting in municipal elections. Failed in House Committee
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H.B. 269 - Election Audit Requirements Requires the Legisaltive Auditor’s Office to conduct a biennial audit of primary and general elections in the Lt. Governor’s Office and county clerks’ offices. Passed in House and Senate
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H.B. 37 - Voter Signature Verification Amendments Establishes critieria and rulemaking authority for voter signature verification, specifically creating greater accessibility for those who are unable to sign their name consistently due to a disability, and establishes requirements for contacting voters, keeping records, and reporting when a ballot is rejected. Passed in House and Senate
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H.B. 393 - Primary Ballot Requirements Allows a political party to use a candidate nominating system where a candidate that receives at least 70% of the vote at convention becomes the party’s nominee, automatically disqualifying any candidate that gathered signatures. Passed in House; Failed in Senate sine die
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H.B. 412 - State Employment Revisions Discontinues career service employment for new or promoted state employees in favor of at-will employment, and gives current career service employees the option to switch to at-will employment with a financial incentive. Failed in House
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H.B. 422 - Initiative Amendments Requires statewide initiatives that raise taxes to be approved by 60% of voters to go into effect. Passed in House; Failed in Senate committee
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Adopts the recommendations of the 2022 legislative audit into elections, including giving the Lieutenant Governor’s Office more authority over elections and compliance by clerks, independence of audits, tracking and conciling ballots, and other issues. Passed in House and Senate
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While this bill does some good, such as expanding the earned income tax credit and expanding the eligibility for the social security tax credit, it conditions removing the sales tax on food upon a constitutional amendment that imperils and lowers the income tax rate from 4.85% to 4.65%, a reduction in revenue that would otherwise go toward education. Passed in House and Senate
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H.J.R. 2 - Joint Resolution Amending Rules of Civil Procedure on Injunctions Amends the requirements for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions to remove basis for cases that present serious issues on the merits which should be the subject of further litigation, and makes it retroactive to cover all current restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. Passed in House and Senate Notes: A joint resolution to amend rules of procedure does not require the signature of the Governor to go into effect.
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S.B. 129 - Judiciary Amendments Adjusts the makeup of judicial nominating commissions, weakening guardrails in our “gold standard” of a process that helps prevent partisanship in selecting judges. Passed in Senate and House
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S.C.R. 1 - Concurrent Resolution Supporting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Recognizes the perceived postiive economic benefits to individual and corporate income taxpayers under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and encourages Congress to permanently extend the Act. Passed in Senate and House
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H.B. 218 - Ballot Measure Amendments Allows for the electronic collection of signatures for statewide referendums, candidate petitions, local initiatives, and local referendums.
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H.B. 258 - Political Action Committee Amendments Makes it a class B misdemeanor to fail to file a statement of organization of a Political Action Committee (PAC) within seven days after receiving notice from the Elections Office of the requirement to file such a statement.
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H.B. 313 - Election Security Amendments Among other things, requires video surveillance of unattended ballot drop boxes, prohibits election officers from accepting or using grants for elections, and requires voters to submit copies of valid voter identification with mail-in ballots when they registered online or otherwise didn’t provide such identification when registering to vote.
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Removes voting by mail as the state’s primary voting method; returns to in-person voting; individuals may request absentee ballots for only limited reasons; requires independent audits after every election; makes it unlawful to engage in “voter registration harvesting.”
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H.B. 399 - Government Record Amendments Protects so-called “Garrity Statements,” the transcripts of interviews with government employees during investigations into wrongdoing, including police officer misconduct, from being disclosed in response to government records requests.
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H.B. 422 - School District Voter Eligibility Amendments Gives local school boards the option of allowing 16 to 17 year olds to vote in local school board elections.
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H.B. 91 - Financial Disclosures Amendments Adds an exemption to the definition of campaign “in-kind contributions” for survey results, voters lists, voter contact information, voting trend data, or other information that is not commissioned for the benefit of a candidate and is offered at not cost to candidates.
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H.B. 96 - Government Records Fee Amendments Except for the media, allows government entities to charge for the first fifteen minutes of fulfilling government records requests for individuals that have submitted a separate request within the preceding ten days.
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H.R. 2 - House Rules Resolution - Amendments to House Rules Among other changes to House Rules, restricts the ability of the press to access certain non-public areas they were able to access previously, including the hallways around the House Chamber and areas behind the dais in committee rooms. Notes: As a resolution to change House Rules, no Senate vote was required.
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Cuts the corporate and individuals income tax rate from 4.95% to 4.85%, expand eligibility for the social security benefits tax credit by increasing the threshold for the income-based phaseout, and enacts a state earned income tax credit (though this EITC is nonrefundable, so it doesn’t impact most low-income individuals).
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S.R. 1 - Senate Rules Resolution - Senate Access Procedures Restricts the ability of the press to access certain non-public areas they were able to access previously, including the floor and the hallways leading to the Senate Chamber and areas behind the dais in committee rooms. Notes: As a resolution to change Senate Rules, no House vote was required.
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H.B. 136 - Initiative and Referenda Modifications Adds burdensome regulations to signature gathering for a ballot initiative or referendum petition
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H.B. 197 - Voter Affiliation Amendments Blocks voters from changing their party affiliation before a primary election in an election year.
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H.B. 2004 - Congressional Boundaries Designation New Congressional map
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H.B. 2005 - Utah State House Boundaries Designation New State House map
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H.B. 246 - Ballot Measure Transparency Amendments Requires the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel to write a description of ballot initiatives, referenda, and constitutional amendments that is included on the ballot via URL.
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H.B. 249 - Public Access to Court Records Enables the Judicial Council to allow public access to the Xchange database for a fee without having to pay a monthly subscription.
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H.B. 294 - Pandemic Emergency Powers Amendments Ends emergency powers and public health orders related to COVID-19 upon reaching certain arbitrary targets.
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H.B. 338 - School District Voter Eligibility Amendments Allows local school boards to vote to allow students who are 16 and 17 years old to vote in local school board elections.
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H.B. 415 - Executive Order Review Process Amendments Requires the Constitutional Defense Council to review Presidential executive orders, and prohibits local governments from implementing these EOs if deemed unconstitutional.
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H.B. 43 - Emergency Procurement Declaration Modifications Improves transparency for emergency procurements made by the state by providing information within 14 days on the state website
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H.B. 96 - Emergency Management Amendments Requires political subdivisions to designate an emergency manager and create an emergency operations plan.
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S.B. 187 - Local Education Agency Policies Amendments Allows a school district to ignore mask requirements in a public health order on school grounds.
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S.B. 195 - Emergency Response Amendments Gives Legislature or county commission a veto over emergency actions from the Governor or a county in response to an emergency.
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S.B. 2005 - State Board of Education Boundaries and Election Designation New School Board map
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S.B. 2006 - Utah State Senate Boundaries and Election Designation New State Senate map
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S.B. 205 - Election Process Amendments Allows a political party to opt-out of allowing signature-gathering as a path to the ballot.
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S.B. 92 - Elections Amendments Requires more detail of candidate financial disclosures, and requires the LGs office to conduct a study relating to ballot accessibility.
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H.B. 132 - Higher Education Student Speech Rights Prohibits a college or university from punishing certain acts of speech that do not meet the standard of “discriminatory harassment,” and allows the Attorney General to sue over violations.
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H.B. 17 - Congressional Vacancies Amendments Creates a process for filling congressional vacancies and grants the Legislature authority to nominate temporary replacements for a U.S. Senate vacancy.
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H.B. 394 - Homeless and Transitional Housing Program Amendments Creates the position of a state homeless services director with sole control over decision making and funding for homelessness services.
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H.B. 70 - Repeal of Single-mark Straight Ticket Voting Removes a ballot option to vote for all candidates from one political party without voting for the candidates individually.
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HC.R. 16 - Concurrent Resolution Calling for the Creation of a National Federalism Task Force Calls for the creation of a National Federalism Task Force for the purpose of convening a series of federalism summits.
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S.B. 173 - Disorderly Conduct Amendments Adjusts criminal provisions relating to disorderly conduct.
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S.B. 200 - Redistricting Amendments Removes transparency and accountability requirements for the Legislature instituted by voters via Prop 4.
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S.B. 220 - Confession Of Judgement Amendments Allows parties to enter into a confession of judgment before a default, with exceptions.
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S.J.R. 5 - Joint Resolution to Amend the Rules of Civil Procedure on Disqualification of a Judge Allows a lawyer to disqualify one judge per case without cause.
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H.B. 133 - Initiative Amendments Alters the implementation date for voter-passed propositions: 60 days after the next legislative session as a muminum, and over a year for propositions involving a tax increase (Jan. 1 of the year following the next session).
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H.B. 145 - Citizen Political Process Amendments Requires county clerks to post names of signatories on the county website, and to count signatures and signature removals on a rolling basis every 14 days. Requires signature gatherers to turn in packets 30 days after beginning, and introduces criminal penalties for fraudulent information.
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H.B. 277 - Amendments to Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Extends deadline for muncipalities to opt in to the pilot program from January 1st to April 15th of this year and allows the municipalities to contract with any political subdivision to run the election.
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H.B. 38 - Administrative Appeal Rights Allows an individual to appeal the Director of Antidiscrimination and Labor’s decision to dismiss a discirmination complaint.
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H.B. 57 - Electronic Information or Data Privacy Requires a search warrant for government to access electronic data shared with third parties such as cell service providers.
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H.B. 64 - Lobbyist Expenditures Amendments Extends lobbying disclosures to lobbyists influencing local elected officials or members of a board of education.
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S.B. 123 - Election Process Amendments Allows political parties to nominate replacements to compete in a special election, excluding signiture-gathering candidates from the process. Allows the Utah Legislature to choose the replacement for a U.S. Senate vacancy.
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S.B. 147 - Lobbyist Licensing Modifications Applies harassment training and prohibitions to lobbyists.
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S.B. 236 - State Board of Education Candidacy Amendments Changes the current non-partisan candidacy requirements for the State Board of Education, allowing candidates to run as a member of a political party, as unaffiliated, or as a write-in candidate.
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S.B. 56 - Community Reinvestment Agency Report Establishes a public database for community reinvestment agencies to annually report financial information.
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S.B. 61 - Poll Hours for Early Voting Removes the poll hour closing requirement on the last day of early voting.
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S.B. 89 - Conflict Disclosure Amendments Requires the Lt. Gov to establish a website for electronic disclosure of potential conflicts of interest of state elected officials.
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S.B. 96 - Medicaid Expansion Adjustments Repeals Medicaid expansion passed by voters in Prop 3 and replaces it with a partial expansion plan requiring federal waivers, work requirements, and per capita caps on enrollment.
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S.J.R. 9 - JR Calling for a Convention to Amend the United States Constitution Calls for a Constitutional Convention to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limiting the terms of office for federal officials and members of Congress.
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