Rep. Joseph Elison

| House District 72

2024 Overall Score
F -2 out of 45
View Grades for:

2024 Score Overview

Overall
F -2 out of 45
Good Government
F -3 out of 13
Equal Rights
F -3 out of 5
Sustainable Future
C 5 out of 12
Strong Communities
F -1 out of 15

2024 Voting Record

Better Utah Position Key: Support = Oppose =
Voting Key:
In favor = Yes, Against = No, Not present = Absent, No vote taken = N/A

Vote Better Utah Position Bill
Yes

H.J.R. 8 - Joint Resolution Amending Rules of Civil Procedure on Change of Judge as a Matter of Right

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

Topic(s): Access to Justice
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/21/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 11 - Water Efficient Landscaping Requirements

Prohibits local government entities, school districts, and highway authorities within the Great Salt Lake basin from using overhead spray irrigation, except for in “active recreation areas,” such as sports fields, parks, amphitheaters, or other social gathering areas.

Passed in House and Senate

Signed by Governor Cox on 3/12/24

Vote Date: 2/21/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

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

Vote Date: 2/8/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.J.R. 26 - Joint Resolution Rejecting Exchange of School and Institutional Trust Lands

Rejects the proposed exchange of state school and institutional trust lands and mineral interests in and around the Bears Ears National Monument for federal lands located elsewhere in the state because “the federal government has signaled that it will adopt an exceptionally restrictive and unreasonable land management plan that would negatively impact the communities surrounding the Monument”.

Passed in House and Senate

Joint Resolutions do not require the signature of the governor

Topic(s): Public Lands
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 2/16/2024

Bill Status: Passed

No

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

Topic(s): Voting Rights
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 1/25/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 29 - Sensitive Materials Review Amendments

Streamlines and standardizes the review process that school districts and charter schools must undertake to investigate and possibly ban school materials if they are found to contain “criminally indecent or pornographic” material; allows for the statewide ban of books determined to contain “objective sensitive material” by three school districts or at least two school districts and five charter schools, but allows the State Board of Education to vote to override the ban within 60 days in a public hearing.

Passed in House and Senate

Signed by Governor Cox 3/12/24

Topic(s): Education
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/21/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

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

Topic(s): Transparency
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/23/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Vote Date: 3/1/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Transparency
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

No

H.B. 97 - Gun Safety Amendments

Creates a five-day waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm.

Failed in House Committee

Vote Date: 2/9/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

No

H.B. 98 - Firearm Access Amendments

Requires firearm owners to securely store firearms or render them inoperable with a locking device; imposes civil fines if the firearm is accessed by a restricted person, minor, or at-risk individual, or if they use the firearm in the commission of a crime or cause injury to someone else with the firearm.

Failed in House Committee

Vote Date: 2/9/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 101 - Law Enforcement Reporting Requirements

Requires law enforcement agencies provide annual reports to the State Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice on the number of firearms that were lawfully seized from restricted persons, the types of those firearms, information on where those firearms were obtained by the restricted person, and the reasons those individuals were restricted persons.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 107 - Recycling Facility Transparency Amendments

Requires political subdivisions to publish in a newsletter or on its website information from recycling facilities and haulers about the amount of recyclable material that was sent to recycling facilities or landfills.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Sustainability
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 1/31/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 111 - Employment Training Requirement Limitations

Forbids trainings and attestations professing certain beliefs as a condition of employment, advancement, promotion, or demotion, including requiring signing documents affirming beliefs around identity traits such as race, color, sex, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disabilities.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate Committee

Vote Date: 2/1/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 119 - School Employee Firearm Possession Amendments

Creates the “Educator-Protector Program” to incentivize school teachers to responsibly secure or carry firearms on school grounds by waiving liability for civil damages or penalties for harm caused by use of the firearm if they attend an annual free “classroom response training” on how to defend classrooms against active threats.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/28/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

H.B. 127 - Victim Targeting Reporting

Requires the attorney general’s office to establish a hate crimes hotline for the reporting of “victim targeting offenses” that could then be referred to law enforcement agencies where the offenses occurred.

Passed in House Committee: Did not receive vote on House floor

Topic(s): Public Safety
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 2/23/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 134 - Marriage Modifications

Repeals Utah’s court-blocked ban on interracial marriage and prohibits the government from refusing to recognize a marriage, issue a marriage license, or solemnize a marriage on the basis of the race, ethnicity, or national origin of a part to the marriage.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Racial Justice
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 3/1/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 1/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 257 - Sex-Based Designations for Privacy, Anti-Bullying, and Women's Opportunities

Prohibits students from accessing sex-specific restrooms, locker rooms, shower rooms, and changing rooms in public schools that do not correspond with a person’s biological sex as defined in the bill, instead requiring students and their parent or guardian to work with the school to develop a privacy plan that allows reasonable access to unisex, single-occupant, or faculty restrooms; for publicly owned or controlled facilities accessible to the general public, the bill makes it a crime to enter a sex-designated changing room (not restrooms) that does not correspond with that person’s “biological sex” and increases criminal penalties for other crimes committed in that situation; outside of regulating access to “privacy spaces,” the bill requires “equivalent quality or rotational sharing” of sex-designated athletic facilities or venues within the public education system, and that government entities shall ensure the construction of single-occupant facilities in new construction and consider retrofitting or remodeling existing spaces to include privacy protections.

Passed in House and Senate

Signed by Governor Cox 1/30/24

Topic(s): LGBTQ+ Rights
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 1/26/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 261 - Equal Opportunity Initiatives

Broadly prohibits “diversity, equity, and inclusion” statements, submissions, practices, programs, and initiatives based on “prohibited discriminatory practices” in state and local government entities, including public higher education institutions, instead requiring the establishment of “student success and support” centers or positions that provide support, guidance, and resources to all students, including those at higher risk of not completing a certificate or degree; for higher education institutions, also requires the online publishing of the syllabi of all mandatory courses, seminars, classes, workshops, and training sessions, annual employee training on the separations of personal political advocacy from an institution’s business and employment activities, the development of strategies to promote viewpoint diversity on campuses, the establishment of policies and procedures to include opportunities for education and research on free speech and civic education, and an annual “campus expression climate survey” to measure student and faculty “perception of and experience with an institution’s campus environment”.

Passed in House and Senate

Signed by Governor Cox 1/30/24

Vote Date: 1/26/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 269 - Public School History Curricula Amendments

Includes the Ten Commandments and Magna Carta in a list of historical documents and principles that teachers may use in school curricula and activities to teach American history and government.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Education
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Vote Date: 2/8/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

H.B. 285 - Public Sector Labor Organizations Amendments

Prohibits public employers from providing payroll deduction of labor organization dues for employees unless an employee affirmatively opts-in every year; requires “recertification” every years for a labor organization to represent employees with the employer; requires a labor organization to report to the employer or state auditor the number of members in the organization and particular bargaining unit; and imposes unclear limits on labor organizations to access and use public property.

Passed in House Committee

Topic(s): Labor
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 1/26/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 298 - Homelessness Services Amendments

Revamps the Utah Homelessness Council, replacing the 29-member council with a 9-member Utah Homeless Services Board, and tasking it with updating the state’s plan for reducing homelessness, recommending best practices for administering services, and developing metrics measuring the effectiveness of services and goals to reduce homelessness; requires more detailed data gathering on homelessness and progress toward eliminating homelessness in certain categories; and removes limitations on unsanctioned champing enforcement during a Code Blue Alert, even if no shelter beds are available.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Homelessness
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/28/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 303 - School Curriculum Requirements

Prohibits teachers and school staff from using their position through instruction, materials, or the display of symbols, images, or language to promote, endorse, or disparage political viewpoints or viewpoints regarding sexual orientation or gender identity; allows the wearing of religious clothing and display of personal photographs or certain national or state flags.

Failed in House

Topic(s): Education
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/26/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 305 - Firearm Data Amendments

Requires law enforcement agencies to provide annual reports to the State Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice on the number of crimes reported to or investigated by the law enforcement agency in which a lost or stolen firearm was used in the commission of the crime, as well as the disposition of firearms in the law enforcement agency’s custody.

Failed in House Committee

Vote Date: 2/21/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 326 - Firearm Safety Incentives

Creates a one-time nonrefundable income tax credit for the purchase of a firearm safety or storage device.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate Committee

Vote Date: 2/15/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 355 - Residential Rental Modifications

Requires landlords to provide at least 60-days notice of rent increases to tenants.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate Committee

Topic(s): Tenants Rights
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/14/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Ethics
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/16/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 421 - Homelessness and Vulnerable Populations Amendments

Prioritizes access for overnight shelter beds, including unsheltered Utahns who have been discharged from the Utah State Hospital and, for family shelters, Utahns who qualify for the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program; requires homeless shelters to comply with these prioritization standards to receive funds from the Office of Homeless Services; prohibits municipalities from receiving mitigation funds unless they enforce prohibitions on camping and panhandling, and demonstrate improvement in reducing such conduct; increases the temperature for a Code Blue Alert from 15 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit; and establishes the HOME court pilot program to provide for comprehensive and individualized, court-supervised treatment and services to individuals with mental illness.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Homelessness
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/29/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 429 - State Employment Revisions

Except for POST-certified positions and independent state entities that choose not to participate, ends state civil service protections for new state employees beginning January 1, 2025.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate Committee

Topic(s): Labor
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/20/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 430 - Local Government Transportation Services Amendments

Seeking to improve public transit services in underserved high-growth areas, requires the Department of Transportation and Transportation Commission to use a certain amount of public transit funds to award “public transit innovation grants” to pilot bus routes, services, shuttle connections, and other pilot programs to demonstrate need for public transit services; also requires Utah Transit Authority to provide a report every two years to each city and town with an accounting of how transit revenues are raised and utilized to provide service to residents of their city.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Public Transit
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/1/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 448 - State Water Program Reporting Requirements

Requires the Division of Water Resources to collaborate with state agencies to quantify and monitor state legislative water optimization efforts including water banking, and annually report its findings, including recommendations for changes to state legislative water-optimization efforts that did not lead to intended water conservation.

Passed in House; Not considered in Senate Committee

Vote Date: 2/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 453 - Great Salt Lake Revisions

Imposes a fluctuating severance tax on companies that operate mineral extraction industries from brines in the Great Salt Lake, and requires the State Engineer to impose a “distribution management plan” that provides for the apportionment and distribution of Great Salt Lake water rights while also considering the strategic plan adopted by the Great Salt Lake Commissioner.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/29/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 465 - Housing Affordability Revisions

Allows city redevelopment agencies to use funding to help construct income targeted homes (those at 120% of area median income) to increase the supply of owner-occupied homes; encourages the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority to increase supply of affordable housing through the use of its land use authority.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/29/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 471 - Public Lands Possession Amendments

Asserts ownership and exclusive jurisdiction to Utah for any Class B (typically graded dirt roads) or Class D (trails used by ATVs and UTVs) included on a county travel plan, including roads on federal public lands; considers these public roads open for public use unless the road has been closed through adjudication and due process by the appropriate state or federal government agency; allows state to disregard road closure if simply done through mandates in agency travel management plans with public input process.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Public Lands
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 2/27/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 472 - Water Revisions

Directs the Divisions of Water Resources and Water Rights to study the creation of a centralized database and center for all Utah water data, specifying collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Food, Department of Environmental Quality, and the Division of Technological Services in completing the study, the creation of which would help monitor water use and availability across the state.

Passed in House; Not considered in Senate Committee

Vote Date: 2/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

H.B. 477 - School Employee Conduct Amendments

Hijacked an unrelated bill to prohibit the display of certain flags, including Pride flags, on or in a public school by a school official or employee, and establish standing for parents of school students to file a civil action to enforce the law.

Failed in Senate

Topic(s): Education
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date:

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 514 - School Chaplain Amendments

Allows local school districts and charter schools to develop policies, guidelines, and requirements to permit volunteer chaplains to provide opt-in chaplain services within their schools.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate

Topic(s): Education
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/23/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 1/30/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

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

Topic(s): Budget & Taxes
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/28/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/22/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.B. 161 - Energy Security Amendments

Provides the State of Utah a two-year option to purchase for fair market value the coal-fired Intermountain Power Project near Delta, Utah once it is decommissioned and creates the Decommissioned Asset Disposition Authority within the Office of Energy Development to provide recommendations to the Governor and Legislature regarding such a purchase, govern the power plant, if purchased, submit a new air quality permit for the continued operation of the power plant, and eventually resell the decommissioned asset to a new operator.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Clean Energy
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 2/28/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

No

S.B. 176 - Child Care Services Amendments

Establishes the Child Care Capacity Expansion program to allow obsolete state buildings to be retrofitted and utilized for child care programs, with private sector employees helping to fund access to the child care program for their own employees and contracting with certified quality childcare providers to run the programs.

Passed in Senate; Failed in House

Topic(s): Childcare
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/28/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

S.B. 196 - Great Salt Lake Amendments

Directs the Great Salt Lake Commissioner to develop a plan for “wet water years” to provide guidance for a coordinated effort to optimize the amount of water that makes it into the Great Salt Lake during or following a wet water year.

Failed to pass in Senate

Vote Date:

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.B. 208 - Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone Amendments

Increases the housing affordability requirement of a housing and transit reinvestment zone from 10% affordable to 12% affordable, and requires that up to 9% must be affordable at less than or equal to 80% AMI, and at least 3% must be affordable at less than or equal to 60% AMI; requires housing and transit reinvestment zone proposal to include a housing affordability plan, which may include deed restricted units, to ensure maintained affordability throughout the entire zone term; promotes and encourages owner-occupied housing to the objectives of a housing and transit reinvestment zone.

Passed in Senate and House

Vote Date: 2/29/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Transparency
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/28/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.B. 224 - Energy Independence Amendments

In addition to establishing a “Utah Fire Fund” to allow utilities to recover costs associated with wildfires, allows electrical utilities such as Rocky Mountain Power to petition the Public Service Commission to recover costs for existing coal-fired power plants in order to keep those facilities running when neighboring states stop paying for their ongoing operation and maintenance; additionally, changes the factors considered by the Public Service Commission when making decisions on connecting or closing energy resources, including the presumption that the costs of “proven dispatchable generation resources” are reasonable.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Clean Energy
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/1/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Transparency
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/27/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

S.B. 242 - Utah Lake Modifications

Repeals the Utah Lake Restoration Act, the law that was deemed unconstitutional because it allowed the state to give away parts of Utah Lake for private development, like the project that would have dredged Utah Lake and used that dredged material to create islands for public and private development.

Passed in Senate and House

Vote Date: 3/1/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.B. 270 - Utah Lake and Great Salt Lake Study

Funds a $1.5 million study to the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands to conduct a study looking into water quality, conserving water resources, removing invasive species, restoring native plants, restoring and conserving fish and bird species, and restoring recreation and community use of Utah Lake, including delivery of water from Utah Lake to Great Salt Lake.

Passed in Senate and House

Vote Date: 3/1/2024

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

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

Topic(s): Accountability
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 3/1/2024

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

2023 Score Overview

Overall
F -5 out of 57
Good Government
F -6 out of 15
Equal Rights
F -4 out of 10
Sustainable Future
F 1 out of 18
Strong Communities
D 4 out of 14

2023 Voting Record

Better Utah Position Key: Support = Oppose =
Voting Key:
In favor = Yes, Against = No, Not present = Absent, No vote taken = N/A

Vote Better Utah Position Bill
Yes

H.J.R. 21 - Joint Resolution Honoring the Hispanic Community

Recognizes the contributions of Utah’s hispanic community to the prosperity of the state and expresses support for strengthening and ensuring a bright future for their community.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/28/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 25 - Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Task Force Sunset Extension

Extends the repeal date for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Relatives Task Force for an additional year.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Indigenous Rights
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 1/24/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.J.R. 25 - Joint Resolution Highlighting the Hazards of Net-Zero Energy

Highlights the perceived negatives of focusing on a net-zero energy policy and emphasizes the perceived positives that have been created by the use of traditional forms of energy.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate sine die

Topic(s): Clean Energy
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 2/28/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 29 - Mental Health Support and Law Enforcement Co-Response

Creates a grant program to fund appropriate response to individuals experiencing mental health crisis through new or expanded crisis intervention or mobile crisis outreach teams.

Passed in House; Passed in Senate on Second Reading but failed sine die

Topic(s): Police Reform
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 1/25/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 54 - Tax Revisions

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

Topic(s): Budget and Taxes
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 3/2/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 86 - Firearm Reporting Requirements

Requires the Bureau of Criminal Identification to collect statistics on the source of firearms recovered from restricted persons.

Passed in House; Passed in Senate on Second Reading but failed sine die

Vote Date: 2/6/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 131 - Vaccine Passport Prohibition

Creates a new “protected class” based on a person’s “immunity status,” such that public accomodations may not discriminate against people based on their immunity status or not having taken a vaccine; prohibits government and private businesses, with certain exceptions, from requiring proof of immunity or requiring vaccines.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Public Safety
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 1/30/2023

Bill Status: Passed

N/A

H.B. 132 - Prohibiting Sex Transitioning Procedures on Minors

Makes it unprofessional conduct for a health care provider to perform a medical procedure on a minor for the purpose of attempted sex transitioning or attempted sex change.

Failed in House Committee

Topic(s): LGBTQ+ Rights
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 1/24/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 162 - Voter Accessibility Amendments

Requires election officials to provide an accessible voting option for voters with disabilities.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Voting Rights
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/22/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 167 - State Child Care Amendments

Allows state agencies to contract for on-site child care services.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Child care
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 1/31/2023

Bill Status: Passed

N/A

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/3/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

H.B. 188 - Golf Related Water Modifications

Requires golf courses and driving ranges to report water use, information that will be posted online, and requires a study of water use by golf courses and driving ranges.

Failed in House Committee

Vote Date: 2/10/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 199 - Voluntary Firearm Safekeeping Amendments

Prohibits returning a firearm that has been voluntarily committed for safekeeping to a law enforcement agency if the person is a restricted person or has been arrested for committing a domestic violence offense.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/16/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 215 - Funding for Teacher Salaries and Optional Education Opportunities

Gives teachers a salary raise that’s dependant on the implementation and funding of a “Utah Fits All Scholarship Program,” which would provide $8,000 vouchers for students to attend private schools or pay for homeschool expenses.

Status: Passed; Signed by Governor 1/28

Topic(s): Education
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 1/20/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 217 - School Energy and Water Reductions

Uses federal funds to issue grants to schools to reduce energy and water usage.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 219 - Firearms Regulations

Declares that the state and its political subdivisions will not enforce federal laws that purport to restrict or ban certain firearms, ammunition, or firearms accessories, in violation of the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/9/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 220 - Emissions Reduction Amendments

Requires the Division of Air Quality to study and create an emissions reduction plan for halogen emissions after the recent study looking at emissions from U.S. Magnesium.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Clean Air
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 228 - Unprofessional Conduct Amendments

Continues to ban the dangerous use of conversion therapy while providing greater clarification around permitted types of talk therapy.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): LGBTQ+ Rights
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 2/9/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 243 - Public Transit Employee Collective Bargaining Amendments

Excludes managerial and supervisory employees in public transit districts from organizing and collectively bargaining.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Labor
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/6/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

No

H.B. 272 - Water Efficient Landscaping Amendments

Restricts local government entities on the amount of turf or lawns they can use at government buildings.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate

Vote Date: 2/27/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 300 - Voluntary Firearm Restrictions Amendments

Creates a voluntary firearm restricted list that allows an individual to request to be restricted from purchasing or possessing firearms indefinitely, which can be removed from the list 90 days after request, and allows an individual seeking to be placed on a voluntary firearm restricted list to direct the indivdiual’s health care provider to deliver the indivdiual’s form for inclusion on the list.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/6/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 307 - Utah Water Ways

Creates a new statewide nonprofit to “facilitate coordination to optimize the use of water” among the public, business, government, and agriculture.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/6/2023

Bill Status: Passed

N/A

H.B. 316 - Residential Rental Amendments

Requires rental unit owners to clearly and conspicuously disclose all fees, fines, assessments, and other costs; in addition to requiring them to provide notice of rental increase at least 60 days before end of lease.

Failed in House Committee

Topic(s): Tenant Rights
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/9/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 329 - Adult Event Permit Amendments

Targeting drag shows, requires public entities to provide public notice for permitted events that have “adult themes”.

Passed in House; Passed in Senate Committee but failed sine die

Topic(s): LGBTQ+ Rights
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 2/22/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

H.B. 354 - Firearm Access Amendments

Requires firearms to be securely stored or rendered inoperable by a locking device and provides that if an at-risk person, restricted person, or a minor gains access to a firearm, the owner may be fined.

Failed in House Committee

Vote Date: 2/13/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/24/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/24/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Vote Date: 2/17/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 425 - Energy Security Amendments

Requires power plants to give 180 notice before closing coal-powered electrical generation facilities; requires the Office of Energy Development to study and evaluate the takeover and continuation of Rocky Mountain Power’s coal power plant after it is scheduled to close; places additional restrictions in the state energy plan on renewable energy; and authorizes the Attorney General to take action to defend the state’s interests with respect to electricity generation by a qualified utility facing a proposed federal regulation that would result in the early retirement of an electrical generation facility.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Clean Energy
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/2/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 427 - Individual Freedom in Public Education

Requires that public school instructional materials and curriculum are consistent with “principles of individual freedom,” some of which are good but some of which ignore or prohibit discussions on systemic racism and unconscious bias. The bill specifically excluded gender identity from a list of characteristics that should not be subject to discrimination or adverse treatment.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 448 - Election Changes

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

Topic(s): Elections
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/24/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 449 - Business Services Amendments

Prohibits companies from coordinating with other companies to “intentionally destroy” companies that don’t adhere to ESG factors by eliminating the viable options for the companies to obtain products or services.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Sustainability
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 450 - Landscaping Requirements

Prohibits home owners associations from requiring property owners to have more than 50% vegetative coverage that is not water wise landscaping on their property.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 451 - State Entity Restrictions

Prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statements for jobs or admissions at state higher education institutions.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate Committee

Vote Date: 2/24/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 467 - Abortion Changes

Delicenses abortion clinics in Utah and requires abortions be performed in hospitals or hospital clinics, restricts that abortion exceptions in the “trigger ban” to apply only where the pregnant person is experiencing a life-threatening “physical” condition, and restricts abortion access for survivors of rape or incest to before 18 weeks gestation, among other changes to Utah’s abortion laws.

Passed in House and Senate

Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 477 - Full-Day Kindergarten Amendments

Provides funding through the weighted pupil unit (WPU) to give every school district the ability to provide optional full-day kindergarten.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Education
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/23/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 481 - Firearm Safety and Suicide Prevention Education Requirements

Requires a school to provide suicide prevention materials and information, including information on firearm safety, to a parent of a child who has threatened suicide or has been involved in an incident of bullying or other abusive behavior.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 2/28/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

H.B. 491 - Amendments Related to the Great Salt Lake

Appoints a commissioner to oversee and coordinate efforts related to the Great Salt Lake, including creating a strategic plan for the long-term health of the Great Salt Lake.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 3/2/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 499 - Homeless Services Amendments

Requires more counties to convene winter response task forces to create plans for winter shelters, particularly during “Code Blue” days where the temperatures fall below 15 degrees, and requires that cities with anti-camping ordinances enforce those laws or else risk losing mitigation funds, which were also expanded.

Passed in House and Senate

Topic(s): Homelessness
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 3/2/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 513 - Great Salt Lake Amendments

Requires mineral extraction companies who use the lake to pay royalties and a severance tax to a fund for the lake; forces those companies to minimize evaporation or water use and provide water back into the Great Salt Lake; and authorizes state agencies to take measures when the lake hits certain ecological thresholds.

Passed in House and Senate

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

H.B. 538 - Water Usage Amendments

Bans outdoor watering of lawns from October 1 through April 25 and requires the Division of Water Resources to calculate how much water was saved.

Passed in House; Failed in Senate

Vote Date: 2/28/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

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

Topic(s): Budget and Taxes
Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 2/16/2023

Bill Status: Passed

No

S.C.R. 2 - Concurrent Resolution Regarding the Environmental Impact of Vehicle Idling

Encourages Utahns, businesses, and other entities to take steps to reduce vehicle idling.

Passed in Senate and House; Signed by Governor 2/27

Topic(s): Clean Air
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 2/16/2023

Bill Status: Passed

N/A

S.C.R. 6 - Concurrent Resolution Regarding the Great Salt Lake Elevation Targets

Recommends the adoption of a target elevation goal for the Great Salt Lake to devise and implement policies, incentives, and funding resources to return the Great Salt Lake to optimal levels.

Failed in Senate Committee

Vote Date:

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.C.R 9 - Concurrent Resolution Opposing Efforts to Weaken the Economy or Restrict Energy Supply

Supports the State Treasurer and government entitites in opposing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Sustainability
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.B. 16 - Transgender Medical Treatments and Procedures Amendments

Prohibits performing gender-affirming surgical procedures on a minor and places an indefinite moratorium on the use of puberty blockers for minors.

Passed in Senate and House; Signed by Governor 1/28

Topic(s): LGBTQ+ Rights
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 1/26/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

S.B. 34 - Water Infrastructure Funding Study

Directs the Department of Natural Resources to study the use of property tax revenue to fund water infrastructure, treatment, and delivery, and make recommendations for future funding.

Passed in Senate and House

Vote Date: 2/28/2023

Bill Status: Passed

N/A

S.B. 50 - Weapon Purchase Amendments

Creates a waiting period of ten days between the purchase of an assault weapon from a dealer and the delivery of the assault weapon to the purchaser.

Failed in Senate Committee

Vote Date:

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

N/A

S.B. 88 - Abortion Amendments

Removes the provision requiring a physician to verify a report has been made to law enforcement before an abortion on a woman who is pregnant as a result of rape or incest.

Failed in Senate Committee

Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date:

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.B. 92 - Special License Plate Designation

Creates a “Great Salt Lake Preservation” special license plate with revenues generated from the plates depsited into an account to enhance preservation of the Great Salt Lake watershed and ecosystem.

Passed in Senate and House

Vote Date: 2/15/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

S.B. 93 - Birth Certificate Modifications

Prohibits changing information on a birth certificate, including names, one year after birth, and outlines procedures for courts to follow when considering a sex designation change on a birth certificate.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): LGBTQ+ Rights
Category: Equal Rights

Vote Date: 3/2/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

S.B. 97 - Public Contract Requirements

Prohibits public entities from entering into contracts with companies that are engaged in “economic boycotts” of companies engaged in fossil-fuel based energy, timber, mining, or agriculture; companies engaged in firearm manufacturing or sales; companies that do not meet or commit to meet certain environmental standards; or companies that do not facilitate or commit to facilitate access to abortion or transgender treatments.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Sustainability
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/2/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

S.B. 101 - Peace Officer Training Modifications

Requires law enforcement training to include training on identifying, responding to, and reporting criminal offenses that are motivated by certain personal attributes, aka hate crimes.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Police Reform
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 2/9/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

S.B. 118 - Water Efficient Landscaping Incentives

Provides $3,000,000 in grants to water conservancy districts for incentives to homeowners to remove lawn or truf in a landscaping conversion incentive program.

Passed in Senate and House

Vote Date: 3/1/2023

Bill Status: Passed

Yes

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

Category: Good Government

Vote Date: 3/1/2023

Bill Status: Passed

No

S.B. 133 - Modifications to Medicaid Coverage

Expands Medicaid to cover the duration of postpartum care for 12 months.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Healthcare
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date: 3/1/2023

Bill Status: Passed

N/A

S.B. 195 - Medical Debt Relief

Requires the Department of Workforce Services to contract with one or more medical debt relief entities for the acquisition and relief of medical debt.

Failed in Senate

Topic(s): Economic Justice
Category: Strong Communities

Vote Date:

Bill Status: Did Not Pass

Yes

S.B. 231 - Government Records Access and Management Act Amendments

Authorizes government entities to establish processes for obtaining relief against “vexatious requesters,” or people who overly abuse the GRAMA process without legitimate purposes, along with a process for judicial review and relief.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Transparency
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

No

S.B. 260 - Transportation Funding Requirements

Modifies the .20% local option transportation sales tax, also known as the “5th 5th”, which currently is exclusively eligible to be used for transit capital and service; would eliminate the June 30, 2023 imposition deadline, and allow counties to impose the .20% and divide the funds between transit, cities, and counties.

Passed in Senate and House

Topic(s): Public Transit
Category: Sustainable Future

Vote Date: 3/3/2023

Bill Status: Passed

N/A

S.B. 283 - Study of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Requires the Education Interim Committee to conduct a study and consider legislation regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in Utah’s system and institutions of higher education.

Failed in Senate Committee

Vote Date:

Bill Status: Did Not Pass