H.B. 47 Vehicle Registration and Insurance Amendments

What this bill does

The bill would let owners keep a vehicle's registration without carrying liability insurance during months when the vehicle is not being used. Driving without insurance would remain illegal.

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Every vote

• 70 yes, 3 no, 2 absentFinal House vote · Jan 21, 2026Who voted how
• 5 yes, 0 no, 2 absentSenate Revenue and Taxation Committee: vote to approve it · Jan 28, 2026Who voted how
• 25 yes, 0 no, 4 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Feb 4, 2026Who voted how
• 27 yes, 0 no, 2 absentFinal Senate vote · Feb 5, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Jan 21, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (36 turns)

  1. Madam Reading Clerk16:19

     Madam Reading Clerk House Bill 47, vehicle registration and Insurance Amendments by Representative Kyle.

  2. Speaker (presiding)16:29

     Representative Kyle.

  3. Rep. Jason B. Kyle16:35

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, I dunno about you guys, but almost every piece of the legislation I've been a part of has been almost perfect. But, uh, uh, last year I was involved in one that was slightly less so. Um, so, um, this legislation is in, uh, is an attempt to fix, fix that. Um, we passed a, a bill last year that made it so that to, to require, um, to keep your registration for your vehicle, you had to carry insur liability insurance all the time. And that failed to account for people that did not, were not using their vehicles. And so if their ve if they use their vehicle for two or three months out of the year and then they park it for the rest of the year, um, they, uh, were required to, to keep that liability insurance to, uh, to keep their, um, to keep their registration. And if they drop that, then they were sent something in the mail saying, okay, you have to pay a fine, uh, to get that reinstated. And it created a lot of bureaucratic headaches. And so this, uh, this pretty much is just saying you do not have to carry your, your registration all year round to keep your registration. It is still illegal to not be, to not have, uh, insurance while you drive on the road, but this is just decoupling the registration from the insurance. 'cause a lot of times these vehicles are being stored, uh, and not used. And the, um, and it's costing people hundreds in, in cases, th some people's cases, thousands of dollars for seasonal vehicles. And it's, uh, it's, this is is fixing a headache that they have to deal with. With that, i'd, uh, uh, that concludes my presentation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

  4. Speaker (presiding)18:14

     Thank you, Representative Kyle, you have a substitute online. Is it your intent to have that substitute adopted?

  5. Rep. Jason B. Kyle18:24

     Yes, please. Representative Wilcox.

  6. Rep. Ryan D. Wilcox18:28

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to make a motion to move the substitute on the system.

  7. Speaker (presiding)18:33

     Thank you, representative. The motion before us is that we adopt first substitute under Jason Kyle's representative Jason Kyle's name, uh, just would you like to speak to that Representative Wilcox?

  8. Rep. Ryan D. Wilcox18:44

     I was gonna speak to this one anyway, so, yeah. Um, I received a letter Friday from a constituent who, uh, has a vehicle that is literally only in use a few months, a year, and is facing this exact issue. So it's, I know it's not an innocuous one, it's one that, uh, our constituents are actually dealing with and are frustrated by that, uh, oversight. So happy to offer the substitute. Thank you.

  9. Speaker (presiding)19:06

     Thank you, Representative Kyle on the motion to adopt. First substitute.

  10. Rep. Jason B. Kyle19:09

      Yes. Thank you. It's a friendly substitute. Uh, obviously it, what this, what the substitute does is it allows for an immediate effective date and so it, it will provide relief quicker.

  11. Speaker (presiding)19:19

      Thank you Representative, uh, discussion on the motion to adopt First substitute. If your light is on, it's to speak to the motion to adopt first substitute Representative.

  12. Speaker (presiding)19:32

      Kohler.

  13. Rep. Mike L. Kohler19:38speaker not certain

      No. Okay.

  14. Speaker (presiding)19:41

      Uh, C None. We'll go ahead and place the motion, the motion before so we adopt, first substitute on HB 47 under Representative Kyle's name. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Rule that motion passes and the bill's been substitute before the body for further discussion.

  15. Speaker (presiding)20:00

      Representative Chew.

  16. Rep. Scott H. Chew20:05

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, uh, wanna, appreci, I wanna appre, I wanna extend my appreciation to the sponsor of this bill. Plus I wanted to see if my new mic would work. It, uh, seems a little different than what we have been dealing with anyway. I appreciate it. There's a lot of constituency in my part of the world that are extremely, uh, shook up when they got the notice that they had been dropped and, uh, the registration was no good. And so I appreciate him bringing this forward. It's something that'll solve a problem that, uh, my, uh, my folks out in the basin have, uh, felt the, felt the screws put to 'em and they appreciate, uh, this taken care of. Thank you.

  17. Speaker (presiding)20:43

      Thank you Representative. Chew further discussion to the bill.

  18. Speaker (presiding)20:46

      Representative Abbott. Thank you. Will the sponsor yield to a question? Representative? Kyle, will you yield to a question?

  19. Rep. Jason B. Kyle20:54

      Yes, Yes, representative.

  20. Rep. Nelson T. Abbott20:56

      So, uh, my question is, under current law, my understanding is all vehicles that are registered have to have insurance. And if the registration lapses during the time that they're registered, they get notified from the state saying, Hey, your insurance has lapsed. You are in violation. You need to go out and renew your insurance. I get what you're doing for a very small subset of vehicles. I don't know what percentage it would be, probably less than 1%, but does that make it much harder to enforce our requirement that vehicles have insurance for the other 99%? And how does the state accommodate for this?

  21. Rep. Jason B. Kyle21:35

      Uh, yeah, that, that's a good question. Uh, there, there is a need for enforcement of that, but this is the wrong mechanism. Uh, the current mechanism is the wrong mechanism. Uh, we need to be able to provide a relief and get rid of the bureaucracy behind, uh, uh, uh, what is currently happening. Uh, if we want to, uh, this has only been law for about a year and or less than a year. And this, uh, and what we can do is, uh, go after those who with there are other ideas that we can go after for people driving uninsured. We can increase penalties for that. We can, uh, have law enforcement, I mean, uh, be, be a little bit more, uh, in enforce the law. It, it's already illegal. Um, I, I don't think we have to, so there are other avenues that we can go down, but this one is inappropriate, I believe.

  22. Speaker (presiding)22:32

      Will the sponsor yield to another question? Representative Kyle, will you continue to yield?

  23. Rep. Jason B. Kyle22:36

      Yes. Yes. Representative Abbott.

  24. Rep. Nelson T. Abbott22:38

      Um, would it be possible and maybe more simple to just simply say, if you have a seasonal use vehicle, like a motor home or a, you know, an off-road vehicle, whatever it is, um, in your registration, when you register it with the state, you, you know, you check the box saying, Hey, this is seasonal use, and then the state knows not to send you the notice as soon as your insurance lapses. And that way they can still enforce it against all the other vehicles that are on the road.

  25. Rep. Jason B. Kyle23:09

      I, I mean, potentially, but I think that's overly bureaucratic. I, I, I don't think that's, what are, those are the things that p**s off our constituents. So I I I think they, they don't want the bureaucracy. I think they want it to be simple, uh, plain and simple. The registration and the insurance do not have to be linked to each other. Um, and, and we don't have to add hurdles to people to, to keep their, uh, vehicle registered when they're doing the right thing. It is still legal to drive with a, uh, uninsured vehicle on the road. This does not change that. Uh, but this decreases of bureaucracy, it doesn't add penalties for people that have a simple oversight. Uh, and I, I feel like this is the simplest method and the method that most of our constituents would approve of.

  26. Speaker (presiding)24:04

      Thank you, Representative Abbott. Further discussion to the bill Representative Shepherd.

  27. Rep. Lisa Shepherd24:10

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill and I thank the sponsor for bringing this forward. I've had communications with people in my district that are very troubled about what's just happened and this will correct that. So thank you.

  28. Speaker (presiding)24:22

      Thank you Representative Shepherd. Further discussion to the bill Representative Thurston.

  29. Rep. Norman K Thurston24:27

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, I, I fully understand that this was an attempt to fix a real serious problem that just kind of went in the wrong direction, but I do want to highlight to my colleagues that this is still a problem. Uh, roughly 7% of the cars on our roads in the state of Utah are uninsured. That means if somebody hits you, just a random car hits you, causes an accident, damages your proper property, there is about a one in 17 chance that that car is not insured. And that you're gonna have to deal with that. If, if you have uninsured motorist coverage, which you are paying for, you can get some reimbursement for that. But if you don't, you're just out of pocket. That person's gonna not pay you. No one's gonna pay you. So I just want to emphasize, while I understand why this bill caused some anxiety, maybe was not the step in the right direction originally, and that needs to be fixed, the underlying problem is still there. And the, um, we need to work together as a, as a body to figure out what are is, if this is not the right policy, what is the right policy? Because it's just not acceptable to have 7% of people driving on our roads without insurance, not reimbursing, not doing the right thing. And I don't know what the right answer is, but I know there's a problem. So thank you Mr. Speaker.

  30. Speaker (presiding)25:47

      Thank you Representative Thurston. Further discussion to the bill Representative Lisonbee.

  31. Rep. Karianne Lisonbee25:57

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I have had, so I have a constituent who has texted me multiple times over the past eight months, uh, copies of threatening letters that they've received from the tax commission for a vehicle, a vintage vehicle that they own that is parked next to their home that is completely covered, uh, with a professional looking tarp. And, um, they, uh, they do not ever drive this vehicle. They have property insurance on it, but not driving insurance. And the tax commission has demanded over the past year that they go and they get driving insurance on a vehicle that they never drive, nor do they intend to drive. And we as lawmakers should never vote for a policy, which honestly, this bill is fixing something based on an interpretation by the tax commission. This bill is not fixing something that is in law. This is just the tax commission interpreting what we passed that was never intended to create this huge burden on our constituents to have to pay insurance for something that they will never use. So please support this bill. It's a really important bill and, um, thank you.

  32. Speaker (presiding)27:23

      Thank you, representative Libe. Further discussion to the bill Representative Christofferson.

  33. Rep. Kay J. Christofferson27:29

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to make a comment on some of the concerns, uh, that's sort of related to this on insurance for vehicles that are only used for a few months of the year. Uh, I have a bill HB 57 that's coming up that will answer that part of it, the question. So a couple of you had questions on that, but I do support this bill. So thank you.

  34. Speaker (presiding)27:59

      Thank you, Representative Christofferson. Further discussion to the bill. See none back to you, Representative Kyle.

  35. Rep. Jason B. Kyle28:06

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was a lot more discussion than I was anticipating, but it was, it was very constructive. Thank you. I appreciate it. Um, I, this, uh, this bill will provide a lot of relief to people, um, sometimes, uh, government oversteps and where we need to be willing to and humble enough to say that we're not gonna solve every problem and we should step back and, and do what's right. And I, I encourage your support. Thank you.

  36. Speaker (presiding)28:32

      Thank Representative Kyle Voting will now be open on first substitute HP 47 scene, all present, hand voted, voting is now closed. First substitute HB 47, passes this body with 70 yes votes, three no votes, and will be sent to the Senate for its consideration.

• Jan 28, 2026 Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (24 turns)

  1. Rep. Jason B. Kyle1:20:26

     Thank you Mr. Chair and Committee. I appreciate the time. Um, last year we ran a bill that, uh, uh, Senator Bremmer and I ran a bill that, uh, was trying to catch people that were kind of cheating the system and playing sales tax by getting a Montana license plate. And we really focused on, on that portion of that bill. Uh, but in that bill we had a, a, uh, a component that tied the registration of their vehicle to the insurance of their vehicle, where if they dropped the insurance, then they would lose their registration. Uh, shortly after that bill went into effect, I started getting a lot of angry calls and angry emails, uh, because there are a lot of people that have seasonal vehicles that, um, they don't want to insure all the time because it's parked in their garage for maybe nine months out of the year. And so, uh, the, so I, the, we had the wrong mechanism for, for trying to enforce something. So this is undoing that, that portion of, of what we did last year. Um, and I, I know that there are other bills that are trying to strengthen the, the portion that it was getting at during this session. So this will make a lot of people very happy, uh, from farmers and ranchers to people that have seasonal vehicles, convertibles in their garage, people that have, um, uh, other work vehicles that they only use part, part-time outta the year. And it, and it gets rid of a lot of, a lot of bureaucracy as well. So I'd appreciate your support. Thank you.

  2. Committee chair1:21:55

     Okay. Thank you very much. That conclude your presentation? It does. Thank you. Okay. We'll go to the committee for, uh, questions about the bill. Seeing none, uh, we will take it to the public for public comment. Come on forward.

  3. Terry Camp, Vice President of Public Policy, Utah Farm Bureau Federation1:22:17

     Hi, how is it on? Okay. Uh, Terry Camp. I'm the Vice President of Public Policy for the Utah Farm Bureau of Federation. Uh, we just wanted to say we support this bill. We appreciate Representative Kyle, um, bringing it forward. We understood the changes that the legislature, um, was trying to make last year. Um, but those changes unfortunately resulted in a lot of our members, um, paying for insurance on vehicles that were not being operated regularly. Uh, we believe this bill is an important clarification that better align insurance obligations with how these vehicles are actually being used, helping our members avoid unnecessary costs on seasonal or intermittently used vehicles. So we would urge the committee to support the bill. Thanks.

  4. Committee chair1:22:56

     Thank you. Uh, is anybody else in person like to speak? Okay, scene? None. I have one person online. Uh, is it Taylor Audio Visual is the name that I have on the screen. I'm assuming that's not your name. So Taylor, if you'll turn your camera on and, uh, give us your full name for the purpose of the record and then, uh, give your testimony. Go ahead.

  5. Sean Taylor, resident1:23:28

     My name's Sean Taylor and, uh, I've actually been in touch with the bill sponsor so they kind of know my opinion on it. But, um, this fall, um, I Uintah drop my business vehicles off insurance and I learned about this law that had this bill that had gone through. So I run an audio visual company and typically from about October to April we're extremely slow. And I just want to state that this bill has had a huge negative impact on my business. Our vehicles are anywhere from 500 to a thousand dollars per month to insure we're required to carry extremely high limits based on some of our state contracts that we hold. Um, so therefore this, this has had a huge impact on us. And I just wanna make a note that the legislative analyst had said that there wouldn't be a significant, um, improvement to public financial situation. But I just wanna state that by passing this bill, you will help out a lot of small businesses here in the state. Um, the only thing that I saw that I had any concerns about was maybe putting in statute some directions for the DMV on how to report rather a bill was, or rather a vehicle was in use or out of use. And that was the only suggestion that I would have, just to make sure that there's no confusion with the DMV on how to report that. But I wanna commend all you guys for putting this through. Thank you very much.

  6. Committee chair1:24:56

     Thank you very much. Okay. That concludes, uh, anybody else? A public comment and thank you Mr. Taylor for your comments. Okay. Seeing no other public comment, uh, we'll bring it back to the Committee for action on the bill.

  7. Committee chair1:25:10

     Senator Brammer?

  8. Sen. Brady Brammer1:25:12

     Yes, I'm the Senate sponsor on this. I would move that we recommend favorably HB 47.

  9. Committee chair1:25:16

     Okay. The motion before us is to, uh, recommend favorably first substitute house Bill 47. Any discussion to that

  10. Sen. Brady Brammer1:25:24

      Real quick? Uh, this has been one of the more frustrating things. This was based on a one word change last year that was never intended for this. And we're not sure how they, in how the Department of Insurance interpreted it as they did. And even when we contacted them, they said they would stop enforcement, yet they did not stop. And so it's been an incredibly frustrating, uh, bill on this. And, and they would send letters to everyone with my name and representative Kyle's name, you know, saying to blame us. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And it, it was incredibly frustrating and it felt like we were being targeted by agency. Um, you know, and so I, you know, one of the things that I like in this, and this is Representative Kyle's idea, and I'll give him full credit, he added an immediate effective date provided this passes with two thirds. And I think that's appropriate because this was never the intent of the bill. And so, uh, I encourage your support. Thank

  11. Committee chair1:26:19

      You. Okay. Thank you very much case to Representative Kyle for summation.

  12. Rep. Jason B. Kyle1:26:25

      Yes. I, I, I appreciate the comments and, uh, uh, it's, I, we, we should pass this bill as quickly as possible because it will provide a lot of relief to people that, um, that a lot of them might need it for their business or for their, their own personal finances. And it'll get back to Yeah. What, what we actually meant. So,

  13. Unknown speaker1:26:46speaker not certain

      Okay. Thank you. Thank

  14. Sen. Brady Brammer1:26:47

      you. I do love, I do love when things go wrong and they send out a notice to say, here are the two specific people that it was their fault. You know, it's always, yeah. It's really nice. Always Thoughtful. Yeah.

  15. Rep. Jason B. Kyle1:26:58speaker not certain

      Uh, who, who was nice enough to do that for you? The department of insurance? Hmm. In their enforcement letters? Well, you know, yeah. Um, it, it has happened to me. Uh, and I will just say those phone calls are not as glorious as people might assume.

  16. Sen. Brady Brammer1:27:14speaker not certain

      Uh, so, uh, with that, I'll, uh, I appreciate where you're coming from 'cause that this makes a lot of sense. I'll Slipping those provisions. Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. It'll be fun. See, that's experience right there.

  17. Unknown speaker1:27:32speaker not certain

      Senator Fillmore's recommendation was to put it in someone else's bill next time, which is, you know, probably wise.

  18. Committee chair1:27:38

      Okay. Uh, with that, the motion before us is to pass favorably first substitute house bill 47.

  19. Committee chair1:27:43

      All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed?

  20. Committee chair1:27:48

      Okay. That passes unanimously. Uh, and your bill is moving forward. Thank you.

  21. Sen. Brady Brammer1:27:53speaker not certain

      I, I figured if anybody voted no, we could put their name on the letter next time.

  22. Committee chair1:27:59

      Okay. Uh, next up we're gonna go to, yeah, I'm gonna go to you.

  23. Unknown speaker1:28:06speaker not certain

      Alright. I mean, I can, I can go, but I've got three in a row. I was gonna give you a chance to go and then come chair afterwards.

  24. Committee chair1:28:17

      What's that? Okay, next up. Uh, Senator Fillmore for minimum basic rate amendments,

• Feb 4, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (8 turns)

  1. Presiding officer15:30

     First substitute House Bill 47, vehicle registration and Insurance Amendments. Senator Brammer. Senator Brammer.

  2. Sen. Brady Brammer15:39

     Yeah. So, uh, last year we passed the bill to try to get Montana registrations that were moving out of state. Uh, in passing that bill, the Department of Insurance took a one word change and interpreted it pretty aggressively and, and basically said that anyone who is not using their vehicle needs to maintain insurance even through the period of non-use. If they're registering their their vehicle, this puts it back to what it used to be and it puts it back immediately upon two thirds passage. And that is the substance of the bill.

  3. Presiding officer16:10

     Thank you for that presentation, Senator. Looking for discussion, not seeing discussion on the bill. So Senator Brammer, I'm going to you for a motion.

  4. Sen. Brady Brammer16:23

     Yeah, I move that we, that we pass favorably. HB 47.

  5. Presiding officer16:26

     Thank you. The question is that shall first substitute House Bill 47 Be read a third time. Roll call vote.

  6. Senate clerk (roll call)16:34

     Senator Vickers Baldry Lewin Brammer Bus Colmore Escamia Fillmore Grover Harper Kins Ipson Johnson k Juab McKay Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Pitcher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers. Er aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton President Adams

  7. Presiding officer17:26

     Aye. First substitute house Bill 47. Having received 25 yay votes, zero na votes.

  8. Presiding officer17:43

     Senator Wilson.

• Feb 5, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (4 turns)

  1. Sen. Brady Brammer22:17

     Brammer. Thank you. Uh, so the main point of this bill is it restores the ability for people to, uh, have a registered car that is not in use and not have it be insured. And that is the substance of the bill. I don't open any questions or extreme support from my Democrat colleagues. It's gonna hard to, you're gonna be hard to beat the last, uh, die diesel. But anyway, uh, say no comments or support. I'm going back to you for a motion.

  2. Senate President (presiding)22:45

     Alright, I'll call the question. Thank you. The question is, shall first substitute House Bill? 47 pass. Roll call vote.

  3. Senate clerk (roll call)22:51

     Senator Vickers. Baldry Bwin, Brammer Bus Comore. Asme es Camilla, I Can't tell. Lot of Kids coming in. Fillmore. Grover. Har Harper. Hankins Ipson Johnson. Grover. Right. Qua McKay. Mikel Milner. Musselman Owens Pitcher Lum Rebi. Sandal Stevenson Stratton Aye. Vickers Weiler Aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton President Adams

  4. Senate President (presiding)23:49

     Aye. First substitute house Bill 47. Having received 27 yay votes, zero nay votes. Two being absent passes his body will be signed by the president.

• Mar 6, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (0 turns)