H.B. 293 Public Education Student Athlete Protections

What this bill does

The bill would add one summer week when students in Utah public high school athletics must take a break from practice and competition, and that week could apply to a single sport. It would also lengthen sport-specific breaks from four to six weeks and require the Utah High School Activities Association to set and enforce statewide rules, with allowances for rural areas, and report to a legislative committee.

Plain-English summary written by AI from the sponsor’s presentation in committee and on the floor. Check the official text below.

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Every vote

• 14 yes, 0 no, 1 absentHouse Education Committee: Amendment Recommendation · Jan 30, 2026Who voted how
• 12 yes, 2 no, 1 absentHouse Education Committee: vote to approve it · Jan 30, 2026Who voted how
• 57 yes, 8 no, 10 absentFinal House vote · Feb 10, 2026Who voted how
• 4 yes, 0 no, 3 absentSenate Education Committee: Amendment Recommendation · Feb 24, 2026Who voted how
• 4 yes, 1 no, 2 absentSenate Education Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 24, 2026Who voted how
• 20 yes, 5 no, 4 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Feb 26, 2026Who voted how
• 17 yes, 10 no, 2 absentFinal Senate vote · Feb 27, 2026Who voted how
• 57 yes, 7 no, 11 absentHouse vote to accept the other chamber's changes · Mar 2, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Jan 30, 2026 House Education Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (47 turns)

  1. Committee chair2:48:56

     of our agenda items today. Um, with that we'll turn the time over to Representative Katie Hall. You Were looking at me. She's coming. Don't worry. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. Okay. Thank you. Representative Hall.

  2. Rep. Katy Hall2:49:13

     Thank you. I miss this committee. We miss having you. Thank you. Let me plug in here. Why don't you, uh, why don't you, when you have a moment to introduce your guest. Yes. So with me, I have Rick Corbridge and he's the athletic director at Bonneville High School, which is in my district. And he was my athletic director when I coached tennis at Bonneville. And he's here on behalf of himself, not the school. Just clarifying that. All right. Okay.

  3. Rep. Katy Hall2:49:45

     So HB 2 93. Um, so last year I've been working on this like all year. Last year, um, Rick, or I call him Corp, that's how everybody knows him. I, so Corp came to me and said, there's some issues with sports. And, um, I've seen them when I was coaching tennis there. Um, so he was like, what can we do about this? And as we talked about it, um, we came up with some plans, but I, first of all, I just wanna turn some time over to him to, to kind of say, set the stage of what he is seeing in the, the world of sports in high school. So,

  4. Rick Corbridge, Bonneville High School athletic director2:50:23

     Well, I appreciate the time, uh, to be able to, to speak here. Uh, when I reached out to Katie, um, good friend, just Katie, I, I needed help. We were having struggles. We were having issues with parents, kids, athletes, and coaches. Um, at that moment in time, I was being approached by a lot of our parents. They were having to choose their kids. Were having to choose as well, do I go to football practice? Do I go to basketball? Do I continue running track? And this is all in the spring. All these sports are going at the same time. Um, currently right now there's a four week, uh, full sport mor season, sport season moratorium. Um, these kids are going year round. And it was hard on those kids and those parents to have to make that decision of where to go. Uh, the other one was our coaches. A lot of my coaches were coming. They were feeling they were having to go all the time. They were having to do basketball, was having to do practice in April to be competitive in the state. They were having to do, um, off season trainings year round. And these coaches getting paid two to $5,000 depending where you're at, uh, puts a huge burden on them. They're not getting that extra compensation for it. Um, and along with that as well was the use of our facilities. Um, yesterday I spent an hour with the drill coach planning her April schedule, and the state championship is tomorrow, and we're already getting ready to get back into the gym for April and trying to schedule that. And what if it rains? How do I put drill in and my spring sports in, and all the weathers and, and my custodians having to clean these buildings when we're in them from six 30 in the morning and we leave at 10 o'clock at night. It's a huge burden. Um, and so when I talked with, with Katie about this, I'm like, Katie is there, I need help. How do we figure out to do this? Um, and I'm like, am I the only school that's dealing with this? And so we talked and I reached out to some other adss, some other administrators that were just in my area, and I'm like, I am I the only one? And that's when we, uh, got a committee together and met with, with Katie, just to see of, of what was happening. Thank you. And so what we did is we, we met together and then we took it to U-H-S-A-A, had a meeting and, and said, these are our concerns. This is going on. And the answer was like, okay, well those are good things, but maybe it's just happening in your district. And so the suggestion was made, maybe reach out to the other districts and see. So with the help of the amazing Finn and Mike and Ryan, we, we made, they created, helped me create this survey. And we sent it out to all the high schools, um, and a big thank you to the superintendents, um, to Lexi for helping us send that out to everybody. And we thought, like, we thought we'd get maybe three to 500, um, responses, maybe if we were lucky. Well, we got 8,300 responses, which was huge. We were really excited. 'cause that's a lot of data to work with. And so what we found, and I, as my intern passed out, kind of just the graph on the main points we asked, the big specific things we asked were, would you like to see another summer moratorium? Would you like to see more sports specific dates with maybe more defined moratoriums on those sports specific moratoriums? And then would you like to see, um, practice hours reduced from 20 to 15? And and so just putting those things out there, um, showing the graphs that we got on those three questions, that's what's on your handout. But this is the one on more defined sports off seasons. This is the one on another all sport moratorium in the summer. And this is the one for, um, lowering those hours from 20 to 15. What you also, what we also put on there, it's really small, but is all the, the breakdown of responses of who responded and how, and that's on the back or that's on that sheet as well. And then they, they kind of, there were so many comments that we, we ran it through an AI kind of thing to just break down the comments. But that's kind of the gist of the comments. And I just wanna highlight on here, you'll see that there's, when you, when I start scrolling through here, that you'll see there's 201 pages. This is all comments. I mean, I could flip through this for three more minutes and you wouldn't get through all these comments. And 109 of those pages are the parents. So it, what it showed us is there's something going on here. PE parents are wanting some time off. They're wanting some change. And so basically what the bill does is creates that summer, summer moratorium for all sports. And what it would do is this year, because it's kind of been a little last minute, they would be able to pick, pick each sport and each school can pick one week. So UHSA moved forward with that and kudos to them for doing with that. I think, I think they responded well in that. Um, and then moving forward, it would be by school would have to pick a week to take off of all sports. The next thing would be an eight week sport specific moratorium. And I think people are kind of confusing what that means. We're not saying you can't do any sports during that eight weeks after your sport. What we're saying is, after your sport, there needs to be some clear definitions about taking a break from that sport. And that will be, it's, we're not prescriptive in this bill. UHSA will have to come up with those. What that means, and the intent of it is that they work with the coaches association with the, with the Athletic Directors Association and the schools to see what will work best for a specific sport. That's the eight week sports moratorium. And I wanna say right now they have a four week, and it used to be 12 week, that changed about 12 years ago. It used to be 12 week, they changed it to four week. I think it's because we were seeing so many kids going into comp sports. And so it was this, we gotta keep up, we gotta, we gotta somehow keep up with the, the, the comp sports. And kind of our feeling with this is we can only control what schools can control. And, and we don't need to keep up with the comp sports. The kids can still do comp sports. Even with this bill, they can still go do the comp sports. We are not controlling what parents can do at all. Um, and the last one is the practice hours. Right now it's at 20 hours, I believe. And any day that you compete counts as three hours. Is that correct? Correct. It counts as three hours. Even if it's like a five hour ride and you play for one hour, it would count as three hours. So what we're saying is take that practice time down to 15 hours with no more than three hours a day. I mean, to help prevent injuries and, and all the things, all the, all the studies that I have looked through say that rest is best for kids and cross training. So they don't need more than three hours of practice a day. Um, but if a parent chooses to do that, they can still go do the comp teams after this does not prevent any of that. So that's kind of the gist of the bill, the main pieces of the bill. But also as we were having all the comments, people really wanted accountability across the state because what they're seeing, and I may turn the time over to Rick to, um, explain what they were seeing about the accountability piece. I know the biggest thing that for us, I've been, the, the way it's set up is, is the regions are in charge of, um, the penalties that happen. And they can explain that more than Utah high schools can, of course. Um, but I've been in, in regions where a school violated a rule and uh, they put down the, the penalty that it was then that goes to the Utah high schools, and then it's enforced where I've been in another region for the same violation and it was not the same penalty. And so it's not the same all across the board. And it kind of puts a burden and a stress on the region boards that they're having to now, as you're sitting in this meeting, and for example, last year, we had to, uh, one of our, our teams went over the 20 hour rule. So I had to self-report it. And it didn't really, nothing really had to happen. Nothing really happened for that, because there was more than us that were breaking that rule. And we all knew that. And so that just kind of hurt our hurt, the, the livid, the legitimacy of that rule where if it was set from the state, this is the rule, this is the penalty now across the board, it's an easy deal. And, and we don't have feelings of, of people in the same meeting of, of trying to hurt and keep, keep everybody happy with making a rule. Thank you. And so what it does is it says that UHSA would basically have to establish penalties for infractions and then enforce those equally across the state. And again, what that looks like is gonna be up to them. We're not being overly prescriptive in this. So that's basically the bill. I'm sure I've forgotten some highlights, but I'll hit 'em at the end in the summary. So we're up for questions.

  5. Committee chair2:59:20

     All right. Thank you. We've got a couple of questions for you. I'm gonna go to first, uh, Representative Peck. Thank you. I'm wondering before my question, if I can reserve the right to make a motion Not during the, uh, not during this time. Time, yep. This is the wrong time for that. And I'm just gonna note the members of the committee that, uh, at this point, it's your choice how long we stay today. It is clocks ticking. Okay. Anyway. All right. Go ahead. Representative Peck, if you have a question.

  6. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck2:59:44

     Yes. I really appreciate this bill a lot. And I'm, and now I'm, I'm knowing who to maybe think, think for the, the fact that people were contacting me over the interim, they're like, we've got a problem with sports and we've got, and I'm like, where are these people coming from? Like, why? And you must have triggered it. That's what I'm guessing. Because my constituents were suddenly wanting me to reach out to my school board about it and all that kind of stuff. Um, my main question is, well, okay, first off, before the, before my question, um, I do also have to share that my, uh, I have a family member who

  7. Committee chair3:00:24

     Spoke. I'm gonna tease your Representative. Peck, do you have a question? Yes, I do.

  8. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck3:00:26

     I have a question. Okay. We'd like to hear your Question. Okay. I know I'll get to it. I'll get to it. I promise. I promise. But I feel like this is pertinent for, for the intent of this bill going forward. Okay. So anyway, um, I have a nephew who was really into sports and it was pushed so hard, so hard by the coaches and encouraged that even when they weren't doing the coaching at the school, that then after school and after practice, now you have to go to a private gym and do even more. It was just pushed and pushed. And I hope we even addressed that kind of pushing at some point. Um, and so by the time he hit the summer before his senior year, he was like, I just, I just can't do this anymore. I just quit. And so he worked, he worked all those years up to doing that. He hit his, he hit his senior year and he's like, I just can't do this. And then he said to his mom, he said, you know what? I feel like my life is better than it's ever been before I finally have a life. And I haven't ever had this. And he had one year of it. And I'm like, it shouldn't be that way. They should be able to play their sport and still hang out with their friends and have a life. So I love this bill. But here's my question. 'cause I promise I do have a question. There's a lot of these other things. Dance was mentioned. I got a lot of people contacting me about cheerleading and all these

  9. Committee chair3:01:42

     things. Long, this Representative Peck, I'm gonna tease you a little bit.

  10. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck3:01:45

      How long does this go? This if our meeting is supposed to adjourn at 5:00 PM Sorry, I missed the end question. I missed the last part of your question. What was it? Okay. How was it? It's 'cause I got interrupted by the chair. How far does it go? Okay, so I'm asking how broad does this go? When we're talking sports, are we talking Everything? U-H-S-A-A is over. So like we're talking cheerleading, we're talking dance, we're talking. Cheer Is a sport now, I believe, right? Yes. Okay. Yep.

  11. Committee chair3:02:08

      Alright. Thank you. All right. We've got a bunch of questions here. All right. Representative Welton.

  12. Rep. Doug Welton3:02:15

      Thank you. Um, now I forgot what I was gonna say. Um, there was a question about summer games and whether this would impact kids who are competing in summer games, uh, particularly like Southern Utah schools, right? Because they've got cams and things like that. It shouldn't because that's, that's that sport, that school specific moratorium that they'll, the school will decide what's best. So it could be, you know, you have a festival in your, in your city this week, so of course you're not gonna pick that week. You know, so they will be able to say it's not gonna be statewide on that extra summer moratorium. Does that make sense? Okay. Yeah. So they can, the school would decide that we're gonna have activities during Summer Olympics, but not the rest of the time, right?

  13. Rep. Katy Hall3:02:58speaker not certain

      Well, no. So it's just taking that one extra week off. Right now they get the week of 4th of July, and we're just saying get one more week, do one more all sports so that families can go on vacation. This is a family friendly bill too. And they can go on vacation in the summertime and not during the school year. The summertime. Summertime. Exactly.

  14. Committee chair3:03:20

      Alright. Key Representative Welton, we'll go to Representative Moss.

  15. Rep. Carol S. Moss3:03:25

      Okay. I have a couple questions from, um, athletic director. His concern is that some kids that are, if they're limited in when they can play and how much time and so on, um, that it forces some athletes into two paths. Wealthy, wealthy families pay for club teams and private training year round, while low income families get training only during the official season. And school programs provide equity. All athletes get coaching. I think I mentioned this to you briefly. And then he says the strength and conditioning exemption doesn't go far enough. And again, he talks about, you know, in, in schools the kids have, are monitored and their training and safety and everything. So those are just things I'm asking. I I mean, I appreciate and support your goals and the fact you reached out to so many people, but there are a few more, but I won't take any more time. But I just want you to know that that's not the only one. But I've been hearing from some athletic directors that it, it, it harms kids that are lower income. Yes. And I, and I, do you mind if I have him Take that question? That'd

  16. Rep. Katy Hall3:04:34

      Be great. Yes. And I think that's a, that's a, a great concern, right? Is, is what do we do with those kids who don't have that opportunity?

  17. Rick Corbridge, Bonneville High School athletic director3:04:39

      Bonneville is a great example of that. We're, we're the high and the lows of, of all across the board and what we're hoping. And that's, that's the difference of the eight week sports specific moratorium. And the other, we want 'em to still train. We want them to still be working, but let's get away from the sport specific. They don't need to be shooting a basketball 11 months out of the year. They really don't. Let's get 'em doing other things. Let's get rid of the, the single sport injuries that are so prevalent and there's, there's that all over the nation for that to give them the opportunity to be out there, be the kid again. Um, and not have to be there. Because right now what's happening? If, for example, my basketball kids, if, if they're going in in April with basketball, those kids feel they have to be there in April. If it's in a weight room, they're doing different things like that. That kid can decide, do I want to go to the weight training for today? Or will I go do something different? And the hope is they're gonna go play another sport. Maybe they'll go out and they'll run track. Maybe they'll go play lacrosse and, and we'll be able to give those kids more opportunities doing a different sport. 7% of of high school athlete athletes ever make it to the next level. What about the other 93%? Those are the focus that we're trying to get to.

  18. Committee chair3:05:51

      Thank you for that information. Okay. Thank you. We're going to go to Representative Hayes.

  19. Rep. Sahara Hayes3:05:58

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I wanna start by saying I really like this bill. Thank you so much for bringing it forward. I'm glad that we were doing something in this space. Um, I've also heard concerns, um, specifically again about that eight week moratorium. That's that's a lot of time. That's two months. And I know that school sports, they, I mean, they teach you sports and physical skills, but those are also a huge opportunity for social connection. That is where a lot of the bonds that kids have are coming from. And we've, we're putting so much focus on trying to get kids off of screens and doing things and connecting with their peers, which we're, we're having a lack of right now. And so I'm curious if there was any discussion to, um, potentially making this an optional training period where you can't require students to come to practice. Something like that. 'cause I, like I said, I really love the concept of this, but I am just a little bit worried about that lost opportunity for social growth and connection that might come in that eight weeks. Um,

  20. Rick Corbridge, Bonneville High School athletic director3:06:54

      No, those are valid concerns. Thank you for the question. I think that's something obviously that UHSA could look at, um, as far as that eight weeks goes. 'cause we're, we're looking to them to, to discuss with all of their schools, their coaches and see what is gonna work the most for the most kids. Right. Um, again, they can do those different trainings, different weight training, different, you know, whatever it entails. And I'm not saying that it's not gonna be a little bit of a change because for 12 years, I mean, it used to be 12 weeks, you didn't touch 'em. Right. And for 12 years now it's been four weeks. So in the beginning of the bell, we had 12 weeks. We actually have compromised with eight. And also that those eight can be broken up. So it doesn't have to be eight weeks straight. It can be four weeks here and four weeks there. So I'm hopeful that that helps.

  21. Rep. Sahara Hayes3:07:44

      Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. All right.

  22. Committee chair3:07:46

      Thank you. I have no more questions from the members of the committee. We're gonna go to the public. Uh, is there any, are there members of the public who would like to speak to this issue? This bill? Okay. We have a few of you. Um, uh, please make sure you introduce yourself, state who you represent. Um, I'll just note, uh, we do have one more bill following this one. We'd like to get to that, uh, today, representative Wynn here. And we'd like to see if we can hear her as her, uh, bill also.

  23. Luke Rasmussen, Superintendent, Ogden School District3:08:10

      So, so my name's Lou Raus and I'm the Superintendent Ogden School District. And I'm also the chair of the board of Trustees for the High School Activities Association. First, I do want to thank Representative Hall. She has been collaborative. We have met like four times. She has worked on this. And the bill that she has now is as we feel much better than, than the original file that she was gonna file. Um, so just a little bit about me. I coached in Weber school district for five years, Davis District for five years. I was a principal in Davis. I was a principal in Ogden. Um, and I've been the superintendent in Ogden now for five years. Um, I've worked with high school sports for, for 30 years. Um, our association's in schools and the vast majority of our ads and principals and parents that we have talked to as we've, as we've brought this forward, um, have real concerns about the stipulations that would harm students, um, potentially in low income schools, rural schools that, that need and rural schools that they, where they need access to their coaches, they need access to be able to, to do things with their coaches. They don't have the co the availability to do comp sports and engage in comp sports. And that's where we'll, we'll push, we'll push kids and then we'll kind of have that, have more separation of the haves and have nots in those areas potentially. So it would also put some, some, uh, something in statute that doesn't allow us to be nimble. Um, the association is there for a reason. We can have this, something like this done in two meetings, um, and, and make changes. Um, and we just had JLC, the, the JLC oppose this nearly unanimously, um, for some of the various reasons that I'm talking to you about, um, right now. And another, another issue is with the survey parents in that meeting and parents we have talked to, they're, they're, they're telling us we didn't know that we were voting for this limitation. We were just thinking, Hey, this means less time. You know, this just means, I mean, this means more time with my family, of course I'm gonna say yes, I want more time with my family. So I do think there was some confusion with, with some of the parents on what this could result in. Um, what we're asking Representative Hall is just to allow the association to work on this. Um, we've already added in the extra summer moratorium that she put in her bill. We've already done that. Um, and we would continue to work on a framework using her bill as a template to try to get some of this done. But give us the flexibility if there needs to be some changes, that we can do it in a way that really, really makes sense. And we commit to do that. We commit to get this done as an association and, and give parents more time, but just do it in a way that makes the most sense for all students, which is really hard to accomplish when you have students from rural, urban, big, small. We're, we're gonna try to do the best we can with that. Thank you.

  24. Committee chair3:10:41

      Alright, thank you. Go ahead, Rob Cuff Huta High School Activities Association.

  25. Rob Cuff, Executive Director, UHSAA3:10:45

      Um, just to piggyback, I don't, I won't take much time. Uh, basically one size doesn't fit all our, our board has discussed this in three board of trustees meetings, four executive committee meetings. They've taken it back to the region. They, I was there in 2012 or whenever it was, uh, approximately 2012 when it went from the 12 weeks down to the four weeks. Uh, we, our board did in lieu, put in the all sport moratorium, summer moratorium at that point. The reason it went from 12 down to four was basically our rural schools came and said that their kids don't have an opportunity for club like the urban areas do. And I know that low income families in the urban areas also had the same concern. So that's primarily the main, uh, concerns that we've received in our board meetings. In addition to what, uh, what, uh, Mr. Rasmussen said.

  26. Committee chair3:11:42

      Alright, thank you. Um, rep Representative Welton. Okay. All right. Is there, uh, anybody else? Yes, go ahead. Thank you. Thank you. Swap seats while I was looking down. Thank you. Go ahead. Yeah, thanks. Introduce

  27. Todd Dawson, Lone Peak High School principal and UHSAA Region Chair3:11:52

      Yourself. I'm Todd Dawson. I am a 24 year educator, uh, high school English teacher prior to, uh, that, um, I'm currently principal at Lone Peak High School in my fifth year there. Also the region chair on the Utah High School Activities Association. I've been in that, uh, job for three years. I'm also the parent of five kids. Uh, my youngest graduated last year, all graduates of Utah High Schools. We lived in enterprise for a number of years and, and we lived in Orem for a number of those years. Uh, so I've seen the small school. I've seen the large school, um, as a family. We have seen over 24 high school sports seasons among my children. And I have coached 15 high school sports seasons. Um, all that that entails in season and off season. So I bring that up because there's multiple perspectives, uh, that I hold on this matter. Um, one concern I do have with the survey, uh, I love, I love that we're talking about this. Honestly, I think that there's some real value here. Um, when you look at the survey results, you'll see region three had 16 responses. Region three represents five of the largest high schools in the state of Utah. We alone have over 1100 participants every year. So there's 1100 participants and their parents and our coaches, uh, who we did not hear from in that survey. I don't know if the survey data would've changed or not have changed. I pointed out that it's, uh, not a representative of thousands of opportunities. I think the breakdown may have been in how that was sent out. Uh, we have an interim superintendent in our district. Perhaps it did not reach our schools. We did not see that survey or participate. Uh, you'll see it in the data, uh, go to the table. It shows region three 16, uh, responses, um, to the point about region boards making decisions about, uh, violations, uh, in our region. That is never a concern. Uh, we follow the UHSA handbook. Uh, we make decisions based on what policy was violated, to what extent was it violated, was it knowingly violated, uh, what harm was done by the violation, et cetera. And that may lead to a variety of outcomes. I will admit that sometimes an outcome may be different, just as in many, uh, many areas of improvement. Um, we talk about safety and health, and that's, that's what I appreciate. The Utah High School Activities Association has an executive committee. Um, in that committee, there are multiple, uh, principals and others who participate. We also have what's called the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, who, uh, advises us on things related to student athlete health. Um, I would hope that, uh, in partnering, uh, with Representative Hall, that the U-H-S-A-A can continue to have this dialogue. Uh, as was mentioned by, uh, board of trustees, um, representative Luke Rasmussen. We're working on this. We've added the, the week long moratorium at this point. Additionally, I'm almost done. Thank you. Thank you. I just feel like this decision is, uh, is important. And I think, uh, to echo Mr. Cuff and Mr. Rasmussen, that, uh, allowing us to continue to work on this, uh, with, uh, the BOT, which is made up of principals, school board members elected by their communities and superintendents that we can arrive at some good decisions on this matter. So, um, thank you.

  28. Committee chair3:15:20

      Thank you. Please inter please state your name and who you represent.

  29. Dina Kohler, high school principal3:15:24

      Hi, I'm Dina Kohler and I represent myself. I am a high school, uh, principal in a six, a high school in the south end of the valley. But I do represent myself. I wanna echo what my coworker, um, Todd has said from Lone Peak. I do hope that you take the opportunity to allow us to manage this at the U-H-S-A-A level. We have the opportunity to work together, looking out for our student athletes the best way that we can. We take the information that we are given from all different levels, and I really would appreciate the opportunity to handle it at that level. I think that, um, it benefits our students and families alike. We listen to our people at our level and, um, our coaches listen to our people and ask before cheer. Yes, cheer is an athletic, um, sport that we look at. And I talked to my cheer coach before coming here. She also mentioned to be aware that too much time off does bring injury. And so allowing us to know that they're working towards a common goal of preserving their bodies, preserving their minds, so that they can best, um, meet the challenges of being a teenager. That's what we're looking out for and allow us to have the opportunity to look out for them.

  30. Committee chair3:16:37

      Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate the, appreciate the comments. That concludes our public comments. We'll go back to the Committee for action items. Um, we do have a thank you representative, er, we do have a amendment online. I'm gonna go to representative er to, there's an amendment in her name.

  31. Rep. Tiara Auxier3:16:55

      Yeah, thank you. I motion to amend, um, with the motion, uh, with the amendment in my name.

  32. Committee chair3:17:03

      All right. The motion is from representative ER to, uh, adopt Amendment one to HB 2 93, public Education Student Athlete Protections. We'd like to speak to that motion.

  33. Rep. Tiara Auxier3:17:14

      I would. Um, and I wanted to thank the sponsors so much, um, for her work on this. I know it's, um, it's been a difficult thing. And as a parent of high school athletes, this is something that we, um, think about on a regular basis. Um, as I've mentioned before, being in a rural area, um, there's a lot of other considerations that need to be taken into account, and we've heard some of that as well from some of the public comments. So, um, giving the flexibility for the U-H-S-A-A to be able to, um, make sure that they can take into account some of those, um, differences while they're making, um, their policies, uh, realizing that one blanket, um, uniform policy might not be the best. So, um, it says in there that they can use reasonable, um, modifications for rural schools and their regions. And I thank the sponsor for working with me on that.

  34. Committee chair3:18:21

      All right. Thank you to the sponsor regarding the amendment.

  35. Rep. Katy Hall3:18:23speaker not certain

      Yeah, that's a friendly amendment. That's in regards to some of the people reaching out saying their differences. So we

  36. Committee chair3:18:28

      Thank you. I do have some lights on. Uh, these are, this would be to speak to the amendment. All right. I have no, uh, no further comments. Back to the sponsor. Sorry, sorry. Back to the maker of the amendment to I'll waive. Waive, uh, to, uh, some you waive. Thank you. The motion before is to, uh, adopt amendment one to house bill 2 93, public education student athlete protections. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? All that amendment? Sorry. We do have, it's on the amendment. Favor of the amendment. Okay, thank you. That passes unanimously. Um, I'm gonna go to, uh, the underlying bill, Representative Peck.

  37. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck3:19:09

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't need to really speak much to this. I move. Thank You. We're gonna have to have a talk. Okay. I move that we pass out favorably HB 2 93 public education student athlete protections.

  38. Committee chair3:19:26

      All. We have a motion to recommend favorably house bill 2 93, public education student athlete protections as amended. Would you like to speak to that?

  39. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck3:19:34

      I waive. Thank you. Alright.

  40. Committee chair3:19:36

      Uh, to the, uh, uh, member, uh, sorry to the committee. All right. Representative Pucci, I'm

  41. Rep. Candice B. Pierucci3:19:43

      Really sorry. I'll be very brief. No, That's okay. This Is great. I appreciate representative Hall's. Work on this. I know she has spent hundreds of hours on this, and she has tried to be really fair to some of the public comments that were made. I just wanna say, all of us up here have had different experiences and have been in the legislature for different amounts of times. This is my sis seventh session, and I will tell you a frustration that I have seen is we hear a lot of times just let us do it on our own, and then we wait and wait and we don't see a lot of change. That is the direction we wanna go. So, uh, I know that we've had a lot of discussions over interim about this, and I appreciate Representative Hall doing her best effort to make this work, and I appreciate

  42. Committee chair3:20:20

      It. All right. Thank you Representative Welton.

  43. Rep. Doug Welton3:20:23

      Thank you. Um, I, I'm a little conflicted on this one. I appreciate the work that's gone in as a, as a coach myself, not an athletic event, but like coach burnout is just as real as student burnout. Like it is a very real thing to try to get coaches and keep coaches. And so I, I understand that. Um, I have a whole bunch of ideas. Let me just say a couple things that are sticking in my head. Uh, number one is consistency of enforcement. And that's something that I've struggled, uh, as somebody who's been involved is that we don't have consistency of enforcement with our U-H-S-A-A and sometimes that's our own principles who are not consistent when they're making their decisions. Um, I also really struggle with local control and letting them make their decisions and, and rural knows best and, and, and, and, and I get that. And so I guess I haven't been involved in the seven years. Um, I, I kind of will probably be a no on this one. Uh, and, and the reason why is I think I would give them one year to come back. And I'm a little hesitant to do that because I, I don't want to throw anybody under the bus that's in this room, but we were dealing with an ethics codification for our state school board and they were going to bring it back in the October interim and they didn't. And so I'm a little hesitant to do that, but I'm gonna give them, I'm gonna say no and give them the chance.

  44. Committee chair3:21:44

      Alright, thank you Representative Welton. Uh, no further comments. I'm gonna go back to the spon, uh, to the sponsor.

  45. Rep. Katy Hall3:21:50

      Thank you. I appreciate all the comments. Um, I have experienced the same thing as representative per pucci. Um, not that I don't trust them, I just think, um, sometimes you need a little feet to the fire. Um, also I think, um, I just wanna address a couple of the things. We tried a few different times to get to all the regions and we realized that we didn't get to all of them, but we did try a few different times to get that out to there. And that just goes to show there's a lot of communication gaps in, in education that's just, we need to help solve that problem, but this isn't gonna solve that. Um, one last thing. There's a ton of flexibility in this bill. It's up to them to make up those, to make those rules. And especially in that, with that rural amendment. I really love that every article I've researched again says that sports specific retch rest and encouraging cross training are the best ways to prevent pre pediatric INJ injuries. We're constantly told up here that we don't listen to our constituents. This was a survey sent out and 8,300 people responded. And I know we didn't get to some, but I don't think those, those skews would've changed on those graphs. So I really, I really hope we listen to, to our parents and, and even some coaches and teachers and athletic directors that were speaking out on that survey. And thank you. I appreciate you guys listening to

  46. Committee chair3:23:06

      This. Alright, thank you. Back to, uh, Representative Peck to some I waive. Okay. Thank you representatives. Uh, the motion before us is to recommend Favorably House Bill 2 93 public education student athlete protections as amended. Uh, we're gonna do a roll, roll call. Vote. Uh, we'll go to Tisha. Representatives er aye Hayes. Aye. Liz and B aye. McPherson Aye. Millard Aye. Moss? No. Peck. Aye. Corinne Peterson. Aye. Val Peterson. Aye. Pucci? Yes. Thompson? Yes. Wilton No. Vice Chair de Fay? Yes. Chair Walter? Yes. That motion passes, uh, with, um, Representative Moss and Representative Welton as, as No. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Representative Hall.

  47. Rep. Katy Hall3:24:08

      Uh, thank you to the members of the committee. We're gonna do one more bill, uh, and I'm aware of the time.

• Feb 10, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (3 turns)

  1. Unknown speaker1:17:25

     House Bill 2 93. Public Education Student Athlete Protections by Representative Hall. This bill was heard in education with the vote of 12 2 1

  2. Rep. Katy Hall1:17:35

     Representative Hall. Thank You Mr. Speaker. Motion to circle just waiting on a sub.

  3. Speaker (presiding)1:17:39

     Thank you Representative Hall. The motion before is the House circle HB 2 93. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Rule that motion passes. The bill's been circled. Madam Reading Clerk

• Feb 10, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (4 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)1:50:01

     The motion is to encircle HB 2 93 public education student athlete protections. Hold on just a moment. Representative Hall, It's second sub. Is it not on? Nevermind. Motion to not encircle. Would you like to withdraw your motion representative?

  2. Rep. Katy Hall1:50:29

     I withdraw my motion.

  3. Speaker (presiding)1:50:52

     Representative Owens.

  4. Rep. Doug Owens1:50:56

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, motion or sorry. Uh, motion encircle HP one 17. Motion is to encircle first substitute house Bill one 17.

• Feb 10, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (36 turns)

  1. Rep. Katy Hall2:41:07

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to encircle HB 2 93.

  2. Speaker (presiding)2:41:11

     The motion is in order. We'll go ahead and place the motion, the motion before us the house encircle HB 2 93. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes? The bills been encircled before the body for consideration to you. Representative Hall for presentation.

  3. Rep. Katy Hall2:41:26

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to adopt, um, sub one.

  4. Speaker (presiding)2:41:30

     That motion is in order. Would you like to speak to it?

  5. Rep. Katy Hall2:41:33

     Uh, I will, when I explain the bill. Thank you. These are some changes that, that we worked on with stakeholders.

  6. Speaker (presiding)2:41:44

     Discussion to the motion to adopt first substitute P 2 93. None will go ahead and place the motion. The motion before is the house adopt first substitute HP 2 93. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes? The bill's been substitute and before the body for its consideration. Back to your Representative Hall.

  7. Rep. Katy Hall2:42:05

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this bill kind of came to me from a constituent who was also the athletic director when I coached tennis at Bonneville High School for 12 years. Um, he came to me with some concerns about not being able to keep coaches, um, having academic balance, letting kids get multi-sport participation, injury prevention and rest. All these concerns that he had regarding, um, our high school sports. And so we Uintah, um, the stakeholders and, uh, they said, maybe it's just your district that feels this way. And so what we did is we worked with house staff and we sent out a survey to all the athletes in Utah. Um, and we tried to get to as many as we could. And I've, I've sent all the representatives the, the results of that survey, if you wanna look at it online, trying to save paper. But what the results of the survey came out as is, well, first of all, they said statistical significance in that survey would've been to have 500 responses. And we had 8,300 responses, which was huge. Um, and so what the survey basically was asking is, do you think we should have more another summer moratorium for sports? Um, should we have more defined sports season, maybe another moratorium during the sports season or for a sport specific season? And then is there, are the practice hours too, too much? Should we go from 20 hours to 15 hours? So as we got the survey results back, we looked at all of it and the, the surveys were really skewed that everybody wanted change in those three areas. So we started out with those changes. Um, as we've heard from stakeholders, some of that has changed since committee meeting. Um, and so I'll just walk through the new, the new bill. So basically the bill calls for one more summer week of moratorium. And in working with some of the representatives from down south, uh, we're we're allowing that to possibly be a sport moratorium instead of the whole school. Um, and then the second thing is we move from all, all the sports right now have a four week sport specific moratorium where they, they don't play. They, you know, the coaches don't really do much with them. They can still do workouts, they can still weight train, they can still condition, but it's, it's not that sport specific play. And so what we wanted to do, we wanted to go to eight weeks, and that's what we had at first. But we have moved down to six because we've come into some constraints of trying to redefine what that moratorium would be. And we feel like it's just better to keep the strict, the, the same moratorium for the four weeks and just add two more weeks on to give these kids a rest and give these families some time. Um, and then the last change, we did have a change in practice hours, but again, as we looked at that, it wasn't computing. And so instead of changing the practice hours, what we're asking for, um, is just more enforcement of what's going on with the rules. So at the end of the inlines of 49 through 52, we're basically saying UHSA needs to come up with their rules. They need to come up with an enforcement policy and they need to enforce it across the state. Because the other thing, we got so many comments from this survey that people want equality across the state. They want to be the same penalty or infraction to be the same from a si uh, school in St. George as a school up here. So, um, we're asking that they, they do that and then with it, with that as well, we're asking that they report to education interim committee on how they're doing that. So those are all the, that's the bill in a nutshell. Those are all the changes I've tried really hard to work with everyone that has contacted me. I know you've heard from a lot of people this has changed since then. And UHSA is, is on board with what we've done. Um, and the, that's basically the bill. So I'm happy to take any questions.

  8. Speaker (presiding)2:46:13

     Thank you. Representative Hall discussion to the bill. Representative Alrick.

  9. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:46:18

     Thank you. Mr. Speaker. Would the sponsor yield Representative Hall, will you yield?

  10. Rep. Katy Hall2:46:22

      Yes. Yes. Representative Alrick,

  11. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:46:24

      Uh, Mr. Speaker, uh, you mentioned that you'd talked to somebody down south how far south, and then you've also talked to the High School Activities Association, uh, and I appreciate that. And you, you, you presented this sub down south. We don't have a lot of clubs. So tell me how this is going to affect those schools down there.

  12. Rep. Katy Hall2:46:51

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if you'll notice on lines, oh, sorry. Lines 45 to 46. We, we do allow the U-H-S-A-A to make allowances, um, to address needs in rural areas. So that would be up to UHSA to kind of address those needs. Um, and when I say down south, uh, the good representative from Cedar City had some concerns about some Cedar City games, um, being in a couple of weeks in the, in the summer. And so we've allowed it so that schools can pick, uh, to have a sport moratorium instead of the whole school.

  13. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:47:33

      Thank you, Ms. Speaker, if I could follow up. Representative Hall, will you yield to another question?

  14. Rep. Katy Hall2:47:38

      Yes. Yes. Representative Albrecht,

  15. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:47:41

      I appreciate the, uh, the sponsor with that change. Uh, down south does not include Cedar City and or Iron County and, uh, Washington County. In my book, down south is the hole in the donut between Santaquin and there, because that's the rural area, whereas Iron County and Washington County are really not rural anymore and have clubs. But I think you've addressed my concerns. Uh, the good representative has, and I, uh, I'll probably vote for it. Thank you. Thank You.

  16. Speaker (presiding)2:48:21

      Thank you Representative Albrecht. Further discussion of the bill Representative.

  17. Rep. Mark A. Strong2:48:23

      Strong. Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Will the sponsor yield to a question? Yes.

  18. Speaker (presiding)2:48:27

      Thank Tim. How will you yield? Yes, Representative Hall.

  19. Rep. Mark A. Strong2:48:30

      So when you say sports specific, are you referring to all sports or just a specific sport? So if I play, say, um, football, and we're gonna be sure all the football players have this six week period off for this period of time, or, uh, does it refer to that or saying that there'll be a six week period of time where no sports will take place in our school?

  20. Rep. Katy Hall2:48:58

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the, the clarification. Um, right now they have that, they have a four week sports specific. So what that means is, is say you played football, your sports season is those fall months. A sports specific moratorium would be for football. U-H-S-A-A is gonna work with all the, the football coaches and decide when those six weeks sports moratorium would be. So I don't know what, I don't know what football is right now, but say it's January to February, so it would be those six weeks. You're just not playing football. The, like, the team is not having like their team get togethers. That doesn't mean that again, that they can't do weight training, there can't be conditioning. Um, there can't be like those. Preferably what we're trying to get at too is to help encourage students to go and play another sport so that they develop their athletic skills.

  21. Rep. Mark A. Strong2:49:52

      Um, one quick follow up if I could. Mr. Speaker?

  22. Speaker (presiding)2:49:56

      Yeah. Uh, Representative Hall, will you continue to yield?

  23. Rep. Katy Hall2:49:59

      Yes. Yes. Representative.

  24. Rep. Mark A. Strong2:50:01

      Okay. So then that say January, February range for football, for, uh, women's volleyball. It might be in, um, March or April or whenever their season is off.

  25. Rep. Katy Hall2:50:15

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that's correct. Yep. So again, it's just adding two weeks onto that. Try and give a little extra time for rest from those sports specific movements that you might be doing within the sports. Again, trying to alleviate injuries and give that rest time, but that doesn't mean that you can't keep training in something else. And you should.

  26. Speaker (presiding)2:50:35

      Thank you. Thank you Representative. Strong further discussion to the bill Representative Hansen.

  27. Rep. Leah Hansen2:50:43

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would the sponsor yield to a question. Representative Han or Representative Hall, will you yield to a question?

  28. Rep. Katy Hall2:50:50

      Yes, I will. Yes. Representative Hansen,

  29. Rep. Leah Hansen2:50:53

      Is it really, um, necessary to, to have it be equalized across the whole state? Would it be possible to allow them to, to to adjust it to their specific areas?

  30. Rep. Katy Hall2:51:08

      Um, thank you for the question. I think what we're, what the issue is is you'll have, you'll have teams in a region that are in separate areas of the state. And so if you are not enforcing it equally across the state, you could have a team in a, in a district. It's enforced right now along the districts. And so if you have a team that's in the same region, but they're in different districts and say the penalty is you sit out a game in one district in the next district, it's gonna be a slap on the hand. That's, that's the complaints that we were hearing in the survey is that it's not equal across the board. So some are enforcing it a little more strict and some are enforcing it a little less strict, and then nobody feels like anybody's enforcing the rules. So,

  31. Rep. Leah Hansen2:51:56

      Yep. My prayers to the U-H-S-A-A. Thank you Mr. Speaker.

  32. Speaker (presiding)2:52:01

      Thank you Representative Hansen. Further discussion to the bill. Representative Hawkins.

  33. Rep. Jon Hawkins2:52:06

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I rise in support of this bill. I think it's a, it's a needed thing, uh, for our kids to take a break, um, and to not have the hours and hours and hours that they are being pressured to have, um, during their athletic career. Um, I work a lot with, with youth sports, uh, in my area and have for a long time. And, you know, baseball, when I was younger was, I played 20 games a year if I was lucky enough to play on an all-star team. And, you know, 20 games is, is a month in, in October in baseball now, right? And, and they're doing this all year round. And so I think, I think what the good representative has done to help our kids have a little bit more of a normal life away from the stress and the grind of athletic performance and, and, and, and demanding that their bodies, you know, perform is a really, really good thing. So I applaud the, the sponsor for her efforts and, and support this bill.

  34. Speaker (presiding)2:53:19

      Thank you Representative Hawkins for the discussion to the bill Representative Matthews. All the questions, If this question has been called, which has the effective ending debate, go ahead and place that motion. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes? Debate has ended. Back to your Representative Hall for summation.

  35. Rep. Katy Hall2:53:37

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I think a lot of times we, we hear up here that we don't listen to the people. I sent out a survey to an 8 8300 people responded. Um, I really think we need to listen. I think that this is a mild step, step approach to, to try to give those kids a little rest in time. I've been in those trenches, I've coached these kids, I know that they need this time. And, and quite frankly, this is about half of the time that we used to give when I first started coaching, um, in 2009, what used to be 12 weeks. And we're just asking for six. So anyway, I really would appreciate your support on this. I think it's really important for the kids. And, and thank you very much. Thank

  36. Speaker (presiding)2:54:21

      You. Representative Hall voting will now be open on First Steps two, HB 2 93 Representative Ivory vote. Seeing, seeing all present Representative Ivory, seeing all present having voted voting is now closed. First substitute HB oh one more Representative MacPherson, seeing all present, having voted voting is now closed. First substitute HB 2 93 passes this body with 57 yes votes, eight no votes will be sent to the Senate for its consideration.

• Feb 10, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (36 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)2:41:25

     Representative Hall for presentation.

  2. Rep. Katy Hall2:41:26

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to adopt, um, sub one.

  3. Speaker (presiding)2:41:30

     That motion is in order. Would you like to speak to it?

  4. Rep. Katy Hall2:41:33

     Uh, I will, when I explain the bill. Thank you. These are some changes that, that we worked on with stakeholders.

  5. Speaker (presiding)2:41:44

     Discussion to the motion to adopt first substitute P 2 93. None will go ahead and place the motion. The motion before is the house adopt first substitute HP 2 93. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes? The bill's been substitute and before the body for its consideration. Back to your Representative Hall.

  6. Rep. Katy Hall2:42:05

     Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this bill kind of came to me from a constituent who was also the athletic director when I coached tennis at Bonneville High School for 12 years. Um, he came to me with some concerns about not being able to keep coaches, um, having academic balance, letting kids get multi-sport participation, injury prevention and rest. All these concerns that he had regarding, um, our high school sports. And so we Uintah, um, the stakeholders and, uh, they said, maybe it's just your district that feels this way. And so what we did is we worked with house staff and we sent out a survey to all the athletes in Utah. Um, and we tried to get to as many as we could. And I've, I've sent all the representatives the, the results of that survey, if you wanna look at it online, trying to save paper. But what the results of the survey came out as is, well, first of all, they said statistical significance in that survey would've been to have 500 responses. And we had 8,300 responses, which was huge. Um, and so what the survey basically was asking is, do you think we should have more another summer moratorium for sports? Um, should we have more defined sports season, maybe another moratorium during the sports season or for a sport specific season? And then is there, are the practice hours too, too much? Should we go from 20 hours to 15 hours? So as we got the survey results back, we looked at all of it and the, the surveys were really skewed that everybody wanted change in those three areas. So we started out with those changes. Um, as we've heard from stakeholders, some of that has changed since committee meeting. Um, and so I'll just walk through the new, the new bill. So basically the bill calls for one more summer week of moratorium. And in working with some of the representatives from down south, uh, we're we're allowing that to possibly be a sport moratorium instead of the whole school. Um, and then the second thing is we move from all, all the sports right now have a four week sport specific moratorium where they, they don't play. They, you know, the coaches don't really do much with them. They can still do workouts, they can still weight train, they can still condition, but it's, it's not that sport specific play. And so what we wanted to do, we wanted to go to eight weeks, and that's what we had at first. But we have moved down to six because we've come into some constraints of trying to redefine what that moratorium would be. And we feel like it's just better to keep the strict, the, the same moratorium for the four weeks and just add two more weeks on to give these kids a rest and give these families some time. Um, and then the last change, we did have a change in practice hours, but again, as we looked at that, it wasn't computing. And so instead of changing the practice hours, what we're asking for, um, is just more enforcement of what's going on with the rules. So at the end of the inlines of 49 through 52, we're basically saying UHSA needs to come up with their rules. They need to come up with an enforcement policy and they need to enforce it across the state. Because the other thing, we got so many comments from this survey that people want equality across the state. They want to be the same penalty or infraction to be the same from a si uh, school in St. George as a school up here. So, um, we're asking that they, they do that and then with it, with that as well, we're asking that they report to education interim committee on how they're doing that. So those are all the, that's the bill in a nutshell. Those are all the changes I've tried really hard to work with everyone that has contacted me. I know you've heard from a lot of people this has changed since then. And UHSA is, is on board with what we've done. Um, and the, that's basically the bill. So I'm happy to take any questions.

  7. Speaker (presiding)2:46:13

     Thank you. Representative Hall discussion to the bill. Representative Alrick.

  8. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:46:18

     Thank you. Mr. Speaker. Would the sponsor yield Representative Hall, will you yield?

  9. Rep. Katy Hall2:46:22

     Yes. Yes. Representative Alrick,

  10. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:46:24

      Uh, Mr. Speaker, uh, you mentioned that you'd talked to somebody down south how far south, and then you've also talked to the High School Activities Association, uh, and I appreciate that. And you, you, you presented this sub down south. We don't have a lot of clubs. So tell me how this is going to affect those schools down there.

  11. Rep. Katy Hall2:46:51

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if you'll notice on lines, oh, sorry. Lines 45 to 46. We, we do allow the U-H-S-A-A to make allowances, um, to address needs in rural areas. So that would be up to UHSA to kind of address those needs. Um, and when I say down south, uh, the good representative from Cedar City had some concerns about some Cedar City games, um, being in a couple of weeks in the, in the summer. And so we've allowed it so that schools can pick, uh, to have a sport moratorium instead of the whole school.

  12. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:47:33

      Thank you, Ms. Speaker, if I could follow up. Representative Hall, will you yield to another question?

  13. Rep. Katy Hall2:47:38

      Yes. Yes. Representative Albrecht,

  14. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht2:47:41

      I appreciate the, uh, the sponsor with that change. Uh, down south does not include Cedar City and or Iron County and, uh, Washington County. In my book, down south is the hole in the donut between Santaquin and there, because that's the rural area, whereas Iron County and Washington County are really not rural anymore and have clubs. But I think you've addressed my concerns. Uh, the good representative has, and I, uh, I'll probably vote for it. Thank you. Thank You.

  15. Speaker (presiding)2:48:21

      Thank you Representative Albrecht. Further discussion of the bill Representative.

  16. Rep. Ronald Strong2:48:23

      Strong. Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Will the sponsor yield to a question? Yes.

  17. Speaker (presiding)2:48:27speaker not certain

      Thank Tim. How will you yield? Yes, Representative Hall.

  18. Rep. Mark A. Strong2:48:30

      So when you say sports specific, are you referring to all sports or just a specific sport? So if I play, say, um, football, and we're gonna be sure all the football players have this six week period off for this period of time, or, uh, does it refer to that or saying that there'll be a six week period of time where no sports will take place in our school?

  19. Rep. Katy Hall2:48:58

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the, the clarification. Um, right now they have that, they have a four week sports specific. So what that means is, is say you played football, your sports season is those fall months. A sports specific moratorium would be for football. U-H-S-A-A is gonna work with all the, the football coaches and decide when those six weeks sports moratorium would be. So I don't know what, I don't know what football is right now, but say it's January to February, so it would be those six weeks. You're just not playing football. The, like, the team is not having like their team get togethers. That doesn't mean that again, that they can't do weight training, there can't be conditioning. Um, there can't be like those. Preferably what we're trying to get at too is to help encourage students to go and play another sport so that they develop their athletic skills.

  20. Rep. Mark A. Strong2:49:52

      Um, one quick follow up if I could. Mr. Speaker?

  21. Speaker (presiding)2:49:56speaker not certain

      Yeah. Uh, Representative Hall, will you continue to yield?

  22. Rep. Katy Hall2:49:59

      Yes. Yes. Representative.

  23. Rep. Mark A. Strong2:50:01

      Okay. So then that say January, February range for football, for, uh, women's volleyball. It might be in, um, March or April or whenever their season is off.

  24. Rep. Katy Hall2:50:15

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that's correct. Yep. So again, it's just adding two weeks onto that. Try and give a little extra time for rest from those sports specific movements that you might be doing within the sports. Again, trying to alleviate injuries and give that rest time, but that doesn't mean that you can't keep training in something else. And you should.

  25. Speaker (presiding)2:50:35

      Thank you. Thank you Representative. Strong further discussion to the bill Representative Hansen.

  26. Rep. Leah Hansen2:50:43

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would the sponsor yield to a question. Representative Han or Representative Hall, will you yield to a question?

  27. Rep. Katy Hall2:50:50

      Yes, I will. Yes. Representative Hansen,

  28. Rep. Leah Hansen2:50:53

      Is it really, um, necessary to, to have it be equalized across the whole state? Would it be possible to allow them to, to to adjust it to their specific areas?

  29. Rep. Katy Hall2:51:08

      Um, thank you for the question. I think what we're, what the issue is is you'll have, you'll have teams in a region that are in separate areas of the state. And so if you are not enforcing it equally across the state, you could have a team in a, in a district. It's enforced right now along the districts. And so if you have a team that's in the same region, but they're in different districts and say the penalty is you sit out a game in one district in the next district, it's gonna be a slap on the hand. That's, that's the complaints that we were hearing in the survey is that it's not equal across the board. So some are enforcing it a little more strict and some are enforcing it a little less strict, and then nobody feels like anybody's enforcing the rules. So, Yep.

  30. Rep. Leah Hansen2:51:57

      My prayers to the U-H-S-A-A. Thank you Mr. Speaker.

  31. Speaker (presiding)2:52:01

      Thank you Representative Hansen. Further discussion to the bill. Representative Hawkins.

  32. Rep. Jon Hawkins2:52:06

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I rise in support of this bill. I think it's a, it's a needed thing, uh, for our kids to take a break, um, and to not have the hours and hours and hours that they are being pressured to have, um, during their athletic career. Um, I work a lot with, with youth sports, uh, in my area and have for a long time. And, you know, baseball, when I was younger was, I played 20 games a year if I was lucky enough to play on an all-star team. And, you know, 20 games is, is a month in, in October in baseball now, right? And, and they're doing this all year round. And so I think, I think what the good representative has done to help our kids have a little bit more of a normal life away from the stress and the grind of athletic performance and, and, and, and demanding that their bodies, you know, perform is a really, really good thing. So I applaud the, the sponsor for her efforts and, and support this bill.

  33. Speaker (presiding)2:53:19

      Thank you Representative Hawkins for the discussion to the bill Representative Matthews. All the questions, If this question has been called,

  34. Speaker (presiding)2:53:26

      which has the effective ending debate, go ahead and place that motion. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes? Debate has ended. Back to your Representative Hall for summation.

  35. Rep. Katy Hall2:53:37

      Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I think a lot of times we, we hear up here that we don't listen to the people. I sent out a survey to an 8 8300 people responded. Um, I really think we need to listen. I think that this is a mild step, step approach to, to try to give those kids a little rest in time. I've been in those trenches, I've coached these kids, I know that they need this time. And, and quite frankly, this is about half of the time that we used to give when I first started coaching, um, in 2009, what used to be 12 weeks. And we're just asking for six. So anyway, I really would appreciate your support on this. I think it's really important for the kids. And, and thank you very much. Thank

  36. Speaker (presiding)2:54:21

      You. Representative Hall voting will now be open on First Steps two, HB 2 93 Representative Ivory vote. Seeing, seeing all present Representative Ivory, seeing all present having voted voting is now closed. First substitute HB oh one more Representative MacPherson, seeing all present, having voted voting is now closed. First substitute HB 2 93 passes this body with 57 yes votes, eight no votes will be sent to the Senate for its consideration.

• Feb 24, 2026 Senate Education Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (19 turns)

  1. Committee chair36:01

     is it's first substitute, SB 2 93, public Education Student athlete protections, uh, Representative Hall. I notice you have an amendment. Is that okay? Go ahead.

  2. Rep. Katy Hall36:16

     Thank you. Mr. Chair. Yes, there is an amendment online from my Senate, um, sponsor.

  3. Committee chair36:23

     Okay. So, uh, I, I need a motion to approve Amendment one.

  4. Sen. David P. Hinkins36:29

     I You were both so eager to, uh, we just want to, we, we wanna, uh, add amendment one to So moved.

  5. Committee chair36:49

     Okay. So the motion is to, uh, adopt amendment one, uh, on SB 2 93. Uh, first substitute, uh, any discussion? The motion. Seeing none. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Chair rules? That is unanimous. Thank you to the amended bill. Go ahead, Representative Hall.

  6. Rep. Katy Hall37:12

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, so I'll speak to the amendment, I guess when I just, when I get to the bill, but I just wanted to go over quickly. Let me find my notes. I just wanna go over the background of where this bill came from. So this bill, um, started almost a year ago when I heard from my old AD in, um, when I coached tennis in high school at Bonneville. Um, my old, my ad the athletic director, um, he is there as well now. And he came to me with concerns regarding hiring and retaining coaches demands of time placed on athletes, overuse injuries, constraints on family time for both coaches and families, all these different issues. And so what we did, um, is we met with, um, some other coaches from our area, and we met with U-H-S-A-A and we had some discussions on, um, on these, these issues. And, and, uh, actually U-H-S-A-A and some of the other people involved in that meeting were like, how do you know this isn't just your district that feels this way or your school? And so what we did is we came up with this survey, and I, I believe I sent you all the survey, um, in an email last night. So we sent out a survey. We thought we'd maybe get three or 400 responses. Well, we got 88,300 responses to this survey. And, and we didn't get to every, every school district. We realized we didn't get to every district. There are some that just for whatever reason, didn't get it. And we tried a few times to get them to respond, and it just, it didn't happen. But we still felt like with 8,300 responses on a survey, that was a pretty good, a pretty good mark of what was going on. And so if you, if you look at that, um, survey data, and I'm happy to put it up on here if you need to, or you can look it up on your, on your computers either way, I'm fine with that. But, um, basically, uh, there was three policy points that we asked people about. We asked, um, about having another summer moratorium, another all sport moratorium, taking another week off in the summer. Um, in addition to the one that they have over the 4th of July, um, we talked about, um, specific on and off season, um, dates or moratorium, having another moratorium for those sports specific moratorium. And then we asked about practice hours and should they be reduced. So as the data came back on those charts, you'll see, um, that the curve kind of goes like this on people supporting having some sort of a change. Um, and again, 8,300 responses when, when talking to, um, our staff that helped us with that, they said 500 responses would've been statistically significant, and we got 8,300. Um, and what you're not seeing on the, on the survey that I sent you, it was kind of a compilation of all the comments that we got. We have like almost 200 pages of comments. People were really passionate about this subject. Um, so what we reflected in the bill, um, and the, the first bill we, we started with, we wanted to have 12, 12 weeks of sports specific moratorium. When I first started coaching, that's what we had. We had, you know, you had your season, then you had 12 weeks away from the sport to, to either cross train, do another sport, um, or whatever. But those have kind of bled out. And now we only have four weeks. And so where we ended up with, in this bill, even though we wanted 12, we ended up with six. So we're just asking for two more additional sports specific weeks of moratorium, meaning that rest. And then we added in, um, the, the summer week that U-H-S-A-A already already implemented for this coming summer as well. And kudos to them for, for recognizing that and, and putting that into their rule. And then, so we put that into this bill as all those, all those holiday moratoriums, um, and the, the extra summer week. And, um, we did have a practice hours thing in, but we took that out in the second sub to, um, kind of more the way they're doing it. It's a 20 hour week right now, and we were trying to get it down to 15, but it, it would've, anyway, there's, there's a lot more going on with that. And I've, I, I really want them to work on that on their own. Um, so we took that out of the bill and the amendment that, um, the good senator from Northern Utah is, um, put in is that, um, the sports specific moratorium of at least six weeks doesn't have to be consecutive. So we've taken that out and that the reporting will go to the education committee, not rules and review. So that's, that's the amendment. Um, but in the end, really what this is about is rest. It's about giving some extra rest for these kids. I just wanna, um, say this quote that Lu Alyssa Liu, I think that's how you pronounce her name. She just won the figure skating, um, for the Olympics. And, and I saw this video just this weekend of a quote that she had, and she said, winning isn't all that. It's neither is losing, it's just the outcome. What matters is the journey. I would say take a break. She literally retired at 16, took a break and decided to come back. And she was more well rested and she was more focused on, on what she wanted to do. And she said, it's the best thing I could have done. She came back to the sport. She says, I take breaks even now. And I think that's the way to do it. I really do think it is the way to do it. I think we need to, to have more breaks for these kids. And that's basically all this bill is asking for. Um, we really tried to work with all the stakeholders. I've tried to answer all the questions. I think when it first came out, we got a lot of pushback from the coaching community of, you know, you're trying to limit what we can do. And, and that's not what this is about. This is about just giving the kids those breaks, letting them heal, making sure they don't get overuse injuries. It's just a small step right now. Um, something that we probably need to continue to look at over the years. But anyway, with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

  7. Committee chair43:50

     Okay. Does that conclude your presentation? Yes. Okay. We're gonna come to members of the committee for clarifying questions. Go ahead, Senator Mikel. Thank

  8. Sen. Michael K. McKell43:58

     You. Um, obviously I support this. I think it, I think it's smart to do this. As you've worked with stakeholders. Is there any existing opposition or is the opposition settled down? I believe the opposition has settled down. Okay.

  9. Committee chair44:11

     Yep. Okay. Any other clarifying questions? Okay. We'll come to members of the public. Uh, if you'd like to provide, uh, public comments in person, come up and fill in, uh, both chairs at the stand. State your name and who you represent. Uh, when you are done with your comment, please sign in on the sheet. We need this information for the minutes. I will set a timer for each speaker, and each speaker will get one minute, 30 seconds. You will get a warning chime when there are 15 seconds left. Go ahead.

  10. Jan Whitaker, Assistant Director, Utah High School Activities Association44:49

      Okay. Good morning everyone. I'm Jan Whitaker, an assistant director at the High School Activity Association. And, uh, first of all, I'd like to thank Representative Hall for really listening to the stakeholders and doing her due diligence to adjust this bill so our schools would have some input in that. Also, Senator Musselman also, uh, would like to thank him for his work on this bill as well. There are a lot of positives with this bill. And, um, I think with working with Senator Hall, uh, this will be great things for our schools. Um, we'll work hard to implement those changes. Uh, we'll also look at that, the practice, our role with our stakeholders and see what we can do to adjust that. But overall, I think it's, it's a, it's a good bill. Now that we, that our schools appreciate, you know, Senator, our Representative Hall, listening to our schools, but it'll be good for our schools.

  11. Committee chair45:42

      Thank you. Me. Anyone else wanna make comment? Oh, that was easy. Any online? Okay. There's no hands online. So we'll come back to the committee for cla for action. Senator Riebe.

  12. Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe46:03

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to send out house bill 2 93 sub one out with a favorable recommendation As amended. As amended by as amended Sub one. Isn't that the same thing? Okay. So the motion is to, uh, send out first substitute HB 2 93 as amended. Uh, any discussion of that motion? Seeing none.

  13. Committee chair46:24

      I'm gonna come back to you to some, Um, I will wave. Let's get going.

  14. Sen. Kathleen A. Riebe46:31

      Thank you. I just like to, uh, thank you for working with so many agencies and organizations and listening to what people needed. It's really important that we listen to our constituents when we're trying to create legislation, and that's when it really works well. So, thank you for all the work you've done to make this the best way you can. Thank You.

  15. Committee chair46:47

      Okay. And so the motion is to send out s substitute one first substitute HB 2 93, public education student athlete protections as amended. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. You're, no. Okay. Okay.

  16. Rep. Katy Hall47:13

      Mr. Chair, personal privilege.

  17. Committee chair47:15

      Yes, go ahead. Okay.

  18. Rep. Katy Hall47:16

      In the back, I'm gonna have some students stand up from Snow College. My, my son is part of their presidential leadership team, and he's here with a group of students from Snow. I, I'm gonna take off with them. I've gotta go to another meeting, but I, I wanted to recognize them. They're here all day long. It's Snow Day on the hill. That's where I, where I have a bright, bright orange tie. But if you, if you could all welcome them, that would be great. Thank you.

  19. Committee chair47:45

      There you go. Thank you for coming.

• Feb 26, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (6 turns)

  1. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman48:56

     Thanks Mr. President. Um, you may have heard you some concerns about this bill. That's probably the bad way to start off a presentation, but I believe all the concerns have been fixed. Most specifically, if you look at lines 44 in the bill, you'll notice that the word consecutive has been redacted. That was part of an amendment that we ran earlier for me to agree to, uh, force watch of this bill earlier. There was, uh, um, in earlier versions, it's almost easier to tell you what was pulled out of it so that you can feel comfortable with it. Um, and then I'll kind of express my thoughts and, and express maybe the floor or the, the house sponsor's thoughts on why it's necessary. Um, it's not 12 weeks, it's not eight weeks, it's six weeks. So previously there was a four week, uh, uh, sport specific, um, moratorium. And, and this would move it to six weeks for the Utah High High School Athletic Association. Um, I pulled out the term consecutive 'cause earlier it was consecutive, so they would have to do that six weeks moratorium altogether. I did a lot of high school sports and a lot of coaching as well. One of the problems is that long of a gap. So by taking out the word executive or consecutive where they going for 62, the Utah Athletic Association can make and rule next page whatever they believe is appropriate, whether it be one and five, two and four, three and three, and their more times and move their more times around to make it work. In addition to that, any hours that were suggested in previous versions have been taken out. Um, and there's reaffirming that there's the holidays, but th those holiday breaks were already in rule within the Utah Hath Athletic Association. So, th this isn't, this is just reaffirming that those holidays need to be, uh, more, uh, the moratorium be in place for those holiday, um, events. And those are of course, what we would think of as normal holidays. We might recognize it's important for, for us to spend with our kids. And that is Independence Day, Thanksgiving, winter breaks, and holidays. Now, this tells you what the bill does, so that you don't, if you've heard of what it did previously, you, your nerves can be stilled on that. That's not the case. But why is it important? Um, again, I've played a lot of tactical sports and, and arrest or a break. A moratorium is really critical for the body to heal. Um, and this is reasonable moratoriums. These are not unreasonable. In fact, as I talked with coaches, arresting coaches and, and primarily arresting coaches, to be honest, um, uh, many, many of these coaches already do this, this moratorium. So it's, it just copies what they're already doing, but some aren't and some aren't honoring the moratoriums. So to that end as, as it as it can, by putting it in code, hopefully, uh, Utah High School Athletic Association has a little more teeth to be able to enforce, uh, following the rules that they already have in place. Um, with that being said, that, that's my presentation and, uh, I yield to any questions if you feel appropriate. Thank you.

  2. Senate presiding officer52:04

     Thank you. Senator Musselman questions for the sponsor? I don't see any senator back to you.

  3. Senate presiding officer52:10

     Call the question. And the question is, shall first substitute House bill 4 48? Be read for a third time. Roll call vote two ninety three. I'm sorry. Let me recall that the question is, shall first substitute House Bill 2 93? Be read for a third time. Roll call vote. Senator Spery Lewin Brammer us Kalimore Aye. Escamilla Fillmore Grover. Harper Hankins. Ipson Johnson. Aye. K Juab McKay. Aye. Mikel Aye. Milner. Musselman. Aye. Owens, were you pitcher? Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Aye. Stratton? Yes. Vickers. Weiler Aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton, president Adams, Um, house bill first substitute house Bill 2 93. Having, uh, having received 20 yay votes, five nay votes with four being absent, shall be read for a third time.

  4. Senate presiding officer53:58

     Uh, Senator Cullimore?

  5. Sen. Kirk A. Cullimore54:01

     Thank you Mr. President Pro 10. Motion to UNC Ccle. HB 3 0 9. Motion to encircle HB 3 0 9. That's on. Second.

  6. Senate presiding officer54:13

     It is. Um, all in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Bill Uncircled.

• Feb 27, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (6 turns)

  1. Rep. Katy Hall1:00:49

     I think it'll be, uh, easier maybe to tell you again what this doesn't do. Um, in previous versions of the bill, there was requirements on hours and, um, there was also started out at 12 weeks and eight weeks moratorium. It doesn't do either of those of particular items that were of great concern. In addition to that, the six weeks total that is requiring on moratorium is six weeks total. It's not in addition to it's six weeks. And we struck in the word consecutive. So Utah High School Athletic Association can take that six weeks, work with the local districts and, and the local sports and decide what's best for those sports, um, on how to split those weeks up, whether it be two and two, two and two, four and two, one and five. However, they'd like to split it up. And, and as far as the holidays, that's just a con confirmation and code into the practice that that, that the Utah High School Athletic Associates already doing. They're already doing the moratoriums over certain holidays that are listed in the code. This is just to affirm that so everybody's consistently doing what they're supposed to be doing on that level. Um, let's see. Uh, additionally, there's a couple of carve outs. There's a recognition that rural schools are having to be dealt with just a little bit differently. Um, and so the, there's an allowance for Utah High School Athletic Association to deal with those rural circumstances, maybe with a little, little more nuance. Um, in addition to that, um, as per what I believe is already the, the regulations within Utah High School Athletic Association, that even during those moratoriums, you could still do non-PE sports specific activities like conditioning or weight training, uh, aerobics, or whatever other kind of cardiovascular or strength training you might want to do, just as long as it's not sports specific. Again, that's already in the Utah High School Athletic Association process, but it's affirming those things with that Mr. President, I, that concludes my presentation.

  2. Senate President (presiding)1:02:45

     Thank you. Senator Musselman. See no discussion. Going to you for a motion.

  3. Sen. Calvin R. Musselman1:02:49

     Uh, call the question Mr. President. Thank you. Thank You. The question is, shall

  4. Senate President (presiding)1:02:52

     first substitute House Bill two ninety three pass. Roll call vote.

  5. Unknown speaker (roll call)1:02:57

     Senator Vickers. Baldy Aye. Lewin Brammer Aye. Bus Colmore. Escamilla Aye. Gilmore Aye. Grover Aye. Harper. Aye. Kinins Ipson Johnson. Juab McKay. Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Mitch Plum Rebe Aye. Sandal Stevenson Stratton a Vickers. Weiler Aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton Gibson, President Adams Juab President Adams Aye. First substitute house Bill 2 93, having received 17 yay votes, 10 day votes, two being absent, passes his body and will be returned to the house for further consideration.

  6. Senate President (presiding)1:04:38speaker not certain

     observance Amendments. Senator Cullimore. Senator Cullimore. Thank you. Anybody up for a motion

• Mar 2, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (6 turns)

  1. Unknown speaker31:47speaker not certain

     First substitute House bill 2 93. Public Education Student Athlete Protections by Representative Hall.

  2. Speaker (presiding)31:54

     Representative Hall.

  3. Rep. Katy Hall31:56

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to concur with the Senate.

  4. Speaker (presiding)31:59

     Thank you representative. That motion is in order. Would you like to speak to it?

  5. Rep. Katy Hall32:03

     Yes. So, um, all we did, all they did was took out the word consecutive and changed the reporting to a written report to be, um, given to the Education Committee instead of rules. And, um, general oversight committee.

  6. Speaker (presiding)32:19

     Thank you. Representative Hall. Uh, discussion to the motion to concur with the Senate substitutes on or Senate amendments on first substitute HB 2 93. See none. We'll go ahead and place the motion. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes Voting now be open for final passage on first substitute HP 2 93. Representative Shelley, would you like to vote? Seeing all present, having voted voting is now closed. First substitute HB 2 93 passes this body with 57 yes votes, seven no votes and will be sent to the Senate for the signature of the president. Madam Reading Clerk