S.B. 165 Economic Mobility Initiative

What this bill does

S.B. 165 would create a program that funds a backbone organization to coordinate existing state education, family, workforce, health, and housing programs in communities. It would provide planning and implementation grants, and the substitute version directs a share of funds to rural areas and relies on a one-time appropriation pending the budget.

Plain-English summary written by AI from the official description. Check the official text below.

Your legislators on this bill

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Every vote

• 2 yes, 1 no, 3 absentSenate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee: vote to approve it · Jan 28, 2026Who voted how
• 23 yes, 1 no, 5 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Feb 13, 2026Who voted how
• 16 yes, 8 no, 5 absentFinal Senate vote · Feb 17, 2026
• 8 yes, 1 no, 1 absentHouse Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee: Amendment Recommendation · Feb 24, 2026Who voted how
• 6 yes, 3 no, 1 absentHouse Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 24, 2026Who voted how
• 63 yes, 4 no, 8 absentFinal House vote · Mar 6, 2026
• 28 yes, 1 noSenate vote to accept the other chamber's changes · Mar 6, 2026

Hearings and debates

• Jan 28, 2026 Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (30 turns)

  1. Committee chair53:09

     He is here. Senator Fillmore. Uh, okay. Senator Fillmore. Um, we have before a Senate Bill 1 65 economic mobility initiatives. Um, do you want pass out? Just pass out the handouts. He coming up. Thank you. Oh, Alright. Well, we'll have

  2. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore53:53

     a lot of public comment. I guess I'll present a alone and then I'll vacate here. Uh, Madam Chair, thank you. It's good to be with you. Uh, let me just, uh, I'll, I'll just introduce this by way of introduction. Um, the, um, I appreciate, I, I also wanna let you know, I think I make a quorum next door. It's possible that I may need to just cast a vote and come right back, but luckily it's right next door. Um, you know, a year ago we appropriated a little bit of money, uh, for the Kim Gar Chem Gardner Institute to do a study on this issue, right? So we have a lot of programs, in fact, I'm repeating myself for those of you who are on the, uh, uh, the appropriations committee where we presented this, uh, as an RFA. But we do have a lot of programs from public schools to, uh, workforce support programs, to family assistance programs, uh, parental training programs. We just have a lot of things we do to try to help families. 'cause we're a pro-family state, and we know that when our families are strong, our society is strong, and that, and schools are strong. And when families are weak, society suffers and kids suffer in schools. And so this study was about let's go, let's look around and find out what are other states? What is Utah doing? How are we, um, how are these various programs coordinating, working together to achieve a common outcome, uh, rather than just being siloed, right? It's like, well, we're, we're about food, or we're about training, or we're about education. Uh, you know, we wanna approach this up at the legislative level really holistically, right? What can we do to strengthen families by way of strengthening our society, helping kids do better in school so that they get better outcomes? And, you know, you get kids who are, you know, maybe in the bottom quintile of, uh, of economic, uh, economic performance today, but can move up to the second and the third, right? Uh, and Utah does really well there. Economic mobility, you know, we're number one. We, we typically have the greatest percentage of people who, you know, move from the bottom and, and move up. So we're doing well, but we can do better. So, uh, this study, uh, that we presented through the appropriate to the appropriations committee, identified things that, that several states are doing. And these are red states and blue states, Florida, California, Maryland, uh, New York. Um, uh, and we found some common themes about what they do. And that is what this bill seeks to create a program to partner with a backbone organization, uh, who can help raise, uh, raise money, like leverage the state dollars that are already there. Use it to, to raise national dollars, to be able to bring in, to provide further support for families, and ensure that all of these individual silos of programs are working together for, uh, the overall benefit of families in Utah. Um, here's where I need, I want you guys to come up and fill in the specifics rather than just do it during public comment. Can one of you come up here with me? Like, let's, let's talk about the REACH program and, and what it's going to do so that, so that you can have it. And then that way you'll be better prepared to answer, to ask specific questions. So this is gonna be Bill Crim from United Way. I think you all know him. Yes. And, uh, thank you. Yeah.

  3. Bill Crim, United Way of Salt Lake57:00

     Good afternoon. So, this, uh, initiative would create a, uh, a grants framework to help communities do what some communities in Utah have already been doing, uh, which is bring sectors together, share a common goal and accountability for making progress around that goal. Uh, typically those goals have to do with educational outcomes from, uh, kindergarten through post-secondary education. Uh, they have to do with health and community safety. Uh, they have to do with economic stability within a community. Uh, but the idea of aligning all of the things that communities do, both in the public sector, in the nonprofit sector, and in the private sector around shared objectives, and then sharing responsibility for progress. Uh, that's the idea of, of what is known in the field, studied by the Policy Institute as community-based infrastructure or civic infrastructure that helps these things not just sort of, um, exist and, and lightly collaborate, but, but actually integrate their efforts and measure progress over time. Uh, the Gardner Policy Institute identified, uh, a set of best practices, uh, around the country. Those exist again, in some places in Utah. You'll hear about that, uh, momentarily. Uh, but this idea is let's, let's, let's be one of the few states in the country that sets its sight on creating this infrastructure statewide. Let's create opportunities for more communities to have this infrastructure. And, and then let's make systematic progress on things like literacy and, uh, high school graduation and post-secondary attainment. Okay. That concludes our presentation. Okay.

  4. Committee chair58:48

     Um, do I have questions from the committee?

  5. Unknown speaker58:52speaker not certain

     I have a question. Um, so in terms of outcomes, uh, how are you determining outcomes and how will you measure outcomes?

  6. Bill Crim, United Way of Salt Lake59:00

     So, one important thing about this is typically, um, outcomes are measured in our world programmatically, uh, participants in a program, uh, and how well they do based on a single intervention. This kind of infrastructure measures outcomes at a whole school, whole community, whole region, whole district, whole state level. The idea is, is we want to make progress for, uh, for our entire population, um, the community, the ideas that communities set, the specific goals. Um, it's not a top down approach. It's an approach where communities bring together their school system and their public sector and the nonprofit sector and, and identify what is it we wanna focus on. It might be school readiness, it might be third grade reading. We expect that every community will want to get behind those, uh, those kind of outcomes, education outcomes, particularly literacy with the momentum in our state, uh, for that. Uh, but community led parent driven and, and measured at a scale that is unusual and often impossible when we just think about programs.

  7. Committee chair1:00:13

     Okay. Thank you. Um, is there anyone from the public that would like to, okay. We have one, two, any three people that, four people. I don't have a bag to leave here to interfere anybody, if that's gonna be okay. Do you have treats? Okay. Um, so let's start over here and we'll move that way. Okay. Please introduce yourself and then make sure you sign in.

  8. Cherie Wood, Mayor, South Salt Lake1:00:46

     Good afternoon. My name is Cherrie Wood and I am the mayor of South Salt Lake City. And the work that you've had described, um, to you today is, um, full scale in our community. We finally completed the pipeline of Cradle to Career in our community. And so I am here speaking in support of this amazing work and just wanted to share, um, some of the outcomes that we've seen as a community. Um, we are doing this work, but 1 65 SB 1 65 would help us do it faster, better, and with more accountability. Um, as a community, we've invested in this cross sector and as outcomes. Um, our youth arrest rate, um, during the afterschool hours has gone down 85%. Since we've implemented this work in our community, we have taken all three of our elementary schools out of turnaround status. We have improved our graduation, our high school graduation rates, and we have improved our, um, on level third grade reading. So these are things that are very important to us. And, um, we've been doing this work now for 13 years and have statistics to show that when we are aligning with data and removing some of the barriers that our youth have, that we are providing an opportunity for economic mobility, um, in our communities. And so, I would just ask you to please support SB 1 65 because our kids Need it. Okay.

  9. Committee chair1:02:19

     Thank you very much. Next.

  10. Ben Horsley, Superintendent, Granite School District1:02:28

      Good afternoon, superintendent Wesley with Granite School District. Good to see you all. Be as brief as I possibly can. As a superintendent oversees the South Salt Lake area and Millcreek City where we, uh, have, um, desperate challenges and concerns. Um, we obviously, schools cannot do it alone, and, uh, we're constantly tasked with taking on more and more challenges. And what this does is actually help remove those tasks from our schools so that our teachers and educators can focus on what's most important, and that's providing quality instruction to our students. So through South Salt Lake and Millcreek partnerships, we're seeing benefits, uh, for better readiness, attendance, better pathways, more clear pathways to graduation and careers. Um, our teachers are able to focus on those things that are most important, uh, uh, limiting the barriers that are coming from outside of the classroom. So this wraparound community-wide approach, um, is supported in this bill and, uh, that allows us to align our resources within our communities better because we know that stronger communities create stronger schools. So I appreciate, uh, the efforts on behalf of the sponsor and, uh, our great partnerships with South Salt Lake and Millcreek. Uh, but, uh, we want to continue to strengthen this initiative. We think that this initiative will help our schools focus on that, allowing us to, to focus on the things that matter the most, uh, for us. So we would encourage your support.

  11. Committee chair1:03:49

      Thank you so much. Senator Kwan has a question or a comment, I think.

  12. Sen. Karen Kwan1:03:52

      Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm, I'm wondering, um, and I think it's in the Granite School District, a family homeless center. Is that or works with the District? Is that It's right there in South Salt Lake.

  13. Ben Horsley, Superintendent, Granite School District1:04:04speaker not certain

      Mm-hmm. And so that will also be, uh, not, not part of this, but could be.

  14. Sen. Karen Kwan1:04:09

      Could be, yep. Great. Well, thank you for your work. Thank you. Thank you.

  15. Committee chair1:04:17

      Please introduce yourself and, um, share your thoughts.

  16. Brian Martinez, Grand County Commissioner1:04:21

      Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. Um, my name is Brian Martinez. I'm a Grand County Commissioner in rural Utah, and I just wanted to talk about how I came about finding this bill and, and how I think that it can help our rural community. So we have a, uh, uh, a program. It's called the Our Village Community Center. And that program, um, it does a couple of things. They do, uh, um, early childhood development. They provide family support for newer mothers, and then they also have a food stability or food security program, um, to where they go and they pay local farmers, um, for some food. And then they hand that food out to the, to the, um, to folks inside of our community, um, that, that need that food. Um, it's, it's quite a large, uh, um, program that they have going. They served 22,000 people. They've, uh, uh, um, what is it? Last year they had 30,000 pounds of food that they delivered. And, uh, uh, 10,000 pounds of that was onto the Navajo Nation. Um, that was all funded through the LFPA and that funding has disappeared. Um, so when I saw this bill right here, um, I became really excited. Um, a couple of the things that really excited me was this idea of being able to have an economic mobility partnership. Um, this is something that, you know, I think that would benefit Grand County severely. Um, and then also the idea of being able to scale that program. And I think that's something that hasn't been mentioned yet, but this, this idea of being able to use these grant funds to scale, to scale that, um, you know, in Grand County, we have a, a, a little bit of a different poverty, um, issue. If you looked at it from a high level, um, you would say Grand County is not really, it, it's high risk, but it's not. It's, it's something that would be manageable. Um, but what's not taken into consideration on that is the, um, high cost of living that's inside of Grand County. So this, this program right here, I think kind of addresses that hidden poverty that we see. Um, you know, in Grand County, 70% of the folks that are there work in the tourism business, and the average salary is about $30,000. Um, for a person to actually afford a home, they need to be making about 120,000. So we're at that kind of, that little level right now to where we don't really make enough, we make too much money to qualify for subsidies, yet we don't really make enough money to, uh, uh, um, to, to actually survive. So Thank you. Thanks.

  17. Committee chair1:06:43

      Appreciate that. Make sure you sign in. Okay. Okay. Thank you. All right. Please introduce yourself.

  18. Bill Winfield, Grand County Commissioner1:06:48

      Yeah, thank you Madam Chair. Um, bill Winfield, grand County Commissioner as well. And, uh, I'm here also in support of this bill. I would like to, um, just a few little things I'd like to touch on rural Utah especially. I mean, it's, um, it's a need that's a little different. It might not be as great as it is up here in the city and some of these areas, so just being able to utilize some of this in the rural area has a lot of value. My partner manages the food bank in Grand County. Um, I'm one of her volunteers when I'm not busy being a commissioner. So I see those, a lot of those folks that come in firsthand. And, um, you know, a lot of us older folks like to think that sometimes these people just need to go get a job, right? That's sometimes the prevailing attitude, but yet when you work there and you realize that it sometimes is just a struggle for them to get through the day to get food and to get what they need. And so the, the help that we're giving out is huge, is, is the way that I see it there. And on the conservative side of my fiscal conservativeness, I like the fact that this is a joint effort between, um, private and, um, government funds. Um, there's a huge effort to bring in some of these people from all over the country, but even in the state of Utah, the, some of these larger people that like to be donors. And I think that's a great opportunity for, for the use of those funds. So again, thank you for allowing me to speak.

  19. Committee chair1:08:19

      Thank you. Uh, is there anyone else? Okay. Is there any, is anyone online? Okay. Um, Senator Fillmore, I'm gonna return to the committee for, uh, discussion. Senator Quo.

  20. Sen. Karen Kwan1:08:37

      Thank you, Madam Chair. I, uh, move that we favorably recommend SB 1 65 to the full body of the Senate.

  21. Committee chair1:08:45

      Okay. We have a motion to favorably recommend Senate Bill 1 65 to full body of the Senate. Would you like to,

  22. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:08:52

      I would comment if I may, uh, uh, my comment is that I thank the Senator so much for that motion, however, because Jeff Van Holton is such a remarkable typist, I guess, uh, he's been able to, uh, publish the substitute that I thought we would have to run on the floor, but it's online now and ready for committee. It contains some technical changes and some changes to ensure that the Wasatch front doesn't gobble up all the money. Right. We're, we're earmarking some for rural communities. So if, if, uh, instead of adopting this motion, I, I wonder if we could first adopt a substitute that has just, uh, come online.

  23. Committee chair1:09:28

      Um, Senator Johnson, would you like to make a substitute motion?

  24. Unknown speaker1:09:32speaker not certain

      It's not, it's not online. It's a, I don't say a substitute Motion. Oh, shoot. Then nevermind. Forget it. Okay. Maybe he just submitted it. Okay.

  25. Committee chair1:09:40

      It's fine. We'll do it on the floor. Okay. All. So then I appreciate the motion. Thank you. We have a motion to pass out Senate Bill 1 65 with a favorable recommendation, economic mobility initiatives.

  26. Committee chair1:09:53

      Any discussion would you like to sum,

  27. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:09:56

      Uh, by some of this? This works in Utah where it's been implemented. It works around the country, and, and I think this is a, will create a remarkable opportunity for more communities to do what's shown to work.

  28. Committee chair1:10:06

      Okay. Uh, would you like to sum

  29. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:10:09

      I'll waive. Okay.

  30. Committee chair1:10:10

      All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Oh, sorry. Any opposed? Uh, that passes two to one, so thank you. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. And, uh, we'll look forward to the substitute on the floor of the Senate. Senate. Okay. We now have, I think I saw Senator Sandall. Um, Senator Sandall has SJ nine,

• Feb 13, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (13 turns)

  1. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:44:05

     You Mr. President Pro tem. Uh, last year the legislature funded a study by the Gardner Policy Institute on how communities can improve educational achievement and economic mobility to areas of Utah's strength. The message in that study was very clear that children do better when the systems around them work better to support families because kids do well when families do well. Utah, we already invest billions of dollars across education, health, housing, and workforce programs. But too often these efforts operate separately and in silos, and when they don't coordinate, families can fall through the cracks and then schools end up trying to fill in every gap. We ask our schools, Mr. President to do too much. Their mission is to teach math, science, language history and the arts. But when communities and families are struggling, schools step in, they care about the kids, but educators get stretched thin and pulled away from what they do best and where their focus should be. So Senate Bill 1 65 builds on research from the Gardner Institute that they reported to us earlier this year. Uh, I should say, uh, over the interim leading up to this session, it's on successful local efforts that are already happening in Utah and recognizing that a child's long-term success is not just shaped by their own family situation, but by the strength of the families in their neighborhood. When children grow up surrounded by stable families and supportive neighbors, their outcomes improve even when those children face great challenges at home. The reach initiative created in this bill is a statewide place-based strategy that strengthens community conditions by providing planning grants to help communities build partnerships and create a mobility action plan and multi-year implementation grants to carry those plans out so that communities will show real need and demonstrate strong collaboration among schools, governments, nonprofits, employers and families. Senate Bill 1 65, Schiff, Utah from funding disconnected programs to supporting coordinated community and family led solutions so every child can thrive and so that schools can stay focused on teaching. Mr. President, that concludes my presentation.

  2. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:46:30

     Thank you Senator Fillmore. Looking for discussion, seeing no discussion. Go to you for a motion.

  3. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:46:36speaker not certain

     Thank you. I move that Senate Bill 1 65. Be read a third time.

  4. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:46:39

     I think we have motion. Uh, question is, shall Senate bill one 30? Excuse me. Question is, shall Senate bill one Mr.

  5. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:46:45

     Present? I, so sorry. I do have a sub. May

  6. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:46:48

     I I wondered about that. So you wanna run that? Yeah,

  7. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:46:50

     I, I, I turned the wrong page in my, so I just, the first substitute makes technical changes and then, uh, just provide some clarity to ensure that, uh, rural Utah where the population is lower, we'll still get a good share of these funds. So with that, I'll move to delete in Title and Body Senate Bill 1 65 and replace it with the first substitute Senate Bill 1 65.

  8. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:47:11

     Motion to substitute say and no discussion. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Roll it. Motion passes. It's a bill of substitute and I'll take a motion on the

  9. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:47:18

     Bill and now I will move that first substitute Senate Bill 1 65. Be read a third time. Thank

  10. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:47:22

      You. And the question is, shall first substitute Senate Bill 1 65? Be read a third time. Roll call vote.

  11. Unknown speaker1:47:27speaker not certain

      Senator Spry Lewin Let me vote. Brammer buss Colmore Escamilla Aye. Fillmore Fillmore Iye. Grover Harper Hankins Ipson Johnson Quan McKay Mikel Milner Mussman Owens Pitcher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Pickers Weiler Wilson Winterton.

  12. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)1:48:26

      President Adams Aye. First substitute Senate Bill 1 65. Having received 23 yay votes, one nay vote, five being absent shall be read a third time. Senator Weiler.

  13. Sen. Todd Weiler1:48:37

      Thank you. Personal privilege. Granted. Yeah, we're not supposed to play favorites,

• Feb 17, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (4 turns)

  1. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:18:38

     Senator Fillmore, Thank you Mr. President. When families do well, neighborhoods do well. Children do well, schools do well, and society does well. We already spend billions of dollars across education and health, housing, workforce programs, but those programs often operate in silos and don't coordinate or communicate. And when they don't talk to each other, families can fall through the cracks. So building on a study that we funded last year that was performed by the Gardner Institute, we've identified several methods to be able to improve outcomes for families by improving coordination through state programs. And that's what Senate Bill 1 65 does. It creates the raising expectations through accountability community and hope initiative or reach. So this is a statewide community focused, uh, effort to improve the economic mobility and outcomes for children, families, and therefore for communities and society. Thank you for that presentation.

  2. Presiding officer1:19:46

     Is, is there discussion to this bill? There's an UN Senator Cullimore Fillmore back to you.

  3. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:19:51

     Thank you. I move that first substitute Senate bill 1 65 pass.

  4. Presiding officer1:19:56

     And the question is, shall first substitute Senate Bill one sixty five Pass. Roll call Vote. Senator Vickers Baldy. Lewin Aye. Bramer Aye. Bus? Aye. Call Moore Escamilla. Fillmore Aye. Grover Aye. Harper. Aye. Kins. No. Ipson a Johnson. Aye. No. Juab McKay Mikel Milner Musman Owens Pitcher Lum Bre Sandal Stevenson Harper Switches to know Stratton Vickers Aye. Weiler Aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton McKay, president Adams First substitute Senate Bill 1 65, having received 16 yay votes, eight nay votes, five being absent passes the Senate will be sent to the house for further consideration.

• Feb 24, 2026 House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (46 turns)

  1. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:34:02

     The, uh, the last item on our agenda is, uh, SB 1 65, or first substitute, excuse me, SB 1 65 Economic Mobility Initiative. Senator Fillmore.

  2. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:34:17

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, good to be back before you guys. Um, you know, we spend billions of dollars in our state across education, health, housing, workforce programs, uh, like it is literally, uh, many billions of dollars. Um, but we spend those in silos, right? This, the schools get a couple billion dollars and they don't spend a lot of time talking to the family. Support programs and family support programs get millions or hundreds of millions of dollars. The goal with Senate Bill 1 65 is to strengthen families and then let families strengthen communities and communities, strengthen schools by breaking down the silos, by identifying a backbone organization that can, um, help with the coordination of those efforts so that schools can focus on what schools do best. Other programs can focus on what they do best. The coordination can happen between those programs with the idea that strong families make for strong communities and strong schools. And when families suffer, communities suffer and schools suffer. In fact, the number one predictor of a child, uh, moving upward in economic mobility is not just that child's family situation, but the family situation of that child's neighbors and community, right? Even children in broken homes, but who grow up in communities where there are stable families. Those children do better even than children who come from intact families, but in neighborhoods that are surrounded with broken families. So, uh, Senate Bill 1 65 recognizes that fact, if our goal is to improve educational outcomes, improve family outcomes, improve economic mobility outcomes, we can do that without spending more money by just having those programs coordinate together to strengthen families. Uh, that is the key. And we need to make sure that families in, in every neighborhood has a base of strong families that can support the communities, the schools, and especially the children in their neighboring families. So that's what one 60 Senate Bill 1 65 is about. Um, I would be happy to answer questions. That concludes my presentation.

  3. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:36:39

     Thank you, Senator. We'll bring it back to the committee for clarifying questions. Seeing none we'll open, uh, public comment. Representative Shelley, do you have a, do you have a question?

  4. Rep. Lisa Shepherd1:36:55

     Yes. Okay. There you go. Yes, I do. Senator, I think we do have a question, so sorry about that. Thank you. Sorry. Sorry I was late on the draw. Uh, can you explain the fiscal note and how that will apply?

  5. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:37:12

     Yeah, in fact, I'll, if it's all right, I will allow one of the public commenters, uh, from, uh, United Way to address that. Would that be all right? Sure. That'll happen during public comment.

  6. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:37:22

     Great. Any other questions? Seeing none, will now open it to public comment.

  7. Ben Horsley, Superintendent, Granite School District1:37:32

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Ben Horsley. I'm the superintendent of Granite School District. I wanna, uh, extend appreciation to the sponsor. This is something, uh, an issue we've been working on for, or actually many, many years, uh, in partnership with our local municipalities. And I see our, our good mayor from South Salt Lake behind me, uh, at Millcreek City. Um, what I would like to do, uh, it with my educational entity, is to be able to focus on the need, the educational needs of our students. And what our partnership with United Way and, uh, the collaboration with our local municipalities has allowed us to do is to not have our teachers focused on the things that are outside of their real control. It's allowed, uh, those who have expertise in providing those supports to our students and their families, uh, to build the communities that we all grew up in, um, in places where, uh, poverty is most high. And so, uh, we continue to benefit, uh, from these, these great partnerships, um, to make, uh, community schools work. And we're seeing the, the benefit of the, those outcomes when our kids are able to focus on things that matter in the classroom because they're not hungry, because they're not worried about, uh, dental care, eyeglasses, things of those that nature, these backbone agencies and other support, community support organizations are able to provide those supports, and we can focus on the things that we do well, which is, which is education. So I would encourage, uh, the committee to sponsor the bill or support the bill. Thank you.

  8. Bill Crim, CEO, United Way of Salt Lake1:39:00

     Thank you, superintendent. Good afternoon. Uh, Mr. Chair, uh, committee members, my name is Bill Crim. I'm the CEO of United Way of Salt Lake and of Utah's Promise. And, um, to answer the question about the fiscal note, the fiscal note, uh, does a couple of things. First of all, it is, it draws an a match from the private sector. Um, uh, national and local philanthropists are interested in joining this partnership, this idea that it takes a team to build a community that supports, uh, families and builds community. And so drawing that additional money, uh, it then does, uh, it creates two, uh, grant programs available to communities and partnerships within communities throughout the state. Uh, the first one helps communities start to build this infrastructure. Uh, that's a planning and development type of investment that, uh, allows a community to form the partnerships that allow the private sector, the schools, local government, county governments, nonprofits to work together. Uh, the second type of grant is an, uh, a scaling and, and, uh, expansion type grant that allows a community, like the one you're about to hear from, uh, go deeper. Um, and those grants really are designed for communities that have taken on the expectation and the accountability for, uh, reaching a hundred percent of, of their families and kids.

  9. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:40:29

     Thank you. We do have a question for you, so we'll go ahead and allow that represent color.

  10. Unknown speaker1:40:35speaker not certain

      Thank you very much. The, the bill has a lot of different criteria, a whole lot of things to focus on. There's always more grant requests than there is money. If, if, if United Way is involved in the selection of, of and, and technical assistance for these grants, how will you choose which programs to, to fund and match and which ones not to?

  11. Bill Crim, CEO, United Way of Salt Lake1:40:57

      That's a great question, and I'll say very quickly. What we've learned over decades of grant making, and particularly the last, uh, 13 or 14 years of investing in these kinds of partnerships, is that, um, there are always more needs than there are resources. And that the most important predictor of success in terms of impact and results is the willingness of local partners to work together to align their efforts to develop a unified or a shared plan. So it's not three or four different plans all coming at, uh, the problem. It's a unified plan between the schools, the city county, government, again, nonprofits, all working together.

  12. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:41:43

      Thank you, representative. Okay. Next person.

  13. Cherie Wood, Mayor, South Salt Lake City1:41:49

      Hi, thank you committee. I am Cherrie Wood. I'm the mayor of South Salt Lake City. Um, over the last 14 years, we have really focused on, um, changing the trajectory and the outcome for our, our youth and for our families. And over this period of time, we have built a citywide system of afterschool programs with in partnership with Granite School District, United Way Promise partnerships, um, philanthropic dollars partners that are out there doing this kind of work with our kids. Um, it is very valuable work. What we have seen over the last 14 years are, uh, juvenile arrest rates and our community have gone down 85%. So our kids know that we care about them. We're giving them a place to plug in an opportunity to feel successful in their education. Um, we have taken all of our elementary schools out of turnaround status. Um, all of our schools are, uh, title one schools, and we have improved our graduation rates and our third grade reading rates. And so we would ask for, um, this committee to support this bill because our kids need it, and other communities need this opportunity as well. Thank you.

  14. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:43:04

      Thank you, mayor. Okay, next.

  15. Rich Nye, Senior Advisor, Utah Governor's Office1:43:08

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Rich and I senior advisor in the governor's office. I appreciate the bill sponsor and the work that has gone into this bill. This is one of the, the efforts, uh, that this bill reflects in the work, uh, associated with it, uh, was also recommended in the governor's budget, so would urge your support on, on this effort. Thank you.

  16. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:43:27

      Thank you. Okay. Any, anyone else from the, from the public, like to comment? Seeing none will bring it back to the committee for further action. Representative Shelley,

  17. Rep. Lisa Shepherd1:43:45

      Could I get some clarification? I, so I spent time reading this last night and I couldn't figure out what it was, and now I hear you present and I still can't figure out what it was or what it is. Can, can you just clarify what who it applies to and what it does?

  18. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:44:03

      Yeah, I'll, I'll have United Way come up and help me out with this if you'd like to. We already have programs, uh, throughout the state that, uh, fund these kind, uh, you know what I mean? We've got programs through the Department of Workforce Services. Obviously there's public education, uh, that has a big part of that, uh, programs through Health and Human Services. Go On. Sorry. Uh,

  19. Rep. Lisa Shepherd1:44:22

      so you're saying programs, but I'm wondering what, like, what programs are there that the community needs and, and I'm guessing there's $5 million a year going into this. What programs are there, the community needs that isn't already being served? That's really where My question is. Let me quickly clarify that.

  20. Unknown speaker1:44:42speaker not certain

      This is one time money not every year. Okay. And then go ahead. Bill Says ongoing.

  21. Bill Crim, CEO, United Way of Salt Lake1:44:48

      So I think the way to think about this is that there are many, many programs that the state invests in that, uh, that local communities invest in and that philanthropy invests in. And at the moment, they largely work, uh, by themselves. They do good work, um, in their own sort of lane. What this bill does is it creates, you've heard the term backbone infrastructure. It creates an accountability or backbone infrastructure to tie things together to align literacy efforts, for example, um, between after school programs, those literacy efforts in a school, uh, mentoring programs that might be in a community, but to get them all working together and then measure progress together. Another thing that's currently true in the world as it is, is that each program measures its progress just for its own individual program participants under this bill entire, um, the, under this bill, the wellbeing of families and children in an entire community would be measured as well. So the measurement infrastructure of are we improving our, our literacy rate as a state from where it is now to a goal of 80%, for example, this creates an infrastructure and the aligned efforts among many programs to do that.

  22. Rep. Lisa Shepherd1:46:17

      So you say there are many organizations that are already doing this. Why does the government need to now come in and help

  23. Bill Crim, CEO, United Way of Salt Lake1:46:29

      The, uh, research about, um, economic mobility that, uh, some of you might be familiar with Raj Chetty, who has come to Utah Times to to talk about Utah's excellent status in terms of, of promoting economic mobility. But our national, um, our, our national challenge of losing economic mobility among younger generations. What his research has found is that individual programs do not create by themselves the best path to economic mobility, but community transformation in the way Senator Fillmore described in which whole communities are strengthened in which families are connected, uh, across economic lines, that's a better path to economic mobility. And the intent of this bill is to create the, the ties between organizations and efforts that allow a more holistic approach to economic mobility. Thank you.

  24. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:47:29

      Thank you, representative. Um, further discussion, Representative Miller?

  25. Rep. Tracy Miller1:47:39speaker not certain

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Has the, uh, senate amendment already been adopted here? No. We'd like to move that. I think the Senate amendment has been adopted, but we do have an amendment to adopt. Yeah, it's amendment. Yeah. Senate amendment One where we just have say it just adds the line, have a written agreement in place, and then changes ensure to require on line 2 88. Thank you, Mr. Thank you for that question. Sorry Mr. Chair. I should have run that through you. That's okay. Uh, Mr. Chair, I move, uh, Senate amendment number one. Great. The motion is to, uh, adopt First Amendment SB 1 65. It looks like we already have no, oh, sorry. Adopt first amendment to first sub one 60, uh, SB 1 65.

  26. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:48:24

      Yes. Yeah. Um, would you like to discuss that motion waive? Okay. Um, further discussion to that motion Representative Hansen. I'm sorry. Okay, no worries. Um, okay, we'll go to the sponsor.

  27. Unknown speaker1:48:40speaker not certain

      Uh, this is the motion on the amendment. I'm for it. Okay, Perfect. Um, okay. So, uh, we'll go back to the maker of the motion. Wait, wait. Okay. Perfect.

  28. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:48:50

      Um, so the motion before us is to adopt the amendment number one, um, of, of first substitute SB 1 65. Um, all in favor, uh, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. That motion passes unanimously.

  29. Unknown speaker1:49:10speaker not certain

      We are onto the, actually, I didn't say aye. I'm a no, you're a no. Okay.

  30. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:49:17

      I thought I heard you out of this year. So, so that motion passes eight to one. Okay. The motion to amend has been, uh, accepted. Um, we're now on the amended first substitute.

  31. Rep. Tracy Miller1:49:32speaker not certain

      Wonderful. Mr. Chair, if I could make a follow up motion. Sure. I'd like to favorably recommend Senate Bill 1 65 first sub as amended, uh, to the house floor for their consideration.

  32. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:49:44

      That motion is an order. It is to favorably recommend first substitute SB 1 65 as amended. Would you like to speak to that motion Real briefly? Uh,

  33. Rep. Tracy Miller1:49:53

      I want to commend the, uh, bill sponsor United Way and all the partners bringing this bill together. Um, it's really nice to see, uh, uh, partners working in creative ways, uh, both in the private and public sector to just, just tie up the loose ends and make sure that everyone's coordinated and firing the cannons in the same direction. Making sure that people are taking care of community, are focused on taking care of the community and the people that have the ability to write grants and request grants are doing that. And, uh, making sure that, uh, everything's well oiled and one machine that makes sense cohesively. Um, I, I understand that this bill can a, appear complicated, but, uh, the trick is when you're dealing with so many moving parts, it does wind up being complicated. But the very simple fact is that you're, you're, you're moving different elements of, of communities, whether it be education or healthcare workers, what, you know, childcare and getting them under one umbrella to make sure that everyone has money and everyone's taken care of. And I really appreciate the goals of this bill, so I support it. Uh, also quick note, uh, I know some of my colleagues are worried about the fiscal note here, and, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the, um, $5 million note here is just passed through grants through GOO and it's not actually going to impact the general fund. If I'm incorrect there, please let me know, but I think that that's a clarification that would be helpful to make on record. Other than that, I urge the committee support.

  34. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:51:11

      Okay. Further discussion to the motion Representative Hansen.

  35. Rep. Leah Hansen1:51:16

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe that the law should protect rights, not organize economic mobility or improve family outcomes. So I will be a no on this bill.

  36. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:51:24

      Okay. Thank you Representative Hansen. Uh, further discussion to the motion. Um, alright, we'll go to the sponsor.

  37. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:51:35

      Uh, thank you. I I appreciate the consideration here. I think, you know, you know, this partly comes from a study that the legislature funded last year to look at how programs were doing this successfully, both in Utah and around the country. And so this model is built on that research. So we think that there's a good basis to expect better family outcomes, uh, from this. And again, uh, families do strengthen communities and strengthen schools and strengthen the ability for kids who are growing up in disadvantaged situations to do better in life. To the question on the fiscal note, uh, uh, this fiscal note, there would be, uh, a one-time appropriation from the fund and we'll find out later this week if that, if, if, if that money is gonna make it in the budget.

  38. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:52:16

      Okay. Um, uh, rep or Senator Fillmore, which fund is it coming from?

  39. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:52:21

      The general fund or? Yeah, It would be, um, since this is targeted at, at helping children, I think it would, could come from either the income tax or the general fund. Okay, Great. But That question's above my pay grade.

  40. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:52:32

      Okay. Um, Representative Shelley?

  41. Rep. Lisa Shepherd1:52:37

      Yeah, it, just a clarification. It does say $5 million ongoing, beginning in physical year 2027. So is it ongoing or is it a onetime Appropriation, you know, uh, Mr.

  42. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore1:52:50

      Chair, uh, uh, audit at this time, but we, this is scalable and it will be made to match the, whatever the appropriation is, but the ask in the RFA was for onetime money.

  43. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:53:03

      Okay. Okay. So there's, there's your answer, Representative Shelley. Okay. Um, we'll go back to the maker of the motion for summation. Waive. Okay. Summation has been waived.

  44. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:53:17

      So the motion before us is to favorably recommend first substitute SB 1 65 as amended. Um, all in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Na? No.

  45. Chair Hawkins (presiding)1:53:30

      Okay. Let's do a, let's do a roll call. Vote then. 'cause I didn't capture that. So, Alvin, if you could, um, I'll turn your mic on. If you could walk us through that. Representative Hansen? No. Representative Jack. No. Representative Mauga? Yes. Representative Miller? Yes. Representative Owens? Yes. Representative Shallenberger. Representative Shelley? No. Rep. Vice Chair Cutler? Yes. Chair Hawkins? Yes. So it passes six to three with representatives, uh, Hansen, Jack and Shelly voting? No. So, thank you Senator. There's one more Bill before us if you'd like to do anything with it. Um, if anybody, if anyone would like to make a motion. No, we can't. I'm not even gonna recognize that motion. So there is one more motion though. Motion to adjourn. That is appropriate. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay.

  46. Unknown speaker1:54:49speaker not certain

      Can we do anything off the table? Sometimes I uncomfortable. I just wanted to make Mr. Spa back there. Just a little bit nervous. Yeah, you're welcome.

• Mar 6, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (3 turns)

  1. Unknown speaker3:41:07speaker not certain

     Comore Cullimore Escamia Fillmore Grover Harper Hankins Ipson Johnson Juab McKay Mikel Milner Musselman Aye. Owens pitcher Plum Rebi Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers Weiler Wilson Winterton pitcher

  2. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)3:41:42

     President Adams Aye. Second substitute Senate Bill 1 65 Having received 28 yay votes, one nay vote, zero being absent passes his body will be sent to the house with the signature of the speaker.

  3. President (presiding)3:41:59

     Senator Escamilla. Senator Escamilla. Thank

• Mar 6, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (7 turns)

  1. Madam Reading Clerk3:00:23

     Third reading calendar, Madam Reading Clerk Substitute Senate Bill 1 65 Economic Mobility Initiatives by Senator Fillmore. Ms. Bill assert an economic development and Workforce Services with the Rose. 6 3 1. The House sponsors Representative Clancy.

  2. Rep. Tyler Clancy3:00:36

     Representative Clancy. Thank You Mr. Speaker. Motion to adopt. Substitute to my name.

  3. Speaker (presiding)3:00:40

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

  4. Rep. Tyler Clancy3:00:43

     Mr. Speaker, this removes the fiscal note on the bill.

  5. Speaker (presiding)3:00:45

     Thank you representative discussion to the motion to adopt second substitute on SB 1 65. All in favor or sorry, discussion to that motion scene? None. We'll go ahead and place the motion. Motion is to house adopt second substitute SB 1 65. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Rule that motion passes, uh, to Europe. Senator Clancy for presentation.

  6. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore3:01:10

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. This legislation harnesses the innovation of the private sector to our welfare programs and, and helps families move to self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Um, the paper on your desk recognizes that upward mobility happens when we have cross class friendships and partnerships. This bill moves us in the right direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

  7. Speaker (presiding)3:01:33

     Thank you, Representative Clancy. Uh, discussion to the motion, uh, or sorry, discussion to the bill. Seeing none back of some Clancy for summation, I'll waive. Thank you. Summation has been waived. Voting will now be open on second substitute. SB 1 65 CNL present, having voted voting is now closed. Second substitute SB 1 65 passes this body with 63 yes votes, four no votes and will be sent to the Senate for further communications. Let's go to Madam Reading Clerk for communications from the Senate.

• Mar 6, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (7 turns)

  1. Unknown speaker3:00:38speaker not certain

     You Mr. Speaker. Motion to adopt. Substitute to my name.

  2. Speaker (presiding)3:00:40

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

  3. Unknown speaker3:00:43speaker not certain

     Mr. Speaker, this removes the fiscal note on the bill.

  4. Speaker (presiding)3:00:45

     Thank you representative discussion to the motion to adopt second substitute on SB 1 65. All in favor or sorry, discussion to that motion scene? None. We'll go ahead and place the motion. Motion is to house adopt second substitute SB 1 65. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Rule that motion passes, uh, to Europe.

  5. Speaker (presiding)3:01:06

     Senator Clancy for presentation.

  6. Rep. Tyler Clancy3:01:10

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. This legislation harnesses the innovation of the private sector to our welfare programs and, and helps families move to self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Um, the paper on your desk recognizes that upward mobility happens when we have cross class friendships and partnerships. This bill moves us in the right direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

  7. Speaker (presiding)3:01:33

     Thank you, Representative Clancy. Uh, discussion to the motion, uh, or sorry, discussion to the bill. Seeing none back of some Clancy for summation, I'll waive. Thank you. Summation has been waived. Voting will now be open on second substitute. SB 1 65 CNL present, having voted voting is now closed. Second substitute SB 1 65 passes this body with 63 yes votes, four no votes and will be sent to the Senate for further communications. Let's go to Madam Reading Clerk for communications from the Senate.