Walt Brooks

• H.B. 84 Dangerous Weapon Amendments · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026

  Describes amendments he worked on in the Senate committee, which he says make it illegal to open carry in some circumstances and include some technical changes.

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  Yes. It was some amendments that, um, I participated in in the Senate committee room just basically making, um, it illegal to open carry in some technical Changes.

  ▶ Watch at 5:48

• S.B. 193 State Legal Holiday Amendments · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026

  Introduces the bill recognizing Good Friday as a state holiday and asking schools to coordinate days off with other holy days, and says it encourages reflection on faith and tradition.

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  Thank you Mr. Speaker. You know, being part of this legislature, I, I've been impressed about many of the things we've been able to participate in and, and witness one of them is when we start our, our day, we offer a prayer. And it's not just the main Christian prayer that we typically hear in the state. We've just, a few days ago, we gotta hear a prayer from the Native Americans, which I thought was pretty cool. Um, when it was my turn, we had some Roman Orthodox say, a prayer. Um, we've been exposed to a lot of these things because religion is a, is a strong part of our, our culture, and it's a strong part …

  ▶ Watch at 37:02

• S.B. 193 State Legal Holiday Amendments · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026

  In closing, urges support, saying the holiday gives people time to reflect on faith and on what they are proud of, and notes that California observes it.

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  Thank you. I really appreciate the comments that have been made in this, this for this bill. Um, I, I take this one to heart and I think it's an opportunity for us to recognize, um, our faith no matter what it is, if it's Jewish or, or different dominations of the Christian religion, that we can take time to reflect on what is greater than ourselves. Um, when I look into the other states that recognizes even the land of heathens, California recognizes this holiday. So anyway, hope no one's from California here. But anyway, uh, I, I do think it's a time for us to stand up for what we are proud of. And we are many things …

  ▶ Watch at 44:58

• S.J.R. 8 Joint Resolution to Initiate a Law School at Utah Valley University · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026

  Asks that southern Utah be considered in the discussion and notes that the Wasatch Front extends to Santaquin.

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  Thank you, Mr. Speaker, toward him. I, I appreciate the comments that have been made. Um, and looking for other resources down in Southern Utah. Or we like to call Dixie because we have this Payson Dixon line. Have you notice that no one mentioned anything below Payson? That's right. We do exist down there. And it's probably the first time I stand to actually agree with my good colleague from Logan that Logan is not the Wasatch front, but lets you know that once you get to Santaquin, you're in Salt Lake from all of us from down south.

  ▶ Watch at 56:33

• H.B. 84 Dangerous Weapon Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026

  Presents H.B. 84, which would let people 21 or older carry a dangerous weapon at higher education institutions without a concealed carry permit, while prohibiting open carry on those campuses except when responding to an active threat; says the bill passed the House unanimously.

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  Thank you. Thank you Mr. President. This bill addresses carrying of dangerous weapons at Institution of Higher Education. It would allow an individual 21 years or older to carry a dangerous weapon at an institution of higher education without a concealed carry permit. This bill addresses both private and public institutions prohibits open carry. I I repeat it prohibits open carry on higher ed campuses unless responding to an active threat elementary and secondary school. Open carry is not allowed unless going, responding to an active threat. This promotes gun safety and responsibility on campus eliminates off campus on campus confusion by clarifying existing law relating to firearms or public ed campuses that receive support from higher education leadership and …

  ▶ Watch at 1:17:37

• S.B. 287 Targeted Advertising Tax · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026

  Moves to adopt the first substitute to S.B. 287 and says some lines need to be added for the presenter.

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  Thank you Madam Speaker Roam motion to substitute That motions in order. I would like to adopt, uh, first sub SB 2 87. Would you like to speak to it? There's a few lines in there that I think need to be added for the presenter.

  ▶ Watch at 1:59:15

• H.B. 508 State Facilities Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026

  Moves to concur with the Senate amendments to H.B. 508 and explains the bonding provisions he added, including the division's authority to require performance and payment bonds when necessary.

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  Thank you Mr. Speaker motion to concur with this Senate amendments. Thank you representative. That motion is an order. Would you like to speak to it? Yes, I would. It was actually my amendment that I made into the Senate. Um, this bill was a pretty hefty bill and it took some time to get the language from DFCM into this bill about this component. It's about bonding. The meat of this is on line 52 in the summary that says that it authorized the division to require performance and payment bonds when necessary to protect the division from financial loss or performance risk. And on lines 9 0 9 to about nine 14 is where it's spelled out in …

  ▶ Watch at 23:30

• H.B. 508 State Facilities Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026

  Explains that current law requires payment bonds on every state building and that the bill lets DFCM decide which buildings need bonds.

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  Thank you Mr. Speaker for that question. Um, currently in law, the state requires payment bonds on every single building that we've built. So what this does is it accepts us from that requirement and allows DFCM to use their discernment on which buildings are necessary to bond on which ones are not.

  ▶ Watch at 25:25

• H.B. 508 State Facilities Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026

  Explains the existing code provision and says that bonds are expensive and that the state can rely on DFCM's qualification of contractors.

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  On line 90, that's the existing code. Oh, I'm sorry. It shows up red on the comparison, so I just wanted to make sure for section one, section 14 dash one dash 19, it just says it's amended to read this and it's all in red. So Yeah, so it, it refers to that in, in code, but basically it's the same, um, concern that we had before. So if an entity is failure to get a bond, they have the discretion to make sure that they have qualified contractors doing work that they feel comfortable with. That's not necessary because bonds are extremely expensive. For example, our beautiful north building was built by a very reputable contractor, but we …

  ▶ Watch at 25:55

• H.B. 508 State Facilities Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026

  Responds that contractors are prequalified and that DFCM uses contingency funds and a 5% retention to protect subcontractors and the state.

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  But I have to refer to my rural folks to use some farm orders for that. But the reality is we have to pre-qualify contractors that don't do what you're suggesting. The the whole idea is that, um, if someone fails on it, the contractor is still responsible. So we have a lot of tools with DFCM. One of 'em is a contingency bug, so there's funds there in case such a thing arises too is they had another tool is called retention. So when a contractor does work, which is really the subs doing the work, um, bef when they get finished, they submit it for a draw. That draw gets paid out to the contractor to pay the …

  ▶ Watch at 27:29

• H.B. 508 State Facilities Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026

  Closes by thanking colleagues, saying bonds have rarely been revoked, and expressing confidence in DFCM's contingency and qualification tools.

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  Yes, thank you. I really appreciate the comments, especially from our good representative from Lehi. He's been in this industry, he knows the ins and outs and sometimes the shady things that some contractors can do. Um, the reality is that over the last 42 years we have very little opportunity or had, um, incidences where we've had to revoke a bond and where there were cases, the difficulty for the bonds actually paying is would cost us more to try to do it than it was actually what we're trying to save. So DFCM in their wisdom has actually built these tools in place to make sure that we have contingency buckets. We have qualifications more than just if …

  ▶ Watch at 30:46

• S.B. 8 State Agency and Higher Education Compensation Appropriations · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026

  Presents the bill, which provides appropriations for state employee compensation, including a 2.5% labor market increase for state and higher education employees, a 2.5% increase for judicial branch and constitutional offices, health and benefit cost changes, retirement changes, 401k match funding, and funding for SB 22 benefit changes.

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  Good morning, Mr. Speaker. This bill provides appropriations that are related to the state employee compensation adjustments. So give you a summary. It provides a 2.5% labor market increase for state employees and higher education employees. Uh, 2.5% marketed increase for judicial branch and constitutional offices. It provides health and benefit, uh, cost changes as recommended by the Public Employees Health Program. Um, it funds the retirement changes that we have in our system by URS and it also provides funding for the 401k match and it also provides funding for the benefit changes made by SB 22, which is the state employee benefits amendments. So with that, I'm open to any questions.

  ▶ Watch at 29:53

• H.B. 8 State Agency Fees and Internal Service Fund Authorization and Appropriations · Senate floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026

  Presents H.B. 8, which authorizes internal service fund rates, fees, and fiscal year 2027 appropriations, and thanks the chair before handing off.

  Read what they said

  and authorizes the rates and funds the impacts of any rates changes for the internal service funds. Internal service funds are used by agencies to pay other state agencies for goods and services on a cost reimbursement basis. Examples of a state agency that may have an internal service fund include the Department of Government Ops and the Attorney General's office. This bill authorizes in line a lines 98 95, uh, 196 pages of worth of fees beginning on page 87. Many of these fees remain the same from year to year, but require reauthorization by the legislature every year. The Bill Appropriates 3.8 million in operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2027, including 5.5 million from general income …

  ▶ Watch at 39:28

• S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026

  Supports the bill, arguing kratom is an opioid that should be regulated like other opioids and sharing a constituent's experience of opioid relapse. · speaker not certain

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  Uh, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to rise in support of the bill and, and maybe even take a minute and answer the question because it's, uh, asked by the sponsor of the previous substitute. It's a fair question. Why, why would you regulate this different from other substances? Well, different substances have different properties, and this substance is an opioid. And we do not allow manufacturers outside of a medical setting to produce and sell an opioid in vape shops or really anywhere. We have a different way that we do opioids. And there are no opioids allowed to be produced outside of, uh, medical guidelines right now because of how dangerous they are and how addicting they …

  ▶ Watch at 1:37:30

• H.B. 349 Statewide Water Storage · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Mar 3, 2026

  Said he needed to adopt the first substitute to the bill.

  Read what they said

  Do you have any substitutes or amendments to No, I do not, Sir, to Speak to. Okay. Oh, Wait, yes, I do. I need to adopt the first sub. Do you,

  ▶ Watch at 39:32

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From the official recordings' automatic captions, with speakers and summaries identified by AI. Use the ▶ links to check the recording before you rely on a quote.

How they voted

Their full voting record, attendance, and party-line score are still being compiled from the official roll calls. Each bill page shows their vote on that bill.

Bills they sponsored

• H.B. 8 State Agency Fees and Internal Service Fund Authorization and Appropriations · Governor Signed
• H.B. 84 Dangerous Weapon Amendments · Governor Signed
• H.B. 165 Critical Infrastructure Amendments · Governor Signed
• H.B. 182 Genetic Information Amendments · Governor Signed
• H.B. 281 Workers' Compensation Cannabis Amendments · Did not pass
• H.B. 349 Statewide Water Storage · Did not pass
• H.B. 508 State Facilities Modifications · Governor Signed
• H.J.R. 13 Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution - Judicial Retention · Did not pass

Carried in the House as floor sponsor

• S.B. 8 State Agency and Higher Education Compensation Appropriations · Governor Signed
• S.B. 121 Medical Cannabis Program Amendments · Governor Signed
• S.B. 193 State Legal Holiday Amendments · Governor Signed

About

In office since

Appointed September 21, 2016

Counties

Washington

Profession

Business owner

Affiliations

BSA Adult Volunteer, C.E.R.T/CAT Team Member, NRA Member, Youth Sports Volunteer

Education

B.S., Business Administration, Dixie State University

Honors and awards

None listed in their official profile.

Committees

• Executive Appropriations Committee
• Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee
• House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee
• House Public Utilities and Energy Committee
• Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee
• Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee
• Federal Funds Legislative Oversight Committee - Rural Health Transformation Grant
• Medical Cannabis Governance Structure Working Group

Profile details come from the Utah Legislature's official legislator data.