Legislators / Karianne Lisonbee
Karianne Lisonbee
Republican · House District 14
Hear from them directly
Contact Rep. Karianne Lisonbee
- Email: karilisonbee@le.utah.gov
- Phone: 801-589-2934
- Office: PO BOX 160152, CLEARFIELD, UT, 84016
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Watch or join a meeting
Every committee hearing and floor session is open to the public and streamed live on le.utah.gov. Each committee's agenda has the link to watch or join online, and how to sign up for public comment.
Karianne Lisonbee serves on:
- Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee
- House Education Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- Education Interim Committee
- Judiciary Interim Committee
What they've said
263 remarks on 65 billsS.B. 323 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Recodification · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee says the bill creates a Department of Criminal Justice with a commissioner and two deputy commissioners to consolidate criminal justice programs and improve oversight and accountability, and that it has no fiscal impact. She then opens the floor to questions.
▶ Watch at 1:03:03Read what they said
You Mr. Speaker. So this is a really important bill. Currently, the CCJJ sentencing Commission, all of the different, uh, departments within, or programs within criminal justice under the executive branch are, um, disorganized. There's no real reporting structure. And so what this does, it establishes a new Department of Criminal Justice in Title 75 E. Um, and it includes a commissioner and two deputy commissioners so that there's improved chain of, of command and oversight and accountability. It also consolidates the existing programs into a single structure. Under that leadership structure, it enhances oversight of the commissions, legislative processes, agency operations and licenses, or excuse me, finance. And it does all of this without a fiscal impact. So there's …
S.B. 213 Utah Payment of Wages Act Statute of Limitations · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Explained the conference committee agreement: the statute of limitations stays at one year for administrative cases and two years for civil cases, and the effective date changes to May 6, 2026.
▶ Watch at 1:38:36Read what they said
Yes. We came to an agreement on the statute of limitations for administrative cases will remain the same as it was before of one year and for, uh, civil side two years and we changed the effective date to May 6th, 2026.
S.B. 213 Utah Payment of Wages Act Statute of Limitations · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Says the bill has been revised with several members and defers presenting it to the sponsor of the substitute.
▶ Watch at 1:45:29Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In order not to waste the body's time, I, we've worked carefully with several members to significantly revamp this policy. So I will forego, presenting and just, um, defer to the sponsor of Substitute two, the good representative from West Valley City, uh, to introduce his substitute.
S.B. 213 Utah Payment of Wages Act Statute of Limitations · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Explains that the substitute separates the claim time limits: claims filed within one year may name both the company and its executives, while claims filed up to four years later name only the company, and implementation is delayed until 2027.
▶ Watch at 1:46:06Read what they said
Yes. So, uh, this is actually a pretty complicated change. Um, so I apologize. I'm gonna take just a moment. Currently under, uh, unpaid Wages Claim Act, um, you can file either an administrative or a civil claim. And there's been some, um, confusion over what the lim uh, what the, um, um, the statute of limitations is on this. A, um, federal district court had established a separate, um, timeline for this. And a state district court had established a separate, uh, timeline recently. And so there does need to be an adjustment to this code, but the adjustment is a little more complicated. So what this does is goes into the Unpaid Wages Claim Act that currently defines …
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Explains that the bill adds factors a judge or the Board of Pardons must consider when deciding whether to change housing arrangements for a minor under 18.
▶ Watch at 2:32Read what they said
Yes. Thank you Mr. Speaker. So this just adds some factors that a judge has to consider or the Board of Pardons has to consider when they are looking at making a motion to change housing arrangements for an, um, ary who is under 18.
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Asks to yield to the sponsor for questions.
▶ Watch at 52:33Read what they said
Well, you wanna make, I wanna reserve the right to make a motion. Go ahead. Will the sponsor yield? Will the sponsor yield Sponsor yield?
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Asks the sponsor to clarify the intent of lines 1052 to 1078 regarding free speech events.
▶ Watch at 52:45Read what they said
I'm trying to understand, and I did look at this earlier and then as it's so busy, we, I had didn't have time to reach out. So I apologize that this is happening on the floor on lines 10 52 through 10 78. The intention there, I think you stated, but, but please clarify for me, is to allow the Capital Preservation Board to handle decisions regarding free speech events. Could you clarify that for me please?
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Asks the sponsor to clarify the intent of lines 1052 through 1078, including whether they let the Capitol Preservation Board handle decisions about free speech events.
▶ Watch at 52:45Read what they said
I'm trying to understand, and I did look at this earlier and then as it's so busy, we, I had didn't have time to reach out. So I apologize that this is happening on the floor on lines 10 52 through 10 78. The intention there, I think you stated, but, but please clarify for me, is to allow the Capital Preservation Board to handle decisions regarding free speech events. Could you clarify that for me please?
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Asks whether the language gives the Capitol Preservation Board authority to decide free speech event requests.
▶ Watch at 54:05Read what they said
Thank you. I I probably didn't ask my question clearly enough. And so I'm gonna re-ask the question a little differently. Representative Peterson, will you yield to another question? Sponsor yield. Thank you. So this language is giving new authority to the Capital Preservation Board to make decisions and determinations on free speech events. I understand the time, manner, place, the, the Supreme Court, the, the case law surrounding that. What I'm asking is this gives authority to the Capital Preservation Board to make those determinations, yes or no?
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Re-asks whether the language gives the Capitol Preservation Board authority to make determinations on free speech events.
▶ Watch at 54:05Read what they said
Thank you. I I probably didn't ask my question clearly enough. And so I'm gonna re-ask the question a little differently. Representative Peterson, will you yield to another question? Sponsor yield. Thank you. So this language is giving new authority to the Capital Preservation Board to make decisions and determinations on free speech events. I understand the time, manner, place, the, the Supreme Court, the, the case law surrounding that. What I'm asking is this gives authority to the Capital Preservation Board to make those determinations, yes or no?
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Describes a denied request to reserve Capitol time for a prayer caucus, expresses concern about the language, and supports circling the bill.
▶ Watch at 54:46Read what they said
Okay. And this, this is my concern and I apologize that this is happening on the floor, but I recently reached out to the Capital Preservation Board to reserve some time for a prayer caucus. And I was told that my request was denied because of separation of church and state. That is a direct quote. I nearly dropped the phone. Um, very concerning that we are now basically giving over to the capital preservation board power to make those determinations. And I would just caution, I would like to have some more conversations about this. So I would support the motion to circle. At this point, I don't necessarily want to amend, 'cause I know this was carefully negotiated, …
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Says a request to reserve time for a prayer caucus was denied by the Capitol Preservation Board, expresses concern about giving the board this power, and says she supports the motion to circle.
▶ Watch at 54:46Read what they said
Okay. And this, this is my concern and I apologize that this is happening on the floor, but I recently reached out to the Capital Preservation Board to reserve some time for a prayer caucus. And I was told that my request was denied because of separation of church and state. That is a direct quote. I nearly dropped the phone. Um, very concerning that we are now basically giving over to the capital preservation board power to make those determinations. And I would just caution, I would like to have some more conversations about this. So I would support the motion to circle. At this point, I don't necessarily want to amend, 'cause I know this was carefully negotiated, …
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Proposes adding language on line 1088 so applicants are notified of their right to appeal when an application is denied.
▶ Watch at 1:01:00Read what they said
Um, I would like to insert on line after line 10 88 the additional language there, a section i, a subsection I that would read upon denial of an application, the board shall notify the applicant that they can appeal. And this is more than 10 words, which is why I wanted to circle. But at
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Proposes an amendment at line 1088 requiring the board to notify an applicant of the right to appeal when an application for a free speech event is denied.
▶ Watch at 1:01:00Read what they said
Um, I would like to insert on line after line 10 88 the additional language there, a section i, a subsection I that would read upon denial of an application, the board shall notify the applicant that they can appeal. And this is more than 10 words, which is why I wanted to circle. But at The represent, this will be good news. You got 15 words. Okay, well if that works, then let's do it. Will you restate? So are you on line? 10 88. 10 88. And go ahead. We'll let, uh, staff will fi fix the grammatical and the proper, The board shall notify if they deny an application is the idea, and staff can work that …
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Explains the intent that applicants denied for a free speech event should be told they can appeal.
▶ Watch at 1:01:50Read what they said
Will you restate? So are you on line? 10 88. 10 88. And go ahead. We'll let, uh, staff will fi fix the grammatical and the proper, The board shall notify if they deny an application is the idea, and staff can work that out in 15 words, then let's go. But the point is that at the very least, if they're going to deny an application for a free speech event, they should be notified that they have the right to appeal.
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Reads the proposed amendment wording on the right to appeal.
▶ Watch at 1:02:26Read what they said
So on 10 88, the board sh or upon denial of an application, the board shall notify the applicant of the right to appeal the decision.
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Restates the proposed amendment wording on notice of the right to appeal.
▶ Watch at 1:02:26Read what they said
So on 10 88, the board sh or upon denial of an application, the board shall notify the applicant of the right to appeal the decision.
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Says she has nothing more to add and asks about the word count of the amendment.
▶ Watch at 1:03:16Read what they said
Yes. I, I think I did. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um, that 16 words representative
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Clarifies the amendment wording for notifying applicants of the right to appeal.
▶ Watch at 1:03:49Read what they said
No. So the, we, the amendment we have is upon denial of an application, the board shall notify the applicant of the right to appeal.
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Explains the amendment text: upon denial of an application, the board shall notify the applicant of the right to appeal.
▶ Watch at 1:03:49Read what they said
No. So the, we, the amendment we have is upon denial of an application, the board shall notify the applicant of the right to appeal.
H.B. 312 School Curriculum and Standards Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Asks the sponsor to yield for a question.
▶ Watch at 1:39:53Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Will the sponsor yield Representative, uh, er will you yield? I
H.B. 312 School Curriculum and Standards Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Asks whether the bill's fiscal note is $64 million but funded at $12 million.
▶ Watch at 1:40:02Read what they said
Um, so it's my understanding that even though the original fiscal note of the bill that was subbed into this was 64 million, that it, it was only funded for 12 million. Is that correct?
H.B. 312 School Curriculum and Standards Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Says the bill differs from the committee-rejected version, while suggesting the body could refuse to concur and go to conference for more clarification.
▶ Watch at 1:40:53Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I, I do think that this bill is significantly different than the bill that the committee rejected. I do agree that it's important that we respect committee work. I was part of that committee. Um, but I also think that the way that this has drafted now, it's, it's not the same, but if it's the will of the body that we refuse to concur and go to conference committee and there needs to be some more clarification, I'm sure that's fine as well. I'm sure the sponsor would agree. Thank you.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Lisonbee said the Senate amendments add the word "knowingly" to the crime of failing to report for the sex offender registry, establish mens rea, and remove language tied to an earlier county agreement, and that all counties now agree.
▶ Watch at 2:02:12Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speakers. So what the amendments did was just add knowingly to the, um, the crime of not reporting for the sex offender registry. Um, and this is important as it had to, we had to establish mens rea according to constitutional law and then it also took out the language. There was an agreement between, um, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County and then they came to a different agreement. So it took out some language that was, um, pertinent to the first agreement, but now all the counties agree and everything is copacetic and we should all vote for this.
S.B. 267 Software in Education Amendments · House Education Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Explained that the amendment removes the phrase directed at a student to guard against advertising and promotional content.
▶ Watch at 1:38:47Read what they said
Yes. Thank you. Um, I really appreciate the sponsor's Really good work on, in this policy space. This is a very difficult policy space that we're constantly wrestling with as we try to address student privacy and, um, software in schools. And so what this does is it online, 180 5 removes the term directed at a student from that sentence. And that's all it does. And that's to make sure that we're protecting, um, against all of the advertising and promotional content that could potentially be in front of, um, our students and teachers.
S.B. 267 Software in Education Amendments · House Education Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Moved to favorably recommend the second substitute as amended.
▶ Watch at 1:40:11Read what they said
I would like to move that we favorably recommend second substitute Senate Bill 2 67 as amended.
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House Education Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Moved the first substitute to S.B. 312 and explained that it clarifies the effective date, the cases covered, and the written findings of the board.
▶ Watch at 2:04:38Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would move sub one to SB three 12. That motion is an order. Would you like to speak to it? I would. So what this does is it clarifies a lot of the public comment was about some ambiguity in, um, in sub three. And so what this does is clarify, um, that it also adds to the effective date. Just some clarification about what cases we're talking about to make sure that the public knows, we're only talking about cases that we're open to on or after May 6th. And it clarifies for purposes of the board what the written findings mean as far as what they need to, um, include in those in …
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House Education Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Clarified that the motion is to adopt the first substitute to S.B. 312 in place of the earlier amendment.
▶ Watch at 2:05:46Read what they said
The substitute. So I'm just gonna take that as a withdrawal of your earlier amendment in the pla and, and place the motion to, Oh, I apologize. Did I say amendment? Yeah, if that's okay. Okay. We had talked about an amendment during the committee and so I think that's why we got, but, but the motion is to adopt the first substitute to Senate bill three 12.
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Asks what meetings the sponsor held with the industry on the bill.
▶ Watch at 45:46Read what they said
Thank you. Um, there's been a lot of chatter about this bill and there's a lot of concern that there's been kind of a failure to have conversations with the industry. Can you speak to, um, the, the actual meetings that have happened with the underlying sponsor and the industry?
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Lisonbee asks what meetings took place between the sponsor and industry on the bill.
▶ Watch at 45:46Read what they said
Thank you. Um, there's been a lot of chatter about this bill and there's a lot of concern that there's been kind of a failure to have conversations with the industry. Can you speak to, um, the, the actual meetings that have happened with the underlying sponsor and the industry?
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Expresses concern about the process and says the industry should be included before a business worth about $20 million is shut down.
▶ Watch at 46:50Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, I have concerns with the process. I appreciate the motivations behind this, but I also have concerns with the process. The Utah way is to include all parties as we're discussing, especially, um, shutting down or potentially shutting down a business that, um, that is a $20 million business in the state of Utah. We generally pride ourselves in being business friendly. And while safety is important, and I wholeheartedly agree with those conversations, I think there also needs to be conversations with the business.
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Lisonbee raises concerns about the process and says the bill should include conversations with businesses in the industry.
▶ Watch at 46:50Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, I have concerns with the process. I appreciate the motivations behind this, but I also have concerns with the process. The Utah way is to include all parties as we're discussing, especially, um, shutting down or potentially shutting down a business that, um, that is a $20 million business in the state of Utah. We generally pride ourselves in being business friendly. And while safety is important, and I wholeheartedly agree with those conversations, I think there also needs to be conversations with the business.
S.B. 124 Child Welfare Modifications · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Opposes the bill, citing a recent audit of DCFS failing its own standards, and urges a pause until the agency improves before giving it more power.
▶ Watch at 1:29:00Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also rise in opposition, but I do appreciate the sponsor of the bill, the motivation behind this and the, and the care that they've taken and the concern over some of the mo more high profile cases in the state. I also appreciate the sponsor of the sub. I know that they have good hearts. My concern, and I would just point my colleagues to the recent Olag audit on DCFS, um, and it pointed to the agency failing over and over and over again to even meet its own internal standards, its current standards. This is a concern when we're talking about giving even more power in this space to the same agency that …
S.B. 124 Child Welfare Modifications · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Opposes the bill, citing a recent Office of the Legislative Auditor General audit of DCFS, and urges a pause until the agency meets its own standards. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:29:00Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also rise in opposition, but I do appreciate the sponsor of the bill, the motivation behind this and the, and the care that they've taken and the concern over some of the mo more high profile cases in the state. I also appreciate the sponsor of the sub. I know that they have good hearts. My concern, and I would just point my colleagues to the recent Olag audit on DCFS, um, and it pointed to the agency failing over and over and over again to even meet its own internal standards, its current standards. This is a concern when we're talking about giving even more power in this space to the same agency that …
S.B. 158 Recreational Therapy Program Amendments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Presents the bill as floor sponsor, which expands Medicaid coverage of recreational therapy to include therapy by American Camp Association accredited institutions, with a stated general fund cost of 420,000 and expected federal draw-down of roughly 824,000.
▶ Watch at 1:54:01Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill expands Medicaid reimbursement for recreational therapy. Currently, Utah Medicaid covers recreational therapy in specific SE settings, but this adds, um, therapy by an American Camp Association accredited institution. The bill ensures that that recreational programs meet high national standards for safety staffing programming. But I just wanna be clear that recreational therapy is not just play, it's a clinical intervention. It requires a referral from a licensed health therapist, um, and it also does a lot to improve physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing. The fiscal impact on this is 420,000 from the general fund. Um, it's expected to draw down roughly 824,000, um, after the federal waiver. And I'm open to questions.
S.B. 233 Judicial Performance Evaluation Amendments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Explains that the bill sets uniform meeting and quorum rules for the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, requires that judges be allowed to appear and be heard before a negative recommendation, updates survey categories, directs a study on appellate reversals as a factor, makes commissioners' records private, and sets timely-opinion standards for the highest courts.
▶ Watch at 2:06:11Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. SB 2 33 is a bill that reforms how the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission JP e reviews and certifies judges for retention. So the bill establishes a uniform meeting, uniform meeting standards, so including a quorum requirement and voting rules. And then it adds a requirement that JPEG has to allow a judge to appear before them. So, um, if there's going to be a negative recommendation from the commission, it adds a right to be heard for the judge. So that's really important. It also updates categories for judicial performance surveys. So we'll have legal competence, impartiality communication, judicial professionalism and ethics, and the ability to manage a court calendar efficiency efficiently. So under the …
S.B. 174 Exercise of Religious Beliefs and Conscience Amendments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Presents S.B. 174 as the floor sponsor, saying it sets broad protections for religious belief or conscience for healthcare providers, institutions, and payers, lets them refuse services they believe violate their beliefs, requires advance notice, includes limited immunity and anti-retaliation provisions, and includes emergency exceptions to protect patient care and safety.
▶ Watch at 2:07:55Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill is an important bill. It establishes a broad right of religious belief or conscience for healthcare providers and institutions and payers. It defines conscience as a sincerely held belief regarding the rightness or wrongness of an action or an inaction. And it provides a right to refuse for entities, participants, and for payers for healthcare services if they're, if they believe it violates their religious belief or conscience. There's limited immunity, anti-retaliation and administrative resource, um, components to this bill and it requires advanced notice. So if somebody, um, wants to hold out a religious right of conscience, they need to give advanced notice. This respects existing contracts and future contracts and, um, it's …
S.B. 110 Marriage Amendments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Presents S.B. 110 as a bill that clarifies that a marriage is legally valid only if solemnized by a legally authorized person, and that protects marriages already recognized by an administrative order before May 6, 2026.
▶ Watch at 2:58:58Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill clarifies what makes a marriage legally valid in the state of Utah. By requiring that it be properly solemnized by a person who is legally authorized to perform the marriage. It closes loopholes that allow improperly perform marriages to create legal uncertainty while also protecting marriages that were already recognized by a quarter administrative order before May 6th, 2026. The bill ensures consistency and clarity going forward without undoing past legal determinations. And with that, I'm open to questions.
S.B. 110 Marriage Amendments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Summarizes that the bill requires marriages to be officially performed to be valid, protects marriages legally recognized before May 6, 2026, and urges support.
▶ Watch at 3:00:40Read what they said
So just in conclusion, colleagues, this bill requires marriage to be officially performed to be valid, but it also protects marriages that happened that were legally recognized before May 6th, 2026. So it's just kind of a reset, but a good policy moving forward. And with that, I urge my colleagues support.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Presents H.B. 370, which would create a location monitoring program for registered sex offenders who do not provide a residential address, and says she is open to questions.
▶ Watch at 3:02:06Read what they said
Thank you. So this bill establishes a location monitoring, uh, program for sex offenders who do not provide a residential address, um, as a registrant on the offender registry. So currently there are 291 individuals out of about 10,000 who do not provide an address on the registry. Um, one of the thing it's estimated about a quarter to a third of those individuals actually have an address but are avoiding providing it. And then it's also estimated that those in the homeless population, uh, you know, whether they are committing crimes or not, there's actually a much, much higher incidence of sexual assault within our homeless population. And so what this does is it basically does an ankle monitoring …
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Moves House Amendment 1 to add public safety to the court's considerations in the bill, saying it is a good policy.
▶ Watch at 29:18Read what they said
So, uh, chair Libe. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Chair. I would move the amendment, house, amendment one, two for sub SB 180 4. That motion's in order. Would you like to speak to it? I would just briefly. I think this is a good bill. I think it's a good policy. I do think that we want our courts to also consider public safety as they're making these determinations. And so it just adds and public safety to the end of line 1 39 in the bill.
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Asks what the second amendment does to the first amendment already adopted, and whether the merged language still applies.
▶ Watch at 31:48Read what they said
So, um, what does this amendment do to the amendment we just made? Because it includes that line. It, it will still merge. It'll merge if we'll merge. Okay. Alright.
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Moves to favorably recommend the first substitute of the bill as amended to the full House.
▶ Watch at 33:00Read what they said
All right. I move to favorably recommend first substitute Senate bill 180 4 as amended. The motion is to favorably recommend first substitute Senate bill 180 4 as amended onto the full body of the house.
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Says it is a good bill with good balance and hopes it helps state courts gather information and address people causing harm in communities.
▶ Watch at 33:14Read what they said
Um, I think it's a good bill. I think ask good balance and I hope it does a lot of good in our, um, state level courts as opposed to it's already being used in federal courts and hopefully we can get some good information and, um, put more people away that are causing havoc in our communities. Thank you.
S.B. 257 Domestic Relations Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Moved to favorably recommend the third substitute of SB 257.
▶ Watch at 45:20Read what they said
of us Chair Libe. I Move that we favorably recommend the third substitute to Senate Bill 2 57.
S.B. 310 Uniform Intimate Images Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Said the bill is much needed, that its penalties and damages are strong enough to deter sharing of these images, and urged support.
▶ Watch at 1:33:26Read what they said
Would. I, this is, I think this is a much needed bill. I think that the penalties, um, the damages that are ascribed in this new policy are hard hitting. They will work to actually prevent the sharing of this, these types of images. And, uh, I think it's really important that the committee pass this. So I urge support. Thank you Chair Libe.
S.J.R. 10 Joint Resolution Amending Court Rules Regarding Jury Selection · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Moves to adopt the second substitute to SJR 10.
▶ Watch at 1:41:15Read what they said
Thank you. Thank you to the sponsor, to the committee, to everybody who gave public comment, very helpful. Um, I would move that we adopt the second substitute to SJR 10.
S.J.R. 10 Joint Resolution Amending Court Rules Regarding Jury Selection · House Judiciary Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Explains that the substitute changes the effective date to January 2027 and revises language on in-person jury selection.
▶ Watch at 1:41:30Read what they said
I would. So what this sub does is it changes the effective date to January, 2027, and it changes the language that seemed to be a little contradictory. So that now lines 1 54 and 1 55 read when jury selection is conducted in person under paragraph B one TI, all prospective jurors must appear in person for examination. So that is the totality of the changes.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Introduces Devin Kurtz as helping her present the bill and invites him to begin.
▶ Watch at 1:13:37Read what they said
And I have with me Devin Kurtz with the Cicero Institute, and he'll be helping me present. Do you wanna start out? He looks like a Deon Kurtz. So
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Explains that the amendment inserts the word knowingly and removes language referring to a first-class county and city.
▶ Watch at 1:28:30Read what they said
That is the one that inserts knowingly and takes the language out. That refers to the county of a first class in the, the city and the
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Cites two studies reporting lower reoffense rates among high-risk registrants on electronic monitoring and no significant psychological harm.
▶ Watch at 1:30:22Read what they said
Yes. Yeah, so Devin may have more data on it, but, um, we have actually shown in studies, and I think it's pretty much every study has shown that for those sex offenders, high risk sex offenders that are re receiving the, the monitoring, the electronic monitoring, their recidivism rate was 14% compared to 26% for those under traditional supervision. So the recidivism rate dropped significantly for those on monitoring. Um, and there was a, so there was another study that showed that for offender reentry data, that there was no significant harm to psychological, psychological wellbeing under electronic monitoring. And they observed twofold reductions in re-offense for general male offenders. So those were two studies that we specifically looked …
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Says the bill targets individuals who do not provide an address to the registry, not homeless individuals specifically.
▶ Watch at 1:31:35Read what they said
Yeah. And then to the, to the concern that we heard from a lot of the, uh, the, and I'll be brief, but the commenters about, um, homelessness. This isn't specifically targeted homeless individuals. This is targeted at individuals who do not provide an address to the registry.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Says homeless women face higher sexual assault risk and that monitoring would notify them of nearby registrants, and estimates that many registrants without an address actually have one.
▶ Watch at 1:32:09Read what they said
So homeless women are nine times more. Um, they have more of a chance of being sexually assaulted than women in the general population. And so, and there are an, a disproportionate amount of homeless, um, men who are sex offenders. And so what this does is it also notifies homeless women who is a sex offender if they have a monitor on. And that's helpful. Um, I'm sure that homeless women, women would want to know this. So that's an important part of this. And there's an estimate that at least a quarter to, if not a third of the individuals who do not provide an address to the registry actually have an address. They're just not providing it. …
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Presented HB 372 fifth substitute, which removes private guardian ad litem language and adds court transparency, discovery, and fatality review provisions.
▶ Watch at 1:35:44Read what they said
I would love to Child welfare changes. Okay. Thank you. I'll be really brief on this and I apologize for taking the committee's time. Um, so HB 3 72, actually there was some controversy over in the house and so we removed the language that dealt with private gals, so that's no longer in the bell. So this, what it does now is it provides extra transparency to the courts by the GS regarding their interactions with minors and custody. It references existing best interest language in 80 dash two a dash 2 0 1 and 80 dash four dash 1 0 4 with definitional sections regarding best interest in other sections of code. It adds elements of discovery into …
S.B. 62 School Finance Amendments · House Education Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Offered to make a motion on the bill and asked whether there were any substitutes or amendments.
▶ Watch at 2:07:52Read what they said
I apologize to the committee. Yes, I would love to make a motion. Is my mic. Oh, there it is. Sorry about that. Um, thank you Mr. Chair. I, do we have any subs or amendments? No. Uh, we've, we're I take that back.
S.B. 62 School Finance Amendments · House Education Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Spoke in favor of the bill, saying it is good policy that gets money directly to teachers and classrooms, and thanked the sponsor.
▶ Watch at 2:08:24Read what they said
Yes. I actually think this is really good policy. Uh, it helps our teachers, it helps in the classroom. It gets money directly where it needs to be. And I appreciate the sponsor's work on this. Thank you to the members of the committee.
H.R. 8 Resolution Admonishing and Censuring Judge Don M. Torgerson · House floor debate (day 42) · Mar 3, 2026
Supports the resolution, citing a court rule on public confidence in the judiciary and stating that a public apology would have changed the outcome.
▶ Watch at 1:19:00Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this resolution. It's, it's a difficult time when the legislature needs to stand and needs to take action. But when, when a judge acts in a way that undermines public confidence and when there's a court rule that requires judges to quote, promote public confidence in the Independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary end quote. And when a judge acts outside of that internal rule in the courts, it's incumbent on the legislature to take action, to speak out. Uh, if, if there was a public apology, if there was any ownership at all for the actions, um, of this judge, I don't think we'd be standing here today. I …
H.C.R. 10 Concurrent Resolution Directing PEHP Regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy · Senate Health and Human Services Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Presented HCR 10, which would direct PEHP to cover bioidentical hormone therapy for members already covered for menopausal hormone treatment, and said the fiscal note is zero.
▶ Watch at 2:02:43Read what they said
Well, it's an honor to be before you today. In your last committee hearing of the session. Uh, I was told in house committee that I needed to declare a conflict of interest because I'm old, but, uh, I don't, so Noted, so noted. Can we note that on the record? Thank you. But I don't actually have PHP insurance, so there's really no conflict. Uh, but this is a great bill to give opportunities for those who do have PHP insurance. So what this does, PHP is already covering hormone treatment for women, uh, for women who are having menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms. But this just provides coverage for bioidentical hormones. So modern bioidentical hormones are different from the …
H.C.R. 10 Concurrent Resolution Directing PEHP Regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy · Senate Health and Human Services Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Said she would defer to the committee on whether to add perimenopause to the bill.
▶ Watch at 2:05:52Read what they said
Do you wanna speak to that? I, I would defer obviously to the committee on that if they wanted to add that.
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House floor debate (day 41) · Mar 2, 2026
Supports the bill, saying it only requires that students learn prenatal development stages and does not require a particular curriculum.
▶ Watch at 26:39Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. It is very important that our young people when they're learning so many important facts in health class, that they also learn what the stages of development look prenatally. That is all that this bill requires. It does not require a specific curriculum. There is curriculum out in the marketplace that is absolutely free for anybody to use. That could be reviewed by the USBE and adopted. But this does not require the use of any particular curriculum. I urge the body's support so that our children can be truly educated about prenatal development. Thank you.
H.B. 185 Carbon Credit Amendments · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 27, 2026
Expresses full support for the bill, says it is timely, and says carbon credits are tied to international climate agreements and should have guardrails to protect private property and state interests. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:13:42Read what they said
You did cousin. Uh, so I want to, uh, I wanna just share a couple of of things and I, I hope to not take too much time. I am in complete support of this bill. Uh, I do believe it's, it's critical that we get our hands around this as quickly as possible, and it is very timely. And the reason why it's timely is because if we don't act on this sooner than later, this is gonna get away from us. And I wanna just point out a couple of things. Um, it wasn't said, and I wanna make sure that we have a couple things on the record. So when these carbon credits are being purchased around …
H.B. 183 Sex Designation Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Says the presenter's remarks are not germane to the bill and asks that they stay on topic.
▶ Watch at 2:09:47Read what they said
I'm, I'm concerned that, that this is not germane to the, the bill, and I'm just asking if we could maybe keep it germane.
H.B. 183 Sex Designation Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Thanks Rep. Clancy for amending the bill in response to public comment.
▶ Watch at 2:36:12Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I, I too wanna note it. It has been interesting to watch and I'll be super brief as well, but appreciate that Representative Clancy was so responsive to that comment of the, the portion in the code that was missed and, and create an amendment on the spot to be responsive to that. So thankful for this committee's work on this bill. Thank you.
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee moved to adopt the first substitute.
▶ Watch at 1:11:18Read what they said
I'm working on it now. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you. Okay. I would like to make a motion that we adopt sub one of HB three 15. And I would like to speak to that,
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee said the bill does not require a specific video and called ACOG's criticisms of the video minor distinctions.
▶ Watch at 1:11:30Read what they said
Thank you. You know, there's been a lot of comment and I appreciate the perspective of the different stakeholders that are coming forward, but I wanna make a few things crystal clear. First of all, this is not a vendor, uh, bill, this is descriptive. There's not a specific video that is required under this bill. There was some, uh, disingenuous, if I could be so bold, um, feedback. And I'd just like to share with you some of the concerns of ACOG when they talk about this video. Here's one example. They state that the heartbeat at three weeks, at 22 days, and then they argue that at that stage, the structure is a primitive heart tube that exhibits …
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee moved to favorably recommend the first substitute as amended.
▶ Watch at 1:15:13Read what they said
I'd like to move that we favorably recommend House Bill three 15. First substitute as amended.
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee said the bill does not require a specific video but allows schools to use this one, and urged support.
▶ Watch at 1:15:22Read what they said
I would committee. There's always controversy when we're, it seems, and, and this happened last year, uh, with one of Representative Peck bills. There's controversy when we want to share truth with young people. Um, this doesn't, again, this is not a vendor bill and it doesn't require a specific video, but if schools want to use this video, they can please vote for this bill.
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee noted parents can opt out, called it a pro-education bill, and said USBE had all session to raise concerns.
▶ Watch at 1:24:31Read what they said
Thank you for that reminder. No Worries, no worries. Thank you. And I'll be really brief, but I just wanna remind the committee that, uh, the parent who spoke, who was very concerned about her child watching a video, um, parents have the right to opt out of this, this type of education. Uh, to, to the point. This isn't a pro-choice, pro-life bill. This is a pro-education bill. There are many different types of learning, and this is a video that shows to children exactly how they grew before they were born. It's such a beautiful opportunity for them to learn about their entire developmental process. And then the last thing I would say is this Bill has been …
H.B. 23 Service Animal Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Explains that the bill places service animal information where business owners already interact with the state, shifting its focus from criminal penalties to education, and opens the floor to questions.
▶ Watch at 25:01Read what they said
authoritative explanation of the law. Most business Loa owners interact with the division of corporations when they register their business or they renew a license or file their UCC documents. By putting information there, the state is meeting the business owners where they already do business, rather than expecting them to hunt through the Department of Health or other legal statutes. An earlier version of this bill focused on harsher criminal penalties for harassing service animals. However, the final focus of this bill shifted towards education under the theory that most denials happen because of ignorance, not because of malice. And with that, I'll yield to any questions on house. Bill 23.
H.B. 476 Insanity Defense Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Expresses concerns about the bill's approach and state hospital capacity, and says the issues need a parallel discussion and more time.
▶ Watch at 1:41:25Read what they said
Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. Again, I think this is lofty and I think I won't be here, but knowing the members of this committee, assuming they remain the same, I think there's a potential that there is a negotiation agreement that can be had. I, I really struggle with, if we're gonna say these people are sick, but at the exact same time we're gonna say, but you're only gonna get the treatment you need if you commit a first degree or a second degree or a first degree or a capital offense as opposed to not getting the treatment or being treated the same if you commit a second or a third. I have a problem with that. …
S.B. 213 Utah Payment of Wages Act Statute of Limitations · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Introduced Mark Tolman and said SB 213 clarifies the statute of limitations for lawsuits over payment of wages.
▶ Watch at 1:52:41Read what they said
It's helpful. I think Another, I Think it's just, thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Committee. Uh, I have with me Mark Tolman, who, um, would also like to present this bill with me. SB two 13 is, uh, an attempt to clarify the law around statute of limitations period for lawsuits on payment of wages. And I will turn the time over to Mark to further elucidate the committee.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Presented HB 48, which expands the adult recidivism definition, adds a juvenile recidivism definition, and lets a judge decide placement for a narrow group of 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder after turning 18.
▶ Watch at 45:24Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee HB 48 expands the definition of recidivism for the adult system, while also keeping requirements for agencies and CCJJ at a minimum. It creates a definition in code for juvenile justice for recidivism, and it also includes a really narrow change that says that if you are 17 when you commit capital murder and you are, and you are convicted or charged when you're 18, that, um, that a motion can be made and a judge can decide if you should be placed in secure care in the juvenile system or in the adult system. So it's only for that very narrow subset, um, of individuals who commit capital murder. The span of ages …
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Added that the Libertas position changed to neutral and that CCJJ and sheriffs support the bill.
▶ Watch at 46:27Read what they said
Um, uh, just one final note. There's, Libertas had listed opposition to the bill on their website, but their position changed to neutral and CCJJ and sheriff's support LELC Also. All right. Um,
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Said the bill lists no factors in code for a judge to consider beyond the narrow capital murder circumstance.
▶ Watch at 46:47Read what they said
So the, he would, there aren't any factors listed in code other than in this narrow circumstance a judge could make the decision. So I'm sure there would be factors he would consider, but there aren't any stipulated in code.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Said the recidivism language was not run last year and that the juvenile language from last year was removed before that bill passed the House.
▶ Watch at 47:09Read what they said
I didn't run the recidivism part last year. That was from a committee bill that we worked on. Okay. This, this little piece of language was from a bill last year, and it just, it actually didn't even, I took it out before it passed the house. Okay.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Explained that a judge would decide between adult prison and secure care after sentencing, and said JJYS already transfers some 18-year-olds to prison.
▶ Watch at 1:02:49Read what they said
Oh, um, then a motion can be made that then a judge would consider for housing upon sentencing where they would be sentenced to, whether it is adult prison or whether they go to secure care under JJYS. And currently JJYS has discretion. I think there's a lot of, um, misconception because there's a lot of talk about, well, we don't want these, these people to be housed in the prison setting. But JJYS themselves transferred three 18-year-old individuals in the last 24 months, um, or excuse me, in the last 12 months to prison from secure care who were 18 years old because they were causing a problem in secure care. So this already is happening. This is just …
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Said the concern is housing 18-to-25-year-olds with younger youth and that judges should be trusted to make informed decisions.
▶ Watch at 1:03:45Read what they said
They could. I think the, the concern here is at 18, you're an adult. We are currently housing between 13 and 25 year olds. What is the effect of an 18 to 25-year-old potentially on a 13 or 14-year-old insecure care? And there are some divisions in secure care, but there is also interaction. And so I, I think we, we need to trust that judges will make an informed decision for particular individuals that are before them in court. Just as JJYS will make that informed decision for individuals that they observe with insecure care.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Estimated the number affected each year is under 20. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:04:37Read what they said
I believe that it's under 2020 Seems really high to me, but total, thank you.
H.B. 23 Service Animal Amendments · Senate Business and Labor Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Presented H.B. 23, which would require the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code to publish on its website contact information and a link to the Disability Law Center to help the public understand service animal laws, citing confusion in restaurants and elsewhere about service animals.
▶ Watch at 35:50Read what they said
Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning and thank you committee. So, HP 23 requires the division of corporations and commercial code to publish on a website accessible to the public, the contact information and internet website, link for the disability law center, information that can assist members of the public in understanding the laws and regulations regarding service animals and public accommodation. There are several, um, members of the public in my district who are blind, who have had interactions in restaurants where they've brought their service. They're, they're seeing eye dog and have been told You can't bring your dog in here. And there's a lot of confusion and the public when it comes to service animals now …
H.B. 555 Changes to Family Law Actions · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee said litigation that seems excessive to one party can be a party seeking enforcement of rights, and raised concern that the bill could harm aggrieved parties.
▶ Watch at 1:05:16Read what they said
Thank you. Um, so what seems, um, And I, sorry, I was just looking for the words you used, but what seems overly litigious to one party is often, um, just another party trying to get their rights back through the court process. It's extremely frustrating and expensive for a non-custodial parent to have to repeatedly go to court to enforce custody orders or other concerns or issues. So I'm just like, I am concerned as we try to venture into this space that, um, the interpretation by the courts could actually harm an already aggrieved party. Um, could you speak to that?
H.B. 555 Changes to Family Law Actions · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee said she has concerns about judges handling enforcement actions and that she would listen to public comment.
▶ Watch at 1:06:58Read what they said
Um, so if a person is unlucky enough to get a judge that maybe isn't super friendly to their appeal and they're trying to go back to, to get an enforcement, um, anyway, I, I have some concerns around that. Uh, but I appreciate your presentation. I'll li I'll listen to public comment.
H.B. 555 Changes to Family Law Actions · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee moved to favorably recommend the bill, conditioned on working together to address concerns before the floor vote.
▶ Watch at 1:22:40Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I would motion that we favorably recommend with the caveat that we work together to make sure that there's some nuance. Some there's a, there's a lot of concerns around this 'cause this cuts both ways. And, uh, so we wanna make sure we get this right. So if the sponsor would be willing to commit to work with a number of people on this committee with concerns, um, before the vote on the floor, then I would move that we pass it to the floor, um, for further consideration.
H.B. 555 Changes to Family Law Actions · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Rep. Lisonbee said there is room to move forward while ensuring the bill cannot be abused and appreciated the sponsor's willingness to work together.
▶ Watch at 1:27:09Read what they said
Appreciate the sponsor working with us. Um, I think there's, there's space to move forward on this, but also to make sure that it's balanced, that it can't be abused on the other side. So appreciate the sponsor's willingness to work with us. And, uh, with that,
H.B. 522 Parentage and Child Support Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Moved to favorably recommend HB 522 to the full House.
▶ Watch at 1:34:38Read what they said
Chair Libe. Thank you. Motion. Motion to favorably recommend The motion is to favorably recommend HV 5 22 outta this committee onto the full body of the house for its consideration.
H.B. 522 Parentage and Child Support Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Said the bill does not apply to cases where custody remains with the parents and applies only when the state has custody of the child.
▶ Watch at 1:34:53Read what they said
I would, I, I appreciate the public comment. I just wanna clarify that this does not deal with a case where custody remains with the parents. This is specifically about when custody is in, um, it, it is with the state. So it, I don't think this applies to the case that was referred to in public comment, and I wanna clarify that because I think it's important. So with that, that's my motion.
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Thanks the sponsor for working with the education committee and making substantial changes, and says some parts of the bill are not liked by everyone. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:04:56Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, I appreciate the sponsor's work on this bill and her willingness to work with those in of us in education committee who had concerns. Um, she really came to the table and uh, we were able to to make some, some substantial changes. There's still some in the bill that, um, I don't like and clearly there's some in the bill that others don't like. And so I think it's a good balance, um, moving forward and really appreciate the sponsor's work.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Presents H.B. 370, which would require location monitoring for sex offenders on the registry who do not provide an address, and cites studies on electronic monitoring.
▶ Watch at 1:07:43Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill establishes a location monitoring program for sex offenders who do not provide an address on the registration. Um, on the six sex, kidnap and child abuse offender registry, currently there are approximately 291 individuals out of 10,000 who do not provide an address on the residency. And it is on the register, excuse me. And it is estimated that about a quarter to a third of those individuals actually have an address but are avoiding providing it. So the modern monitoring would begin one business day after there's notification that the offend, um, to the offender that law enforcement requires an address if the offender provides the address. No monitoring occurs. If they cannot …
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says the fiscal note changed because of an appeal correcting a misunderstanding of what the bill requires, and that the fiscal note is significantly lower; she will check why it is not online.
▶ Watch at 1:10:54Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure why it's not online. It, um, was released Friday after. No, I will check into that. But there, the fiscal note did change, but not because of a change in the language from the substitute. It changed because there was an appeal because there was a, a misunderstanding about what the bill actually required. So the fiscal notice significantly lower.
H.C.R. 10 Concurrent Resolution Directing PEHP Regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Explains that HCR 10 directs PEHP to cover bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for perimenopausal and menopausal women, and says newer bioidentical hormones differ from the synthetic versions used in older studies.
▶ Watch at 1:15:03Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. HCR 10. Um, Isabel that directs PEHP to cover hormone replacement therapy, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy from perimenopausal and menopausal women. Uh, they're currently already covering hormone treatment. Uh, but modern bio bioidentical hormones are different from the synthetic versions used in older studies, uh, including the women's health study that with that, uh, that precipitated the black box warning, uh, that was recently removed by the administration. And importantly, um, they provide a much better structural match so they bind more readily to receptors. They have a better safety profile and they significantly lower risk for things like blood clots, uh, compared to oral and synthetic estrogens. So, uh, with that, Mr. Speaker, I'm open …
H.B. 540 Judicial Transparency and Information Access Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says the bill has been changed in response to concerns from stakeholders and colleagues, and is ready to present it. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:38:01Read what they said
Um, yes, I would. Uh, should I also motion to adopt the sub or should I? Okay. So I've made a lot of changes responsive to the concerns that have been expressed, uh, by stakeholders and by colleagues. And I am ready to present Thank represe embolism.
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Explains the bill, which applies to guardian ad litem matters in juvenile court, cross-references best-interest definitions, adds discovery elements to family court, increases transparency for the fatality review committee, and requires the GAL director to evaluate guardian ad litem performance and visits.
▶ Watch at 1:39:37Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill only addresses GS in the juvenile court space. It does not address GS in the district court space. Um, so no private gs it, uh, it cross references existing language in two code sections 80 dash two a dash 2 0 1 and 80 dash four dash 1 0 4 to best interest definitions in the code. It adds elements of discovery into the family court process in an effort to level the playing field. And it's responsive to the recent audit increases transparency for the fatality review committee. Um, and we need to give credit to the good representative from West Jordan who had a bill file that combined with this bill file. …
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Presents the bill, explaining it applies to guardian ad litem matters in juvenile court, cross-references best-interest definitions, adds discovery to family court, responds to a recent audit, and requires GAL performance evaluations and visit reporting.
▶ Watch at 1:39:37Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill only addresses GS in the juvenile court space. It does not address GS in the district court space. Um, so no private gs it, uh, it cross references existing language in two code sections 80 dash two a dash 2 0 1 and 80 dash four dash 1 0 4 to best interest definitions in the code. It adds elements of discovery into the family court process in an effort to level the playing field. And it's responsive to the recent audit increases transparency for the fatality review committee. Um, and we need to give credit to the good representative from West Jordan who had a bill file that combined with this bill file. …
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Gives closing summation and waives the remainder of her time.
▶ Watch at 1:43:28Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Other than saying that I fully accept the title of representative from Antelope Island, I will waive.
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Gives closing remarks and waives summation.
▶ Watch at 1:43:28Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Other than saying that I fully accept the title of representative from Antelope Island, I will waive.
H.B. 480 Medical Record Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Explains that the bill lets a patient request a note stating that a pregnancy loss was not an elective abortion, and opens the floor to questions.
▶ Watch at 1:51:25Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill is an important bill. Uh, medical records often use the term abortion to document pregnancy, uh, loss before viability, including miscarriage. While clinically accurate, this terminology can make women feel misrepresented. Cause shock and confusion cause grief and retriggering and trust concerns with providers. So I worked with all the stakeholders in this area to make sure that a woman could ask for, um, if she had to have a, a procedure that removed a dead Venus or had an ectopic pregnancy or had a miscarriage. Um, that it wasn't, if it was entered onto her medical record as a spontaneous abortion, that she could request a note stipulating that it was not an …
H.B. 480 Medical Record Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says the substitute clarifies the language and moves the rape and incest provisions to a separate list.
▶ Watch at 1:52:57Read what they said
Yes. Thank you Mr. Speaker. This sub cleans up the language. There was some confusion with the language and so we just cleaned it up and moved, um, rape and incest down to another list so that it was more clear what we were talking about.
H.B. 480 Medical Record Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says the substitute cleans up the language and moves the rape and incest provisions to another list so it is clearer.
▶ Watch at 1:52:57Read what they said
Yes. Thank you Mr. Speaker. This sub cleans up the language. There was some confusion with the language and so we just cleaned it up and moved, um, rape and incest down to another list so that it was more clear what we were talking about.
H.B. 463 Special Education Funding Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Lisonbee supported the motion to hold to avoid crowding the floor board with unfunded bills and asked MacPherson about his conversations with leadership.
▶ Watch at 1:16:49Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, we have lots of bills on the board and we don't need to send a bill to the board to have leadership understand an important issue. I, I support the motion to hold, not because I disagree with the funding. If the funding can be worked out, we have the bill, we can move it forward. I think holding is a wise motion. We don't wanna continue loading up the board with a bunch of bills that we don't think have a great chance of getting funded or passing because it will just hold up the process. I, I would like to hear from the maker of the underlying motion, the conversations he's had with …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Spoke on the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:24:56Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe it's the third sub. Yes, I move to adopt the third sub.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Says she would support the third substitute if the sponsor commits to remove certain language from the final bill, and asks for a commitment to keep working with concerned members.
▶ Watch at 1:25:10Read what they said
I appreciate the sponsor's willingness to work with the committee on the changes in this sub. Um, I think there might still be a need. There's, there's some additions to this sub bringing some of the language up from what we wanted removed. That I like just reviewing. I'm not sure I support that, but if the sponsor will commit to work with me on making sure that that language is not in there when we pass the final bill, I would support, um, moving this forward. But there's, in my quick review, because obviously we heard about this yesterday, we're in committee today. Um, and I, I haven't seen the sub what, in my quick review, it looks like …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Moves to favorably recommend the bill and thanks the sponsor for continuing to work on it.
▶ Watch at 1:27:04Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we favorably recommend and appreciate the sponsor's willingness to continue to work. I think there's just a couple of tweaks that will fix the concerns and appreciate his time and energy in looking at this.
H.B. 503 Real Estate Modifications · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Moved to refer the bill to interim study.
▶ Watch at 1:13:33Read what they said
Representative Chair Libe, I move that we refer this to interim study. That that motion is an is in order.
H.B. 503 Real Estate Modifications · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Thanked the sponsor for his work on the bill and said she looks forward to the global discussion.
▶ Watch at 1:13:47Read what they said
Just briefly? I appreciate, uh, the sponsor's work on this and I look forward to the global discussion.
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Says she wants to adopt a substitute and let members review it, and that it will also address the fiscal note issue.
▶ Watch at 41:21Read what they said
Yes. Just briefly. I'd like to adopt the sub and then leave it for our members to review. It will also address the fiscal note issue. Um, and then Recircle.
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Explains that the substitute significantly changes the original bill by removing the recording provision and the private guardian ad litem provisions, and should bring the fiscal note to zero.
▶ Watch at 42:05Read what they said
Yes. So it significantly changes from the original bill. It removes the recording provision in the all the private guardian ad litem provisions. And it is just really, um, it, it basically should move the fiscal note to zero.
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Asked what the bill includes that is not reflected in the recent audit of these education models.
▶ Watch at 50:14Read what they said
Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, could you kind of outline anything in the bill that you feel is not reflected in the audit that, um, we recently had on these types of education models?
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Thanked the sponsor and asked how the reporting requirement compares with what programs already require.
▶ Watch at 52:14Read what they said
Okay. That, that's helpful. Thank you. It's, so can you address the, um, the reporting requirement? So is that, do you envision that being a lot more or about the same as what is already required within a lot of these programs that are functioning currently?
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Asked whether feedback led to keeping the programs with LEAs instead of moving them to Utah Fits All.
▶ Watch at 53:17Read what they said
Okay. And did you receive feedback that caused you to go in a different direction from putting this under, um, Utah fits all, uh, to just keeping it with the LEAs?
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Asked whether moving programs to Utah Fits All would remove the requirement to align with state standards.
▶ Watch at 54:08Read what they said
Okay. And then, um, so if the program were moved to Utah fits all, and I'm sorry, I have a lot of questions, but we've talked a lot about this, so, and I appreciate your answers. Is this okay, Madam Chair? Um, if presumably if the, if the students in a lot of these existing programs were moved under Utah fits all, then the language requiring alignment to standards would no longer apply because alignment to standards is something that happens under the umbrella of an LEA, but not necessarily under the umbrella of Utah fits all. Is that how you see that?
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Asked whether the testing requirement is subject to an opt-out provision.
▶ Watch at 55:47Read what they said
And then just two more quick questions. Um, so is the testing requirement in the bill subject to an opt-out provision as well?
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Asked whether the bill requires renegotiation of existing provider contracts.
▶ Watch at 57:12Read what they said
Thank you. And then just the final question is, how much does this bill, um, obviate the current contract? Like, is it requiring a renegotiation of a contract between a provider and an LEA, or is that, does that contract still stand, um, so that the LEA wouldn't be able to come in, in a really prescriptive way and dictate what happens within that contract? Mm-hmm.
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Responded to the opposition that the bill respects existing LEA contracts and that more prescriptive language could affect those contracts, and questioned what the opposition is asking for.
▶ Watch at 1:02:00Read what they said
Thank you. So I understand wanting what you're asking for, but I'm not sure that it actually gets you to where you want to be. And we've had some conversations about this policy. I I think that the way that it's drafted respects the contract that exists between an LEA and one of these types of schools. And if it were to be more prescriptive, I think that that could really get into maybe obviating parts of the contract. And the sponsor could probably speak to this better than I could, but, um, I'm, I'm just not certain what you're asking for is what you really want, is what I'm saying. So, and maybe the sponsor can speak to it …
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Asked whether language could require contract renegotiation if a party is unhappy after the bill takes effect, and said she reserves the right to make a favorable motion.
▶ Watch at 1:08:05Read what they said
Thank you, Madame Chair. Um, I just have a, can I ask a couple more questions? Yeah. Is that okay? Um, to the sponsor or Madam Chair? Uh, could, I'm thinking about the last public comment in the room and the question, and to me it really devolves to the contract, the existing contract, what the curriculum looks like. And I can imagine that a provider would not want to maintain a contract where they then had to change their entire model. And so I'm wondering if I, I, I mean, I would like to reserve the right to make a motion to favorably recommend, but I would also, I'm just wondering if there's a way to, to maybe work …
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Moved to adopt the first substitute and recommended it as a significant improvement.
▶ Watch at 1:11:02Read what they said
Okay. Then I move the first sub. That motion is in order. Would you like to speak to the motion? I think I've spoken enough. Thank you. Alright. To the sponsor, The first sub is, uh, significant improvement with the assistance of both the education service providers and the LEAs in this space. So I strongly recommend the first sub.
H.B. 426 Online Education Service Provider Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Moved to favorably recommend the first substitute to the floor, saying it responds to the audit and to family concerns and that she will keep working with the sponsor.
▶ Watch at 1:11:41Read what they said
Okay. I appreciate, um, I would like to move that we favorably recommend the first sub, um, to the floor. And I would just like to speak to that, That motion is in order. Go ahead. Thank you. Um, I think this is a good bill, responsive to the audit. You've been responsive also to the concerns that have been expressed from many of the families who are currently in these programs. And I'm, I appreciate your willingness to work with me as this goes to the floor to make sure that we are protecting that contract as much as possible and protecting the provider to be able to, to deliver the educational product, um, without as much interference as …
H.B. 524 Public Education Financial Officers · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Said the amendment is a good one.
▶ Watch at 1:26:03Read what they said
It's a good amendment To the committee. Back to the maker of the motion. Wait. Good. Alright.
H.B. 524 Public Education Financial Officers · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Said business administrators are often deputy superintendents, who should report to the superintendent.
▶ Watch at 1:26:39Read what they said
Yes. Um, I just want to very, very quickly, um, I recognize there's a number of different ways that we do things in education, but I'm gonna point out one that I think was very illustrative. Um, in our LEAs, most often this business administrator is the deputy superintendent. It seems that the deputy superintendent should report to the superintendent. That's the reason for ending the bill.
H.B. 524 Public Education Financial Officers · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Said the bill is a good first step and urged the committee's support.
▶ Watch at 1:28:52Read what they said
I think this is a good first step to open the door. Um, I would urge the committee's support on this bill. Uh, and I will leave the rest of the sponsor.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Spoke in support of the sponsor's goals but had concerns that the bill is invasive and would require all LEAs to follow its welfare check policy, and said more conversation is needed.
▶ Watch at 3:13:33Read what they said
I would, I appreciate what the good sponsor is trying to do. I have a lot of respect for him and all of his work, but I have serious concerns with the language in the bill and what it empowers LEAs to do. Um, it seems very invasive and, uh, I think that there are, are, it would merit more conversation to try to find the right balance to really get at, hey, if a child isn't coming, um, to school, what are the issues? And I know that a lot of districts are already delving into this and they're already doing, um, some, some sort of this. And my concern is that this puts a requirement on all LEAs. …
H.B. 277 Traditional Healing Amendments · House floor debate (day 29) · Feb 18, 2026
Says she has no general concern with the bill but asks whether its language would cover peyote use, as a bill from last year sought to do.
▶ Watch at 56:43Read what they said
Thank you. Um, in reading this bill, I generally don't have a concern, but I'm just wondering, uh, we had a bill last year that sought to, uh, provide coverage for peyote for the use of peyote. And this seems to me to be language that would actually do that. Um, and I'm wondering if the sponsor could speak to that.
H.B. 277 Traditional Healing Amendments · House floor debate (day 29) · Feb 18, 2026
Asks a follow-up question on whether treatment with peyote would be considered a traditional healing service.
▶ Watch at 58:24Read what they said
Mr. Speaker, a follow up. Go ahead. Would the sponsor continue to Yield? Sponsor continue to yield? Go ahead. Oh yeah. Thank you. Um, so is treatment with peyote considered a traditional healing service?
H.B. 480 Medical Record Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Explains the first substitute, which defines medically indicated abortion and lets a patient who had a miscarriage or medically indicated abortion ask that her record note the abortion was not elective.
▶ Watch at 1:09:45Read what they said
So we worked extensively with, um, doctors in the pro-life space, but also a cog recognized and, and licensed and, um, licensed, uh, obstetricians and gynecologists. So the, we're speaking to the first substitute. The language has been refined, but there's really two parts to the bill. The first part sets up a definition of what medically indicated abortion means. And it includes, uh, a deceased fetus, an ectopic pregnancy, and then life of the, the exceptions that we normally recognize in Utah code, um, for abortion. And then if you move down to line 1 71 in the sub, then it says, an individual that has experienced a miscarriage or medically indicated abortion may request that a healthcare provider …
H.B. 480 Medical Record Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Thanks the committee for its time and for considering the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:16:00Read what they said
to substitute, appreciate The committee's time's a really important issue. And thank you for considering this.
H.B. 480 Medical Record Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Thanks the committee for its thoughtful comments and says the bill expands choice for women.
▶ Watch at 1:19:37Read what they said
Thank you. I just, I really appreciate the comments from the committee. They're very thoughtful. This bill expands choice for women and in a space where often the, the conversation is emotionally charged. And so I'm just so grateful that we've been able to have this discussion. Thank you.
S.B. 110 Marriage Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Asks Bordeaux to explain why the bill would harm women and children.
▶ Watch at 1:32:44Read what they said
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for your testimony. Just a couple of questions. So when you say that this will prime Mar merrily harm women and children, can you suss that out for me a little bit more? Um, I am just unclear on why you have asserted that.
S.B. 110 Marriage Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Says 28 other states have abolished common law marriage or never adopted it, and that the law should be clear and urges support.
▶ Watch at 1:45:02Read what they said
Yes. Thank you. So I thank you to all who gave public comment. This is, um, this is an issue that there, there's a lot of controversy around, but 28 other states have, have abolished common law marriage or never instituted it in their states. So Utah is an outlier, um, in, in the way that we recognize that, but it clearly isn't functioning as, as most people anticipate. And so, um, I think the law should be clear and I would appreciate the committee's support.
S.B. 110 Marriage Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Says an institution recognized by government needs a clear entrance and exit under the law, and urges the committee's support.
▶ Watch at 1:47:10Read what they said
Thank you. I think it's been a good discussion. I do think at the end of the day, uh, to to have government recognition for an institution, it's important that that institution then actually have an entrance and an exit. And in a legal sense, and this is kind of a gray area that really isn't clear. And it's important for all people that act under the law in Utah to have clarity. And so I urge the committee's support.
H.B. 364 Certified Teacher Librarian Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Asked how many districts and regional agencies currently have such a position. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 55:14Read what they said
Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, welcome to our committee. Thank You. Uh, just a quick question. So do you know how many districts and Reese's now have this, um, employee?
H.B. 364 Certified Teacher Librarian Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Asked whether districts would have to fund the position themselves if the Legislature does not appropriate money. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 55:59Read what they said
Okay. Then just to follow up on the, on the funding portion, because, um, because it basically says line 56, it specifies that each district shall staff a, a certified library teacher, librarian, and then it's, and then it instructs the board, the state board to fund that if the legislature appropriates the funds. Yeah. So if we don't appropriate the funds, then the districts and the Reese's are stuck. They have to comply and they do have to come up with the budget money to fill this position. Am I understanding that correctly?
H.B. 364 Certified Teacher Librarian Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Asked where the funding stands with the Executive Appropriations Committee. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 56:49Read what they said
Okay. And then have you, okay, so we, so we would have to fund this. Um, so, um, do we know where we're at on that as far as EAC? Do we know, do we have the funds to do this? What, have you talked to anybody about that?
H.B. 364 Certified Teacher Librarian Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Asked whether districts and regional agencies support the bill. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 57:23Read what they said
Okay. And then do you have, do you have, um, have a lot of the districts and Reese's, have they reached out and, and feel like this is needed? Um, do they, are they kind of in support? Where, where are they at in terms of wanting to go down this road? This
H.C.R. 10 Concurrent Resolution Directing PEHP Regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy · House Health and Human Services Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Presents HCR 10, which would direct PEHP to cover bioidentical hormones for menopause and perimenopause symptoms, and explains why she considers them different from synthetic versions.
▶ Watch at 1:06:28Read what they said
welcome to our committee, representative Libe. Thank You. It's fun to be here. It's the first time I visited you this year, so it's a fun committee, and I'm grateful for your time as I present on this issue. One of your committee members jokingly texted me and said that I should declare a conflict, but I actually am not on PHP insurance, so I really don't have a conflict, even though I am clearly old. So, um, thank you. So, just really quickly, there's, um, all this bill does is it says PHP is already covering hormone treatment for, um, women for menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms. And so this provides coverage for bioidentical hormones. And the reason for that …
H.C.R. 10 Concurrent Resolution Directing PEHP Regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy · House Health and Human Services Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Says bioidentical hormones are available at compounding pharmacies and that the bill's fiscal note is zero, with no expected increase in cost.
▶ Watch at 1:08:44Read what they said
They are available. Um, without revealing too much information about myself, they're available in all compounding pharmacies. I've personally purchased them from three different compounding pharmacies in Davis County. Um, they, the fiscal note on the bill is zero. There's no expectation of increased cost.
H.C.R. 10 Concurrent Resolution Directing PEHP Regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy · House Health and Human Services Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Thanks the committee for the motion and for its time, and thanks a colleague for working with her on the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:10:01Read what they said
Uh, I just really appreciate the motion, appreciate the committee's time. I looked back and saw that our fearless leader, Chet, loved us, is here and appreciate his willingness to collaborate with me on this and, um, his good work on it. So.
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Said the working group could be gatekeeping, argued for a list of accreditor standards instead, and urged not stifling innovation in private schools such as Challenger and Montessori.
▶ Watch at 1:53:13Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, representative Pucci. We've had a lot of conversations over the last few days and, um, I appreciate the idea of a working group. However, when I look at the makeup of the working group, um, it's clear that the working group just amplifies the whole gatekeeping concern that we have with just providing this definition of private school in code Utah has never before, had a definition of a private school in code. And we are now inserting one because we've inserted money into the marketplace that's government money. And I have to say like I'm appalled at some of the astounding behavior I've seen from individuals who are working so hard to try …
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Said the drafter indicated certain language was not in the substitute and offered to pull it up.
▶ Watch at 1:56:26Read what they said
Just really quick. 'cause I asked the drafter about that and he said it's not in the, it's not in your sub too, I'll pull.
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Said the substitute describes accreditation characteristics rather than listing specific accreditors.
▶ Watch at 1:57:32Read what they said
Uh, but what I think is significant about this sub, the second sub or, and even in the third sub, I think rather than you listing accreditors, you have characteristics, right? It's standard, it's not a list. Yeah. List of specific accreditors. Yeah.
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Said accreditation is not a reliable quality measure, and urged the committee to support standards for accreditors and the definition of private school instead of a work group.
▶ Watch at 1:58:16Read what they said
And, and I appreciate that Mr. Chair. I think one of my concerns is as we, I, I'm not speaking to the quality of education per se, because I don't think accreditation necessarily, and I would say like the federal government's actions over the past couple of days speaking to accreditation at the, the, um, higher ed level and how that filters down into K 12 accreditation bodies. Um, I would just say I don't think accreditation is a, um, a metric that we should or can rely on. But that being said, I recognize that that's the direction the bill is going. And so instead of putting this to a working group where, um, we have very conflicted individuals …
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Moved to adopt the third substitute to HB 467.
▶ Watch at 2:09:05Read what they said
Thank you. So, um, I would like to move sub three Motion before is to adopt the third substitute to, um, Utah fits all scholarship program modifications, house bill 4 67.
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Said the third substitute addresses fraud without barriers to micro schools, tightens the accreditation language and candidacy timeframe, and recognizes Montessori and learner-centered accreditors.
▶ Watch at 2:09:23Read what they said
I would, thank you. I appre again, I appreciate the sponsor's work. I recognize we're going in this direction, but if we have to go in this direction and, and in the name of addressing fraud, which I am all on board with addressing across the board when we're spending taxpayer money, and I think I've demonstrated that through my years in the legislature. I, I am concerned that in, in sub two we aren't necessarily addressing fraud as much as we're potentially providing a pathway for gatekeeping within this $120 million program. And I would like to instead prevent fraud, but also not throw up artificial barriers to, um, to potential micro schools and others who really do rely …
H.B. 467 Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Thanked the sponsor and committee and said she will keep working on the bill, though it may not be fully right yet.
▶ Watch at 2:18:51Read what they said
Thank you to the sponsor for her tremendous work on this. Thank you to the committee for hearing the concerns. I am dedicated to continuing many sleepless nights if I have to, to work on this. And, um, I just, I feel so passionately about what we passed in the beginning and I know that the sponsor does too, so I appreciate the support. I hope that we can get there at the end of the day at, during this session and pass some good language. Um, this might not be a hundred percent it and I acknowledge that, but I'll continue to work. Thank you.
S.B. 152 Public and Higher Education Collaboration · House Education Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Asked whether the sponsor would put the listed data elements in code rather than leaving them to be added later by board rule. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 2:27:47Read what they said
Yes, thank you. Let's see, um, Um, I, I'm wondering if the sponsor would be willing to maybe put those things in code just because it would make me feel a lot more comfortable to know what we're agreeing to rather than leaving the door open to add on more things and board rule that then has not been, you know, voted on here.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Explains that HB 48 expands the adult recidivism definition, creates a juvenile recidivism definition, and lets a judge consider placing an 18-year-old convicted of aggravated murder in adult prison or secure care, and says a group that had opposed the bill is now neutral.
▶ Watch at 1:11:24Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. HB 48 does just a few things. So three years ago this, this body passed a definition of recidivism with language that said that we would revisit that definition and that this is the year that we intended to do that. And so this bill expands the definition of adult recidivism. It creates the definition of juvenile recidivism and it makes a change. So if an individual is charged with aggravated murder when they're 17 and convicted when they are 18, currently, if you are in, um, secure care, which is juvenile justice, um, if you are incarcerated with juvenile justice, it can be between the ages of 13 and 25. But with this bill, we …
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Says she presented the third substitute and describes what it does.
▶ Watch at 1:13:06Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. So I just presented on the third sub. That's what the third sub does.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Presented the third substitute to HB 48 and described what it does.
▶ Watch at 1:13:06Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. So I just presented on the third sub. That's what the third sub does.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Explains that the third substitute removes language that would let a judge decide, for anyone over 18, whether they serve in secure care or in prison.
▶ Watch at 1:13:16Read what they said
Um, so it removes some language that a judge could determine for anybody over the age of 18, whether they serve insecure care or in prison it removed that language.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Explained that the third substitute removes language about a judge determining whether people over 18 serve in secure care or prison.
▶ Watch at 1:13:16Read what they said
Um, so it removes some language that a judge could determine for anybody over the age of 18, whether they serve insecure care or in prison it removed that language.
H.B. 23 Service Animal Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Presents HB 23, which would require the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code to publish information and a website link to the Disability Law Center about service animal law, and says she is open to questions.
▶ Watch at 1:43:46Read what they said
Libe. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, HB 23 Requires the division of corporations and commercial co code to publish on a website accessible to the public information and an internet website link for the disability law center so that businesses and members of the public can have clarifying information about what the law says around service animals. And I'm open to questions. Thank you, but not about the baby.
H.B. 365 Taxation Notification Requirements · House Revenue and Taxation Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Said she will vote for the bill and asked the sponsor to work with her and the other sponsor to clarify the dates so municipalities are not unintentionally constrained.
▶ Watch at 2:45:34Read what they said
You. Yeah. I'm, I'm gonna vote for this, but I, I just wanna get on record that will you please work with Corinne and myself? I, I'd like to get clear the, the, the dates so that I understand this a little bit better. If you're willing to do that, I'm happy to vote for it so that it can move along in the process. But I just wanna make sure we're not hand tying some of these municipalities and entities unintentionally. Okay.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Presented HB 370, which requires DPS to run a location monitoring program for registered sex offenders who do not provide a residential address, sets penalties for noncompliance, and requires coordination and timely arrest warrants.
▶ Watch at 1:04:51Read what they said
All right. Thank you Committee, and thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here, um, with Devin Kurtz and Joshua Reynolds. Joshua Reynolds, and, um, we are here to present HB three 70. And just really quickly, this bill requires DPS to establish a location monitoring program for sex offenders who do not, not provide a residential address as a, a registrant on the sex, kidnap and child abuse offender registry. So right now there are approximately 291 individuals out of about 10,000 who do not provide a, an address on the registry. So a small number, but, um, we estimate that about a quarter to a third of those individuals actually do have an address, but are just avoiding providing it, …
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Said the state would pay for the ankle monitor since many of these individuals are indigent.
▶ Watch at 1:11:34Read what they said
That's a really good question. And so under this bill, um, seeing as some of these individuals are in indigenous circumstances, the state would pay the cost of the ankle monitor wouldn't be incumbent on the individual.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Agreed that the intent is to make reporting an address more convenient than wearing a monitor.
▶ Watch at 1:12:09Read what they said
That's, that is the idea. Thank you. Yes, it's, it's the idea that it would be more convenient to report the address where they live than to have an ankle monitor if they do have an address.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Said sheriffs currently review registrants periodically but no action is taken on those without addresses who are assumed indigent.
▶ Watch at 1:12:53Read what they said
So right now, the sheriffs will periodically in most counties, um, do a review of those sex offender registrants in their county. And, um, we'll try to verify. But for, there's really no action that is taken on individuals who it's assumed they're indigent because they don't have an address on the registry.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Clarified that Utah law, not providers, restricts certain registrants convicted of offenses against children from some locations.
▶ Watch at 1:29:04Read what they said
Sorry about that. I would say to point of clarification, Representative Thompson and to Mr. Espinoza, my understanding is that it's just Utah law that doesn't allow, um, individuals on the sex offender registry, uh, that are convicted of an offense against a child to be, uh, in a certain area restriction against proximity. I don't think it's our providers necessarily trying to, you know, slight, slight anyone on the registry. That's, that's my understanding.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Said she appreciated the amendment, noted a possible issue with it, and committed to fix any problem on the floor.
▶ Watch at 1:33:10Read what they said
Thank you. Um, I, I appreciate this motion. There may be a slight issue with it, so I am thinking through this, but if there is, we can fix it on the floor. I will commit to do that, but I I just appreciate that, um, that it was brought to our attention because I, I do wanna make sure that we're immediately addressing public safety issues.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Said there was a concern about a possible ex post facto issue but the risk is unclear.
▶ Watch at 1:34:10Read what they said
Thank you. So, um, yes, there was a concern expressed about a potential expost facto issue, but it's not clear how high that risk is that it would be violating some sort of expost fact.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Noted the committee attorneys indicated it was not a problem.
▶ Watch at 1:34:27Read what they said
Question. Question. And our attorneys are shaking their heads no. So, Okay. So great. I think we're okay.
H.B. 370 Sex Offender Oversight Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Suggested leaving the bill as is and addressing any issue in a floor substitute after legal review.
▶ Watch at 1:37:12Read what they said
Mr. Chair. Yes. May I say yes, madam Chair? Of course. I apologize to the committee for taking some time on this. Um, I'm happy to just leave the bill as is and if there is an issue, we can address it in a sub on the floor very quickly. Um, and, and actually have our brilliant legal minds on the committee really look at it intensely. So, um, maybe while I appreciate the motion, maybe we could just leave it as is.
H.B. 540 Judicial Transparency and Information Access Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Moved to favorably recommend HB 540.
▶ Watch at 2:00:32Read what they said
Thank you. Um, I would move that we favorably recommend HB five 40 judicial transparency, information access, and transition amendments.
H.B. 540 Judicial Transparency and Information Access Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Said the sponsor will keep listening to all parties before floor debate, that lack of transparency causes problems, and that the bill is in a good place.
▶ Watch at 2:00:46Read what they said
I'll, I I think a lot has been said. I think that the sponsor has indicated he will continue to listen to all parties as we move forward. There's cl clearly going to be a lot of time between the vote today and when this is heard on the floor, and so there will be time for further discussions, but I think the bill is in a good place. I think it's needed. I think we've all seen that the lack of transparency can cause a lot of issues. And, and so, um, I would just motion that we favorably recommend
H.B. 540 Judicial Transparency and Information Access Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Said she would resist the motion to hold but appreciates its tenor and meaning.
▶ Watch at 2:05:08Read what they said
I would resist that motion, but I appreciate the, the, um, tenor and the meaning behind it.
H.B. 197 School Materials Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Raises a point of order asking that public commenters speak only to provisions in the substitute under discussion.
▶ Watch at 1:30:08Read what they said
Could, could we, sorry, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Could we please require ness in the public comments that the last two commenters have spoken to something that is removed in the sub we're talking about here in the committee today?
H.B. 197 School Materials Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Moves to adopt the fourth substitute to HB 197.
▶ Watch at 1:33:05Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. I move that we adopt the four substitute to HB 1 97. That motion is in order. Uh, the motion is to adopt the four substitute to HB 1 97.
H.B. 197 School Materials Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Speaks in favor of the fourth substitute, saying many earlier objections do not reflect its current contents and urging passage.
▶ Watch at 1:33:19Read what they said
I would. There's been a lot of, of feedback taken lots of time discussing the issue and discussing this bill. And there's been a lot of changes in this four sub. So a lot of the comments that were against the four sub or the bill were not reflective of what's actually in the fourth sub. So, um, I just think it's a really important policy that we need to get right and then put to bed forever and leave our school districts alone to follow and comply with the laws. So that's my hope with adopting this fourth sub in passing the bill. Thank you, uh, to the members of the committee on the,
H.B. 197 School Materials Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Moves to favorably recommend the fourth substitute for HB 197.
▶ Watch at 1:34:44Read what they said
Okay. I move that we adopt HB 1 97 4 substitute, um, that we favorably recommend, excuse me, the fourth substitute for HB 1 97.
H.C.R. 11 Resolution Urging Healthy Activities in Schools · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Asked whether the resolution's recommendations could be added to the gold medal bill instead of passing as a separate resolution.
▶ Watch at 2:15:35Read what they said
Thank you. Um, I love what you're doing, especially in the previous bill. My concern with this bill is, and I have a question. Um, this is another one of those message bills. This is just saying, Hey, here's a suggestion, here's a, and and we've really tried to decrease the number of resolutions we're running in general. Is there a way that you could sub into your gold medal bill the recommendations that you think are really important? And we would have one fewer bill that goes to the board that needs to be debated on the floor, um, and voted on. Uh, just a thought. And I'd love to hear your response.
H.C.R. 11 Resolution Urging Healthy Activities in Schools · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Moved a substitute motion to hold the bill so the two bills could be combined into one.
▶ Watch at 2:18:29Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to make a substitute motion that we hold the bill, not because we don't love the policy, but because there's an opportunity to perhaps combine the two bills and have one bill.
H.C.R. 11 Resolution Urging Healthy Activities in Schools · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Said the proposal shows support for the policy through one bill instead of two and urged the committee to consider another way to signal support.
▶ Watch at 2:20:56Read what they said
Um, only like, this is not against the policy. My proposal is we can show support to the administration and, and show and signal that we support by, by having one bill, not two. And that, I mean, we've been instructed this committee visits a ton of policy issues every single meeting we have processed bill, after bill, after bill. And that's great. But we've also been encouraged to really take a good hard look at what we are passing. And so I just urge the committee to, again, just take a look at, is there an alternative way to signal, yes, we love this, but also we maybe don't need two separate bills. That's it.
H.B. 399 Prohibition Against Student Character Tracking and Grading Systems · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Questions the broad definition of character education in the private right of action section and says the line may not be the right one.
▶ Watch at 3:10:23Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. Okay. So I'm gonna focus my questions on the private right of action. This is interesting. Um, so you refer throughout the bill to 50 3G ten two oh four, which is the private right of action section. Correct. And in the private right of action section, you attempt to define, uh, what character education means. And there are references to that throughout the bill saying character education as defined here is prohibited. And then you define it here, lines three 70 through 3 85, is that correct? Correct. Okay. So having worked prior to this on a bill, um, in a similar vein where we were trying to define a moving target, um, with all …
H.B. 399 Prohibition Against Student Character Tracking and Grading Systems · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Thanks the sponsor and says the committee can find the right line and that she is willing to work on the bill.
▶ Watch at 3:35:12Read what they said
Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chair, and I wanna thank the sponsor as well. This has been a good discussion. The committee has really taken a look at this issue. I think we can get there. Um, and I am also committed to work on this if, if you want me to. So, um, as a committee member, I'm completely happy trying to get at what is right, where's the right line? Thank you.
H.B. 399 Prohibition Against Student Character Tracking and Grading Systems · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says she is concerned about striking existing statute on constitutional principles and parental responsibility, and will support the motion to hold.
▶ Watch at 3:35:39Read what they said
I'm just gonna note, um, uh, my concern stems with striking section 50 3G ten two oh four. I wanna read a couple of site provisions that are in that section. It says, the legislature recognizes that the cultivation of a continuing understanding and appreciation of a constitutional Republican principles of the representative democracy in Utah and the United States among succeeding generations of educated and responsible citizens is important to the nation and the state. It says the legislature recognizes that the primary responsibility for the education of children within the state resides with their parents, and that the role of state and local government is to support and assist parents in fulfilling that responsibility. I agree a wholeheartedly …
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Asked whether the sponsor would accept an amendment removing the word "seated" because school districts worry about compliance and some children want to move after eating.
▶ Watch at 4:13:06Read what they said
Um, just a really quick question, Mr. Chair for the sponsor. So my question is along the same lines of Representative MacPherson, but I'm wondering if you would entertain when it comes time for action and amendment to remove the word seated. And the reasoning is that, um, there are LEAs who are concerned that that will be interpreted to mean if they don't force every kid to sit in a seat for 20 minutes, that, um, they will be out of compliance with the law. And personally, I know a lot of kids who they're sitting all day in the classroom, they don't want to sit through lunch, they want to eat and then move. So that's just, if, …
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Said the remaining language specifying eating time addresses that concern and she would offer the amendment.
▶ Watch at 4:14:30Read what they said
Mr. Chair, if you, if I could just to follow up, I think that the remaining language in the sentence actually takes care of that because it says, if you remove the word seated, providing a student with a minimum of 20 minutes of eating time to consume lunch. Sure. Okay. So anyway, when it comes action time, I'll propose the amendment if you're, it's fine with me.
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Moved to adopt the first substitute of H.B. 440.
▶ Watch at 4:24:13Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, are we adopting the sub? Yes, please. Okay. In my name. I don't know if there's another one. I would, I see one sub online. Is there, okay. Is that okay? Um, motion to adopt HB four 40 or just to adopt the sub for HB four
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Asked to pose a question to the sponsor.
▶ Watch at 4:28:51Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I'll just be really brief. I do have a question for the, to the sponsor. Is that okay?
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Opposed the motion to hold, saying there is time to make adjustments before floor consideration and the sponsor is willing to do so.
▶ Watch at 4:29:34Read what they said
So I do Mr. Chair, I do agree with the good comments from Representative MacPherson that, you know, we are overloaded as a committee also, I mean, we're moving at a glacial pace on the floor. We have plenty of time between now and whenever this bill would potentially be heard on the floor to make some adjustments and, and the sponsor seems willing to do so. I would resist the motion to hold and move the bill forward along with the amendments and substitute.
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Moved to adopt the drafted amendment posted online.
▶ Watch at 4:32:37Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. I would like to make a motion that we amend line now I lost it. Hold on. Um, oh, actually it's written, it's online. Okay. Nevermind. Just adopt the amendment that Finn drafted. So
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Specified her motion as House Amendment 3.
▶ Watch at 4:32:59Read what they said
Three. There are, maybe I need a refresh. So this is house amendment three. Is it Finn? Okay. House amendment three. I move house. Amendment three.
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Withdrew her motion so the two other amendments could be considered.
▶ Watch at 4:34:18Read what they said
Um, yeah, I, I wasn't aware of the other two amendments. Does, do people want me to move them? Yes. Okay. I'm happy to withdraw my motion. I'm happy to withdraw
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Moved to favorably recommend the first substitute as amended.
▶ Watch at 4:35:59Read what they said
You Mr. Chair. Will I move that we favorably recommend House Bill four 41st substitute as
H.B. 179 Milk Amendments · House floor debate (day 24) · Feb 12, 2026
Moves a verbal amendment to strike line 231 and replace a letter on line 232 of the bill.
▶ Watch at 20:18Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to move an amendment. Oh gosh, I didn't even mean to do that. Okay, that was great. Um, line 2 31, strike line 2 31 and then on line 2 32, delete B and replace it with a in the parentheses. Okay. Representative, uh, let me just repeat that motion back to make sure I've got it correctly. So on line 2 31, you would like to make a, a verbal amendment to strike the entire line and then on line 2 32 replace the B with an A. Is that correct? Okay.
H.B. 179 Milk Amendments · House floor debate (day 24) · Feb 12, 2026
Moves a verbal amendment to strike line 231 and replace subsection B with A.
▶ Watch at 20:18Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to move an amendment. Oh gosh, I didn't even mean to do that. Okay, that was great. Um, line 2 31, strike line 2 31 and then on line 2 32, delete B and replace it with a in the parentheses.
H.B. 179 Milk Amendments · House floor debate (day 24) · Feb 12, 2026
Speaks in support of the amendment and the bill, sharing her family's raw milk experience and saying the bill does not limit large producers.
▶ Watch at 21:18Read what they said
Yes. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, the, the debate on this to bill has been interesting. I raised six kids on raw milk and they all survived and they didn't get sick and they were quite healthy and still are. And I'm grateful that we had the opportunity to purchase raw milk. We purchased it from stores and we also purchased it directly from producers. Um, I, a lot of the conversation around raw milk is based on industry protectionism and concerns with protecting, you know, large producers and I get that, but this bill doesn't limit large producers. So, um, in passing this, we're not saying large producers, you can't do this. There are large producers that have been …
H.B. 179 Milk Amendments · House floor debate (day 24) · Feb 12, 2026
Speaks in favor of the amendment and the bill, saying her family bought raw milk and that the bill does not limit large producers.
▶ Watch at 21:18Read what they said
Yes. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, the, the debate on this to bill has been interesting. I raised six kids on raw milk and they all survived and they didn't get sick and they were quite healthy and still are. And I'm grateful that we had the opportunity to purchase raw milk. We purchased it from stores and we also purchased it directly from producers. Um, I, a lot of the conversation around raw milk is based on industry protectionism and concerns with protecting, you know, large producers and I get that, but this bill doesn't limit large producers. So, um, in passing this, we're not saying large producers, you can't do this. There are large producers that have been …
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Presented HB 372 on child welfare changes, covering guardian ad litem oversight, discovery rights, expressed-interest representation for children over eight, and cross-references to parental and sibling contact provisions in code.
▶ Watch at 2:19:19Read what they said
Thank you. Okay. Over the interim committee and I'll just present from here if that's okay. Uh, we talked broadly about these issues and we had a committee bill file that resulted, but as we were discussing that committee bill file, there were other pieces that were floating, um, around in the ether, uh, that I had opened up a bill file and we talked about in committee that, um, we could just, uh, plug some things in. So as from, from the November meeting until now, I've been working on that and I'm committed to continue to work on that. I've sent drafts to all the stakeholders, the stakeholders have. Um, I've asked for feedback and some of the …
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Said the guardian ad litem contacted her recently and that she met with DHHS and is still awaiting specific feedback, and asked the committee to pass the bill out today.
▶ Watch at 2:28:16Read what they said
So the guardian ad litem, um, reached out to me, I think yesterday evening. And so they reviewed the sub that obviously the initial bill was, has been online for three weeks, I think, um, and has language directly affecting the guardian ad litem. But I didn't receive any contact regarding that language. I did receive contact from the A-A-G-D-C-F-S and DHHS and had meetings with them, um, per their request. And, uh, we had a really good discussion. And then I've asked for feedback and I'm still waiting for the fee, the, the specific feedback on the bill. Um, so that's why I'm asking for the committee since we have time between now and when it will be heard …
H.B. 372 Child Welfare Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Gave closing remarks, noting the guardian ad litem office sent a memorandum, committing to keep working with stakeholders, and sharing a story about a parent's costly experience with child removal.
▶ Watch at 2:51:20Read what they said
BI appreciate the conversation. Uh, Stacey sent her memorandum to the entire committee. Um, and, and I appreciate her feedback. And like I said at the beginning, I'm committed to working, continuing to work with her and all stakeholders on this policy. I just, I want to share a story, uh, in conclusion, and I think each of us can, can relate each of us here, our parents, we care deeply about our ability to parent. Um, so over the summer, a parent reached out to me, aan, who, um, had been contacted by DCFS. She had her children removed from her home, and she subsequently spent over a period of approximately 10 months, about $150,000 to try to get …
S.J.R. 2 Joint Resolution Regarding Constitutional Brackets · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Presents S.J.R. 2 as a measure requiring uniform punctuation and grammar in the Constitution and placing it before voters.
▶ Watch at 30:02Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This is a very scintillating bill about brackets in the Constitution. I'm sure you're all sitting on the edge of your seats. Um, but this just requires uniformity in the way that we use punctuation and grammar in our constitution. Very simple, bill. Putting it to the voters. That's it. Thank you, representative Libe.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Presents HB 234, a voluntary pilot that lets a limited number of districts use a national norm-referenced test as the summative test, and says it has no fiscal note and fits the state accountability system.
▶ Watch at 46:32Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. HB 2 34 is a bill that we've been discussing during interim. And, uh, it creates a pilot program for LEAs to use, uh, a national norm reference test in place of the statewide rise or aspire test at the end of the school year. We've talk, we've been talking with the US Department of Education on this and we're assured that this is a, within the allowances that any test taker under this pilot program will be counted in the 95% requirement for the federal funding that is tied to that 95% rate. Um, the bill directs that the Board of Education will work closely with the Department of US Department of Education to ensure …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Says the national norm-referenced test would be tailored to Utah standards through a crosswalk so it plugs into the existing system.
▶ Watch at 50:19Read what they said
So Mr. Speaker, the, the National Norm Reference test that the USBE applies to this program will be tailored to our standards through a crosswalk system so that yes, they will be plugged right into our existing system.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Says over 90 percent of the questions are based on common core standards that norm-referenced tests share.
▶ Watch at 51:00Read what they said
So 90 over 90% of the questions are based on common core standards that are nationally represented in all norm reference tests, which is why most LEAs already use national norm reference tests in the classroom in addition to the summative test, because those are already tailored to our standards. Thank you.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Says there is little difference between the tests and the option may increase testing participation because some parents opt out of RISE but want results.
▶ Watch at 51:39Read what they said
There's little difference between a national norm reference test and the state test, other than we believe that it will actually increase participation in testing. A lot of parents opt out of testing because they don't trust the rise aspire test, but they do want to know where their children are at, so they appreciate having test results. So having this as an option for schools will allow them to, will actually we believe, increase participation in test taking in Utah.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Says up to 25 percent of districts in the first year could opt in to a state-chosen national norm-referenced summative test, and that federal education officials say it is within the allowances.
▶ Watch at 1:00:22Read what they said
So Mr. Speaker, what this pilot program does is it allows 25% of LEAs in the first year to opt in to using an a national norm reference test that is chosen by the Utah State Board of Education as their summative test. So a lot of these LEAs are already using national norm reference tests for their formative tests. They're already using them to inform on, on how students are doing in their school. So this is just saying you can use national norm reference for your summative as well. And in our conversations with the US Department of Education, they're saying that this is completely within the allowances for all of the statistical significant, um, accountability, um, at …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Says the crosswalk makes results comparable across tests, so the bill does not create an apples-to-oranges situation.
▶ Watch at 1:01:54Read what they said
Absolutely. Thank you for the question, Mr. Speaker and absolutely not. That's what makes this pilot so exciting is the crosswalking that has happened between other types of tests and plugging into the state system of accountability has been happening for decades. So this does not create an apples to oranges situation. When you get done with the crosswalk, we will have apples to apples comparison. Student by student will know where Johnny is and where all of Johnny's siblings are across the state, um, and in their own school.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Closes by saying the bill has the support of the charter school associations and gives real-time data within the school year.
▶ Watch at 1:03:08Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to mention that this bill has the support of all of the charter school associations and state of Utah. It's an important policy that provides flexibility for administrators, for teachers, for parents, and for students to be able to have real time data that they can use within the school year to improve and, um, to learn. And with that, Mr. Speaker, appreciate the body's time.
S.B. 58 Public School Attendance Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Asks to answer the question about excused absences as the substitute's sponsor.
▶ Watch at 1:07:22Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay. If our, Could I answer? Committee member could answer that? Yeah, go Ahead. Oh, okay. Sorry. Lemme get your light on.
S.B. 58 Public School Attendance Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Explains that the bill still tracks excused and unexcused absences as federally required, but excused absences will not lead to penalties.
▶ Watch at 1:07:31Read what they said
Thank you. I apologize. So I guess I did want to talk, um, We were just saving it for later. That's all right. So that portion is the tracking portion. So the, the federal government does require us to track both excused and unexcused. So what the sub four does with regards to any potential penalties from excused absences is it clarifies that those, those will not occur. That it's just for unexcused absences, but that's later in the bill. That's just the tracking portion. So we'll still be tracking excused versus unexcused.
S.B. 58 Public School Attendance Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Moves to adopt the fourth substitute and explains it removes excused absences from educational neglect and from penalties on districts.
▶ Watch at 1:17:31Read what they said
Thank you. I would move, um, sub four. Okay. Would you like, uh, that motion as an order? So you, the motion is to adopt the four substitute to SB 58 public school attendance amendments. Would you like to speak to that? Yes. I really appreciate the sponsors patience with me as I've tried to figure and and navigate as there's, it's kind of been a little bit of a moving target, but understandably so because the policy has evolved in the bill. But basically, um, what sub four does is what this good senator described, but also it, um, it removes from the definition of educational neglect, excused absences. And it also does not punish LEAs for excused absences …
H.B. 145 School Excused Absence Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Moved to adopt the first substitute to HB 145.
▶ Watch at 1:33:04Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I would like to move the, uh, first sub, uh, to this bill, HB 1 45.
H.B. 145 School Excused Absence Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Explained the substitute, which allows an excused absence for any reason a parent gives when the student has at least a 2.0 GPA, and cited studies on excused and unexcused absences.
▶ Watch at 1:33:22Read what they said
I really would. And I'll just clarify. So actually 50 3G 6 8 0 3 is the code that talks about what an excused absence is. So it's a, um, so it says it's a scheduled family event or a scheduled proactive visit to a healthcare provider. If the parent submits a written statement of at least one school day before the scheduled absence, and the student agrees to make up coursework, or it is an illness, whether it be mental or physical, a mental behavioral health of the school age child, a family death, an approved school activity, an absence permitted by a school age child's parent, um, or sorry, an absence permitted by a school age child's individualized, …
H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Presents HB 20, which creates a set-aside account for future expenditures on expanding state prison capacity.
▶ Watch at 2:50:09Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. This is the interim committee bill that we discussed that just creates that specific Setaside account for future expenditures with regards to expansion of corrections of prison capacity in the state of Utah.
H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Responds to the chair about whether there was House opposition and confirms her presentation is complete.
▶ Watch at 2:50:27Read what they said
It's okay, I can look it up. Okay. Um, okay. Does that conclude your presentation? I don't think There was. Yes it does. Okay.
H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Summarizes that future prison capacity costs need funding and the bill creates a pathway to do so.
▶ Watch at 2:52:06Read what they said
I'll be really brief. We know that we have future impacts that we need to fund for. This just creates a pathway to do that. It's really simple.
H.B. 136 Unlicensed Driver Amendments · House floor debate (day 21) · Feb 9, 2026
Supports the bill, saying unlicensed non-citizen drivers are linked to hit-and-run accidents and speeding in school zones, and that statute is needed to encourage privilege card compliance. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:35:51Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. This has been a multi-year process and a very important process. And as I'm sure you're, most of you are aware, disproportionate amount in some jurisdictions of, of hit and run accidents that are later identified are from non-citizens who are driving without a driving credential in our state. Now, as a Utah citizen or a citizen of the United States, if you're driving on the roads and you don't have a driving credential, is very likely that you could be arrested, that you could be detained, or that you could be cited because you don't have a driver credential. This is trying to get at that same issue …
H.B. 136 Unlicensed Driver Amendments · House floor debate (day 21) · Feb 9, 2026
Supports the bill, saying unlicensed driving by some non-citizens is a safety concern and that driving credentials should be required.
▶ Watch at 1:35:51Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. This has been a multi-year process and a very important process. And as I'm sure you're, most of you are aware, disproportionate amount in some jurisdictions of, of hit and run accidents that are later identified are from non-citizens who are driving without a driving credential in our state. Now, as a Utah citizen or a citizen of the United States, if you're driving on the roads and you don't have a driving credential, is very likely that you could be arrested, that you could be detained, or that you could be cited because you don't have a driver credential. This is trying to get at that same issue …
H.B. 136 Unlicensed Driver Amendments · House floor debate (day 21) · Feb 9, 2026
Supports the bill, saying non-citizens driving without a driving credential are disproportionately involved in hit-and-run accidents and that the bill would encourage obtaining a driving privilege card.
▶ Watch at 1:35:51Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. This has been a multi-year process and a very important process. And as I'm sure you're, most of you are aware, disproportionate amount in some jurisdictions of, of hit and run accidents that are later identified are from non-citizens who are driving without a driving credential in our state. Now, as a Utah citizen or a citizen of the United States, if you're driving on the roads and you don't have a driving credential, is very likely that you could be arrested, that you could be detained, or that you could be cited because you don't have a driver credential. This is trying to get at that same issue …
H.B. 347 Artificial Turf Placement Modifications · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Says the bill is not finished, that other entities also install turf that generates heat, and that it should be held for more work. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:27:24Read what they said
Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. I kind of echo what's just been said. I don't think the bill's done. There's lots of other entities besides LEAs that put in these kind of fields. They're not included. You got support courts and other things that I've been around. They generate heat. I think you need some more work, and so haven't decided yet, but I think it's, uh, probably needs to be held and worked on a little bit more.
H.B. 23 Service Animal Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Presented HB 23, which would require information on service animal law to be posted on a state website, and removed the criminal penalty enhancement through the first substitute.
▶ Watch at 1:42:20Read what they said
Thank you. All right. So the first substitute takes away all mention of a criminal penalty enhancement, uh, per recommendations. This is a committee bill file from interim. And so all this does is just require the information be available on the state website for individuals who are looking, um, to clarify what our law actually says in regards to service animals. Uh, the reason for this bill is I have a constituent, um, actually have several constituents who, uh, have service animals because they cannot see. And when they go into places of public accommodation, very often employees of those places do not understand what the law is and try to deny them service. This is a very serious …
H.B. 23 Service Animal Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Thanked the public speaker for his work and thanked the committee for its consideration.
▶ Watch at 1:45:19Read what they said
Thank you. And I really appreciate, um, Oh, sorry. I really appreciate, uh, the gentleman who came forward to speak and thank you for all the information and all the help you've given to our members of the disabled community in the past. And hopefully this will assist in the future as well. And just really grateful for your work. And thank you to the committee for your consideration.
H.B. 193 Transgender Medical Procedures Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Says the bill concerns whether cities can choose to cover certain procedures and gain legal protection, not what individuals do with their bodies.
▶ Watch at 1:30:14Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill is not about what people can do with their bodies. This is about whether cities can designate or not designate what they will cover. Um, and, and what is considered a, um, something right now that is just a default versus something where they would be protected legally if they chose not to cover something that doesn't preclude anybody from doing what they want with their bodies. So I urge my colleague support of this very important distinction in our code. Thank you.
H.B. 193 Transgender Medical Procedures Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Supports the bill, saying it concerns whether cities may choose what they cover and does not restrict what people do with their bodies.
▶ Watch at 1:30:14Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill is not about what people can do with their bodies. This is about whether cities can designate or not designate what they will cover. Um, and, and what is considered a, um, something right now that is just a default versus something where they would be protected legally if they chose not to cover something that doesn't preclude anybody from doing what they want with their bodies. So I urge my colleague support of this very important distinction in our code. Thank you.
H.B. 193 Transgender Medical Procedures Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Supports the bill, saying it concerns whether cities may choose to designate what they cover and does not restrict what people do with their bodies; urges support.
▶ Watch at 1:30:14Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill is not about what people can do with their bodies. This is about whether cities can designate or not designate what they will cover. Um, and, and what is considered a, um, something right now that is just a default versus something where they would be protected legally if they chose not to cover something that doesn't preclude anybody from doing what they want with their bodies. So I urge my colleague support of this very important distinction in our code. Thank you.
H.B. 258 Insurance Coverage Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Asks whether a hormone treatment effect would ever require surgery to fix. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:35:32Read what they said
Is there a circumstance when an individual would be under hormone treatment and the effects of that hormone treatment would require surgery to fix?
H.B. 258 Insurance Coverage Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Asks whether a hormone treatment could cause effects that would require surgery to fix.
▶ Watch at 1:35:32Read what they said
Is there a circumstance when an individual would be under hormone treatment and the effects of that hormone treatment would require surgery to fix?
H.B. 258 Insurance Coverage Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Asks the sponsor to consider whether insurance should cover surgery for a hypothetical case of hormone treatment affecting genital growth. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:36:10Read what they said
So, uh, would the sponsor continue to yield? Yes. Represe. Thank you Mr. Speaker. So if an, a young individual was receiving hormone treatment, let's say in another state because I can't receive it in this state and it slows the growth of their genitalia, um, and, and results in let's say a micro penis or something of that nature, um, would we not want insurance to pay for that to be, um, or for something to be done for that individual surgically?
H.B. 258 Insurance Coverage Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Asks whether insurance should cover surgery for a young person whose hormone treatment affected genital growth.
▶ Watch at 1:36:10Read what they said
So, uh, would the sponsor continue to yield? Yes. Represe. Thank you Mr. Speaker. So if an, a young individual was receiving hormone treatment, let's say in another state because I can't receive it in this state and it slows the growth of their genitalia, um, and, and results in let's say a micro penis or something of that nature, um, would we not want insurance to pay for that to be, um, or for something to be done for that individual surgically?
H.B. 204 Higher Education Student Belief Accommodation · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Says the bill does not enact censorship and that some public comments were inaccurate.
▶ Watch at 1:14:09Read what they said
Um, I'll be brief, but yes, this is a good bill. It does not, uh, enact any censorship. The comments against the bill were interesting, um, and a lot of them were very inaccurate, um, as far as what is happening on higher ed campuses now, and what would under this bill happened, and so appreciate the sponsor's work on this.
H.B. 317 Social Health in Public Education Curriculum · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Moved to hold the bill.
▶ Watch at 2:31:50Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I move to hold and I would love to speak to that.
H.B. 317 Social Health in Public Education Curriculum · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Said testimony showed the work is already happening, so she does not see what the bill tightens, noted schools are stretched thin, and said the bill is not ready yet.
▶ Watch at 2:31:57Read what they said
Yes. Thank you. I really appreciate your work on this, uh, representative. I understand what you are trying to do. I am still seeing, like every single person who testified for this bill basically indicated that what this bill is trying to do is already happening. That is my concern. If what the bill is trying to do is already happening and they feel like this will allow them to continue to do what they're already doing, I don't see how it tightens up anything or redirects anything. Um, and that's the concern. Our schools are not built to provide everything for everyone. It's impossible. And our schools are so stretched thin. Um, so I think that there's, there's some …
H.B. 317 Social Health in Public Education Curriculum · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Raised a point of order asking to close as maker of the original motion.
▶ Watch at 2:37:07Read what they said
Point of order. Yes. Are you coming back to me as the maker of the original motion?
H.B. 317 Social Health in Public Education Curriculum · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Opposed the motion, arguing the phrase 'optimal relationship with self' is vague and the definition does not adequately define healthy relationships.
▶ Watch at 2:37:15Read what they said
Thank you. I will not be supporting that motion. And, and this is why, just really quickly, if we're trying to lock things down, um, and we are trying to help young people who are still developing and are in critical stages of brain development and neurodevelopment this definition, um, in my opinion, does not do that. So for instance, the last line says to develop an optimal relationship with self. So I just quickly asked Google what an optimal relationship with self is. And Google said, an optimal relationship with oneself is built on unconditional self acceptance, compassion, and consistent self care, where one acts as their own supportive partner, friend, and mentor. And while I think it's very …
H.B. 50 Child Protection Ombudsman Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 16) · Feb 4, 2026
Presents House Bill 50 to state that parents may seek and receive help from the child protection ombudsman, provides for complaint data to go to the legislative oversight panel, and requires posting parental rights on the DHS website.
▶ Watch at 11:00Read what they said
House Bill 50 uh, addresses the, uh, child Protection Ombudsman that was created in 1998. Having a lot of discussion. Uh, there's been, uh, this has kind of been a safety relief valve for parents and other stakeholders dealing with the, the child welfare system, guardian ed line and court process to just get a little bit of, uh, help and, and talking, uh, over things. There's been some question as to how much of information assistance that, um, ombudsman can do. So this bill simply states explicitly states that the parents may seek and receive help from the ombudsman. The data that's collected on the number and nature of complaints are compiled and made, uh, available to the legislative …
H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Presents HB 20, which creates a restricted account for correctional facility capacity funded by appropriations, certain savings, and fiscal impacts of new legislation, to be spent only on expansion.
▶ Watch at 28:53Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Utah's population has grown faster than anticipated in expanding, uh, expanding over time. The capacity of our prisons and jails was always part of the plan. This bill proposes a way to fund that expansion. So multiple forecasts have shown that bed capacity is reaching emergency limits and will do so by 2028. The, the longest time is potentially 2029. Even with the changes that we are making this session to fund needed expansion, the Utah way is to plan ahead. And so for that reason, the judiciary interim Committee spent a lot of time looking at this issue. Uh, HB 20 creates a restricted account to address correctional facility capacity. And the money from the …
H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Responds that the legislature could reprioritize funds into the account and that the bill sets aside money from fiscal notes on correctional capacity bills for future expansion.
▶ Watch at 31:08Read what they said
It's a great question and I'm sure that there are funds that as the legislature, reprioritizes will be available and it would be up to the legislature then to put those in this account if that's what they deem would be the most appropriate use of those funds. What this bill does is it just creates a, it, it's a unique funding mechanism, but it creates an account and then it says we're going to make sure that as, uh, as we have fiscal notes on bills that are directly associated with correctional capacity, that that money gets set aside in this account for future use to make sure we can fund that expansion.
H.B. 120 Tail Light Obstruction Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Asks whether the bill would affect visibility from the back of a school bus, such as a bright light shining rearward.
▶ Watch at 1:02:37Read what they said
Thank you. Um, this is a, this is an interesting bill, Mr. Speaker, and I'm just wondering if the sponsor could speak to, if this would affect the obstruction of view from, say, somebody in the back of a school bus exposing themselves the bright light that would shine in the back. Would this obstruct views of that?
H.B. 213 Criminal Proceedings Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Moves to adopt the first substitute of HB 213.
▶ Watch at 1:27:22Read what they said
Um, I'd like to make a motion to adopt the first substitute of HB two 13.
H.B. 213 Criminal Proceedings Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Supports the substitute, saying the sponsor moved well away from the original bill while affirming the right to a fair and speedy trial.
▶ Watch at 1:27:30Read what they said
Uh, I'll just be really brief. I appreciate the sponsor's work on this. I think the substitute shows that, um, he's, he's come a long way from the original bill that had a lot of physical impact, but also wants to continue to send the message as to we all that, uh, there is a significant right to a fair, uh, fair and speedy trial here in Utah. And so just appreciate the work and hope that he continues.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Presents HB 48, which updates recidivism data requirements and gives courts discretion to move certain individuals aged 18 and older to adult supervision, and says she will keep working with stakeholders.
▶ Watch at 1:32:28Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I apologize to all those who are, are waiting for me to present this bill, but in order to have Representative Clancy chairing, we needed to switch up the agenda a little bit. So HB 48 was an interim committee bill, and we worked on that and heard it at a couple of different hearings. Uh, and we had some good discussion there. Uh, and so just to remind everybody really quickly, uh, it, when we passed the definition of recidivism about three or four years ago, we indicated at that time that we would be revisiting, um, within a few years the definition of recidivism. And, uh, and so because of that, this bill …
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Says the bill lets courts as well as the juvenile department move individuals to adult custody, and says the detention language does not yet fix the issue, asking for further language.
▶ Watch at 1:40:39Read what they said
Yes, thank you. So currently JJYS does have discretion to move individuals and has moved into, moved individuals. Um, all that this bill does is allow the court system, the judge to also, um, move an individual if they see fit. Yes. It's also very confusing with the, um, the way that the, the old system was, um, this was put in place just so we had a, a little more, more discretion and really looking at a person in their amenability to the system. We often have these kids housed in our detention facility for years as they go through this adult process. We have a really good idea who's amenable and who's not, um, moving forward. And I …
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Asks Singleton how the current process for moving individuals from secure care compares with what the bill would do.
▶ Watch at 1:48:05Read what they said
Uh, for you from Chair Libe. So actually the, the, I I'm confused. So I think you said that JGYS can move people without any kind of, what did you say?
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Says she included language to make the transfer process smoother and that under current law transfers require court action.
▶ Watch at 1:48:56Read what they said
Just to be clear, I actually put language in my bill for JGYS to make that a smooth process. Currently, they have to go before court in order to move an individual from secure care to UDC. So that is not correct, but I just wanted to make sure I heard you correct. Thank you.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Says a juvenile justice official asked her to add language to make transfers easier, and asks Vickrey to reach out with her concerns.
▶ Watch at 1:53:21Read what they said
And Pam, I, we talked about this in the interim, and I never did hear from you, so I would appreciate you reaching out if you have some concerns, because certainly I've always been willing to listen to you. Um, uh, Brett Peterson approached me about six months ago and, and, um, the new director was with him, and they asked me to put language in this bill to create and facilitate that ability for them to move somebody. So they said that currently they have to go before a judge in order to move somebody. So I'm not sure where the disconnect is, but happy to talk with you about that online. Thank you. Yes,
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Moves to adopt the first substitute to HB 48.
▶ Watch at 1:57:25Read what they said
Okay, Representative or chair Liz Bee. I'd Like to move that we adopt first substitute.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Says concerns from CCJJ were addressed in the substitute and that remaining concerns will be considered on the floor.
▶ Watch at 1:57:36Read what they said
Yes. I heard a lot of concerns from all of the members of, um, well, CCJJ and I responded to those. Those are in the first substitute. Um, there are some lingering concerns, and again, I'm happy to look at those as we move to the floor, but I'd appreciate the committee support.
H.B. 48 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Changes · House Judiciary Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Says much has already been said and that she will keep working to address concerns.
▶ Watch at 1:58:40Read what they said
Would you like to speak to that motion? I think a lot has been said. I think I've said that I'm willing to work to, to, um, continue to alleviate concerns and appreciate the committee's support. Thank you.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Thanks the committee and introduces guest Matt Throckmorton, who will say whom he represents.
▶ Watch at 2:11:09Read what they said
I wouldn't mind. Thank you, committee. This is a good marathon and definitely feeling it in my thighs. But, uh, grateful that you're willing to take some time and, and hear about this bill. This is, uh, Matt Throckmorton and I will let him announce who he is representing here today.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Asks how long ago Throckmorton served in the legislature.
▶ Watch at 2:11:40Read what they said
He's also a former member of this body a long time ago. I don't know. How long has it been?
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Explains the bill creates an opt-in, limited pilot allowing a national norm-referenced test in place of the RISE summative test, with no fiscal note because participating LEAs pay, and says the U.S. Department of Education has given assurances on compliance and participation counting.
▶ Watch at 2:11:50Read what they said
Well, so we've been talking about this bill for about six months and we've taken feedback and we've made adjustments and, um, we've also been talking to the US Department of Education. And, uh, in those conversations, we're assured that this is within the allowances. This bill, just what it does, it directs our Board of Ed to work closely with the Utah department, uh, or the United States Department of Ed to ensure compliance. It's a pilot, it's opt-in. Um, and the opt-in would be to be allowed to use a national norm reference test in place of the rise aspire for the required summative test. It's limited in the number of LEAs that can participate. And there's no …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Opens the floor to questions and calls on Rep. Hayes.
▶ Watch at 2:17:39Read what they said
All right, we're open to questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Committee all thank you. We appreciate that. I do have a few questions for members of the committee. So we'll start with Representative Hayes.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Explains that the national norm-referenced tests are based on state standards, compare results to nationwide test takers, and can be statistically converted to Utah's four proficiency levels.
▶ Watch at 2:18:23Read what they said
with these apples or oranges. That's great, Great guess. Yeah, it's a great question, right? And this gets at the core of the conversation around, you know, how we do the conversion. So the national norm reference, like the NWA I'm most familiar with that. They have 10 to 12 million test takers a year, and they're criterion based, right? They use state standards, they use, and the state standards because of the work of Common Core, they're like 95% nationwide. Um, but they, they take the test, it's based on those criteria. But then instead of giving you a number based upon, you know, we got 30% of the questions, 70% of the questions, right? They show it compared …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Responds that the tests show which Utah standards each student has and has not mastered, helping teachers and individual learning plans, and that results can still be converted to Utah's levels.
▶ Watch at 2:21:36Read what they said
Yes ma'am. Can I respond? Yeah. So, um, super good point. And this is one of the things that we love about it because like again, the NWEA, I'll beat that dead horse 'cause we used it for years. But what what it could provide is it, it could show a student, it would have a line and above the line it would have all of the standards, Utah standards that that student has mastered. And below the line it would have all those that they have not. And so you could build an individual education plan, not an IEP special ed, but you could just build a pathway for that student and then you could flip it, you could …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Says the test was borrowed from other providers, that districts use various tools, and that districts are included in the bill.
▶ Watch at 2:23:00Read what they said
Could I give a cheeky answer? We didn't invent it, we borrowed it from them. So, and I know a lot of districts are using different, you know, it might be IXL or something else like that. Yeah. And the districts are included in the bill.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Says the state board and superintendent have been consulted and are expected to find the approach workable.
▶ Watch at 2:24:06Read what they said
Um, we've talked to, with the state board, um, multiple occasions and with the superintendent on multiple occasions, we assume that they, um, are fully aware of the desires of that committee under them and, and have communicated with us that, um, this will work.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Says the U.S. Department of Education has offered help to meet the peer-review thresholds and that the state expects to meet the timeline.
▶ Watch at 2:26:24Read what they said
Yeah. Do you wanna go ahead and then I'll follow Up? I think the answer is yes and yes. Um, first of all, I, I watched another state go through that process that you were part of and it's daunting. I saw it just from a distance. It's a lot and I greatly respect what you went through there. And the neat thing is, and you know, we keep going back to the US Department of Education, there's probably nobody in the room that understands better what that is than you and them. And they know that process and they're totally, you know, they can't reach out and say please do this, but their answer is, we'll help in any …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Confirms the bill has LEAs cover both the assessment and mapping costs, and says LEAs remain interested in participating.
▶ Watch at 2:27:16Read what they said
That's in the bill as well. Okay. It's, they're both There total. Okay. So they're gonna total, total also help total gonna cover those costs as well. It was very intentional, like we knew there would be costs and yeah, we just wanted to cover that. And thank you. And the LEAs are still excited about it and want to participate. So thank you
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Answers that participating schools would not take the state writing test, and that this would be the one tweak to the pilot.
▶ Watch at 2:28:04Read what they said
No, that's a good question. So do you wanna go ahead and, and answer that? I'm just looking at the, The answer is no. That was one of them, one of the questions that was posed to us. So then I followed up with a number of, you know, these national norm reference and they point out that they didn't do it. And in order to do that, they would have to like, completely remodel everything. And so that, that's probably the only tweak, um, that would take place outside. It's part of the pilot, but the answer's no.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Explains that beginning, middle, and end-of-year testing shows growth and that pilot schools will be linked to Utah's accountability through conversion.
▶ Watch at 2:29:09Read what they said
So we, that's, that's been the conversation, right? That's the conversion, that's the crosswalk with the summative, just comparing it across the system. But if you want to say anything else about it, that's what we're, Yeah. Part of it, like, my, my contribution to that is requiring the beginning and the middle and the end is to really show that the schools that participate in this are like, fully invested in doing it, right? Like if we're gonna use a national norm reference, which is a formative test, it shouldn't just be something we use at the end, we should use it properly, right? And they are designed to do beginning, middle, and end. So you're showing growth throughout …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Says the test vendors must comply with Utah standards under the request for proposal process.
▶ Watch at 2:30:03Read what they said
Yes, ma'am. So that's part of the RFP process is that they have to fully comply with, you know, performing to Utah standards. I mean, they, they just, anything short of it, they're not gonna be in compliance.
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Responds with personal experience that students took the norm-referenced test calmly and that participation stayed high, while opt-outs continued on the state test.
▶ Watch at 2:30:50Read what they said
Not anxiety inducing, because we can't tie rise to a grade. We can't ties it to, to test scores or anything like that. So I can only give you my anecdotal of having been under the hood of administering the NWA and the end of the year for seven years. And the military academy, we'd start out with plebe week. And one of the things that we would do in, you know, get 'em haircuts, get 'em in military uniforms, units, teach 'em, military Marching seems far more anxiety producing to me than anything. It's so much fun. They love it. Yeah. This is where I get, and actually I won't go off on a tangent, sorry. But, um, I …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Says Utah previously developed a statistically valid conversion for a norm-referenced test in an earlier program, and that the rules govern the details.
▶ Watch at 2:33:00Read what they said
I get too excited about this. Actually. There is, when Utah first created, um, you know, the, the, this law, this test, they created the U pass Utah Performance Assessment systems for students. Remember that. And early on in it, there was, for whatever reason, like the political environment changed, um, there was more open to this kind of conversation. So there were a couple of different ones to include NWA mention them again. They actually did a statistically s significant valid conversion that they provided to the state board. And they were doing that in hopes of getting the state to, you know, engage NWA. And, and I know that around 2009, 10, that there were a couple of …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Says the fiscal note is zero because the pilot is opt-in and LEAs bear any costs, and that the 2019 letter cited by opponents is outdated given ongoing talks with the administration.
▶ Watch at 2:45:29Read what they said
Thank you. I just wanna make one comment that I don't think was clear in the presentation, and that is that the fiscal note is zero and it's zero for a reason. The burden for providing all of the funding for this is completely opt-in. If an LEA chooses to opt in, then they will bear the burden, but they don't, nobody has to opt in. And, um, to the concerns about the the norm referencing the cross-referencing, um, I just wanna be clear that 2019 letter that Excel and Ed was referencing is obsolete. The administration, and we have been talking with them, says, indicates that we will be in compliance as we work with them, and that is …
H.B. 98 Residential Notification Amendments · House floor debate (day 9) · Jan 28, 2026
Supports the bill, saying a contact person for the public helps when concerns arise about facilities in neighborhoods.
▶ Watch at 1:07:32Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this important legislation. Uh, we've seen in our community that, uh, there's often misunderstandings when these facilities go into neighborhoods and having a liaison to interact with the public and, um, when there's concerns, having somebody to contact as a member of the public, Mr. Speaker, is so important. So I think this is a you really soft touch bill to make sure that the community members around a facility are notified and I would urge my colleague support. Thank you.
H.B. 227 Student Journalist Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Says the bill creates a cause of action unlike other Utah code, compares student journalists to professional journalists, and states she cannot support the bill in its present form.
▶ Watch at 2:11:48Read what they said
Thank you, Madam Chair. Okay. I have also some, some thoughts and perhaps a question or two. So, um, as I've read through your bill, I, I'm a little struck with, I I don't think there's another designated student club, um, with legal cause of action anywhere else in Utah Code. And please prove me wrong if there is, but I couldn't find one that Utah Code stipulates there's a cause of action for the students involved in the club directly, or their parents to act against the school. This seems probably out of balance and, and maybe some of the other commenters were alluding to this. Um, and then I just want to kind of explore, um, the, the …
H.B. 50 Child Protection Ombudsman Amendments · Senate Health and Human Services Committee · Jan 26, 2026
Presented H.B. 50, which lets parents seek help from the Child Protection Ombudsman, requires data collection and reporting on complaints, and requires posting of parental rights code on the DHHS website.
▶ Watch at 1:08:58Read what they said
Thank you for being flexible and letting me go so soon. I appreciate it. And I'll be really brief. So the Ombudsman Office, uh, was originally created in 19 88, 19 98, following some cases that received, uh, a lot of public attention. And you may remember them, the original intent of the Ombuds, the, um, the Ombudsman's office was to include parents. And so just to note, like historically, our Ombudsman's office have been, is kind of pressure release valves for, um, for issues that the public has. And so I spent hours over the last several months listening to many, many parents with serious concerns with the D-C-F-S-G-I-L-A-A-G court process regarding, um, parental rights. And so in the …
H.B. 209 Voting Amendments · House floor debate (day 7) · Jan 26, 2026
Supports the bill, citing personal knowledge of non-citizens who registered and voted, and says the policy has been adopted by other states and is working there.
▶ Watch at 43:38Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this very important legislation regardless of the news out there on preliminary findings from the audit by the lieutenant governor. I have personal firsthand knowledge that there over the past year have been more than one, uh, non-citizen who is registered to vote and who has voted. And those individuals did not register to vote in 2018 or 2019 as was referenced in the news articles. And so I just want to ensure that, um, as we're talking about this, we wanna make sure that we are being factual. The article that the lieutenant governor, um, spoke to also said that there were over 400 individuals whose addresses hadn't been verified. …
H.B. 209 Voting Amendments · House floor debate (day 7) · Jan 26, 2026
Supports the bill, citing concerns about non-citizens on the voter rolls and noting that similar policies are used in other states.
▶ Watch at 43:38Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this very important legislation regardless of the news out there on preliminary findings from the audit by the lieutenant governor. I have personal firsthand knowledge that there over the past year have been more than one, uh, non-citizen who is registered to vote and who has voted. And those individuals did not register to vote in 2018 or 2019 as was referenced in the news articles. And so I just want to ensure that, um, as we're talking about this, we wanna make sure that we are being factual. The article that the lieutenant governor, um, spoke to also said that there were over 400 individuals whose addresses hadn't been verified. …
H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Presents the first substitute to HB 20, which cleans up issues raised by the fiscal analyst's office, allows money in the account to be used for community corrections centers, and opens the bill for committee questions.
▶ Watch at 40:44Read what they said
Thank you. Okay, so I do have a substitute. So I'm presenting on the first substitute for the bill, and it's just cleaning up. There was some issues with the fiscal analyst office. If you recall, we voted on this previously in interim committee, but, um, as it was, as the fiscal analyst office started to look at administration, uh, realized that we needed a few tweaks. And then an additional thing this does is it allows the money in this account to be used for community corrections Senator centers. Um, and as we have expanded those, we found that they're a highly effective tool in the hands of corrections for offenders. So, uh, that's all that the sub does. …
H.B. 20 Correctional Facility Capacity Amendments · House Judiciary Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Thanks the committee for the motion and its support, and describes the bill as an exciting piece of criminal justice work the committee has done together.
▶ Watch at 43:00Read what they said
Thank you. I really appreciate the motion. It has been. Um, this is an exciting piece to the puzzle, uh, in the criminal justice space, and we've worked on it as a committee and appreciate the committee support.
H.B. 80 Firearm Storage Requirements · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Asks about smoking in the home and compares it to unsecured guns, and says the bill would make gun owners who keep firearms for self-defense vulnerable to violating it.
▶ Watch at 1:11:25Read what they said
Um, earlier you had talked about, uh, smoking in the home. This is gonna seem like a ridiculous question, but in the state of Utah, have we outlawed smoking inside someone's home? No. No, we have not. No, but, and so I agree with you. We could, we could declare that to be child neglect, but none of the nanny state people, I'm sure there's someplace in the world that they've done that, but I think it's, but none of our nanny state people have, have gone so far as to try to control parents' behaviors to that extent. And I don't think there's as high a danger to kids for their parents smoking in the home as there is …
H.B. 47 Vehicle Registration and Insurance Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Describes a constituent who received Tax Commission letters requiring driving insurance for a vintage vehicle that is never driven, and urges support for the bill.
▶ Watch at 25:57Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I have had, so I have a constituent who has texted me multiple times over the past eight months, uh, copies of threatening letters that they've received from the tax commission for a vehicle, a vintage vehicle that they own that is parked next to their home that is completely covered, uh, with a professional looking tarp. And, um, they, uh, they do not ever drive this vehicle. They have property insurance on it, but not driving insurance. And the tax commission has demanded over the past year that they go and they get driving insurance on a vehicle that they never drive, nor do they intend to drive. And we as lawmakers should never …
H.B. 50 Child Protection Ombudsman Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Presents H.B. 50, which states that parents may seek help from the Child Protection Ombudsman, adds data collection and reporting on complaints, and requires posting of the parental rights code on the DHHS website.
▶ Watch at 51:08Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, over the past couple of years, uh, I and some other members in this body have spent many, many hours in listening to parents who have had serious concerns with their interactions with DCFS, the gs, the court process surrounding, um, parental rights and termination of parental rights. Historically, our Ombudsman's offices here in Utah have served as pressure release valves for some of the, um, the mounting concerns that happen when agencies are perhaps not addressing the needs of families in the way that families would have them addressed. So in the interest of those addressing those very valid concerns, um, I, uh, have introduced this bill. It explicitly states that parents may seek …
H.B. 50 Child Protection Ombudsman Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Responds that the ombudsman can already receive complaints against parents and that the bill allows the ombudsman to hear complaints from parents.
▶ Watch at 53:40Read what they said
So the Ombudsman can already receive complaints against parents. This a, allows the ombudsman to actually hear complaints from the parents.
H.B. 50 Child Protection Ombudsman Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Says parents in her experience have described high legal costs and removal of their children, and urges support for the bill so parents can seek help from the Ombudsman's office.
▶ Watch at 54:41Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I personally have have cried with a number of parents just in the last six months, who, um, have had their children removed, have tried everything, have spent over a hundred thousand dollars, uh, in attorney's fees to try to address, um, what the agency see as issues. And it is heartbreaking to sit with these parents to recognize the pain that they receive, and we hope that they can then go to the Ombudsman's office and receive some assistance in navigating the system. And with that, I urge your support. Thank you.
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