Legislators / Doug Welton
Doug Welton
Republican · House District 65
Hear from them directly
Contact Rep. Doug Welton
- Email: dwelton@le.utah.gov
- Phone: 385-977-3870
- Office: 350 N State Street, Suite 350, Salt Lake City, UT, 84114
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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.
Doug Welton serves on:
- Transportation and Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee
- House Education Committee
- House Government Operations Committee
- Education Interim Committee
- Revenue and Taxation Interim Committee
What they've said
177 remarks on 47 billsS.B. 287 Targeted Advertising Tax · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Speaks in support, saying the companies affected earn hundreds of millions of dollars and that the bill provides funding for education and fighting harms to children.
▶ Watch at 2:06:04Read what they said
Thank you Madam Speaker ProAm. I would also like to stand in support of this piece of legislation. This is an important piece of, of legisl of legislation, uh, that we're looking at. IIII, I struggle with the argument that we're taxing small businesses. We're talking, uh, companies who are making hundreds of millions of dollars. Many of them are making $60 million a quarter. These are not small companies that, that, uh, are, are being impacted here. Additionally, we've spent a tremendous amount of time this session dealing with addictive devices, which is where most of your targeting advertising is coming from. We recognize that devices are addictive. We are pulling electronics out of school. We are restricting targeting …
S.B. 287 Targeted Advertising Tax · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Supports the bill, saying the affected companies earn hundreds of millions of dollars and that the bill would fund tools and education to address harms to children.
▶ Watch at 2:06:04Read what they said
Thank you Madam Speaker ProAm. I would also like to stand in support of this piece of legislation. This is an important piece of, of legisl of legislation, uh, that we're looking at. IIII, I struggle with the argument that we're taxing small businesses. We're talking, uh, companies who are making hundreds of millions of dollars. Many of them are making $60 million a quarter. These are not small companies that, that, uh, are, are being impacted here. Additionally, we've spent a tremendous amount of time this session dealing with addictive devices, which is where most of your targeting advertising is coming from. We recognize that devices are addictive. We are pulling electronics out of school. We are restricting targeting …
S.B. 172 Airport and Air Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Presents Senate Bill 172, which updates aircraft registration requirements and airport licensing, establishes a process for lost property at regulated airports, and makes technical changes.
▶ Watch at 26:01Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker Pot. This bill amends provisions relating to an airports and operations aircraft registration and loss, or missed hand or mislaid property at the airports. The bill updates definitions modifies aircraft based in the state thresholds for re for registration. Clarifies registration requirements for certain commercial operators, established as a uniform process for handling loss property at regulated airports updates, airport licensing requirements and makes technical and conforming changes. So basically if you lose your, uh, goods at the airport, you can get 'em back. And, uh, we require, uh, updates, licensing codes at airports.
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Presented the bill, saying it clarifies educator licensing and discipline processes, provides proportional responses to technical violations, and keeps educators who harmed students out of classrooms.
▶ Watch at 39:46Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I find myself in an odd place being in opposition to the UEA on this bill. And if that doesn't wake you up from your slumber, let me just talk about this bill a little bit. Um, so in the current situation, we have PAC and, um, well, let's talk about u. SB 12 makes targeted improvements to Utah's educator licensing and discipline process. The bill clarifies how suspensions and disciplinary actions affect the teachers license and employment in our schools. It also ensures that the Utah State Board of Education and PAC have clearer guidance. One of the reasons why I'm supporting this bill is because there is lack of clear, clear guidance regarding certain …
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Said the bill is not retroactive and would not let educators with suspended licenses return to teaching, though technical violations may allow non-teaching roles.
▶ Watch at 44:55Read what they said
I will. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, representative. So, I'm, I'm just trying to clarify, and there's some discussion here on the floor. Under the provisions of this bill, if an educator is con is claimed to be, have been convicted of some sort of violation or offense on if this bill passes, will they be able to return back to the classroom? This bill is not retroactive. Uh, as far as my reading of the bill, I don't see that as a thing, that it is not a retroactive thing. It does not allow them to return to the classroom moving forward. If it is a technical violation, one that's not harmful to students, it, it would not allow …
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Said the bill is a slight deviation that affects a very small, niche category of cases.
▶ Watch at 46:01Read what they said
I, I don't believe it is, but I can honestly say gratefully that I have never been close to touching this area. So, uh, I don't know from experience, but my understanding is like, this is not a a, there's a slight deviation, uh, in that we do have this blanket provision that exists. But to the, to what the good sponsor from Illa said, I think this contemplates some nuance in circumstances where it warrants. This is, this is a very small portion of any, uh, instances that would take place with pac. It's a very, very small, very niche category.
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Gave closing summation, saying the bill was reviewed by several members and stakeholders, does not allow educators who harmed students back into schools, and allows nuance for technical violations; urged support.
▶ Watch at 48:31Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, this bill did come about very quickly. That's why we circled it last night and, and we let it sit so we could have some, some serious policy discussions. We had several members of this body come and work on it, as well as other stakeholders. And so I appreciate that things were moving fast and I, and I appreciate the, the concerns of my, my good colleague and, and former teacher from Salt Lake City. Um, I do think that, that this has reached a good place. And, uh, I just just wanna reiterate, sorry, this touches on a, on a, on a hard piece for me. Um, for my colleagues who have engaged …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Explains that the Senate amendments were requested after meeting with members of a group, add a parent opt-out option, specify state-specific rather than national curriculum options, and recommends concurrence.
▶ Watch at 2:14:16Read what they said
Are actually amendments that, that I requested after meeting with a couple members of higher ground and they brought out some, some good points. This creates a Parent Optout option. It also specifies that we're looking at state specific and not national curriculum options. And so I appreciate their discussion with me. I think this, this makes the bill even better than it was before and I would make the motion to or recommend that we concur with the Senate amendments.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Presents H.B. 502, which asks the State Board of Education to create a citizenship grade framework, sets up a tax-deductible scholarship fund, and creates a test-out option with an opt-in for districts and an opt-out for parents, and describes changes made in the substitute.
▶ Watch at 1:38:53Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. This is, uh, not where I thought I'd be going and probably not what you thought you'd be hearing today, uh, in your committee, but, uh, this is an issue I've been working on for probably two years. Um, it's an issue that I brought before the Education Interim Committee presented kind of this idea, uh, early on, uh, in, in the set, in the, in the process to bring as many people together to talk about the issue. And it's been out there for a long, long, long time. Um, we've had a few people that have come to the, the table in the last couple of days that have, uh, some concerns, …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Says the committee may decide whether a motion is needed, and that the changes are good policy though not strictly necessary.
▶ Watch at 1:45:35Read what they said
You're looking for? Um, if, if the body, I think it's, I think it's good policy. I think there's some, some good concerns that were brought up. Um, I don't know that it's necessary, but I think it's good policy.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Says he does not have an answer and did not poll districts.
▶ Watch at 1:46:38Read what they said
That's a good question, and I don't have that answer. I did not take a poll of, of LEAs.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Says the bill has been funded on the House side.
▶ Watch at 1:46:55Read what they said
This has been funded, yeah. On the house side, this has been funded. Okay. Thank you.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Says the fiscal note covers the test-out option. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:46:58Read what they said
This is for the test out option. That's what the fiscal note is for. Okay, thanks. Yep.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Gives closing summation saying the bill aims to support educators, parents, and educational outcomes while protecting those with concerns.
▶ Watch at 1:50:41Read what they said
Thank you. I've really tried to work hard to, uh, find a path that supports teachers and parents try to use the scalpel and not a sledgehammer on this. And, uh, provide protections for those with concerns to make sure that we weren't going beyond the scope. And so, um, this will support our educators, it'll support educational outcomes. And I would, uh, thank you for your consideration.
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House Education Committee · Mar 4, 2026
Echoed the praise for the chair and vice chair.
▶ Watch at 2:11:24Read what they said
I, I would echo that and say Chair and vice chair. You've both done a phenomenal job and we appreciate both of you. Thank you.
S.B. 312 Educator License Amendments · House floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Says a substitute for the bill is being worked on and that it involves a fiscal note.
▶ Watch at 1:57:15Read what they said
Go ahead. Uh, There's, uh, a substitute being worked on and it's a fiscal note.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · Senate floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Presents H.B. 502 as a substitute, describing a citizenship framework based on attendance, deadlines, class engagement, and communication, an optional program with parental opt-out, a tax-exempt scholarship fund, a test-out option for core classes, and up to 10% of attendance counted in grades.
▶ Watch at 3:38:49Read what they said
Thank you. Um, purpose of this bill and, and you'll see that it's a forced substitute. There's been a lot of work with stakeholders is to create a citizenship framework based on attendance, deadlines, class engagement, communication. This is a program that's optional. LEAs may participate. There's also parents can opt out. This also creates a tax exempt scholarship fund, uh, creates a tax, a test out option for core classes. And it allows teachers to include up to 10% of attendance as part of the grade if a student doesn't test out. With that, I'm open for questions.
S.B. 85 Excellence in Education and Leadership Supplement Modifications · House Education Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Said the bill is not ready, that many LEAs have not opted in because it does not work, and that it is not good for education or teachers.
▶ Watch at 2:15:31Read what they said
Uh, yes. I just, I I don't think this bill is quite ready. I think, uh, there's, I think there's a good reason why so many of our LEAs have not opted into this is, um, it, it doesn't work. Um, I, I'm not articulate right now. This is the probably my least favorite piece of legislation in my six years. And that's nothing against the good senator. He's a, he's a good man and a good friend of education. But this is, this is not good for education. This is not good for teachers. It, it, um, I'll just leave it at that.
S.B. 85 Excellence in Education and Leadership Supplement Modifications · House Education Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Said the bill is bad policy, that LEAs are not participating for a reason, and that he does not support the bill.
▶ Watch at 2:17:44Read what they said
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just, again, I think it's bad policy. There's a reason why the LEAs aren't doing it. It's been a couple of years. Um, I tried to speak against this on the floor two years ago and I've got a little bit of pend up frustration from not being able to speak. And so, uh, you get the, the short in. But the good news is I've had like two years to cool off a little bit. So I'll just say I don't support this position.
H.B. 518 School Curriculum Amendments · House floor debate (day 42) · Mar 3, 2026
Rep. Welton said the bill is a backup to a bill already passed by the House and clarifies the civics education law by describing a year-long course with two distinct sections.
▶ Watch at 1:03:44Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill, uh, is actually already passed this body as part of, uh, the good representative for Morgan County. We're running it just in case that bill doesn't cross the finish line. It provides needed clarifications to the civics education bill that's passed last year. Uh, and that's, that's all it does is pretty, pretty basic. Just describes that the civics course is meant to be a year long class with, uh, two distinct sections to it.
H.B. 518 School Curriculum Amendments · House floor debate (day 42) · Mar 3, 2026
Rep. Welton said the bill is an easy vote and would be stopped if the other bill passes.
▶ Watch at 1:04:17Read what they said
Yeah. Um, thank you. Easy, easy vote. And if the other bill crosses the line, we'll just stop this one. Where it is. Where it is.
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Presented HB 358, which sets seat time at 83 hours per credit to match current totals while giving schools flexibility in scheduling, such as four-day weeks or longer school days.
▶ Watch at 2:35:43Read what they said
All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. Glad to be here again. Um, I'll try to be fast. Um, and then if you have questions, you can ask me. So this, this first bill is an effort to create some flexibility in our, in our school system as far as, uh, being creative. We've talked a lot about innovation, and then we keep telling they have to fit in this box. And so what we did on this bill is we went through, when we looked at like what one credit was currently in the current system. So if I, if I take one credit of English, how many hours am I in in the classroom? How much seat …
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Agreed to place the bill on the consent calendar, saying it is non-controversial.
▶ Watch at 2:38:18Read what they said
Um, yes. Yes, that would be great. Pretty, pretty non-controversial, so yeah, Hasn't Been. Okay. So
H.J.R. 8 Joint Resolution Regarding LEA Reporting Requirements · Senate Education Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Presents HJR 8, which would create a rotating panel of school business administrators to give rapid responses on the fiscal impact of education legislation and substitutes.
▶ Watch at 2:38:50Read what they said
You, Mr. Chair. This is a, a bill that I've kind of been toying around with for a long time. We actually had a version of this that, that ran through and passed, uh, the house, and I believe it passed this committee as well. I'm trying to remember. We, we ended up running outta time on the Senate side, but we're just trying to get some more eyes and some transparency. We run a lot of education bills and, and on our side and on your side, we try to figure out what the actual cost is to our LEAs and, and try to be responsive to them and understand. And, and, um, I think it's really important that …
H.J.R. 8 Joint Resolution Regarding LEA Reporting Requirements · Senate Education Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Says the State Board of Education has not taken a position on the resolution.
▶ Watch at 2:40:30Read what they said
I'll let them answer for themselves support on this. I'm not sure they've taken a position, I think, no, this is the HJR eight Resolution.
S.B. 268 Religious Curriculum in Schools · House Education Committee · Feb 27, 2026
Speaks in favor of the bill, saying understanding America requires religion's historical context, and supports it for added clarity to teachers.
▶ Watch at 2:47:46Read what they said
Thank you. I know we're, we're late. I just wanna speak in favor of this bill. This is an area that we dabbled in a little bit last year, and you can't teach the history of America without teaching. Like where we came from. I do think the, the last commenter had a good point is like we, religion has to be considered in all of its historical context, but without understanding who we are and, and how we got here and the religious foundings, you really have a hard time, uh, understanding America. So can't talk about America without discussing religion. Uh, Supreme Court's already weighed in on this. I don't know that we need it, but if it …
H.B. 518 School Curriculum Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 27, 2026
Explained that HB 518 would clarify school board curriculum provisions from last year's HB 381 in case funding problems affect the other bill.
▶ Watch at 2:55:58Read what they said
Okay. Uh, this is the bill, as we've already seen. It actually already passed in, uh, representative Ox year's Bill. Um, it's just sitting there and I'm worried that, uh, if there's any, uh, funding issues that the clarification that the state school board needs for HB 3 81 last year might get caught up in that. And so we just wanna run it through real quick. If, uh, if ox year's Representative Ox year's Bill passes through, we'll just stop it wherever it's at. Uh, 'cause this won't be needed, but, uh, just in case it doesn't, it doesn't get funded and it, and it does some funky things with it, then we need to have this in place. …
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Welton asked whether current curriculum already teaches fetal development.
▶ Watch at 51:36Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I, I think this is beautiful. I I like the video. Uh, my question is, is in regarding CU curriculum, like what are we teaching right now? Are we not teaching this currently? No.
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Welton asked to hear from the State Board of Education about current curriculum.
▶ Watch at 52:06Read what they said
Okay. I'd be interested to hear from in the comment section if, from our state Board of education and see what the curriculum looks like.
H.B. 315 Human Development Instruction · House Education Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Rep. Welton said it would be surprising if maturation programs did not cover this.
▶ Watch at 52:21Read what they said
So, sure. I, I, I just, it, it just seems crazy to me that we, we have maturation programs and talk about how the body works, but we're not talking about that. So that's would be surprising to me.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Thanked the presiding officer and reserved the right to make a motion.
▶ Watch at 28:48Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker Prote. I'd like to reserve the right to make a motion
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Presented H.B. 502, which separates academic and citizenship grades, asks USBE to create a model attendance-based citizenship policy with an optional tax-deductible scholarship fund, and creates an optional test-out option in core classes where attendance may count for up to 10% of a grade.
▶ Watch at 28:54Read what they said
Um, colleagues, this is a bill that I've been working on for, for quite some time. As you know, we have a major attendance problem in our schools and trying to t tackle that is very difficult. If you've been in education committee or heard me talk about this, I often say if I ask a hundred people what the attendance policy should look like, I get at least 150 different answers. Meaning that it's a difficult subject that not everyone can agree on. And so I've spent a lot of time trying to work on this. This is a bill that we brought, uh, at interim and that we've worked on it several times and, and made a lot …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Explained Amendment One, which changes shall to may, lets LEAs create their own test-out options, and changes the word assessment to standard, lowering the cost of the test-out option and removing the fiscal note.
▶ Watch at 33:31Read what they said
Yeah. This is a simple clarification. So if you notice there's a fiscal note on there. When this amendment passes, I anticipate there will be no fiscal note on this at all. This changes a shall to a may, and it would allow LEAs to create their own test out options. And we changed the words assessment from standards. Uh, apparently, uh, the USBA folks say if I say assessment for a test out option, that means it has to be the same level of the RISE test, which is not what we currently require in any of these in, in these classes in most situations. And so, uh, that would allow LEAs to do it versus USBE. And it …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Explained that the 20% is optional for LEAs, mainly for classes like PE, choir, and band, and that excused absences are not counted toward the attendance portion of a grade.
▶ Watch at 35:30Read what they said
Yeah. So the, the 20% is, uh, giving LEAs the option. And by the way, they don't like doing this. They've kind of moved to like, like, um, attendance should be separate from your grade, but this would be specifically, uh, for classes like pe choir, band dance. Like if you're not there, then, then you're not learning pe, band choir, things like that. So this would just give them the option. They don't have to do it. Um, but it does give an option to go a little bit more on, on some specific classes as far as the, uh, um, oh, so the, the other piece, uh, so excuse absences are not calculated into it. And that's, I'm, …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Explained that the language means valid excused absences would be excluded if an LEA's policy permits it.
▶ Watch at 37:18Read what they said
Oh, sorry. If, if I may, Mr. Speaker, uh, it goes on, may permit valid excuse absences is defined to be excluded, that means valid absences will be excluded.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Said the language is as written and was intended to let each district define a valid excused absence.
▶ Watch at 37:57Read what they said
It is as it's written. And I think that was an intent for every district to be able to define what a valid excused absence was.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Said the bill has no impact on colleges and that students who test out of a core class receive credit and can use the freed class time for other activities.
▶ Watch at 40:50Read what they said
Uh, thank you, Mr. Speaker ProAm, there's actually no impact on college. This doesn't move a student to college. It just says if you're enrolled in English 10 and you can test out of English 10, you get credit without having to sit in the seat for a year. The student can then take whatever other classes they want to fill that space. They can do work release, they can do whatever they want to. They just get credit for that class 'cause they proved competency.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Gave closing summation, saying the bill avoids swinging the grading pendulum too far, keeps test-out and carve-outs for excused absences such as school outings, and creates accountability while preparing students for the workforce, and urged support.
▶ Watch at 47:49Read what they said
I appreciate the vote of the wisdom of the youth in in the bo in the room. Um, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to address a few things. We talked a lot about pendulums shifting and one of the things that's happened over the times is we have a tendency to move the pendulum too far. And I think this is one of those cases where we have moved way too far on attendance and I've worked really, really hard to not swing the pendulum back too far in the other direction. I think this is a finely crafted piece of legislation that really, uh, threads the needle really well on, uh, competency and preparing students for, for the work. Excuse …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Asked how hard it currently is for engaged voters to look up a candidate's party registration.
▶ Watch at 1:39:13Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, like, uh, Representative Cutler, I'm not that too far removed from two, uh, public elections for local office, uh, nonpartisan local offices. And, uh, my experience, I'll just share that a little bit is, uh, well maybe I'll come back to that. Anyway, I've got, I've got two questions for you. Um, one of them is kind of a philosophical question. Um, the question is, this is like, if voters were engaged, wouldn't they are, how hard is it to look up the affiliation of a candidate right now? If they were engaged? How hard is it to find what a candidate is registered as in the current status quo?
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Pressed whether looking it up is hard or easy.
▶ Watch at 1:40:04Read what they said
Right? Okay. Have To be that. The question is, is that like a hard thing to do or an
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said affiliation is easy to find, described a local candidate who lost after her registration became the focus, and asked whether people affiliate mainly because of the two-party system.
▶ Watch at 1:40:16Read what they said
Okay. Might be because I'm a nerd, but I've looked this up before, political affiliation of, yeah. And it pops up like that. It's, it's not a, not a difficult thing. And so I, I just question whether like, did this really engages people any more or less than they would've in a meaningful manner? It just, uh, I, it signals one way or the other. And then I think it shuts down. My experience is when I ran for city council, let me go back to this. As you know, I had a few people say, Hey, what's your party? And I said, look, uh, nonpartisan, uh, it's easy to find out. Lemme talk about the city, the issues …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said politics used to be local and is becoming national, which he does not consider healthy.
▶ Watch at 1:45:19Read what they said
I, I too a proud, uh, Republican that was ushered in on Reagan and so I, I appreciate what you're saying there. Uh, last comment. It used to be that all politics were local and now we're making all politics national. And I don't think that's healthy.
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Opposed the bill, saying nonpartisan local races were intentionally structured, partisanship tends to reduce participation in one-party areas, and local issues are not party platform issues.
▶ Watch at 2:09:39Read what they said
Yes. Uh, it will no surprise any, anybody that I would, uh, vote against, uh, this bill or would vote to hold it. And I'd like to speak to that if I may. Um, George Washington, uh, warned us against political parties. And I think he was a little naive, but I think there was a lot of wisdom that was there. The reality is, is that political parties are going to exist. People have a tendency to, to rally together. And, and I think there's a place for that. And I'm very proud to participate in that at this level. I think this is the, the right place and the right, uh, purpose. And I, and I, and I've …
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Sponsor says the bill sets a statewide bell-to-bell baseline on cell phone use in schools while leaving local education agencies full autonomy, and cites support from school administrators.
▶ Watch at 29:05Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, I'm happy to be back again. Uh, some people you, lemme back up. I'll be brief on this Bill, we've, uh, discussed this. You've been lobbied quite a bit at the beginning of the session. I think we all know what this bill is, but a couple things I'd like to point out. Sometimes the wills move slowly. Uh, this bill was introduced by our good colleague, uh, from Davis County a few years ago, and I was opposed to it. Since then, I've changed. And last year we passed a policy that would, uh, disallow cell phones during, uh, instructional hours. The goal was to get it across, so it was a bell to …
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Says local education agencies can allow phones, that his district lets students keep phones, and that parents can reach students through school phones during urgent situations.
▶ Watch at 32:11Read what they said
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, I think there's a few aspects to this that we can look at. Um, I think one of the things we're the LEA has the full autonomy to do this, and that's one of the reasons why I like it. For example, in my school district, Nebo School District, um, students can have their cell phones on them. That's the preferred way in my, in my opinion, they're not locked up. They're in their backpacks, they're in their pockets. If there is an emergency, they can get ahold of their kid. Now, most things that we claim are emergencies. When I drill down with parents and say, what actually is high priority, high urgency, …
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Says focus and reduced task-switching outweigh the risks, that bad actors are rare, and that the bill includes a safety carve-out.
▶ Watch at 33:52Read what they said
Yeah, thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, I think if you're looking on a cost benefit analysis, uh, the benefits of being engaged in classwork, focusing on your work and not having to switch back and forth, I think the studies say, takes about 10 to 15 minutes to switch back and forth. So you get a text that says, Hey, did you see what Susie did this weekend? Or whatever. And then now you're like trying to get back on track. And the loss of educational achievement is significant and very hard to overcome. Um, the, there are bad actors in education, there have been bad actors in education, but if we look at the percentage of bad actors in …
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Supports the amendment and says concerns about a smoking-lounge-style area are unfounded because local education agencies could already do that.
▶ Watch at 37:33Read what they said
Yes, I, I appreciate, uh, my good colleague from West Valley City. We've worked really hard on this and, and he's brought up some very, uh, uh, meaningful concerns. Um, there has been a little bit pushback, and I just wanna explain this a little bit. There's some concern that this will create like a smoker's lounge. Uh, I would argue that if an LEA were to act in that way, they could do that already and they would be doing that already. So I'm not, I don't share the concerns that some others have, and I consider this, uh, uh, friendly.
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Responds that Safe UT crisis line access remains in the bill and that the bill does not require phone lockers, leaving that choice to local districts.
▶ Watch at 41:39Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, that piece is actually addressed last year and is still in the bill, um, from the, from the original bill. Whether this passes or doesn't pass, uh, the access to use safety safe ut during the crisis line is described on line 74, uh, in the current bill. Um, so that would not change. Um, I would say this, uh, while we have LEAs choice, um, this is just a statement to the LEAs out there who might be listening. I, I'm not, uh, in favor of things like yonder pouches that do make it difficult in case of emergency for a student to access, but I also recognize they're local control. Uh, but that …
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Summarizes that the bill does not prevent local education agencies from setting their own policy and urges a favorable vote.
▶ Watch at 44:35Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, just a couple items. First of all, I would agree with, uh, uh, my good representative from Salt Lake Valley. There is nothing in this bill that prevents an LEA from acting on their own. Uh, as a teacher, that is something that, uh, that is really important to me. And one of the reasons why I opposed the original version of the bill three years ago, and I'm full support right now. We have passed at least two other bills right now that give, uh, local authority that actually have a few more restrictions. There is nothing that would prohibit an LEA from a 100% opting out and making a policy that we want …
S.B. 164 School Construction Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Asks who qualifies building inspectors and how many districts may certify their own projects, and says districts already share plans within their regions.
▶ Watch at 1:19:17Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I've got a a few questions if I may. Um, first going back to something the chair mentioned, um, about having a, a curated list of, of experts, uh, I kinda miss that. Who, who decides whether they have expertise or not? How does that list made? Uh, The, the building inspector, um, most of 'em are doppel through Department of Commerce. If they have licensure from what, um, as far as building inspectors. And so as long as they're licensed with the doppel, then um, uh, they would be approved. Or there are district employees that are also, um, uh, licensed from what my under understanding is. So this, this is something that I don't …
S.B. 88 School Technology Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Asks whether there are data privacy concerns about someone else finding a student's viewing history.
▶ Watch at 2:25:41Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I actually have the same question, so I wanna ask that one. Um, I, I might circle back that one in just a second, but are there any concerns with data privacy? Again, like, Like if there's a place that a parent can go and find this, can someone else find the student's viewing history? Uh,
S.B. 88 School Technology Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Supports the concept and notes that a prior library transparency bill funding should lower the cost of the gateway.
▶ Watch at 2:26:00Read what they said
Okay. I, I, I will just say I, I love this concept. Um, I ran a bill for library transparency a couple of sessions ago and we actually gave some money to that that should bring down the cost of the gateway. And so I think that cost will be down a little bit based off of that bill.
H.J.R. 8 Joint Resolution Regarding LEA Reporting Requirements · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Introduces H.J.R. 8, a joint resolution regarding LEA reporting requirements, noting it was heard in the education committee with a favorable vote.
▶ Watch at 11:02Read what they said
HJ R eight joint resolution regarding LEA reporting requirements by Representative Welton. This bill was heard in education with the vote 7 0 8 Representative Welton.
H.J.R. 8 Joint Resolution Regarding LEA Reporting Requirements · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says the resolution would give the legislature more real-time data on the financial costs of legislation passed with local education agencies, and calls it a good bill after its committee passed it by consent.
▶ Watch at 11:16Read what they said
This is a, a version of a bill we passed through this body last session that died on the floor. Uh, this just allows us to have more real time, uh, data on, on the legislation that we pass partners ourselves with our local LEAs a little bit better to make sure that we understand the true financial costs of legislation that we, we pass, uh, widely supported by education committee came out of a committee with a well on consent and so, uh, it's a good bill.
H.B. 93 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says the bill adds a simple amendment that allows flexible use as needs change.
▶ Watch at 27:33Read what they said
Yeah. This just adds a simple, uh, amendment that allows for flexible use as, uh, needs change.
H.B. 463 Special Education Funding Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Welton opposed holding the bill, saying special education is chronically underfunded and advancing the bill would push the issue to leadership's attention.
▶ Watch at 1:14:12Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I realize I'm late to the party and it sounds like there's been some great discussion on this already. Um, I would oppose the motion to hold for a couple of reasons. Not that I don't agree with everything that's been said by my good colleagues. I think this is a really important issue and, and it probably is going to be better fleshed out with a deeper dive, but I've asked for audits on special ed funding because four years, if you talk to anybody in special ed, they will tell you that they are chronically underfunded and they cannot keep, uh, employees to take care of these kids who really, really need help. …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Presents House Bill 502 and substitute three, which removes the 10-day attendance provision, and describes a state citizenship framework based on attendance, an optional opt-in for districts with a private scholarship fund, a test-out option, and a teacher option to weight attendance up to 10% of a grade.
▶ Watch at 1:21:51Read what they said
Perfect. Uh, I will be brief since we've already presented this bill. Uh, the only real change that we've had to, this one's the same bill we presented on Wednesday. Um, I'm speaking to substitute three, which strikes out the 10 day attendance piece. That seems to be where, uh, most, uh, committee members had heartache other than just attendance is a difficult thing for the audience and those who are here. I'll just rehash it real quick. So, so the public knows what we're talking about. So attendance is an issue. Uh, this is an attempt to, to address attendance issues. So it allows USBE to create a citizenship framework that's based off of attendance and turning work in …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Says he is willing to keep working on the concerns and will fix any missed items.
▶ Watch at 1:26:28Read what they said
Um, I, I'm happy to continue to work and, um, trying to make a quick scan. I think, I think it's there, but if it's not, if we, if we have missed something, then I'm happy to work on that.
H.B. 334 Educator Organization Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Spoke in support of the bill, saying varied discussion between legislators and educators is important for good policy.
▶ Watch at 1:54:06Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I'd like to speak in support of this bill. I, I think this, uh, one of the concerns I've had as an educator is prior to getting here is not everyone can do this job. But having that, uh, varied and robust discussion on, on subject that affects everybody in the state is, is really important. And so I think this, uh, kind of threads a, a nice needle there to, uh, uh, give that varied, robust discussion with legislators that they need and also educators and, and hopefully that helps us move good policy forward.
H.B. 197 School Materials Amendments · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks whether old newspaper articles with advertisements would violate the bill's advertising provisions.
▶ Watch at 2:49:57Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will a sponsor yield to a question? Yes. Representative Peck, will you yield? Yes, representative. I just have one question. Um, when we're talking about advertising, this, this came up in, in committee meeting and, uh, the question was, if I am looking up a newspaper article from 1925 and some articles come up advertising something or, or, or anywhere else like that, is that violating lines 2 29 and two 30? Thank you for that question.
H.B. 409 Legislator Leave Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Said that a person can receive legislative pay or teacher pay but not both, with retirement reimbursed by the state.
▶ Watch at 1:19:01Read what they said
Oh, I, I don't think I need to say anything anymore. I, I was just gonna make the clarification that you can, you can get your legislative pay or you can get your teacher pay. Right. So you can't get both. So if you, if we forego, uh, if, if, if an educator chooses to do this or a state employee, I wouldn't get paid from the legislature or get paid as an educator, and then the retirement would be paid by the state would reimburse to the retirement that I'm accruing in the system.
H.B. 409 Legislator Leave Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked to confirm that the two salaries cannot both be received. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:19:36Read what they said
Yeah, But I, but I'm sure you're right. Well, I need to understand this too, so I better make sure I'm right. Well, yeah, yeah. So we can't get paid for, for, for, for two jobs, right?
H.B. 409 Legislator Leave Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked whether the choice is between state pay and school pay. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:20:06Read what they said
That, so you would choose Whether you want your state pay or whether you want your School pay.
H.B. 409 Legislator Leave Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Deferred to Representative Pierucci to speak on the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:24:44Read what they said
There you go. Is this a surprise? Should I not? Would you like to do it? Do it, yes. Do it. I want to speak to the bill conflict Representative Ucci instead.
H.B. 142 School Fee Waiver Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Presents HB 142, which would have the state pay for up to two out-of-state multi-night school trips per student under the school fee waiver, excluding UHSAA trips, and says the bill passed committee last session.
▶ Watch at 2:07:47Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair and Committee. Um, I will be quick on this as this is the bill that we presented to you last session, and it actually passed this committee and every level. We just ran out of time on this. Um, but as a brief recap, um, in Utah State law, we have, uh, school fee waivers. So if you fall below a certain socioeconomic status, then we believe that, uh, opportunity comes in the form of money. And so we, we waive fees and we waive fees for trips. And so you can go on trips, um, which I think is an important thing, and I am fully supportive of that. However, what we found in some …
H.B. 142 School Fee Waiver Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Answers that the waiver is for individual students and does not cover field trips, using a marching band trip to California as an example.
▶ Watch at 2:10:22Read what they said
No, this is for individual students. So if a, if a student, Oh, all right. So it's not like a field trip Or anything? No, not, not a field trip. Doesn't cover any of that. Thank you. So this is just a student if your, if your, if your score taking a trip to California for a marching band tournament you're talking about now.
H.B. 142 School Fee Waiver Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Describes the bill as a common-sense solution for people responsible for taxpayer dollars.
▶ Watch at 2:11:25Read what they said
Uh, I think it's a, a common sense safe solution for everybody that's responsible for taxpayer dollars.
H.B. 357 Amendments to Motor Vehicle Data Privacy · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Spoke in favor of the bill, describing how a tracking service on a used vehicle he bought revealed his location to a previous owner, and said consumers should be told about data collection, though more work may be needed on third-party sales.
▶ Watch at 1:27:02Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak in favor of this bill. This is a piece of legislation that I was going to run. I, uh, personal story. I, I bought a vehicle to drive up to the Capitol a couple years ago from my father, and he had a tracking service on his vehicle, and he didn't think of it, and I didn't think of it because we were related to each other. And about three or four months later, he is like, Hey, I saw that you were at so and so, you know, in these different places. And I'm like, how did you, I mean, it's okay, but how did you know I was there? …
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Opposed the substitute, saying it would make the policy hard to enforce.
▶ Watch at 2:40:53Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I would also, uh, oppose the option or the, the substitute motion here. I do appreciate, uh, the sponsor of the substitute. I've had some really great, uh, very thoughtful conversations with him and, and found him to be very thoughtful. I'm, I'm just speaking specifically as a, as a boots on the ground. Um, and, and kinda reference back to the public comment as well is, is this makes the entire theme unenforceable, even if you tailor it out, the, the ability to, to opt out, um, we make exception or we, we, uh, make restrictions on a lot of things that students can own and carry, and whether they're 18 or 17 already, …
S.B. 69 School Device Revisions · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Spoke in favor of the motion, sharing his experience as a high school teacher and saying the policy has improved school culture and that it preserves local control.
▶ Watch at 2:46:36Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be fast. I I'm just a little jealous that, uh, Representative Defay got to make the motion. Um, I just wanna speak very briefly to my, my, my experience. I came in as a school teacher, and the first thing, and I'm in the high school. So really we're kind of like targeting high school kids. Those high school kids, like they knew the policy. They came from a junior high and an elementary where there's no cell phones and they just expect it. And there was no big deal. And if you keep that line, they would be just fine. It's, it's, it's culture that, that allows that to change. I also ran into, …
H.J.R. 8 Joint Resolution Regarding LEA Reporting Requirements · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Presented HJR 8, which would set up a collaborative process in which rotating LEA business administrators give feedback on the fiscal impacts of proposed legislation.
▶ Watch at 2:51:46Read what they said
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just say, I know it's late. If we've got a quorum, we'll go. If not, we'll we'll wrap up. So you've got a quorum right now. So I'd say get going. I'll Be fast. 'cause I've gotta go to the same meeting. They're going to, uh, HJRA. This is very similar to, uh, a piece of legislation. We passed last session out of this body, uh, through this committee, through the body, and then we ran outta time on the floor. What this does is we're really trying to, in order to make good decisions, how do we get to the base level understanding? And we passed a lot of leg legislation. We hear …
H.J.R. 8 Joint Resolution Regarding LEA Reporting Requirements · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Agreed with the prior comment and said the reporting would add accountability for how state money is used.
▶ Watch at 2:56:00Read what they said
Me. Okay. Um, I would like to say ditto to Representative Voxer. I think she said it well. And I think to your point, Mr. Chair, I think this actually will allow us to see and have some more accountability on that process. And you say, like you said, it would cost us much, we gave you this much. Uh, now show us where the money is. You know, like, I think that actually strengthens your argument and your concern and will give us more eyes on that.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Presented HB 502, which would create a citizenship grade framework, allow a test-out option with an attendance cap, and set a school-first welfare check process for students with prolonged unexplained absences.
▶ Watch at 2:56:41Read what they said
Okay. This one might be a little more questions and things like that, uh, because it deals with attendance and that's a, a difficult situation that we've been trying to work with. So, um, this is a bill that, uh, we presented in interim. Um, we got a lot of feedback. We were trying to take a stab at it. I've been trying to thread the needle on a, on a good attendance policy that, that addresses all the concerns. Um, as, as I go into this presentation, one thing I'd like to point out is, uh, when you're talking about attendance, I don't know that there is a policy that everyone will get behind, but is there a better …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Asked the chair for permission to respond to the points just raised.
▶ Watch at 3:10:16Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chairman. Kanosh, is it okay if I respond to a few of those?
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Responded that showing up alone would not earn a good grade or scholarship eligibility, and that the 10 percent attendance piece is not overly punitive.
▶ Watch at 3:10:46Read what they said
Um, I, I agree with a lot of those points, right? There's a lot of kids that show up. Um, I think they tend to be, and, and this is anecdotal from my experience, they tend to be the exception. Um, and those kids know when they need to show up and when they don't need to show up. Um, I would say like just showing up and sitting in a seat, uh, it's hard to get a good grade if you're just showing up and sitting in a seat. Like, I don't think those things correlate. And, and so, um, I don't think you'd be scholarship eligible in any of those situations just because you showed up and didn't …
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Said LEAs can choose whether to participate, and that the citizenship framework applies only if they want to use it for scholarships.
▶ Watch at 3:12:31Read what they said
Thank, thank you Mr. Chair. Um, actually the LEA can do whatever they want. It's just to participate in that, that scholarship. Then there's gotta be some consistent data that they can look at. So if Anis, so Yours would only apply in the event of the desire for them to use the citizenship grade as part of the scholarship, correct? Correct. Yeah. So if they decide this is not good for our kids, they don't have to do it.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Said the bill was brought in interim for robust discussion and that he had tried to hold conversations with members, and deferred to the committee's will.
▶ Watch at 3:14:33Read what they said
I, I appreciate it. And understand the, uh, the motion to hold. I, I, I guess my one hesitancy is this bill was brought to this committee in interim on a reason to have a robust conversation. And I have tried on numerous occasions to have some of those conversations, particularly with those who had attendance bills. Um, there was a lot of talking around, but not two. And so that would be a little bit of a frustration, uh, on my side. But I also understand that there are a lot of parts to this and there is a lot of discussion. And so I'm, I'm the will of the committee.
H.B. 502 School Attendance Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Said he was unsure what it means for the motion to be unvoted because the committee lacks a quorum.
▶ Watch at 3:20:35Read what they said
Okay, so with that, I don't know what that means. I guess I, I, we vote next time I can't. Or is it dead? Or is it, I can't place the motion because we don't have a quorum.
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House floor debate (day 29) · Feb 18, 2026
Presents the bill to give schools more scheduling flexibility by matching the required seat time to a credit-hour standard, allowing local education agencies to set alternative day and year schedules, and letting elementary and middle schools match high school schedules.
▶ Watch at 40:39Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker Porter. Uh, this bill is, um, a bill that's brought to you that is trying to create some flexibility in schools. Over the last years, we've done a lot of work trying to add innovation and creation, uh, in our education system as well as in the public sector. And one of the things that our schools continually try to do, we've seen a lot of rural schools where they will, uh, apply to do a four day school day and then have a longer day or a longer year. And, uh, it works better for them as they travel and they've got long distances to travel. And so the, those have to go to the …
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House floor debate (day 29) · Feb 18, 2026
In closing, says the bill also applies to trimesters, which already fit within the 83 credit-hour standard, and urges a favorable vote.
▶ Watch at 43:50Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, just a side question. This will also apply to trimesters. They already fit in that 83 credit hours, so to, to just address that. But this allows flexibility, local control, and maintains excellence in our education system. And I would urge a favorable vote.
H.B. 302 Government Speech Neutrality Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Asks whether displaying a flag in a classroom discussion on school property would be covered by the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:39:13Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I, I just have some no surprise questions in the, the school space. So if you were teaching a class, I suppose there's probably a definition here that I should have looked up, but like, if, if I'm teaching a, like a current issues class and we're talking about this issue and I put a, a flag on screen about some of the, the contested flags. 'cause it's a current issue. Is that considered displaying a flag on school
H.B. 302 Government Speech Neutrality Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Asks whether displaying a non-official flag in a history class discussion would be considered display under the law.
▶ Watch at 1:40:54Read what they said
Okay. So that does go back to the original underlying question. So if you're teaching a history class, you're talking about, let's say propaganda or something like that, or historical laws, and I display those on a PowerPoint and say, Hey, here's the discussion that was happening back in the mid 2020s, you know, and let's talk about freedom of speech and ideologies and things like that. Does that cons, is that considered displaying a non-official flag?
H.B. 302 Government Speech Neutrality Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Says he admires the creativity of the city's approach, has concerns about local control, and considers the bill a measured and thoughtful approach.
▶ Watch at 1:51:44Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, I just a few comments, if I may. Um, I'm probably a little out of sync with some of my colleagues in that I thought it was very creative what Salt Lake said he did. Um, not that it was good or bad or not, not something that I would fly, but I, like you have to give them kudos for creativity there. Like, I, I, you know, I mean, you make rules and people play in the rules. And, and, and I guess one of my comments, I wanna, I wanna echo some of the same things that the Representative Hayes said. Like, I I was a little worried that we had another flag …
H.B. 197 School Materials Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Thanks the sponsor for her work on the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:34:06Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. I probably shouldn't say anything. I just wanted to thank the sponsor for her good work, uh, on trying to get this right. She's worked really hard on this.
H.B. 219 Higher Education Civics Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Said he had a question for the previous witness. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:56:10Read what they said
Uh, so Representative Welton Your chair. I actually had a question for the last, uh, Alright.
H.B. 219 Higher Education Civics Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Asked where the seminal documents requirement would fit, such as in a course like English 1010.
▶ Watch at 1:56:30Read what they said
Hi, how are you? I, I was just curious like where this, where you actually see this fitting in. Is it like a English 10 10 English 10 50? Is it American Heritage type class? Like where do you, where would you see this being implemented?
H.B. 219 Higher Education Civics Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Said the documents are required but not necessarily for writing purposes, and that it is unclear where they would fit.
▶ Watch at 1:57:21Read what they said
Okay. So they're, they're, they're required but not necessarily for writing purposes and we're not sure where we would park them.
H.B. 93 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Presents H.B. 93, which would create a waterfowl management area in the south part of Utah Lake at Goshen Bay on sovereign land used for fishing, hunting and birding.
▶ Watch at 2:18:08Read what they said
Time of yours. Thank You, Mr. Chair. And I can probably super brief. I think the previous, uh, presentation kind of teed off on a lot of what this is. Um, what this bill does simply is it creates in, in the south part of Utah Lake, uh, there's the Goshen Bay area and it just creates a, uh, wild foul management area down there. Uh, this was brought to me by, uh, Utah Lake Commission, uh, and talking, we're actually talking about other areas of the lake and, and, and they've pointed this out. And so this area right here, it's, it's an area that is, uh, sometimes covered in water and sometimes it's not covered in water, which …
H.B. 93 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Gives closing summation, agreeing with Senator Stratton and thanking the Senate for a change to the bill.
▶ Watch at 2:22:09Read what they said
Uh, thank you for your time. This is a, a great, uh, I think Senator Stratton said it well, and I also appreciate the Senate for adding a slight change to it that made it even better. So thank you.
H.B. 93 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Explains that the added language keeps the area under multiple use.
▶ Watch at 2:22:36Read what they said
And this, uh, for the committee's knowledge that just meant, uh, added in there, that remains also multiple use.
H.B. 399 Prohibition Against Student Character Tracking and Grading Systems · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says a surgical fix may be needed, clarifies Panorama surveys are student self-reports, and asks whether group work and public speaking assessments are allowed.
▶ Watch at 3:04:38Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I've got a, maybe a few questions and a clarification. Um, first of all, lemme just say this, I, I believe that there is a surgical approach that might be needed here. Like I, I, I, I've seen this, I think there might be a, a place for, for some fixes here that are addressing some of your concerns here. Um, clarification first and then to my questions and I'll share my concerns. Um, clarification first, Panorama. Uh, there's no teacher educator putting in scores. Those are student, uh, surveys that they do. Parents can opt them out. And so you have a student that actually puts that score in. And so if there's a …
H.B. 312 School Curriculum and Standards Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Describes cleanup of last session's civics bill HB 381 and says the bill adds assurances that social studies is taught in elementary school.
▶ Watch at 3:43:36Read what they said
Thank you. Uh, um, I appreciate, uh, representative Voxer for putting some of, of my civics bill in here that we had. Um, it largely comes from cleanup from last session. We ran HB 3 81, which is an amazing bill. There was some, uh, concern over the, OR or some confusion over the implementation of it. And so we defined that this really is a one year credit, you know, one credit class that as a distinct part A and part B, we put in some clarifications that, uh, that to get, you had to get credit for part A and part B on that because we want you to learn about the, the, the, uh, bill of Rights …
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Agreed that more playtime can help academic performance.
▶ Watch at 4:15:01Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a, a follow up to, uh, Representative Miller. Um, I, I, I agree. We've talked about this. I think, uh, sometimes less is more when you're talking about like getting your scores up when you get a cram in all this time. And I think there's been a fair amount of evidence that shows that, uh, sometimes less is more and more playtime helps with those scores. A
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Shared Rep. Miller's local control concerns and asked whether schools may choose not to work toward the seat-time goal.
▶ Watch at 4:15:23Read what they said
I, I, I agree with you there. Um, I, you still have the same concerns that Representative Miller is that this is really not written as a local control. So when she was asking you questions, you said they, they have to report how close they get to the, to the, the seat time, right? My question is, what if they just say we don't want to get close to the seat time? Are they allowed to do that?
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Asks whether signature gathering is allowed as a way onto a special election ballot.
▶ Watch at 1:30:20Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, uh, had a question that came up as a result of, uh, representative McPherson's line of questioning. So on a special election, do we allow signature gathering as an option to get on that ballot? Currently? Currently, yeah.
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says the bill tries to address gamesmanship in vacancy replacements and that he is still undecided.
▶ Watch at 1:30:59Read what they said
Okay. Uh, okay. It was okay. Um, the next one's not just is, is just me thinking out loud. I, I think this is an interesting bill and, and it's caused the gears in my head to spin quite a bit, we're we have this bill that's trying to tackle gamesmanship and we had another bill that tr trying to tackle gamesmanship. And I think there is a certain amount of gamesmanship that that happens amongst elected officials. And they know when they're leaving and they know who they're talking to and they're trying to stack the deck a little bit. And I think this is a way that eliminates the stacking a little bit. I mean, you can have …
H.B. 145 School Excused Absence Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Asked whether the activities must be school-sponsored or could be any activity.
▶ Watch at 1:22:06Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I just have one question. Are these activities, are they supposed to be part of a school shooting and school mountain biking and other stuff? Or can it be like anything, whether it's school, uh, whether it's part of like a school activity or not,
H.B. 145 School Excused Absence Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Asked whether a shooting club not sponsored by the school would count toward the excused absence.
▶ Watch at 1:22:32Read what they said
Okay. So if, if there's a shooting club that is not sponsored by the school, does it, does this count towards that? Or does it have to be like a shooting club that is sponsored by the school? Not U-H-S-A-A, but school sponsored club. I think the substitute might address that. Okay. Well thank you.
H.B. 145 School Excused Absence Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Asked online participants what happens to an absence for a shooting event now and whether parents can already excuse it.
▶ Watch at 1:30:43Read what they said
Um, thank you Madam Chair. I actually had a question for the online folks, so I will Oh, go Ahead. Well, I, I guess my question is, is what happens if you're absent right now? So if you're going to do a shooting, your parent calls in and says, my kid's doing a shooting. Isn't that already excused? Is there someone online with a hand raised that can answer that? Or Representative Albrecht?
H.B. 145 School Excused Absence Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Asked whether the excuse would come from the parent or the school, and whether the bill codifies a school excused absence.
▶ Watch at 1:31:52Read what they said
So if I may, Madam chair, is that, how do I wanna say this? Is that if the parent excuses it? Or is that based off of the school training? Excuse it. So in other words, is the school not excusing it internally? So like when I take the debate team, we send an excuse out, it goes on the, the, sorry, I I go back to what I know. Um, but when I put that down, it'll, it'll go out as the school excused absence on, on the, the SIS system. Right. Um, a parent could also excuse a kid and then they're just on their parents' time. So I, I, I guess I'm trying to figure out is …
H.B. 194 Utah State Board of Education Ethics Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Says the bill is essentially the same as one passed unanimously last session, that the board has already adopted many of these standards, and that the board is the only group of elected officials without codified ethics law.
▶ Watch at 2:13:18Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, just to, to further the discussion, I I just wanna point out to this committee, this is essentially the same bill that you passed unanimously in this committee and on the floor last session. There's, there's nothing really substantially different from what has already been done here other than who's running the bill. Um, I'd also like to point out that this is the only outlying branch of elected officials. And I get the, the argument with judicial and I think that's a great thing for Representative MacPherson to tackle in the future. I think there's, he's gone to something there, but this is the only outstanding group of elected officials that does not have …
H.B. 194 Utah State Board of Education Ethics Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Moves that the committee favorably recommend HB 194 as amended.
▶ Watch at 2:17:45Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to make the motion that we favorably recommend HB 1 94 Utah State Board of Education Ethics Amendments as substituted As amended. As amended. All
H.B. 194 Utah State Board of Education Ethics Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Says the bill passed last session, that it codifies existing board practices to match other elected bodies, and that he apologizes to the board for his earlier comments.
▶ Watch at 2:17:59Read what they said
Uh, I, I think I already spoke to it a little bit. This is a bill that we passed last time and we're just kind of putting everything in, in code, um, that, that currently exists and matching them up with everyone else in the state. Um, I would also like to, to once more, again, this might be more the, more, more the appropriate time to apologize to the state board, uh, for being a little, uh, harsh. Last time. We had, uh, many discussions with probably like 10 of them when this bill passed unanimously last session. And, and there was some agreement to go to work and, and probably some miscommunication on my part. Uh, I was …
H.B. 144 School Community Council Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Asks for an explanation of the internet filtering changes and whether the council still oversees them.
▶ Watch at 3:04:33Read what they said
Thank you. So, um, can you say that part about the filtering again? 'cause all I see is that it's making it so that they don't have to have adequate on and off campus filtering. And so, but you say that there's IT people who do it. So are you talking about just the community council used to oversee this and now the IT person will just give them a report?
H.B. 144 School Community Council Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Asks where the requirement for more non-educator than educator parent members appears in the bill.
▶ Watch at 3:05:27Read what they said
Great. And then also, um, so you said it has to have one more non-district school parent. Where is that?
H.B. 144 School Community Council Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Says he may be looking at a different version and reads the parent membership language aloud.
▶ Watch at 3:05:41Read what they said
Oh, maybe I'm looking the wrong one. Um, says that the number of parent members of a school community council who are not educators employed by the school district shall exceed the number of parent members who are educators employed by the school district. So you have to make sure you have more non-educator than educator parent members.
H.B. 144 School Community Council Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Confirms that the requirement remains policy under the second substitute.
▶ Watch at 3:06:10Read what they said
Okay. So that is still the policy. Okay. Looking at the right. Alright, thank you.
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Presents HB 358, which would express a one-credit class as a minimum of 83 hours of seat time instead of 180 school days, giving districts more scheduling flexibility while keeping seat time the same as current practice.
▶ Watch at 3:23:47Read what they said
Uh, Representative Welton Thank you chair and committee. I'll try to be really fast and, uh, if you have any questions, we can take longer. So what this seeks to do is, uh, kind of change the way we, we measure things in education. Right now you have to have 180 school days. Um, in practicality, what that looks like is if you're on a five by five schedule, that you've got roughly 85 hours per class per credit. And if you're on a four by four schedule, you have 120 credit hours or 120 hours for one credit. And if you're on a trimester, it's somewhere in between. We have a lot of schools who've been asking for four …
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Explains that a one-credit class is about 120 hours on a four-by-four schedule and about 85 hours on a five-by-five, that the bill changes the measure from days to hours, and that this is already how schools operate.
▶ Watch at 3:25:47Read what they said
Yeah, I'm not sure what you mean by getting paid. Okay. So Just like if I take a one credit class, like English right now is, is a one credit class, it's a year long class. Sure. In the current 180 day model, if you are on a four by four schedule, you've got about 120 hours of seat time. If you're on a five by five model, you've got about 85 hours of seat time. And so we're actually are already allowing this in the current system. This is the way we're actually operating currently, we're just changing it from 180 days to be hours. So we still have the, the seat time, which is where the learning's taking …
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Says he is not factoring pay into the bill and is not sure how it would work.
▶ Watch at 3:26:47Read what they said
Um, I'm not factoring in pay at all. I'm not sure how that works out to be honest.
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Explains that a semester would be half the seat hours, so a minimum 83-hour class would be 41.5 hours per semester.
▶ Watch at 3:27:05Read what they said
I, you know, a semester will still be half of the days that they have half of the, the hours. So if you've got 83 minimum seat hours, then a semester would be 41 and a half seat hours. That's how your, your classes get scheduled out.
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Explains that the amendment removes a driver's education provision that is not needed.
▶ Watch at 3:28:52Read what they said
Uh, this just takes out a driver's ed piece that we thought needed to be there that doesn't need to be there.
H.B. 358 School Scheduling Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Says the bill balances existing rigor standards with allowing innovation, and that most schools may not use it but now have the option.
▶ Watch at 3:29:40Read what they said
Yes. Thank you. I just think this ball balances, uh, the rigor standards that we already have in place, as well as allows for some innovation. I don't anticipate that most schools would would use this, but it's a tool that they now have at their disposal. We're just looking for clarification.
H.B. 391 Vacancy Replacement Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Welton asked whether voters elect the person or the party and how anyone can know which they voted for.
▶ Watch at 1:17:42Read what they said
Yes, thank you Mr. Chair. Um, I guess the question I have is, did the people elect the person or the party and how do you know which who they voted for? So we're talking about the will of the people. That's something I, I, I try to figure out all the time 'cause you and I all hear Juab need listen to we the people and like who are the people, right? Is it the 10 that are mad or do they represent the 20,000 voters that I had?
H.B. 391 Vacancy Replacement Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Welton used a swing-district example to ask whether voters there chose the person or the party.
▶ Watch at 1:18:55Read what they said
Okay. Can I have a follow up question? You may Go ahead. Since We're, I'm gonna use a scenario of my colleague since he just stepped out. And let's just say we've got a Representative Loubet who is in a swing district. Certainly some people are voting for him because he's Republican and some people are voting against him because he's Republican and a lot of people are voting for him because he's Anthony Lube and a lot of people aren't. So in some areas it's pretty clear that they're heavy red or heavy blue to use those. But in that situation, did they vote for the person or did they vote for the party?
H.B. 391 Vacancy Replacement Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Welton used a hypothetical of two Republicans with sharply different support to question how the will of the people can be determined.
▶ Watch at 1:29:15Read what they said
I, I apologize. I just have more ideas, more thoughts percolating in my head, so thank you. I'm trying to think. So I'm gonna use some, some hypotheticals with real names because my mind is simple and I can't do a and B and blue and red or, or yellow and green or whatever. So I'm gonna use some some real terms here. Let's just say that the governor is the one that, that steps down, um, changes his party steps down. It's different and it goes back to the party. And let's just say that you have the same party and you have, uh, Spencer Cox and Phil Lyman. Who did the people choose? If you look like hindsight, …
H.B. 391 Vacancy Replacement Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Welton said he was using the governor only as an illustration to apply to a state representative.
▶ Watch at 1:30:23Read what they said
I understand I'm using that for like a scenario. Okay. Like, like I'm using one with names that we know, but apply it to a state representative, John. Yeah.
H.B. 391 Vacancy Replacement Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Welton clarified that, under laws he has worked on, the city council fills council and mayor vacancies.
▶ Watch at 1:40:55Read what they said
Yeah, so I actually ran in legislation on this three different times and it is the city council that replaces a council or a mayor replacement. We had a couple of cleanups that we had to do on it, but that's the way the replacement works.
H.B. 391 Vacancy Replacement Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Welton said he would vote no because city councils should serve full terms including filling vacancies and because he does not believe the party owns the seat.
▶ Watch at 1:49:25Read what they said
Thank you. Uh, I'm gonna be a no on this and I appreciate the good sponsor. I, I know that she's really trying to solve a meaningful, uh, problem. And, and I think that it's a very real one. I mean, the, the non-elected, uh, political scientist part of me thinks that it was very creative what was done and the rest of me thinks it was very devious and maybe a little underhanded in what was done. Uh, that's brought this bill forward and, and, and not very fair to the people. And so I understand the desire to, to fix that. I have a couple problems. Number one is, uh, the municipal elections. We elected city council members …
H.B. 92 Presidential Electors Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 6, 2026
Welton says he supports the electoral college, notes Utah's political differences, and moves to proceed to the next agenda item.
▶ Watch at 2:06:08Read what they said
Yes. Thank you Mr. Chair. Uh, well I do appreciate the discussion and uh, I think there's some very valid discussion points here. I, I'm a strong believer in the, the electoral college, but it's very true that we're a flyover state and, and Utah looks different. Utah's red and blue, it's different than the national red and blue. And uh, you know, it used to be Florida got whatever they wanted and got all sorts of presidential promises and other people got presidential promises and everyone that's super red or super blue gets kinda left in the dust. But, uh, I support the electoral college and I think we're at a, at a place. So I'd make the motion …
H.B. 142 School Fee Waiver Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Presents HB 142, which would allow students two trips per year at no cost under the socioeconomic fee waiver, with a second-trip work option for the LEA and no cap on state association overnight trips.
▶ Watch at 42:19Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This is a bill that, uh, we heard last year that passed this body unanimously and has also been through two committee hearings, three committee hearings, actually including one senate that passed unanimously. Uh, in Utah we spend a lot of time trying to make sure that our students have fair access to, to academic opportunities. And one of those things is, is school trips. And currently under the, the system, uh, we allow few waivers for students who are, who meet socio, uh, criteria where they don't have the money to, to afford their trips. And currently they can go on as many trips as they want. So you could spend, we have some kids …
H.B. 218 Digital Skills Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Says a question he had may already have been answered.
▶ Watch at 38:55Read what they said
Representative Welton. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, you, you may have just answered the question I had. Thanks. A promotion. So sorry. Thank you Mr. Chair.
H.B. 218 Digital Skills Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Asks whether the May 6 timeline gives the board enough time to incorporate new standards for courses taught next year.
▶ Watch at 39:10Read what they said
Representative Welton chair. Um, is, is May 6th enough time for them to incorporate new standards, new courses to be taught next year?
H.B. 218 Digital Skills Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Confirms his understanding that the board is already working on this as part of its normal cycle.
▶ Watch at 39:36Read what they said
Be next. Okay. And, and they're already working on this, like you just said, this is their cycle. That they're, That that's my understanding. Okay. Yeah.
H.B. 218 Digital Skills Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Moves to adopt the first amendment to HB 218.
▶ Watch at 50:32Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would move that, uh, make the motion that we, uh, move First Amendment that's online.
H.B. 312 School Curriculum and Standards Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Says he has a clarifying question and a follow-up question.
▶ Watch at 1:30:02Read what they said
We'll go to Representative Welton. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, I just have a clarifying question and a follow up question.
H.B. 312 School Curriculum and Standards Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Asks whether the substitute was brought by USBE or the Civic Thought and Leadership Institute.
▶ Watch at 1:30:10Read what they said
Is the first substitute, was it brought by USBE or U or the Civic Thought and Leadership Institute?
H.B. 312 School Curriculum and Standards Modifications · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Says the bill resembles last year's high school civics bill and asks whether social studies topics would be added; the sponsor says he would be open to that.
▶ Watch at 1:30:30Read what they said
Okay. And then the other thing, I mean, like, I'm, as you know, I asked the, the high school civics bill last year, and, and a lot of this looks very similar, kind of copy and paste. Uh, I appreciate the, the rule of five and, and, and the spiraling. I think that's really great. Um, what I don't see is like more social studies, Columbus, civil War, other things like that. It's, it's a lot of the exact same thing. Is there an interest in putting like, social studies in it or is it just civics? I, I'd be completely open to that, but I think here we're just, you know, we're taking that step that, I mean, again, …
H.B. 298 School Design Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Said several districts already share the same school floor plans and suggested the state school board make a common design pool available to all districts.
▶ Watch at 2:45:49Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. I, I guess my question is, is there not already a pool of school designs because Maple Mountain, Salem Hills, Stansberry, Illa, they're all the same floor plan. Corner Canyon, west Lake, like, like they're all the same floor plan. Uh, Payson, Spanish Fork, Springville Roosevelt, or one of those, they're all the same floor plan. It, it seems like we're already doing this. Yeah, yeah. And some school districts are and I appreciate them doing that. This is just to say, uh, state school board, why don't you do the similar thing and the same thing and bring it up to where everybody can use it. All of the LEAs in including, you know, some …
H.B. 298 School Design Amendments · House Education Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Explained a no vote, saying the practice already happens and the bill is not a substantive change to policy.
▶ Watch at 2:55:33Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to explain my vote. I'm gonna be voting no on this bill. Uh, this is already happening in practice. I don't see that this is a, a substantive change to policy or general practice right now. And with so many bills on the board that I think have more substantive, like we're trying to get through bills and not pass as many bills, I just think for me there are bills that are, this doesn't do enough for me to put it on the board, so I'll be a no vote.
H.B. 167 Signature Collection Modifications · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 3, 2026
Asks how a fraudulent signature would be identified and says he has a follow-up question.
▶ Watch at 42:37Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. I just have one question, Mr. Chair. Um, how do you know if a signature is fraudulent and what I'm, what am Well, yeah, I'll let you ask that. And then if I can have a follow up question.
H.B. 167 Signature Collection Modifications · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 3, 2026
Expresses concern that publishing names could lead to political pressure and possible criminal cases for people who dispute their signatures.
▶ Watch at 43:07Read what they said
Alright. I guess just commentary, the only reason why I ask, 'cause I just worry with making names public, that there is going to be political brow beating that goes on and, and I, and I worry that somebody's, oh, oh, I didn't do that when they, when they really did. Uh, and then you're creating a, a potential criminal case for someone who just won't own their own signature. But there are times for sure, uh, I, I see it as a difficult area, but that's my only concern. One comment if I could, uh, If, um, yeah, yeah, you go ahead and then I've got another question for you. Go
H.B. 93 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Presents H.B. 93 to create the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area at the south end of Utah Lake, noting it was requested by the Utah Lake Authority and DNR for recreation and wildlife protection, with no trails currently and no expected impact on other uses.
▶ Watch at 46:21Read what they said
You Mr. Speaker. This bill creates the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management area, the WMA, we've talked about those earlier today. Uh, this is the south end of Utah Lake. Um, this was brought to me by the Utah Lake Authority and DNR, uh, as an area that they wanted to identify to protect for, uh, outdoor recreationists hunting, fishing, uh, wildlife preservation, birdwatching. Um, there are no, uh, hiking trails or biking trails at this point in time. So, uh, I think my good representative from Davis County will be all right with that. Um, this is an area that is, uh, currently sovereign land. It's an area that is, uh, sometimes underwater. Sometimes it's marshy. And so there's no …
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Welton jokes that members are leaving and says his bill is not expected to be controversial.
▶ Watch at 1:26:26Read what they said
Sorry. No one likes my bill. Every Oh, I know they're all leaving. It's because my bills are so good. They know they don't have to stick around 'cause it's not gonna be controversial.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Welton presents H.B. 17, which requires public infrastructure district meetings to be held where ratepayers are, or as close as possible if no facilities exist, and says he is working on language on online participation and an anchor location.
▶ Watch at 1:26:43Read what they said
All right. Uh, simple Bill that came to me, we had, uh, constituents down in my area that were complaining that there were PIs in the area and they were meeting in St. George and not where the rate players were at. And that seemed like a real problem and inconsistent with our open and public and transparent meetings, uh, that we have. And so this bill just seeks to rectify that situation that says that you need to meet where your rate payers are, where reasonable, if there are no facilities, uh, then you have to meet as close as as possible. Uh, so you can be open there. There has been some questions raised about the ability to …
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Welton responds that the bill applies to existing districts and that meeting location is harder to arrange when a district is being created.
▶ Watch at 1:28:42Read what they said
Okay. This goes through and applies to existing. It does not deal with the process because if you have a, an existing district, you might have a place within it. Maybe it might be raw dirt, but it could be someplace right next to it. But when you're creating it, it's hard to have a meeting.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Welton summarizes that the bill is a good start, that a process to dissolve public infrastructure districts is also important, and that more work is needed in this area.
▶ Watch at 1:30:01Read what they said
Uh, I'll wait. I think this is a good start. I think, um, uh, a process to dissolve PIs is also important. That came up in the house committee. That was not anticipated. Um, I don't know if we'll get it into like a substitute on this one, but I think there's a lot of work to be done in this area. Okay. Thank you. The winner. Okay.
H.B. 150 School-based Speech-language Pathologist Funding Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Moved to favorably recommend HB 150 as substituted.
▶ Watch at 1:45:34Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. I would like to move that we favorably recommend HB one 50 school-based speech Language pathologist funding amendments.
H.B. 150 School-based Speech-language Pathologist Funding Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Spoke in favor of the motion, citing his experience with classroom materials needs and speech-language pathologists' importance and recruitment challenges.
▶ Watch at 1:45:51Read what they said
Uh, I would, I actually have a few thoughts on this. And for, for full disclosure, you can look at my online disclosure. I'm a school teacher and my wife is also a speech pathologist. So I see this, I live this, I see the disparity between classrooms and speech pathologists. And I can tell you from experience, my wife, uh, is a classroom instructor. She does special ed, she does the autistic preschool. And either it's a class setting, it's multiple students, it's small group lessons, but their teachers and those manipulables and those, those materials that they use are crucial to their job and to the success of their job. They cannot do it without it. Um, their …
H.B. 150 School-based Speech-language Pathologist Funding Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Said the funding is well spent on literacy and suggested reallocating merit pay money and a teacher pay reduction to fund the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:54:46Read what they said
Yes. Um, just a, a couple more thoughts. Uh, speech pathologists do more than just teaching kids how to say Rs and Ls and kitty. They actually teach them how to communicate and write sentences and, and make sentences and those things that are basic. We're trying to focus on literacy and, and I know we're talking about all speech pathologists, but it starts at the bottom level and they are the, the root making sure our kids can read And that they can do that. So, uh, this is not wasted money. This is money well spent. Um, if I could make some suggestions, and I know that, uh, this is a hard sale because I know where the …
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Asks why the proposed norm-referenced test would cause less test anxiety than the current state test.
▶ Watch at 2:30:22Read what they said
We'll go to Representative Welton. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a couple of questions that came up from our earlier conversation, uh, outside the chambers. And then just in your presentation, um, one of them is you talked about test anxiety and kids aren't taking the rise because of text anxiety. Can you explain how they won't have anxiety with the test that you're asking them to take now? Like, why is one anxiety inducing in the other one?
H.B. 234 Education Testing Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Asks about conversion data for the RISE test and whether there is comparable data showing the norm-referenced test converts to it.
▶ Watch at 2:32:23Read what they said
Okay, thank you. Uh, my other question dealt with the, the conversion. You were talking about the, of test scores, if you take Juab, it converts over to like a predictable a CT score. I guess my question on that is, is the assumption here, I was still a little confused on, so we're, I guess the confusion I have is we have no conversion rates for the RISE test. 'cause we've never done any studies on, on what the test you'd like to take is versus the RICE test. There's no comparable data to know if it really converts or not. Actually, oh, Go ahead. Go ahead and then I'll follow Up.
H.B. 293 Public Education Student Athlete Protections · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Asks whether the bill would affect students in summer competitions and whether schools would choose their own moratorium week.
▶ Watch at 3:02:15Read what they said
Thank you. Um, now I forgot what I was gonna say. Um, there was a question about summer games and whether this would impact kids who are competing in summer games, uh, particularly like Southern Utah schools, right? Because they've got cams and things like that. It shouldn't because that's, that's that sport, that school specific moratorium that they'll, the school will decide what's best. So it could be, you know, you have a festival in your, in your city this week, so of course you're not gonna pick that week. You know, so they will be able to say it's not gonna be statewide on that extra summer moratorium. Does that make sense? Okay. Yeah. So they can, the …
H.B. 293 Public Education Student Athlete Protections · House Education Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Says he is conflicted, raises concerns about consistency of enforcement and local control, and says he will vote no to give UHSAA a chance to return with changes.
▶ Watch at 3:20:23Read what they said
Thank you. Um, I, I'm a little conflicted on this one. I appreciate the work that's gone in as a, as a coach myself, not an athletic event, but like coach burnout is just as real as student burnout. Like it is a very real thing to try to get coaches and keep coaches. And so I, I understand that. Um, I have a whole bunch of ideas. Let me just say a couple things that are sticking in my head. Uh, number one is consistency of enforcement. And that's something that I've struggled, uh, as somebody who's been involved is that we don't have consistency of enforcement with our U-H-S-A-A and sometimes that's our own principles who are not …
H.B. 223 Electronic Signature Collection Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 29, 2026
Asks how the electronic signature matches a person's signature.
▶ Watch at 41:32Read what they said
You, Mr. Chair. Uh, you might have said this in the beginning part of your presentation. I walked in late. I apologize. Um, I'm just curious how the signature matches up. 'cause when I sign something electronic versus when I sign something real, they're not even closely related. Like they're not, they're not even remotely the same.
H.B. 223 Electronic Signature Collection Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 29, 2026
Says an electronically signed packet would not look like a driver license signature.
▶ Watch at 42:27Read what they said
Okay. I just curious 'cause when I, when I sign an electronic packet, it's not gonna look like my driver's license signature.
H.B. 223 Electronic Signature Collection Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 29, 2026
Supports having a date to create a deadline and opposes holding the bill.
▶ Watch at 1:09:04Read what they said
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I would, I, I appreciate both points of view on this issue. I, I think having a date is good. Government doesn't move if there's not like a deadline pushing us to, to move ahead. Um, I, I look at my TV signals and, you know, we'd still be on analog if there wasn't like, here's the line in the sand that we're going to move towards. And so if we're not there, we can always backtrack this and change this in 2027 or 2028 or 2029 if the technology's not there and we're not moving. But I think, uh, we're in a good place and I would, I would vote against holding.
S.B. 6 Transportation and Infrastructure Base Budget · House floor debate (day 10) · Jan 29, 2026
Presents SB 6, which sets base budgets for six transportation and infrastructure agencies at their FY 2026 ongoing levels, lists capital budget increases approved by EAC, gives the bill's appropriation totals, and says any changes will come in later supplemental bills.
▶ Watch at 29:51Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. SB six is the transportation and infrastructure based budget. This bill provides the base budgets for the six agencies overseen by transportation and Infrastructure Appropriation subcommittee. Those are capital budget, debt service government operations, DFCM, state Treasurer, Utah Education and Telehealth Network, Utah Department of Transportation. As a reminder, the base budget starts these agencies at the same level as their FY 2026 ongoing appropriations. EAC approved base budget increases in December for the capital budget in FY 2026, including 30,000,001 time for the Ogden Multi-Agency building. 14,000,001 time for the site remediation at point of the mountain. EAC. Also approved increases for the capital budget in FY 2027, including 30 million ongoing for higher education …
H.B. 12 Outdoor Recreation Accessibility Amendments · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Presented HB 12 as a refile of last year's bill, letting state parks use the UCOR grant for trail facilities and adaptive mobility equipment at no cost.
▶ Watch at 59:28Read what they said
Thank you. Uh, glad to be here today. Uh, I'll be quick. This bill is essentially a refile from last year that this committee passed out favorably. Um, for those in the audience who aren't aware, this would allow, um, our state parks to have, uh, access through the UCOR grant for the construction of trail facilities and improvements, uh, equipment for mobility and adaptive users. This allows, uh, all utahns or more utahns to have access to the beauty of Utah. And, uh, and it's not just the adaptive user, but it's the, quite often it's the, the parent or other family members that don't get to go out, uh, because they're, they're staying back with their, their family …
H.B. 12 Outdoor Recreation Accessibility Amendments · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Said state parks asked for this language so they could use the grant for these purposes.
▶ Watch at 1:00:35Read what they said
Correct, yes. When we worked with state parks, they felt that we needed this language in order to be able to use it for these
H.B. 142 School Fee Waiver Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Presented HB 142, which would limit school fee waivers for trips: the first trip is waived, the second is waived or offset through student work or a similar arrangement, and trips after that must be paid by the student, with added language exempting two-night and out-of-state trips.
▶ Watch at 1:08:10Read what they said
Just Thank you. Sorry. You should be good now. All Right. It's good to be with you in a different capacity. You'll see way more of me at this seat than you would like to this session. I think. Um, I like, uh, Representative Peterson, only true trips for you. Uh, this is the two two troops for, for you, bill. So this is a bill that we heard last session. We'll go really fast. Um, uh, this committee re uh, approved in the past, but right now, um, in the status quo, we provide, uh, few waivers for students that, uh, or socioeconomically disadvantaged. They don't, they don't have the ability to pay for trips, but we understand that …
H.B. 142 School Fee Waiver Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Said the amendment is a technical change that limits the policy to trips rather than all fee waivers.
▶ Watch at 1:12:14Read what they said
Just a slight technical change that makes sure that this is for trips and not every fee waiver out there. So this is specific to trips.
H.B. 142 School Fee Waiver Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Said the bill protects kids' opportunities while setting a reasonable cap on trip fee waivers.
▶ Watch at 1:13:19Read what they said
Uh, yeah, I agree. I think this, uh, protects the integrity of giving kids opportunity while also having a, a reasonable cap for
H.B. 106 School Attendance Changes · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Said the State Board is already looking at attendance and asked whether the board could speak to the reporting requirements question.
▶ Watch at 1:26:51Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I, I'm speaking out of order here 'cause I just walked in. But, um, I guess the question I had to, the good representative to the left of me is, um, it's my understanding the state board is already going to look at this. So if we just put the parameters in, they're going to, I mean, maybe they can tell me yes or no, but I, I think this is a big enough issue that they're looking at attendance anyway, as long as we have the right parameters in place, Really putting the pressure on. Sorry, state board question. Guess the sponsor. That's a, Is that a question? Question I have for the sponsor …
H.B. 106 School Attendance Changes · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Restated the question about removing some reporting requirements because of a lean fiscal year.
▶ Watch at 1:28:08Read what they said
Yeah. So the, the concern was stripping away some of the reporting requirements because it's a, it's a lean fiscal year.
H.B. 106 School Attendance Changes · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Said that without a fiscal note and added staff, the state would not have the capacity to analyze the data the bill requires. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 1:29:09Read what they said
Chair. If I may just add one more? Yes, please. Go ahead. Motion. Just the superintendent, um, just mentioned as well, if there's not a fiscal note attached to it, we won't have the staff to, to be able to, to do what's required in it, as of it is now, if there's not a additional FTE attached to that in our current state. So, just wanted to mention that. And as I understand it, that was the, the fiscal note was having someone to specifically analyze that data.
H.B. 106 School Attendance Changes · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Said he is willing to work with the sponsor and Representative Thompson to get the policy right.
▶ Watch at 1:35:25Read what they said
Yes. Thank you Mr. Chair. Um, yeah, this is an important issue and it's one that if we, if we had the silver bullet, then Representative Thompson and I would have a bill that would be perfect, that you would all vote for. But we're still trying to work our way through that and it's a difficult process. And so I I would am happy to work with, uh, the bill sponsor and Representative Thompson to, to see if we can get this right.
H.B. 227 Student Journalist Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Says he likes much of the bill and supports civic engagement, but has concerns about its structure and believes it needs more work before moving forward.
▶ Watch at 2:18:13Read what they said
Actually, there, there's a lot that I really like about this and, and I apologize to Milan. I realized that he reached out to me in the end of the year, and I, I missed his, his email. And so I do apologize for that. You could have done this, but I, I work in the space of, of debate and civics and civic engagement. And one of the things that I would like to see more is more civic engagement. Like, have the hard conversation. And I think that's an important thing in our society that we learn while we're young with the appropriate guardrails. You know, so for example, using the example over here, they'll have blood on …
H.B. 227 Student Journalist Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Opposes the motion to table, saying the problems could be worked out and he trusts the sponsor to bring it back only if ready.
▶ Watch at 2:23:04Read what they said
I sound late. Um, I, I, I would oppose the, the motion to table as well. I, I do think that we've been asked to do the work in the committees and, uh, this is a, a low number bill and a, a bill that's of importance to our outgoing, uh, representative. And, uh, so I, I do recognize that there is a lot of work to be done and, uh, I, I don't discount that. I think there is a, a lot of work to be done here, but there's time to get it done. Uh, I think it's, it's worthy of, of tackling. And I also trust the representative that if she doesn't get it to a place …
H.B. 25 Candidate Petition Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 26, 2026
Asked how packet signature verification is ordered and how packets are numbered and logged at intake.
▶ Watch at 1:11:14Read what they said
Okay. Thank you Mr. Chair. I had, uh, a couple questions. One was already asked and I'm just gonna, uh, extend that. So I was curious how packet signature verification over order. It sounds like there's a vista process. The other question I had is like the intake of packets, like which one is number one and number two is that clearly defined and there's a standard procedure? Do you know?
H.B. 25 Candidate Petition Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 26, 2026
Asked for data on verification rates across county clerk offices before voting.
▶ Watch at 1:11:45Read what they said
Okay, perfect. And then the other question I had, uh, dealt with verification rates, you said that you had some information on that I'd like to see that. 'cause there, I've seen some reports that verification rates have varied drastically from one clerk's office to the other's clerk's office. And I don't know if that's true or not. So if you've got that data, I, I'd love to see that before I vote.
H.B. 25 Candidate Petition Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 26, 2026
Said county clerks in the room may be able to speak to verification rates.
▶ Watch at 1:12:10Read what they said
I also think there might be some people here on that one wanna speak To that issue. Yeah, I assume I see several county clerks here that might be able to answer that. I assume they're gonna come up and speak. So, um, thank you.
H.B. 93 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area · House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Presents HB 93 to create the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area to protect the land from growth, noting it has no overlapping trails and one existing grazing right, and introduces Luke Peterson.
▶ Watch at 55:22Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Chair. I, before I get started, I was kind of curious if Representative Owens and Chew learned about drinking downstream from livestock? From experience or wisdom? You can't tell. We can't tell. You learned the hard way. You learned the hard way. Depends on how thirsty he is. Fair, fair point. Uh, well, I'm excited to be before you today. Um, I've got it. Uh, bill, HB 93 is, uh, the, the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management area. Um, this is a area that I, I used to represent. I actually am just outside of that. We're redistricting, but it's, it's part of my area. And, and, uh, I was having conversations with, um, uh, the Utah Lake …
H.B. 93 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area · House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Thanks the committee and restates the motion to pass HB 93 favorably.
▶ Watch at 1:03:43Read what they said
Uh, thank you for your time. I, this is good for you to, Okay. Uh, I'll place the motion that we pass out favorably, HB 0 0 9 3 Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management area by Representative Welton.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House floor debate (day 4) · Jan 23, 2026
Presents HB 17, which would require public infrastructure district meetings to be held where their ratepayers reside, as municipalities and counties must do.
▶ Watch at 27:58Read what they said
Yes. Motion to not circle, uh, HB 17. This is a bill that was brought to me as, as many of you know, we have public infrastructure districts also called PIDs, and they have been given, uh, essentially taxing authority that we give to municipalities and other state political subdivisions. Um, but one thing I've found out over the years is they do not actually have to hold, uh, their, their meetings where their, their rate payers are at. And so what this does, this bill just simply says that like a municipality or a county government or anyone else, you have to hold your meetings where your rate payers reside. And that's, that's what this bill does.
H.B. 146 Mentoring and Supporting Teacher Excellence and Refinement Program Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 22, 2026
Expresses support for the bill and says it would have been a helpful career path for teachers.
▶ Watch at 1:29:59Read what they said
So Representative Welton? Yeah, just real quickly, I just wanna say thank you. This is, this is tremendous. So I appreciate the bill sponsor and, and, uh, Dr. Hart and everybody's been involved on this. Uh, I wish it was around seven years ago. Mm-hmm. Um, it would've been, uh, a great career path in, but, uh, quite often you've got in education, you can be here, you can be here, and most people want to stay in the classroom. That's where teachers want to be mm-hmm. For most of them. And so I, I appreciate what this does. Great. Great, bill. Thank
H.B. 75 American Indian and Alaska Native Education Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 22, 2026
Moves to favorably recommend HB 75.
▶ Watch at 2:01:02Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we favorably recommend HB 75 American Indian and Alaska Native Education Amendments.
H.B. 75 American Indian and Alaska Native Education Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 22, 2026
Supports the motion, saying the bill creates a useful framework and guardrails for American Indian and Alaska Native students who attend both reservation and public schools.
▶ Watch at 2:01:19Read what they said
Yeah, I just think this creates a, a great framework for, uh, uh, a very unique population in our state that is, uh, largely on reservations as well as, as public schools. They, they kind of, uh, uh, for, for historical and cultural reasons, they straddle a couple of lines here. And I think it's very unique and they're, they're in a unique situation, and I think this puts good guardrails in place and also, uh, helps them, uh, as they move forward. So I'm very supportive of this bill.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Presents HB 17 requiring public infrastructure district meetings to be held where ratepayers live, explains the amendment limiting meeting locations to the creating entity's boundaries, and explains the annual budget retreat language.
▶ Watch at 20:33Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. It's good to be with you today. Um, I am speaking to the amended version of the bill that you should all have a, there's a single line amendment. Uh, this bill came to me, uh, from a constituent, actually a, a, a neighboring constituent. And she was concerned that, uh, we had public infrastructure districts that were having their meetings in St. George, but the infrastructure district was in the, the South Utah County area. And even though it's televised, it's not the same thing. It's not the same public transparent access that we have. So this is a pretty simple bill that just says that public infrastructure districts have to have their …
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Says he does not know the answer on meeting frequency, and that the boards he has talked to meet monthly.
▶ Watch at 29:28Read what they said
That's a good question that I don't know the answer to. The ones I've talked to meet monthly, but I don't think they all do.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Responds that there is little flexibility after bond approval and that he has not yet seen a board meet.
▶ Watch at 30:05Read what they said
That's a good question. 'cause in my understanding, there's not like a lot of flexibility once the bond is passed other than we're approving this subcontractor or whatever. But it's all in the, in the pre-approved bond that they have to pay for. I think it's just a, but but they're new enough that I haven't Sure. Been to one and I haven't seen one seen one take place. So that's a good question.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Says some districts meet regularly, with monthly meetings.
▶ Watch at 31:01Read what they said
Them to decide? Yeah, I know that some are meeting regularly. They, they have monthly meetings.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Explains that a board would meet at the nearest place where people can gather if the district has no suitable location.
▶ Watch at 33:53Read what they said
They won't have any business once, There are no locations in the public infrastructure district that are able to accommodate the board. So this would be like, if you've got a developer that's got some land in the middle of San Juan County and nobody lives there yet, you're gonna meet at the, the nearest place where people can, can locate.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Says buyers would be covered once they own a lot and need reasonable access to the people making decisions.
▶ Watch at 34:28Read what they said
Correct. So like once you Yeah. So if you're intending to buy a lot, yeah. You're not part of the pit, but once you buy, buy a lot, that's what we're trying to address is those people that own it Right. Need to be able to, to have reasonable access to those making decisions.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Says meetings would be held as geographically close to the district as possible to serve future residents.
▶ Watch at 34:47Read what they said
In, within the bill it would be someplace as, as geographically close to the pit as possible to accommodate the folks who would be ultimately residing there.
H.B. 17 Public Infrastructure District Meeting Amendments · House Political Subdivisions Committee · Jan 21, 2026
Says public access, transparency, and accountability to ratepayers are important, and thanks the committee for its support.
▶ Watch at 39:38Read what they said
Uh, I would agree. Public access, transparency, being accountable, uh, to those who are making the decisions to the, to the right payers, I think is, is an important part of, of government and Utah government. And so I appreciate your support.
H.B. 12 Outdoor Recreation Accessibility Amendments · House floor debate (day 1) · Jan 20, 2026
Says the bill passed unanimously last session but ran out of time, and that it expands the grant language so state parks can include adaptive-use services, trails and equipment for people with disabilities.
▶ Watch at 1:24:48Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, this is a bill that we passed, uh, unanimously out of this body last session, and it went through Senate Committee House committees, and we just ran out of time. Um, what this bill does is we live in one of the, the most beautiful places in the world. Uh, be Utah Full is a great moniker. Uh, but the sad reality is, is many of our families are not able to access our state parks fully because they have disabilities. And what this bill does, and, and, and this was kind of eye-opening to me, it's not just the student, sorry, I say students, I'm just coming out of, uh, classroom mode. I was …
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