Legislators / Ryan D. Wilcox
Ryan D. Wilcox
Republican · House District 7
Hear from them directly
Contact Rep. Ryan D. Wilcox
- Email: ryanwilcox@le.utah.gov
- Phone: 385-600-3306
- Office: P.O. Box 14007, Ogden, UT, 84412
Constituents get priority, so say you live in their district. Writing about a specific bill? Open it and use Take action for a ready-to-send message.
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.
Ryan D. Wilcox serves on:
- Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee
- House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee
- House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee
- House Rules Committee
- Business and Labor Interim Committee
- Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee
- Legislative Process Committee
What they've said
298 remarks on 66 billsH.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Says the bill is the same as HB 42, which passed on cybersecurity standards, and that these are the same bills already handled.
▶ Watch at 4:16Read what they said
I would thank you. Um, representatives, this is uh, literally HB 42 which we passed on cybersecurity standards and HB 44. Um, that's it. That's the same bills we've done. Thank You. Thank you Representative
S.J.R. 11 Joint Resolution Recognizing National Blood Donor Month · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Wilcox says the bill did not receive a House hearing and moves to circle it.
▶ Watch at 35:19Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill did not receive a, uh, house hearing, so I move to circle.
S.J.R. 11 Joint Resolution Recognizing National Blood Donor Month · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Presents the resolution, noting a severe national blood shortage, the Red Cross's request for donations, and Utah's share of the nation's blood supply.
▶ Watch at 44:36Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This, uh, short resolution, um, highlights the fact that we're facing a severe blood shortage in the, in the United States of America. American Red Cross is requesting, uh, reminding us that every two seconds, only 3% of eligible Americans donate blood. Um, we've got about 40% of the NA nation's blood yet originates here in Utah and asks us to recognize that effort and highlight for our constituents why blood donation matters when the emergency. That's all that matters, especially if it's not there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Explained that the substitute codifies the existing practice of municipalities contracting with outside attorneys for prosecution services.
▶ Watch at 2:44:08Read what they said
I would. The second substitute addresses the discrepancy between municipalities and counties wherein we contract with an outside attorney to provide prosecution services with the municipality. That already happens. It's just not codified that they're allowed to do it. So we're taking care of it.
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Explains that the second substitute addresses municipalities contracting with outside attorneys for prosecution services, which already happens and would now be codified.
▶ Watch at 2:44:08Read what they said
I would. The second substitute addresses the discrepancy between municipalities and counties wherein we contract with an outside attorney to provide prosecution services with the municipality. That already happens. It's just not codified that they're allowed to do it. So we're taking care of it.
S.B. 295 Intellectual Diversity in Education and Government · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Asks the sponsor to yield for a question about whether the bill would prohibit club discussion of philosophy.
▶ Watch at 2:44:49Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The sponsor yield, do a question. Representative Hall, will you yield to a question?
S.B. 295 Intellectual Diversity in Education and Government · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Asks whether the bill would prohibit a club focused on philosophy or great philosophers.
▶ Watch at 2:44:57Read what they said
Mr. Speaker, I just wanna make sure I understand in light of the questions that were just asked, um, would this necessarily necessarily prohibit any discussion or a club focused on philosophy or the great philosophers that we've, that were mentioned perhaps?
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Said the substitute also lets prosecutors and defendants agree to reduce a charge by one level when the defendant provides evidence leading to a conviction on another crime.
▶ Watch at 2:45:04Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, SB 180 4, in addition to what I just talked about, allows us to, uh, negotiate to, to reduce a charge by one level. If and when that person is willing to provide evidence that leads to a conviction on another crime, which is, again, a common practice. We're making sure that that's explicitly authorized, that allows us to apprehend criminals, um, and bring them to justice for both when both the prosecutor and the defense agree.
S.B. 184 Justice System Amendments · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Explains that the bill allows a charge to be reduced by one level, when the prosecutor and defendant both agree, if the person provides evidence leading to a conviction on another crime.
▶ Watch at 2:45:04Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, SB 180 4, in addition to what I just talked about, allows us to, uh, negotiate to, to reduce a charge by one level. If and when that person is willing to provide evidence that leads to a conviction on another crime, which is, again, a common practice. We're making sure that that's explicitly authorized, that allows us to apprehend criminals, um, and bring them to justice for both when both the prosecutor and the defense agree.
S.B. 295 Intellectual Diversity in Education and Government · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Asks the sponsor to yield for a follow-up question.
▶ Watch at 2:45:26Read what they said
Not prohibit discussion to that, Mr. Speaker will sponsor yield to a follow up question. Representative Hall, will you yield to a follow up question?
S.B. 295 Intellectual Diversity in Education and Government · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Asks whether any restriction would apply to studying religious texts in high schools or secondary schools.
▶ Watch at 2:45:34Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, Mr. Speaker, would there, would there be any would restriction whatsoever, even in perhaps, uh, a religious context if somebody were to study religious text, is part of this conversation for our high schools or our secondary schools?
S.B. 295 Intellectual Diversity in Education and Government · House floor debate (day 45) · Mar 6, 2026
Speaks in favor of the bill, citing concerns about boys' academic outcomes and saying the goal is inclusion and opportunity for all students.
▶ Watch at 2:45:55Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I speak in favor of this bill. I think this has been thought through a bit. Um, I am, I'm quite concerned of the lines that we're drawing, especially at the younger level, but I also am very familiar with, uh, with some of our rates right now in higher education. We are, uh, our girls are actually doing much better than our boys. I don't know if you've looked at that. Uh, both in graduation rates, attendance rates, even at admission to law school and medical school. Um, boys are in trouble. And, uh, I am at this point, I'd be much more comfortable with, uh, you know, kids who code, for example, …
S.B. 229 State Employee Benefits Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Supports the substitute, saying it gives state employees the choice between the current and new benefit packages.
▶ Watch at 13:43Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker representative. This is why, uh, willing to bring that back. I'm, I'm grateful for the work that's gone into this. I've looked at it closely, uh, over the night and it is hard to reconcile something with someone who's already been hired and then to change, change the rules while they're there. That, uh, this proposal gives us a chance to frankly choose what I would choose where I could become an employee today. Having worked in the private sector as well, I've done that most of my career. I've been in that position where this is far better to get the payout. I'm not one of those guys that uses my vacation all the time. …
S.B. 229 State Employee Benefits Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Supports the substitute, saying it gives employees the chance to choose their benefits and that he would choose the option himself.
▶ Watch at 13:43Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker representative. This is why, uh, willing to bring that back. I'm, I'm grateful for the work that's gone into this. I've looked at it closely, uh, over the night and it is hard to reconcile something with someone who's already been hired and then to change, change the rules while they're there. That, uh, this proposal gives us a chance to frankly choose what I would choose where I could become an employee today. Having worked in the private sector as well, I've done that most of my career. I've been in that position where this is far better to get the payout. I'm not one of those guys that uses my vacation all the time. …
S.B. 123 Privacy and Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Wilcox said the amendment clarifies that cybersecurity standards for government and local education entities align with the Center for Internet Security controls, which resolved a conflict.
▶ Watch at 45:43Read what they said
I would. Mr. Speaker, this is the amendment we were waiting for. Um, it clarifies that are the cybersecurity standards and best practices for government entities and local education entities are in alignment with the controls published by the Center for Internet Security. And that, uh, is what resolved the conflict.
S.B. 123 Privacy and Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 44) · Mar 5, 2026
Wilcox said the bill expands the Utah Cyber Center's role to local education agencies, adds the Department of Environmental Quality as a partner, and adds the Utah Education and Telehealth Network to its membership.
▶ Watch at 46:24Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Senate 1 23, uh, strengthens our cybersecurity posture by expanding the role of the Utah Cyber Center to include local education agencies and adding the Department of Environmental Quality as a focused partner, a formal partner, I should say, updating the membership to include Utah Education and Telehealth network as we seek to create the infrastructure needed to support not just our municipalities and, and local political subdivisions, but also our education network.
H.B. 402 EMS Controlled Substance Licensing Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 43) · Mar 4, 2026
Explains that the bill sets up a licensing process for emergency medical services to deliver controlled substances and medications, with a physician director signing the orders, and opens the floor to questions.
▶ Watch at 2:11:13Read what they said
Uh, emergency medical Services, uh, are authorized to, uh, deliver controlled substance and medications to individuals when they're treating. Previously done through more of a collaborative practice agreement. Now this is setting up a licensure process where each, uh, of the medical service, emergency medical services throughout the state would have a license to be able to do that. The director would be, uh, a physician that can have sign those orders and just allows them to have, have authorization to, uh, to administer, uh, control substance pro medications when needed. That I'm open for questions.
H.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Asked that staff hand out the bill summaries to the committee. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 54:39Read what they said
Thank you. Madam Chair. Can we have our intern, Catherine, hand these out to you? The summaries? Yes. Thank you. Yes, you may.
H.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Presented the substitute bill, which gives districts more flexibility on special function officers, emergency alert devices, delayed 2027 implementation, guardian policies, administrative leave after critical incidents, training, and recommended visitor management standards, and noted pending amendments.
▶ Watch at 55:23Read what they said
Good to see you, Senator. Thank you. Um, very quickly, uh, the sub, uh, that you have in front of you, um, provides new flexibility for local education agencies in like a dozen different areas. Like that's primarily what the bill is this year. Um, we move stipend distribution from DPS to USBE. We allow LEAs to supplement if they'd like. Um, we allow, uh, the use of special function officers, which are similar to what we use in our court system as bailiffs and, and other roles, and who are frankly, uh, less expensive option for, for LEAs. But they're more well trained. Oftentimes they're retired law enforcement, um, than, uh, more well trained than a private security guard …
H.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Said Amendment 3 makes clear that the visitor management standards are voluntary.
▶ Watch at 1:00:49Read what they said
Yeah, just, uh, this makes, uh, clear that the standards that we're asking for in the visitor management protocols are voluntary standards. We're, we're attempting to set that standard in this bill. And that's it.
H.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Said the alert devices were already funded last year and through the school security task force, so the bill adds no cost and the fiscal note is zero.
▶ Watch at 1:02:33Read what they said
Happy to. We actually funded that already. That's why it's a zero fiscal note. We've added that, um, through the school security task force. We funded it in the fall, so that's already been authorized, taken care of. They're, we're not adding any anything else that costs any money. That's why there's a zero fiscal note. That's also why it has that delineated down there. Um, but that's already been covered.
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Presents HB 433, which would let members of the public submit licensing review requests as legislators can, and says most current requests have come from industry lobbyists.
▶ Watch at 1:04:50Read what they said
Thank you. House Bill 4 33, um, is something we worked on, uh, this session with ler. Um, what this really does is it allows the public to weigh in, like legislators do as it relates to, as it relates to licensure. Um, right now, any legislator can raise their hand and say, Hey, would you please take a look at this with ler? And that'll go into the queue. Um, this doesn't, uh, put anybody ahead of, of those requests, um, in addition to their regular work. But what it does do is it allows the public, our constituents to, you know, maybe raise their hand where we haven't seen anything, um, since we put that, uh, standard in …
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Responds that the bill does not move requests ahead of others and does not change the review standards.
▶ Watch at 1:07:11Read what they said
Uh, yeah. I don't, I don't know how it would politicize anything necessarily. It's not a Republican democrat thing or anything like that. Um, it just allows, and it won't put them in the front of the line. It just says that they'll take a look at it if and when there's an issue. Um, we intentionally structured this so that it doesn't supersede any of their regular work or any of the other requests. And so it's subject to, you know, availability and time. Um, but I don't see how it would be, make it a political issue that we didn't change the standards at all for review. Um, so it'd have to go through the same kind of …
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Says the public can already contact legislators, that most licensing requests have come from industry, and that the bill aims to open the process to constituents.
▶ Watch at 1:08:02Read what they said
And that was kind of the thinking behind our initial. But when I, that's one of the reasons why I mentioned that that's almost entirely like 98% come from lobbyists. That hasn't come from our constituents for the most part. That's been industry who I believe already had access to Opular and had the ability to do that. And so I'm hoping to democratize the process a little bit, um, in their, in our constituents favor.
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Says a website option for submitting review requests was added last year, and that several requests have come through it, with one substantive request so far.
▶ Watch at 1:08:48Read what they said
Uh, yeah. I, we added that last year, uh, the ability to do it through a website, and there have been several that have gone through, I think, um, the, and they can testify if they want this time. I think they're probably here again. Um, but we've had, I think, one substantive one caught through the website process so that that could be, you know, I don't know how effective it is or not. Right. Uh, but, uh, we've had one there.
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Says there was a technical amendment from the drafter and that it should go ahead.
▶ Watch at 1:11:38Read what they said
I don't think so. Oh, there was a technical thing. She's reminding me. It's li literally like an and from the drafter, so yeah, should go ahead.
H.B. 116 Criminal Fines Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Presented HB 116 as a rerun of last year's bill after a coordinating clause problem, raising fines for cases involving illicit massage parlors and prostitution.
▶ Watch at 54:13Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You look much better than you usually do in this committee and just the chair. Oh, gotcha. I'm just saying. Okay. Yeah, because normally I'm like, Right. Okay. Now this, uh, one 16 is literally the same bill we passed last year. Uh, we had a coordinating clause problem. Um, and so even though we passed it and signed and all the things didn't work out, so we had to run it again. We were gonna run this in a special and decided to do it during the session. Um, but basically what it does is comes out of, uh, some of those cases where we were dealing with illicit massage parlors and the prostitution issue …
H.B. 116 Criminal Fines Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Mar 3, 2026
Said the bill aims to deter repeat offenses and sexual solicitation of a child, and waived further summary.
▶ Watch at 59:07Read what they said
I'd appreciate that. Um, I, I don't know that the goal, I mean, ultimately I suppose the goal is to reduce convictions, but, uh, that, uh, this is much more of a deterrent, especially on the second offense. We're hoping and, and especially on sexual solicitation of a child. We're going growing hard on that one too. Thank you so much. Rep or Senator Brammer. I'll waive.
H.B. 221 Coercion Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 42) · Mar 3, 2026
Presents H.B. 221, which expands sexual extortion provisions, adds a second-degree felony for repeated encouragement of suicide, sets mandatory fines, and makes certain sexual extortion offenses domestic violence when committed by a cohabitant.
▶ Watch at 2:12:05Read what they said
Thanks Mr. President Pro tem, um, Utah's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 1,264 SEXTORTION tips in 2024 and in September, 2025, they received 2,288. In that time, that's an 81% increase in sextortion. Utah's are dying as a result of sex extortion. There's no question about that. The FBI issued a public service announcement about violent online networks that target youth using threats, blackmail, and, and manipulation to extort victims. The material extorted often includes sexual acts, animal abuse and self-harm like dying by suicide. HB 2 21 captures the actions of these violent online networks by adding that sexual extortion includes compelling a victim to do any act HB two 20 one's creation of the offense aiding …
H.B. 402 EMS Controlled Substance Licensing Amendments · Senate Business and Labor Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Introduces the substitute bill and turns the presentation over to Rob Ayres of the Unified Fire Authority.
▶ Watch at 1:15:49Read what they said
Thank you. We can make this one pretty short. I'm gonna turn the time over to, uh, chief Ayers real quick with the Fire Chiefs.
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · Senate Health and Human Services Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Begins the bill presentation after a brief exchange with the committee about being ready to start.
▶ Watch at 1:22:22Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Welcome. Thank you. Other committees are not as efficient as you. Well, you ought to hang around. All right. Are you ready to go? Keep Going. Or here? Right here. You just started. Is that conclusion your presentation? Where we at? You ready? Okay. Thank you. I'm just waiting for the go. Yeah, go. Okay.
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · Senate Health and Human Services Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Explains that HB 454 clarifies penalties for knowingly obtaining or using government benefits through fraud, with penalties ranging from a Class B misdemeanor to a second-degree felony based on the dollar amount involved.
▶ Watch at 1:23:06Read what they said
Uh, HB 4 54 CLAR clarifies that, um, existing, uh, public assistant fraud laws related to obtaining or using government benefits, um, cannot be dispensed or should not be supported. If someone knowingly, uh, can, is committing fraud. Um, that's really the, the focus of this one. Um, it doesn't target those who did it on accident, doesn't seek to, you know, go after somebody that, uh, doesn't realize what they're doing. That's what the knowingly standard is. Um, those that seek to profit themselves from benefits fraud or engage in, in that on behalf of another, again, knowing that they're committing fraud, that's what this bill seeks to target. Um, so that's penalties for the new offense and at …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · Senate Health and Human Services Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Introduced HB 559, saying it came from a personal experience and would create a training for medical professionals on caring for families after pregnancy or infant loss, and turned the time over to co-presenter Haley Lewis.
▶ Watch at 1:28:31Read what they said
Thank you. Um, I appreciate that. Um, I've got a co-presenter, Haley Lewis, uh, who's online. Can you see her there? Seth or Michelle? Someone? Yeah, Someone back there. Magical. Okay. Um, I appreciate that, uh, allowing us to do that together. Um, this bill, uh, came to me initially, uh, from a loved one of mine who had just gone through this, uh, exact issue. When you lose a child, there is nothing that is, uh, quite like that feeling. I dunno how else to explain that. Um, and what this one does at this point, we've, um, taken out quite a bit. But what it really does is it allows us to, uh, create a training that will …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · Senate Health and Human Services Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Spoke about family members who experienced pregnancy loss, thanked NHHS, the medical association that agreed to serve as accrediting agency at no cost to the state, and others who contributed, and noted there is no fiscal note.
▶ Watch at 1:34:03Read what they said
Representative Wilcox. Yeah, I had, uh, I wanted to mention really quickly some of those that couldn't make it here. They're, they're trying to, you know, follow us across the world, the internet. Um, this is brought to me. I mentioned someone close to me, but my little sister first who lost two. And when we had that conversation, I was reminded that we also had gone through that 25 years before. And how I felt when, you know, our baby was tossed aside. And, uh, the problem is the more I've had that conversation and with each person I've had that conversation with, they also, either they went through that or they know somebody too close to them, and …
S.J.R. 13 Joint Resolution Honoring Irish and Irish-American Contributions to the Founding of the United States · House Rules Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Gives the bill number and moves to favorably recommend the resolution.
▶ Watch at 32:58Read what they said
Um, SGR 13. I move that we pass out SGR 13 with a favor recommendation.
S.J.R. 13 Joint Resolution Honoring Irish and Irish-American Contributions to the Founding of the United States · House Rules Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Says he is of Irish heritage and that failing to pass the resolution would insult Ireland, so he is in favor.
▶ Watch at 33:07Read what they said
Yeah, I'm like a third Irish and it's March. And it would seem to be somewhat of an insult to the great country of Ireland if we were to not pass the resolution, recognizing their contributions to our own. So I'm in favor.
H.R. 8 Resolution Admonishing and Censuring Judge Don M. Torgerson · House Rules Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Asks what the court has done internally to address the matter and what guidance it gives to prosecutors.
▶ Watch at 44:58Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Drexel. I, um, I think I agree with you on, uh, the behavior of the prosecutor. I don't understand that at all in this case. And frankly, I I think I'd rather have that, that one here as part of that. I don't know how that works or if that's even a thing. Um, but, uh, how, what, can you tell me what the court has done internally? Uh, and this, this can be a difficult question for you to answer, um, to address that issue. The, the judge and the, and the judge component of it, or the prosecutor component Of Mr. Yeah. The judge in that relationship and making those kind of recommendations. I don't …
H.R. 8 Resolution Admonishing and Censuring Judge Don M. Torgerson · House Rules Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Asks whether the court has communicated with prosecutors about the matter.
▶ Watch at 47:01Read what they said
Okay. But there's, there's been no communication with the prosecution, and that's not a normal, it has to be outside of the norm to have that conversation with prosecutors.
H.R. 8 Resolution Admonishing and Censuring Judge Don M. Torgerson · House Rules Committee · Mar 2, 2026
Speaks in favor, noting the bar and courts have not addressed the prosecutor's conduct and that the resolution is a reasonable response.
▶ Watch at 59:26Read what they said
Thank you. I'm, I'm gonna speak in favor of the motion. Um, one of the things that I, frankly, that my questions were hinting at earlier, um, the courts come to us on a fairly regular basis, um, which really are the, it's a separate branch. Supreme Court has the authority to regulate us, to regulate the entire judiciary, right? They've handed that off to the Bar Association. The Bar Association hasn't spoken today. Uh, they're not here. I don't know. Uh, it's theoretically we've given them since like 1934, the authority to regulate every attorney in the state of Utah and every act that anyone takes. But we just don't know. They haven't followed through on any of this. …
S.B. 218 Constable Modifications · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 27, 2026
Noted the committee has addressed special function officers several times this year and thanked the sponsor for the approach.
▶ Watch at 1:59:43Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We've done quite a, quite a few things with special function officers this year and I get it's an important part of the solution across the board, um, all sorts of areas. So thank you for the creativity and that's all. Thank you.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 38) · Feb 27, 2026
Explains that H.B. 24 reduces several criminal penalties to infractions, and that the proof-of-insurance change removes the fine for not showing proof while keeping a fine for having no insurance.
▶ Watch at 32:20Read what they said
actually a reduction in penalties. Um, although it's a reduction in penalties, the infraction is still there and uh, with the infraction comes of course fines. So the fines are still high for speeding in school zones and careless driving. But the idea is to re reduce these, um, to infractions from, uh, class C misdemeanors. Um, to try to an overall effort just to reduce some penalties that were probably not functioning as we thought they might or, or knew functioning in a way that was productive. Um, there is one portion in here where it is technically an increase, but I want to clarify. So this is proof of insurance. We had a fine for not having a …
H.C.R. 12 Concurrent Resolution Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Presents HCR 12 as a way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence through school visits, a summer commission, and curriculum work.
▶ Watch at 1:04:08Read what they said
Thank you, uh, Madam Chair. I appreciate your time today. Um, it's that time here when we're running between committees and we're getting kind of used to that the last couple afternoons. Um, that said, um, we sered last night. Yeah. Trying to gimme time to run across the, across the plaza there. Um, you know, this one has been a lot of fun to work through. I think I'm, uh, mostly excited though about what it asks of us. Uh, yes, we are celebrating that this is the 250th year of, uh, the anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence of, um, the inspiration behind the pin I get to wear on my, on my jacket today of the …
H.C.R. 12 Concurrent Resolution Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Notes an upcoming Capitol exhibit and says keeping the nation's ideals requires hard conversations and sustained commitment.
▶ Watch at 1:11:03Read what they said
Yeah. I wanna mention one, uh, piece of this deckler of the, the proclamation that goes along with this. And there's gonna be exhibit coming to the Capitol called the pen is mightier. Um, we live in a time when that's hard to understand, and it is not lost on me that this is also the pen that started the revolution at the time. It was not a, a pure writing exercise. At the same time, without that exercise, none of the rest of it happens without the willingness to have the hard conversations, without the willingness to, um, put your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honor on the line. We don't have the last 250 years of the …
H.C.R. 12 Concurrent Resolution Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence · Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Says he would prefer the bill go on the consent calendar given the time left in the session.
▶ Watch at 1:13:48Read what they said
Consent of consent. I keep saying consent. Consent. I was like, do you want it on consent? I think, I think consent given the time in the session so that we're not taking up too much time with it, but,
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Presents HJR 23, which would formalize asking bill sponsors what they aim to accomplish and identifying measurable metrics where applicable, as a rule for continuous improvement in policy development.
▶ Watch at 1:32:36Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your time committee. This one is pretty simple. Uh, what we're attempting to do, and this is again just rule for us, is to begin the process of continuous improvement as it relates to policy development. Um, and it does that by, and by the way, we developed this with our own staff, like legislative research. This is not, uh, done in, in a vacuum, but, uh, what we're really trying to do is when they, oftentimes you'll notice that when we open a bill file, um, they ask, what are we trying to accomplish? So that'll be formalized a little bit under this rule. They'll officially ask us that every time, not just …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Responds that bills are not blocked without metrics because the words "if applicable" were added, and that the resolution makes staff's existing questions about goals more formal and documented.
▶ Watch at 1:35:35Read what they said
Not at all. Uh, that's why we added the words if applicable. Okay. There, and, and really our staff is after, uh, they like it because it gives us an opportunity to identify that clearly upfront. And that's, we don't always do the best job of doing that. I'm sure you do. You've been here for quite a while, you're seasoned legislator. Um, that's not always the case. Uh, but identifying what those metrics are in the future, then when we can go back, when none of us are here and the next version of us are there, what were they trying to do? And that'll be in our own drafting records and, and we'll see. And then we'll know …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Explains that the goal is identified in a conversation with staff when the bill is opened, not when it is filed, and that a measurable metric can then be tracked over time.
▶ Watch at 1:36:36Read what they said
Uh, not necessarily. So it, it's not necessarily at the point when we file it, right? It's not when you're sitting at your computer doing that, it's the instruction. This is when you have a conversation with our staff and like traditionally, they just ask us, all right, tell me what you're trying to accomplish, uh, representative, and, and I'll work, you know, we'll try to come up with that. This just formalizes that part of it. And then where there is an, an identifiable metric that we can say, yeah, this, I want to drop teen suicide. Right. And what does that look like? And then we can measure that over time. Okay. Yeah.
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Summarizes the resolution as a way to treat policymaking as continuous improvement by identifying what success means, and asks for the committee's support.
▶ Watch at 1:39:25Read what they said
Back to the sponsor for summation. Thank You. At its core, good governor's demands that we treat policymaking not as a one-time event, but as continuous improvement over time. Um, too often we focus on intent without identifying what success even means. So I, I hope that this gets us closer to that. I know our staff is excited about it, so I'm hoping that, uh, we can get this done. Thank
S.B. 150 Healthcare Providers Scope of Practice Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 26, 2026
Thanks the sponsor for the work on the bill and says it heads in the right direction despite some internal pushback in the medical field.
▶ Watch at 48:24Read what they said
I would thank you for the work on this. This has been a long time coming, like in years, and this particular project represents, uh, an amount of work by our office that, um, I don't think any of us understood that you'd have to deal with, uh, prior to it. So thank you for that. Um, but, uh, Senator Vickers, I think, um, we're gonna, we're gonna head the right direction there. There's been a lot of pushback internally, I think, in the medical field about, um, what we're trying to accomplish. But I think as we all look at the outcomes and taking care of patients and expanding access, I think that's, that's, we're headed the right direction. …
H.B. 353 Higher Education Credit Transfer Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Explains that the bill helps students transfer credits from institutions outside the Utah system into the state higher education pathway, using a Emery County student as an example.
▶ Watch at 1:02:56Read what they said
that promote transfer from institutions that are external to our Yui system. So if we had a kid, for example, like cash weight down in Emery County and he was working in an institution that was not in Yui, this bill simply finds a way to say, Hey, let's help cash out. Let's find a way to help him incorporate that pathway into the Utah system of higher education. And that's what the bill does. And I'm open for questions, Questions for the sponsor on a great bill quoting him. I'm quoting him. Uh, back to you.
S.B. 130 River Restoration Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Presents the bill, a committee bill that aims to simplify the human trafficking statutes, protect good-faith employers, and add a new offense for using labor from someone who may not be trafficked.
▶ Watch at 1:06:26Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker ProAm representatives. This one is a result of a committee bill, um, that has a primary goal of protecting real victims of trafficking, while ensuring that honest employers using legal, uh, labor are not unintentionally swept into criminal liability. Uh, first the law. Sometimes it makes it difficult right now for actual to prosecute actual traffickers because our trafficking statutes have become a patchwork, uh, with broad definitions and mixed men's raya standards and overlapping offenses. And what we're really going for is, uh, uh, to, to fix the, that issue as well as the, the broadness of the law for good faith employers right now where they sometimes get caught up in, uh, issues that …
S.B. 130 River Restoration Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Says the bill does not undo prior work but simplifies the trafficking statutes.
▶ Watch at 1:08:15Read what they said
No, but it, it does go through the entire patchwork of it and tries to simplify that. We're not trying to, uh, remove work that we've done.
S.B. 130 River Restoration Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Says he is not the attorney, that the language came from work with the attorney general's office and prosecutors, and that the reckless standard is higher and includes knowingly.
▶ Watch at 1:08:53Read what they said
Yes. Uh, I, well, I don't know. I'm gonna do my best. I am not the attorney or the prosecutor. Um, but this language did come from working with the attorney general's office, law enforcement prosecutors, um, across the board through the interim. So the reckless standard, and please correct me if I'm wrong, for our attorneys in here, um, is a higher standard. Um, you have, it includes knowingly the intentional standard. Uh, they have to have knowledge that that is what they were doing, um, with the intentional standard.
S.B. 130 River Restoration Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Says the bill sets more severe penalties for trafficking conduct involving paid sex acts, with the intent of targeting traffickers rather than those who choose that work on their own.
▶ Watch at 1:10:02Read what they said
Yes, it does differentiate, um, for a sexual exploitation, human trafficking making more severe penalties are applied to conduct that include, uh, paid sex acts. So when we're talking about, uh, the prostitution stings that we've done, we, uh, those who are brought here against their will, we're differentiating between that and folks that choose that on our own. Kind of a question. Um, but yeah, there's, there's a different, they requested a different standard for those who are trafficked. The intent here is to go after the trafficker with a higher penalty.
S.B. 130 River Restoration Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Gives closing summation that the bill creates liability for those who know or should have known labor is provided by a trafficked person, and that the new offenses cover conduct not currently addressed in law.
▶ Watch at 1:10:48Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro Tem. I, I agree. This is fairly complicated area of law. The idea is to create liability for people who know or should have known that the labor that they're using is being provided by someone who is trafficked. And these new offenses capture conduct that is, is currently not addressed under our law. That's why we're doing it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
S.B. 80 Physician Practice Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Presents S.B. 80, which states that a physician does not commit unprofessional conduct by refusing to participate in an execution or by completing a state-ordered execution, framed as a matter of conscience that neither forces nor punishes participation.
▶ Watch at 1:25:39Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro Tim Senate Bill 80 representative specifies that a physician in the case of a death penalty execution on that topic, again, I knew that would perk him up, but set, set that a, that a physician does not violate the code of unprofessional conduct, does not commit unprofessional conduct by either refusing to go through with an, to participate in an execution or by, uh, completing a state order execution. This is frankly, a physician protection of matter of conscience. We're not gonna force anybody to participate that doesn't, uh, doesn't agree with that. We're also not gonna punish anyone that, uh, that does participate in that. And that's what the bill does.
S.B. 123 Privacy and Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Says the sponsors are working on a few potential changes to the bill and wants to speak to the motion to circle it.
▶ Watch at 1:29:02Read what they said
Motion is to circle. We'd like to speak to it. Yeah. We're, we're working on a few potential changes.
H.B. 338 First Responder Health Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Says the third substitute addresses the fiscal note by moving administrative costs into the fund being transferred.
▶ Watch at 1:45:53Read what they said
I would. The third substitute, uh, addresses the fiscal note. Um, really what we're doing is any of the costs of administration, we're now moving into the fund that we're transferring over.
H.B. 338 First Responder Health Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Says the third substitute addresses the fiscal note by moving administrative costs into the fund being transferred.
▶ Watch at 1:45:53Read what they said
I would. The third substitute, uh, addresses the fiscal note. Um, really what we're doing is any of the costs of administration, we're now moving into the fund that we're transferring over.
H.B. 338 First Responder Health Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Reports the loss of fire chiefs and offers condolences, and describes using previously appropriated funds to let rural and volunteer fire agencies buy into a program giving first responders access to trauma-informed mental health specialists, plus a mechanism for private donors to contribute to the fund.
▶ Watch at 1:46:22Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, representatives, uh, I wish I could come to you and report that we've got it right. Um, we don't, uh, I am, I'm sad to, to let you know, those of you that aren't aware that he's not in your area, but we just, we just lost another one of our fire chiefs on Friday. Um, probably at the same time we had, we had the families of our, our fallen firefighters here on the floor with us. And then yesterday we lost another one to cancer that, uh, that everybody knows and, and loves. I I will pass along to you. I spoke with the fire chiefs this morning and offered our condolences and …
H.B. 338 First Responder Health Amendments · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Reports the recent deaths of fire chiefs and firefighters, describes using previously appropriated funds to give small, rural, and volunteer agencies access to trauma-informed mental health specialists through the Department of Public Safety, and says the bill lets private donors contribute to the fund.
▶ Watch at 1:46:22Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, representatives, uh, I wish I could come to you and report that we've got it right. Um, we don't, uh, I am, I'm sad to, to let you know, those of you that aren't aware that he's not in your area, but we just, we just lost another one of our fire chiefs on Friday. Um, probably at the same time we had, we had the families of our, our fallen firefighters here on the floor with us. And then yesterday we lost another one to cancer that, uh, that everybody knows and, and loves. I I will pass along to you. I spoke with the fire chiefs this morning and offered our condolences and …
H.C.R. 14 Concurrent Resolution Supporting the Transfer of Federally Managed Lands · House floor debate (day 37) · Feb 26, 2026
Says the federal delegation has asked for this tool, that it helps facilitate land transfers, and that it has been effective in the past; asks for support.
▶ Watch at 2:14:16Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker representatives. In conversations with our federal delegation, they've asked for this specific tool. They do believe that this helps us to facilitate these land transfers. We've done this several times in the past and it's been an effective tool. I ask for your support. Thank you.
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Presented the substitute to H.B. 558, which would require candidates in nonpartisan races to disclose any party affiliation when filing, published on a public notice website, and noted the substitute removes judicial retention elections.
▶ Watch at 1:19:33Read what they said
Thank you. Oh, there we go. Thank you. Um, hospital 5 58 is an attempt to standardize transparency across our election filing. Uh, it just sounds, uh, fancier than it is. What it really is is disclosure. Um, at this point, this is not, uh, the bill that we originally had drafted by any means where, um, frankly it would've made, you know, all, all elections partisan elections. This is not that. Um, this is, in fact, there's a substitute that I'm, that I'm speaking to, of course, that removes the judicial retention elections from this, um, that was missed in the, in the reformatting of what we were looking to do. And so to be important that we adopt …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said the bill is only disclosure, does not involve parties in races directly, and does not politicize races more than they already are.
▶ Watch at 1:24:19Read what they said
Thank you for the question. I, and it probably depends on your definition of politicized. If by disclosure we mean politicized, then I suppose so. Um, but I also, you know, we, at the county level, we file for, you know, partisan races. Everybody's well aware of what that is. I wouldn't argue that at the county level, um, that, that, or even for us, that that somehow hampers us or that's a bad thing that they know that we've affiliate with a given party. As we all are aware, there's many different flavors of, of Republican and Democrat and everything from, you know, full on libertarian on one side to, you know, hardcore democratic socialist on another. So I …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said disengagement in off-cycle municipal races lets coordinated activists dominate, and that disclosure may encourage more attention, as with state school board races.
▶ Watch at 1:26:43Read what they said
Okay. I can answer it. Okay. So ho honestly, I don't, I don't think so. I think that what we've seen in, in large part, especially in our municipal races, are folks who are completely disengaged in those off cycles. We have a significant number of people who just do not, do not get involved at all. And so you end up having, especially with a coordinated effort, you can get the activist crew who are on the far extremes of either party mobilized and going, and because people just aren't paying that much attention and there is no disclosure, you knew no, far less. I'm hoping that this encourages folks to, to pay a little bit more attention. And …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Declined the suggestion.
▶ Watch at 1:27:45Read what they said
No. Worth a shot? That's it. Thank You. I mean, I love you, but No, No, and I, I appreciate the question actually.
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Described his own path to the Republican Party and said affiliation signals a basic political philosophy that would help voters understand local candidates.
▶ Watch at 1:28:30Read what they said
Theoretically we do that. I think because we feel aligned to that philosophy. At least that's what I do. Right? I, I've gone back and forth on this. Am I from when I was a very young man? Am I a, am I a Democrat? Probably not. I really didn't feel good about what I heard from Bill Clinton, right? Or am I, am I a Republican? I was kind of uncomfortable with George Senior sometimes I didn't really like it when he lied to us, all of us about, about the tax increase that made me uncomfortable. Um, and then I started, am I a libertarian? What is that? What does that look like? At the end of the …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Confirmed unaffiliated candidates can simply say so.
▶ Watch at 1:30:37Read what they said
Of course. Or Yeah, by all means, if you're not affiliated, just say that. That's fine. You'd probably be awesome. I don't know. Right. And every once in a while, depending on how far things gone, I'm probably voting for a full libertarian, like tear it down. But who knows? Right? But you get what I'm saying here, right? Like it's, it's helpful for me to at least have a starting point with that. I'm sorry guys. I'm a huge fan of Javier Malay, and sometimes I fantasize that that happens here.
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said many nonpartisan races are partisan in practice, with parties endorsing municipal candidates, and that disclosure makes this transparent.
▶ Watch at 1:31:58Read what they said
Yeah, I'm, I'm fully willing to go to partisan elections at this point. 'cause they're, in many cases they're partisan or non-partisan in name only. That's not what this bill does. This bill is literally just focusing on what disclosure looks like. Just saying upfront. Yeah, this is generally what I think. This is how I approach, you know, my political philosophy. Let's have the conversation. I remember my first race, and I'll, I'll answer it with this, in, uh, in 2008, um, it was a, it ended up being my opponent. We both ran against the same person. Um, and then once the primary was over, it was, he and I, we were in the same neighborhood and we'd …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Agreed qualifications matter most but said disclosure at filing does not put party on the ballot and could help voters who felt misled in recent local races.
▶ Watch at 1:36:21Read what they said
Yeah. As chair i, I, and you're a hundred percent right in that, in what the priority should be in a municipal election. Um, I guess suppose my argument in this case would be that simple disclosure at the time of filing, it doesn't put your party affiliation on the ballot at all. Right? It, and that doesn't put you into a caucus. It doesn't do any of those things, but it does, it does disclose your general political thought process, uh, for those who care about that. They, they able to would've looked that up. It does not put Republican or Democrat or constitutional, libertarian on the ballot doesn't do any of that stuff. And that absolutely should be, …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said affiliation could provide a starting point for voters to ask candidates such questions.
▶ Watch at 1:38:33Read what they said
Who knows? Who knows. They, they might. Um, but that's, that provides that opportunity. And that could be a flag for someone perhaps, right? Like if you knew that going ahead, like maybe that would be helpful to know. And you could ask that question like, Hey, you know, I'm, I kinda lean libertarian too, but I actually believe in the police force. So how do you feel about that? Right? But it should provide an, a starting place where we can begin to build dialogue.
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said it can be found but is not easy for most people.
▶ Watch at 1:39:57Read what they said
Um, I don't, I think you should be able to find it if you really wanted to, but I also don't think that it's easy for people to find that out.
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said an average voter would need to be a political enthusiast to find it.
▶ Watch at 1:40:07Read what they said
Easy do? You'd have to be kind of a nerd, like your average person, even your average like delegate or whatever that does, the things probably wouldn't be able to spit it out for you.
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said people affiliate for varied reasons tied to party platforms, and that he offers the bill as a transparency measure for small local bodies that affect residents' lives.
▶ Watch at 1:42:19Read what they said
Um, as you know, uh, representative, there's, you know, a variety of reasons why people, you know, affiliated at a given time. And to be super frank, even the last decade, uh, the Republican party has changed philosophies at different points, different things are highlighted under different leaders, all of that. Um, at its core, we have a platform with each of them. And if there's something that, you know, I'm really uncomfortable with in a platform, I don't think I could affiliate with that, right? Like that was a deal breaker. Now, I am also a super fan of, of, uh, well both, uh, Reagan and Lincoln, right? Like, you agree with you 80% of the time, you're not …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said he knows of no study but cited improved contact from his state school board member after those races became partisan.
▶ Watch at 1:46:24Read what they said
Yeah, that's a good question. Um, I don't, I don't know of other states that have done that. I know in many other states these are already partisan races. Like that's the norm in, in some of our municipal Australia big municipals. Um, there are, I I suppose my, my own experience here with the state school board is different. That's probably the most recent watching it here. Um, and I don't have, I didn't do a study, I'm just telling you even from past school board members that I literally never heard from, even while I was in elected office, to my experience under, since this changed with Joe Carey representing my area, I heard from Joe within a …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said yes, that candidates should not hide their basic political philosophy regardless of whether they are in the minority.
▶ Watch at 1:48:08Read what they said
Idea? If it doesn't, then I shouldn't be here representative. If I'm, if I'm wanting to hide something about how I feel about who I am and, and not, not disclose like the most basic of what I think and how I approach political philosophy or how I approach governing, then I shouldn't be here. And if my, I, if my move would change just because I needed to be in power or something like that, then I shouldn't be the candidate. That can't be the reason. So yeah, I, I'm not, I'm not running away from that at all. And, and I'm sure that it, you know, I've been, I lived in California for a while, so I know …
H.B. 558 Elections Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said voters have a right to know what they are voting for, disputed testimony against the bill, and said officials can still work together on problems with full disclosure.
▶ Watch at 2:16:06Read what they said
Thank you. Um, bottom line is voters have a right to know what they're voting for. We've heard a lot of, um, I mean this has been kind of funny honestly, guys. Like we're talking about a disclosure and at the same time some of the hyperbolic arguments that I've heard, um, about how this would destroy this or that. I, I just don't see it. I don't, I've, I've seen some testimony today from some of the most hyper-partisan organizations I've ever come across arguing against simple disclosure. I, I don't know how to deal with that one that appropriates my religion as an argument for doing that, as if that's somehow a, a moral good or an ethical …
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · Senate Business and Labor Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Presents HB 72, which responds to crypto ATM fraud and trafficking, by adding fraud warnings, lower daily transaction limits, and Division of Consumer Protection oversight, drafted with the Attorney General's office, the FBI, and partners.
▶ Watch at 2:18:38Read what they said
I should probably run more in the morning with Senator Musselman and then I wouldn't be in this position. So here we are. Um, this one, Hmm. This one comes out of a bill that we ran, uh, last year. And in some investigations that were done on the law enforcement side, wherein we, we discovered that there were a number of, uh, a number of, uh, illicit massage parlors that were trafficking in young women, primarily, primarily from Asia, um, where the finances were all running through, uh, crypto ATMs. Now, at the time, we dealt with some of the massage parlor issues. Uh, Senator Musselman and I ran, ran those together. Uh, but we weren't, we weren't aware …
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · Senate Business and Labor Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Asks which line of the bill the question refers to.
▶ Watch at 2:36:20Read what they said
Uh, I'm sorry, what line are you on? Just wanna make sure. Uh, it's just 5 35 through five 50. Okay.
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · Senate Business and Labor Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Says the training provision is permissive and that law enforcement has requested it.
▶ Watch at 2:36:29Read what they said
I mean, that's permissive. Like we're not, um, you know, nobody's gonna be arresting them for not sending their guy No, I get that. We're also Yeah. But this is something that they're asking for. This is not something that we're gonna have to talk him into. This is hidden everywhere. Okay. Yeah, that's, that's why they've act asked for that.
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · Senate Business and Labor Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Gives closing summary, saying the bill aims to get training done and help solve more cases, and describes a shift of cartel money to crypto.
▶ Watch at 2:37:22Read what they said
Representative Wilcox for summation. Thank you. I appreciate your time. And, um, allowing me to catch my breath here. Uh, this is one of the more important ones that we could do, but not because, um, it's gonna stop it. What I hope happens with this is that, that we get the training done. Um, we're able to, to communicate that a little bit better. And then when it happens, we're able to, to solve more of these cases. Time is of the essence in these, those warnings that we're requiring on here. Um, hopefully they will, they'll have that effect and we can start to get a handle on it. But we're not finding cashes of money anymore in …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Presented H.B. 42, which directs the cybersecurity commission to make rules setting basic cybersecurity standards for schools after student records were breached.
▶ Watch at 3:07:12Read what they said
Thank you, Senator. Uh, and Mr. Chair, I appreciate your time tonight, and I won't take a long time. Um, we've been working on this one for the last, uh, couple of years. This directs the cybersecurity commission, uh, to make rules that establish basic cybersecurity standards for our schools. Um, we've had a number of breaches over the last two years, um, totaling about half of all of our school children in the state of Utah that have, whose records have been breached. Um, these standards that we're recommending, and that we are hopeful that'll be adopted by the cybersecurity Commission in consultation with our schools. And the, and the cybersecurity center, UETN will, um, by their, by themselves …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Asked that the record reflect the importance of adding local education agency members, including a district and charter school representative, to the cybersecurity commission, and urged a favorable vote.
▶ Watch at 3:09:38Read what they said
Thank you. There is one important thing that I didn't mention in my, in my comments that I wanted, that I wanna make sure is on the record. Adding LEA membership to the cybersecurity commission is critical. Right now, there isn't any, and that has been a point of contention all along the way, but without the requirement that we have in this bill where we're adding a district representative and a charter school representative, we're gonna miss stuff. We're gonna miss that connection to the people who are actually charged with keeping our children's data safe. Who are the people that are the reason why we ran this in the first place, who raised their hand and said, we're …
H.R. 7 House Rules Modifications · House Rules Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Asked about the difference between the two versions, since the numbers did not match.
▶ Watch at 1:07:01Read what they said
I'd like to understand the difference between the two since I was looking at the other one and the numbers weren't matching.
H.R. 7 House Rules Modifications · House Rules Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Asked what the primary difference was between the two versions.
▶ Watch at 1:07:17Read what they said
You just, what was the primary difference between The two oh oh, the first sub? What's
H.R. 7 House Rules Modifications · House Rules Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Asked about the referenced line numbers and about the presiding officer's authority over the consent calendar.
▶ Watch at 1:07:27Read what they said
Okay. That's easy. And then on line 1 61. 1 62. Okay. It talks about reading from the speech and then it goes in down to line 1 73 as far as using a prop with permission for personal privilege. Okay. Okay. And then, okay, the consent calendar, right now, the presiding officer can't lift it on their own. Ooh, that's the one I missed. What line is that on? 1 33.
H.R. 7 House Rules Modifications · House Rules Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Said the answer addressed the question and the discussion could continue later.
▶ Watch at 1:08:41Read what they said
I mean, that one's in both of 'em, either the way, so yeah, we can talk about it after.
H.R. 7 House Rules Modifications · House Rules Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Moved to amend line 135 by striking the presiding officer option.
▶ Watch at 1:09:17Read what they said
Um, I'd like to move that we strike the one line 1 35, the presiding officer.
H.R. 7 House Rules Modifications · House Rules Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Argued against letting one person reassign consent calendar bills and restated the amendment to remove the presiding officer option.
▶ Watch at 1:09:29Read what they said
Just we're, we're handing it off to whoever happens to be running the dice at a given moment to it's one person where we've clearly had a committee that voted that to be there unanimously. I'd rather not do that, remove that from them that easily. Okay. So I'll, I'll restate the motion. The motion is to amend line 1 35 by striking a, the presiding officer or, and on line 1 36 B no, leave. Leave line 1 36. But, But we're removing B so it will read Oh, gotcha. Legislation that has been assigned to the consent calendar may be reassigned to the third reading calendar by the house by majority vote upon motion from the floor.
S.B. 192 Legislative Activities Amendments · House Rules Committee · Feb 25, 2026
Asks for the sponsor's opinion on the office space issues to be included in the record.
▶ Watch at 1:14:31Read what they said
Thank you. Can, can you please just tell us your opinion of the office space issues? We'd like to include that on The record.
S.B. 125 Theft Amendments · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Says the bill changes a code provision so that taking a UTA ride without paying by a person with a prior theft conviction is not automatically a felony, and that a misdemeanor is more appropriate for such cases.
▶ Watch at 18:58Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker ProAm representatives. This one adjusts a a piece of our code that maybe wasn't intended to be carried out this way. Um, essentially when someone has a conviction for a prior theft, and think of this in terms of, uh, what we see sometimes with our homeless population, um, right now, uh, if they take a ride without paying for it on one of our trains or on anything on UTA, that's automatically classified as a felony. The problem with that is we end up, uh, creating additional, uh, charges that are not necessary, uh, in order to actually help that person get the services they need, get rehabilitated. A misdemeanor is just fine in that …
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House floor debate (day 36) · Feb 25, 2026
Wilcox supported the bill, citing long delays in death penalty cases, the effects of repeated appeals on victims' families, and the need to bring the process closer to its intended purpose.
▶ Watch at 1:36:18Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker representatives. A few years ago we had the death penalty debate. We had a committee, I promise I didn't do it on purpose, but it was, the debate was held on Valentine's Day. That conversation led to a study of each of the cases that we have on death row right now. And as part of that, including some that just concluded, as was mentioned earlier, several of those cases have gone on so long that in the most recent highlight, low light, they're now dying of natural causes waiting for justice at each step along the way. The families aren't just waiting for justice. They're re-traumatized by being forced to relive it with every appeal, …
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Wilcox asked the medical examiner to clarify the number of deaths attributed to kratom alone.
▶ Watch at 2:03:58Read what they said
Thank you. My, my question is for the medical examiner, um, Megan, I didn't catch your last name. I apologize. Thank you. Can you, uh, clarify some of that information you shared with us, uh, earlier you said we have a number of, of deaths that we can attribute to Crate 'em alone,
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Wilcox asked for the total number of kratom-involved deaths, such as for 2025.
▶ Watch at 2:04:50Read what they said
Um, okay. So make sure I understand. So 9% of all, of all deaths that involve Kratom or CRE alone, what is that out of? Can you gimme a number? Like what does 2025 look like?
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Wilcox confirmed these were deaths the office confirmed involved kratom and thanked her.
▶ Watch at 2:05:07Read what they said
Have involved Kratom confirmed Correct. That your office has been able to prove. Correct. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm.
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Asked the witness Ryan to describe his company's product testing process.
▶ Watch at 2:16:37Read what they said
Thank you. Um, appreciate that. Uh, that was your name, Ryan as well. Okay. Yes. Uh, can you tell me, I got a couple questions actually, Mr. Chair. Um, first one though, just you just tell us a little bit about your testing, what kind of a testing process you're going through.
S.B. 45 Kratom Adjustments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Asked who the third-party testers are and whether testing focuses on products made in Utah.
▶ Watch at 2:18:33Read what they said
So the testing primarily is focused on, um, really what you're producing, I guess, here in Utah? That's correct. Where your Draper at. Okay. So it's, it's focused on that, but then it's also included, you said third party testing. Can you tell me a little bit about what that is? Who, who's the third party?
H.B. 221 Coercion Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Presents HB 221 second substitute, which creates new sextortion and aiding-suicide offenses to address online crimes against children, with penalties, no time limit, and registry requirements.
▶ Watch at 3:06:22Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good to be here with you. Um, Utah's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Our ICAC task force has received 1,264 sextortion tips in 2024 and through September of 25, they had had 2,288. So an 81% increase year over year nationally. The FBI tells us that our sextortion victims had lost over 65 million since 2021. I'm told that's now up to over 80 million. And that's, uh, that's just the stuff that we, we know about Utah. Teens are dying as a result of sextortion. That's not hyperbole. Um, this is happening, um, unfortunately on a fairly regular recurring basis. Um, the FBI issued a public service announcement about violent online networks, and they …
H.B. 221 Coercion Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Says the four-occurrence threshold came from the Attorney General's office, is not opposed to dropping it, and is open to an amendment.
▶ Watch at 3:09:40Read what they said
You know, I, well, that came from, uh, the ags office, but I am, I can defer to them if they have a specific One sufficient for me. One, yeah, I understand that. And I'm not opposed to that amendment. If you'd like to drop it down. I think, uh, what they were targeting, if I understood it right, was a pattern of behavior. And that I understand that that's an easy prosecution Pattern of behavior, talking people into committing suicide. Yeah, that's, If you'd like to make an amendment, I'm cool with that. Or we can do that on the floor or whatever you'd like. Mr. Chair. Uh, let me think on it. Well, let's go to the B.
H.B. 353 Higher Education Credit Transfer Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Presented HB 353 on higher education credit transfer, saying it aims to keep students in Utah to finish degrees and to reduce duplication of resources.
▶ Watch at 1:32:41Read what they said
The regional experts out of the state of Idaho who has expertise in this. Um, we hired 'em away, um, with the intent of, of providing our students with not just the information, but, uh, the incentive to finish. We, wherever they are, wherever their education journey is, we want 'em to finish here and we want them to, to grow here and, and begin their careers. And hopefully we can get 'em to stay here if we can fix the housing stuff. But, uh, anyway, that's, that's the substance of the bill. I'm happy to answer any questions. Um, you know, we're trying to address duplication and a few other things so that we're not just wasting resources.
H.B. 353 Higher Education Credit Transfer Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 24, 2026
Thanked the committee for the motion and for their patience.
▶ Watch at 1:34:00Read what they said
Thank you. I, I appreciate that motion and, and your patience this morning. Thank you.
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Presents H.B. 559, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments, noting it was heard in the Health and Human Services committee with a vote of 9-0-5.
▶ Watch at 57:09Read what they said
Bill 5 59, pregnancy and infant loss amendments by Representative Wilcox. This bill was heard in Health and Human Services with the vote of 9 0 5 Representative Wilcox.
H.B. 402 EMS Controlled Substance Licensing Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Says the bill lets EMS providers dispense emergency medication under a limited license without delaying for prescriptions, and protects them from federal prosecution when they save lives; offers to answer questions.
▶ Watch at 59:24Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, this bill, uh, representatives allows our, uh, EMS providers to be, uh, to function in emergency scenarios as we've always intended, that they have, um, with a limited license to dispense emergency medication, um, without having to delay for, uh, different prescriptions and all of that. It's mostly an issue that we've had to make sure that, uh, they don't get prosecuted by the feds when they save your life with emergency medication. Happy to answer any questions.
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Explains that the first substitute makes the training optional rather than required and allows the training to count toward continuing education for several medical providers.
▶ Watch at 1:12:40Read what they said
which I speak to 'em. Be happy to representatives. There's two functional changes with the first substitute. One is that it makes it more permissive rather than required as far as the training goes. And the second one is that it, um, adds a carrot as well. It, uh, allows this training to be, um, used for continuing education pur purposes for certification for several different medical providers.
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Explains that the first substitute makes the training permissive rather than required and lets the training count toward continuing education for several medical providers.
▶ Watch at 1:12:41Read what they said
Be happy to representatives. There's two functional changes with the first substitute. One is that it makes it more permissive rather than required as far as the training goes. And the second one is that it, um, adds a carrot as well. It, uh, allows this training to be, um, used for continuing education pur purposes for certification for several different medical providers.
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Describes the bill, which establishes October as pregnancy and infant loss awareness month and creates a training protocol and standard of care for medical providers, and shares personal reasons for sponsoring it.
▶ Watch at 1:13:37Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker Representative is, uh, one of the harder things as a parent, uh, for a lot of parents is when they aren't able to become a parent. And that can happen because, you know, for several reasons. But this bill is about those who were on their way and for whatever reason, lost, lost. That little baby didn't quite make it here, although it applies to, uh, the parents of children up to three years old. When we lose, we lose a child. Families is experiencing pregnancy and infant loss face a burden that oftentimes is unseen and is rather painful for them to go through. Um, this bill does a few things. One, it establishes October …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Presents the bill as establishing an October pregnancy and infant loss awareness month and a training protocol and standard of care for medical providers, and shares his family's experience of loss.
▶ Watch at 1:13:37Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker Representative is, uh, one of the harder things as a parent, uh, for a lot of parents is when they aren't able to become a parent. And that can happen because, you know, for several reasons. But this bill is about those who were on their way and for whatever reason, lost, lost. That little baby didn't quite make it here, although it applies to, uh, the parents of children up to three years old. When we lose, we lose a child. Families is experiencing pregnancy and infant loss face a burden that oftentimes is unseen and is rather painful for them to go through. Um, this bill does a few things. One, it establishes October …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Says he was not aware of the agreement described, is open to input, and speaks against the amendment for now.
▶ Watch at 1:18:48Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I'm not familiar with the gentleman's agreement that I apparently am a party to. I, uh, I don't know what to say to that. I would've loved to have had a gentleman's conversation prior to this coming up on the floor. Perhaps after I circled it a few moments ago, that would've been much easier. That said, um, you know, I'm, I'm not, this is not scripture. I'm open to input. Um, I think at this point in the session, I'd rather move it forward, uh, speaking against the motion, and perhaps we can have another gentleman's conversation about what should be done in the future. Thank you, Representative Wilcox.
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Says he was not aware of the agreement described, is open to input, and speaks against the amendment so the bill can move forward.
▶ Watch at 1:18:48Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I'm not familiar with the gentleman's agreement that I apparently am a party to. I, uh, I don't know what to say to that. I would've loved to have had a gentleman's conversation prior to this coming up on the floor. Perhaps after I circled it a few moments ago, that would've been much easier. That said, um, you know, I'm, I'm not, this is not scripture. I'm open to input. Um, I think at this point in the session, I'd rather move it forward, uh, speaking against the motion, and perhaps we can have another gentleman's conversation about what should be done in the future. Thank you, Representative Wilcox.
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Urges support for the bill, saying it creates training and a standard of care so that families who experience pregnancy or infant loss are treated with care.
▶ Watch at 1:23:21Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suppose we can go down to the governor's office and ask him for permission to recognize this, but I would like to point out some, the more important part of this. The only point of having the pregnancy and infant loss awareness month is to have those, again, an excuse really to have those hard conversations. Bottom line is, uh, those of us that have been affected by this, and certainly the, the young mothers who we heard from in committee, they're not looking for anything really big from us. Just an acknowledgement. There's a significant amount of pain that exists when your baby is discarded or not treated as fully there. And that doesn't …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House floor debate (day 35) · Feb 24, 2026
Closes on the amended bill, saying the awareness month is meant to open hard conversations and the training and standard of care aim to prevent mistakes with families who experience loss, and asks for support.
▶ Watch at 1:23:21Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suppose we can go down to the governor's office and ask him for permission to recognize this, but I would like to point out some, the more important part of this. The only point of having the pregnancy and infant loss awareness month is to have those, again, an excuse really to have those hard conversations. Bottom line is, uh, those of us that have been affected by this, and certainly the, the young mothers who we heard from in committee, they're not looking for anything really big from us. Just an acknowledgement. There's a significant amount of pain that exists when your baby is discarded or not treated as fully there. And that doesn't …
H.B. 338 First Responder Health Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Sponsor presented HB 338, which would create a program for small first responder programs in rural Utah to access the DPS network for $25, funded by moving existing grant money and noting the bill continues prior grant programs.
▶ Watch at 52:57Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Appreciate, uh, flexibility here. Um, we've got, uh, I mean, I'll just tell you, we just lost another one on Friday. We just brought in our family members of, uh, first responders and, uh, warriors that we lost, uh, this last, these last two Fridays while we were on the house floor, uh, we lost another chief, another fire chief in Davis County. Um, during the session last year, we lost sheriff deputy, uh, just outside of his break area while he was at work. Um, we had at least two others, my county sheriff's office and then, uh, two more. Um, so we're not there yet. We're not done. We're not, we're, we're not, …
H.B. 338 First Responder Health Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 23, 2026
Sponsor said first responder mental health work remains, described recent losses in the field, and reported positive feedback from first responders who received therapy.
▶ Watch at 56:37Read what they said
I, yeah, I appreciate it. You know, any other brilliant ideas? Please throw 'em out there. Um, you know, there's a lot of the programs are doing well, and we have changed the culture in a lot of departments. Um, we still have work to do and, you know, I'm hope, I'm hopeful that we can see this, turn the corner and, and make a bigger difference than what it's made so far. But I don't want to seem all doom and gloo wanna come back to you. It like that just happened while we were on the floor on Friday. And, uh, that we started getting those messages. And, uh, you know, there's no way around it. That's, that's …
H.C.R. 12 Concurrent Resolution Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Presents HCR 12, which asks legislators to spend personal time in schools this spring and during constitutional week to engage with education partners on the 250th anniversary, and asks for support.
▶ Watch at 18:35Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro tem representatives. This one, uh, is what it states in the title. It also though calls on us to do something a little different than what we've done in the past. Um, It's Going to ask us to spend a little personal time in the schools specifically, uh, this spring as we head into the anniversary, as well as, uh, during constitutional week. Now, of course, nobody's going to be policing to make sure you visit your schools, but it is an invitation for us that we, uh, engage directly, um, with our, uh, education partners as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And reminder that, that, uh, …
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Asks what percentage of children have ADHD or IEPs.
▶ Watch at 49:03Read what they said
Do we know, uh, what the percentage of our, our children are who, who are diagnosed with A DHD or on IEPs?
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says children need more physical play and less screen time, asks for more flexibility on recess, and urges support for the bill while offering to help on committee changes.
▶ Watch at 49:03Read what they said
Do we know, uh, what the percentage of our, our children are who, who are diagnosed with A DHD or on IEPs? I don't have that information off the top of my head right now. I've heard estimates, uh, Mr. Speaker Pro Tam, from everything from, uh, 30% to 60%. I don't know what the real number is, but I know, um, again, what what my spouse deals with in her classroom. And I think, uh, I think we're underestimating the damage that we've done as we've kind of pulled back on recess, we've pulled back on real play for especially early childhood small children who frankly need more play time and less structured computer time. We have seen the …
H.B. 440 School Lunch Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says estimates vary widely, argues for more physical activity and less screen time in early grades, and urges support for the bill and willingness to work with the sponsor on committee changes.
▶ Watch at 49:14Read what they said
I've heard estimates, uh, Mr. Speaker Pro Tam, from everything from, uh, 30% to 60%. I don't know what the real number is, but I know, um, again, what what my spouse deals with in her classroom. And I think, uh, I think we're underestimating the damage that we've done as we've kind of pulled back on recess, we've pulled back on real play for especially early childhood small children who frankly need more play time and less structured computer time. We have seen the studies recently, we've talked about here on the floor with, uh, you know, screen time, uh, no more than two hours a week. Sometimes they're saying is until it comes damaging, but we've incorporated that …
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Moves to uncircle the bill and says the changes discussed earlier will not be made.
▶ Watch at 1:24:20Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to uncer HB 4 54. That motion is nor would like to speak to it. Yeah, uh, we're actually not making the changes that we talked about earlier when we circled it.
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says the bill makes it a criminal offense to knowingly commit public benefits fraud or to knowingly induce or help someone else commit it, and that it goes further than many other legal standards.
▶ Watch at 1:24:45Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I appreciate, uh, bringing it back. Uh, this one really is pretty simple. If you're committing, uh, public benefits fraud, you should not be doing that. That's a criminal offense. And we're making, we're making sure it sounds funny, but, uh, yeah, it really is a thing. So it turns out, if you knowingly, and this is the important part of this, and I just hung up with the attorney to make sure that we were, uh, clear in this. If you are knowingly committing or inducing someone else, helping someone else commit fraud, then that's a problem for us. So you can't knowingly do that. Um, that's covers, it goes further than many of …
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Says yes, a co-actor or conspirator who directs the fraud would face the same penalties as the person who committed it.
▶ Watch at 1:26:16Read what they said
Yes, I believe so. They would, they would basically be treated and subject to the same penalties as if they had committed the fraud themselves, if they directed the fraud, uh, to take place.
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Gives closing remarks saying people should not commit fraud or help others commit it.
▶ Watch at 1:26:43Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems like sometimes with these bills, we are surprised that we have to run them, uh, until we come across the cases that require us to run them. So we, uh, shouldn't commit fraud, nor should we allow or facilitate others committing of the fraud. Thank you.
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House floor debate (day 34) · Feb 23, 2026
Moves to circle the bill and says the sponsor is still working on some changes.
▶ Watch at 1:27:51Read what they said
Motion to circle. Motion is to circle. We'd like to speak to it. Uh, yeah, we're working on, uh, a few changes.
H.B. 59 Identification Verification Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Asks about varying quality among the fake IDs and whether a foreign license in the box is fake or simply not accepted.
▶ Watch at 44:01Read what they said
Mean, this is fun. All right. I gotta admit it. It has, the box hasn't made its way past me. Um, but one of the, one of the questions that I have about this is, as I'm, as I'm looking through these, there's varying levels of quality Yes, right. That you would expect. Um, but there's also one here, um, from La Republic. Do, Yes. So foreign one. Mm-hmm. Is this fake or we just don't accept foreign licenses?
H.B. 59 Identification Verification Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Asks whether the scanning software would capture the foreign license.
▶ Watch at 44:56Read what they said
I'm just wondering like if the, I mean, we don't know that its specifics, but does our software, does this solution Capture it?
H.B. 59 Identification Verification Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Asks about the software's use of Real ID components and confirms the explanation. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 45:07Read what they said
Okay. So, and, and the software that they're now using, uh, imp uh, utilizes the components of the real ID act. Right. To make sure that, you know, the ID appears to be to the best of their knowledge, uh, legitimate. And that's Why I did it in airports and all the other things. Correct? Yeah. Alright. Thank you. Thank you.
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Sponsor presents the substitute bill, which lets members of the public submit substantive review requests to the Office of Professional Licensure Review with copies to legislators, and removes the fiscal note.
▶ Watch at 58:28Read what they said
Go ahead. All right, thank you. Um, I direct everybody to your, uh, if you haven't noticed the email thing that came in with the substitute, that's the one that we're gonna be speaking to. So we need, we do need to adopt that. Um, we've paired this back quite a bit, um, as we all know what budget year we're in. So what this functionally does right now, uh, we're temp Yeah. Should be a first sub. That should be on all your, all your things. It was there when I, when I checked. So, um, basically what we're trying to do is we're trying to e extend, uh, the privilege that we have as legislators to raise the, …
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Says the substitute replaces an earlier version that allowed a private right of action and addresses concerns raised about it.
▶ Watch at 1:27:41Read what they said
Yeah, please. That's what we've been speaking to this morning. Um, the other one allowed a private right of action and there were a lot of concerns about different parts of it. So we've been working hard to come to a place where, um, we felt like we were moving the ball and that's that, that's what we've been discussing this morning.
H.B. 433 Professional Licensing Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Feb 20, 2026
Responds to the medical association's concerns, says the bill only adds a notification and a response with no tight deadlines, and says the office can manage capacity within existing resources.
▶ Watch at 1:28:41Read what they said
Yeah. Uh, thank you. I appreciate the motion. Um, I, I don't want to respond to everything that I just heard from, from the medical association, um, but to say that this makes it a hyper political organ move right now, I just, I just reject that flatly. That's absurd. Um, this is really just raising the hand, um, and allowing, uh, our constituents to raise that, that flag in a little bit more of a prominent manner. And it also incorporates our work from, you know, our responsibility to represent them just by notification. This is not a onerous thing. It's, you're talking about an email that you'd get and, and hopefully we do a good job of representing …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Says HJR 23 would add a rule requiring the House to state a bill's purpose, identify metrics to measure it, review results later, and make recommendations based on that information.
▶ Watch at 56:59Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker representatives, uh, at its core, good governance demands that we treat policy making not as a one-time event, which is generally what we do, but as a, a commitment to continuous improvement over time. We just went through A-A-D-U-I discussion with, you know, people that are driving off without going through that. Whatever policy changes we just made, we need to be able to understand if that made a difference or not. HJR 23 is an effort to help us to identify our stated purpose for legislation upfront, what that is, and then identify appropriate metrics so we can measure that in the future. So, for example, DUI, if I'm trying to do that, I would …
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks to yield for a question to the sponsor.
▶ Watch at 1:33:21Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the sponsor yield to a question? Representative Stoddard, will you yield?
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks the sponsor to yield to a question.
▶ Watch at 1:33:21Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the sponsor yield to a question? Representative Stoddard, will you yield?
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks how a midterm vacancy in an election year would be handled, referring to a recent code update.
▶ Watch at 1:33:27Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, I'd really just like to understand, and, and I I think I've got, uh, what you're going for, but, um, in an interim scenario we just went through a few years ago where we had a member of our body that joined the executive branch and we had to update our code for midterm replacements. So in an interim scenario, say in an election year, if we were to have, uh, somebody resign with this mean that that district would be without representation between say, you know, April and November.
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks how an interim vacancy during an election year would affect representation for that district, referring to a past midterm replacement situation.
▶ Watch at 1:33:27Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, I'd really just like to understand, and, and I I think I've got, uh, what you're going for, but, um, in an interim scenario we just went through a few years ago where we had a member of our body that joined the executive branch and we had to update our code for midterm replacements. So in an interim scenario, say in an election year, if we were to have, uh, somebody resign with this mean that that district would be without representation between say, you know, April and November.
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks to follow up with another question.
▶ Watch at 1:34:30Read what they said
Okay. And then if I could follow another question, Mr. Speaker, Representative Star will yield to a series of questions.
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks whether a candidate who resigns after being elected but before taking office can still be replaced by the party, and whether the bill applies to other elections.
▶ Watch at 1:34:39Read what they said
Thank you for not rejecting that opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Um, so the, the follow up question really is, uh, in this scenario where somebody, um, somebody were to resign that say is on the ballot, but is it has not, uh, you know, taken office kind of situation yet where we passed that law here a few years ago, um, can they be replaced still by that party? And would this, this second one, I'll just let you answer at the same time. Does this apply across all elections, whether they're municipal or school board or anything else?
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Asks whether a candidate who has resigned before taking office could still be replaced by that party, and whether the bill applies to municipal and school board elections.
▶ Watch at 1:34:39Read what they said
Thank you for not rejecting that opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Um, so the, the follow up question really is, uh, in this scenario where somebody, um, somebody were to resign that say is on the ballot, but is it has not, uh, you know, taken office kind of situation yet where we passed that law here a few years ago, um, can they be replaced still by that party? And would this, this second one, I'll just let you answer at the same time. Does this apply across all elections, whether they're municipal or school board or anything else?
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Says he remains opposed but would prefer that replacements return to the party group that nominated the person.
▶ Watch at 1:35:43Read what they said
Thank you. I I appreciate that answer. I, I think I'm still opposed to the bill. Um, but, uh, I appreciate, I appreciate that the thought that's gone into the substitute. Uh, generally speaking, um, as long as we fix the issue that those, you know, who have, who have nominated that person through their party system or otherwise have had a chance to weigh in for that replacement, I think that's where it should go back to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
H.B. 443 Amendments to Procedure to Fill A Legislative Vacancy · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Says he remains opposed but appreciates the substitute, and that the party nominating process should have a role in the replacement.
▶ Watch at 1:35:43Read what they said
Thank you. I I appreciate that answer. I, I think I'm still opposed to the bill. Um, but, uh, I appreciate, I appreciate that the thought that's gone into the substitute. Uh, generally speaking, um, as long as we fix the issue that those, you know, who have, who have nominated that person through their party system or otherwise have had a chance to weigh in for that replacement, I think that's where it should go back to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
H.B. 445 County Government Land Purchasing · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Wilcox asked to ask the sponsor of the amendment a question.
▶ Watch at 2:24:28Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, well, the sponsor of the amendment yield to a question.
H.B. 445 County Government Land Purchasing · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Wilcox asked why the amendment uses three years rather than one or two.
▶ Watch at 2:24:38Read what they said
Thank you. Uh, I'm curious about the, the three years. I would think one year would be plenty of time to do that. Is is there anything about three years or we could have done two or is there a particular reason why we're at three?
H.B. 445 County Government Land Purchasing · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Wilcox said he understands the reasoning but thinks three years is long.
▶ Watch at 2:25:39Read what they said
I under, I understand that. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Speaker. I, I wish that were shorter. Three years seems like quite a bit of time, but I do understand the change of the law and giving him a little bit of a runway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
H.B. 445 County Government Land Purchasing · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Wilcox asked whether the sponsor knows of for-profit entities owned by one county in another county.
▶ Watch at 2:30:06Read what they said
Representative Wilcox Or a series of questions, let me amend that series Of questions. Mm-hmm. Yes, Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, just to make sure we understand, are you aware of any for-profit entities? Uh, owned by one county and another county?
H.B. 445 County Government Land Purchasing · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Wilcox asked what purposes would lead a county to seek land in another county.
▶ Watch at 2:30:48Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And can you just tell us for what purpose, um, most of the time or, uh, that you might be aware of, would a county seek to control land in another county?
H.B. 445 County Government Land Purchasing · House floor debate (day 31) · Feb 20, 2026
Wilcox said he will support the bill but wants to consider prohibiting one county from buying land in another without a vote of the other county's residents.
▶ Watch at 2:31:29Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that that makes the point that I'm mostly concerned about. So we're taking, we're allowing our political subdivisions to purchase, uh, land in another political subdivision, not just for the purpose of, you know, using it to provide, actually the, the gravel pit makes more sense to me in the, in the prior exam, prior example. Um, what this one is doing is allowing one county that is flush with cash to go into another county without a vote of the people to control the land in that county. They're taking otherwise productive land and tax revenue and everything else, and then turning it into nothing for political, whatever, without a vote of the …
H.C.R. 12 Concurrent Resolution Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence · House Public Utilities and Energy Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Presents HCR 12, saying it asks legislators to engage schools in recognizing the 250th anniversary, timed around Constitution Week in September.
▶ Watch at 26:05Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, appreciate your time today. Um, we've been going back and forth with, uh, some changes perhaps, so if you have any suggestions you'd like to see, please let us know. Um, but, uh, I'm happy to be here with you. Um, we passed this, um, outta the house, uh, last year. Didn't make its way all the way through the Senate. Um, the operative part of this one is more than just the year that we're in. We were trying to get ahead of it a little bit, uh, when we did this last year on the school year. But instead, those timelines have been adjusted, um, for what it's asking us to do. And …
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked how competency would be addressed for current cases under the proposal.
▶ Watch at 1:21:41Read what they said
Uh, one last question here, and, you know, thinking about how this would affect current cases, how, how would you anticipate competency being addressed in as it applies to current cases under this proposal?
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked whether she believes the bill violates Hall v. Florida.
▶ Watch at 1:41:30Read what they said
Okay. So is it your understanding then that we're violating hall and the bright line unconstitutionality requirement?
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked whether Hall also requires the deficits to be present as a minor.
▶ Watch at 1:42:09Read what they said
Didn't, if you didn't, hall, didn't hall also require that both of those were present as a minor? Both the other tests,
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Said the disability would have to be present and documented in childhood well before trial.
▶ Watch at 1:42:23Read what they said
Have to have already presented most of these cases. Well before we got to the point where we're even talking trial. The disability has to have been present, right? In childhood documented.
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked how the test applies if it was never diagnosed as a minor.
▶ Watch at 1:42:49Read what they said
How would you even apply that test then if it never were, was diagnosed as
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Asked whether he believes the bill violates the Hall test.
▶ Watch at 1:49:19Read what they said
Thank you. Andrew, is it your understanding that, that this would be a violation of the, the test that came out of Hall,
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Noted time had expired and asked whether passing the bill would compromise existing death row cases.
▶ Watch at 1:52:13Read what they said
That one. I'm sorry. Can you hear that sound? Yes. That means we're out of time. But, uh, I do have a question for you. Um, you, we've cited these cases and I've heard the arguments today, um, these cases from the eighties. Um, and I, there's, I don't think it's possible to re-litigate whether they're attorneys did a good job or not. Um, since, you know, we talked about the implementation of rural aid. Um, do you believe that this, that this move compromises the existing cases?
H.B. 495 Capital Felony Case Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Restated the question about effects on existing death row cases.
▶ Watch at 1:52:54Read what they said
Sorry. If we were to pass this bill, does that compromise anything that's already happened in the existing death row cases?
H.B. 402 EMS Controlled Substance Licensing Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 19, 2026
Introduces the bill, which would create a controlled substance license for emergency medical services agencies, and says it aims to avoid treatment delays and unnecessary costs and to reduce waste.
▶ Watch at 2:17:31Read what they said
you. Uh, here with me, um, on the spot. I know. There you go. It's a long session, but, uh, I appreciate him being here with me. Um, what we're doing today is we're attempting to, uh, create a controlled substance license for an emergency medical services agency. Um, this is, uh, the structure around it with Doppel, uh, the administration. Uh, but the primary issue is making sure that, um, we're not, you know, putting unnecessary delays in treatment and process. We're not costing, uh, money where we don't need to. Uh, we're eliminating some waste and we're, uh, making sure that we can administer what we need to in a timely manner. I'll let him summarize if you'd …
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Comments on the committee's 9-1-1 vote and explains that the bill grew out of concerns about cryptocurrency machines found in trafficking operations and scams that targeted elderly Utahns.
▶ Watch at 22:39Read what they said
Well, that was kind of fun. It wasn't an emergency, but it was a 9 1 1 vote. Thank you Mr. Uh, speaker Pro tem. The issue that, see, I got a dad joke out on the floor. I had to take the chance. Uh, this issue though isn't actually very funny. Um, we found these, uh, cryptocurrency machines in a number of places in the last few years. Um, this came to me because the organized crime subcommittee took testimony from the AJ's office and federal law enforcement that we had found the cryptocurrency machines in the illicit massage parlors that were trafficking young women, uh, from Asia. And that's where it kind of started with us. We started, …
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Describes the bill's provisions: crypto investigation training for law enforcement, agency reporting to CCJJ, fraud warnings, daily transaction limits that lift after a few days, Division of Consumer Protection enforcement authority with fines and civil actions, and a required customer service line.
▶ Watch at 23:36Read what they said
Thank you. Um, anyway, uh, we found, we found that the traffickers and the cartels were specifically using these particular machines to funnel the, the funds involved in that activity and realize there needed to be some, uh, guardrails put around them. Um, at the same time, uh, our senate sponsor, uh, Senator Brammer down south, um, was dealing with, uh, some elderly folks who had been not just ripped off, but, uh, we had testimony here, uh, in the house of a, of a woman from a woman that, uh, had been scammed out of $850,000 in one of these. Uh, many of the stories from law enforcement included, uh, elderly folks in Utah who had been guided to …
S.B. 19 Digital Evidence Amendments · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Explains that the substitute removes the fiscal note and requires local agencies to perform mobile phone forensics themselves or partner with a regional entity, while high-priority and major cases stay with the RCFL, which also offers training and equipment access.
▶ Watch at 33:24Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, our CFL, the Rocky Mountain, uh, computer Forensic Laboratory, uh, is operated by the FBI but is also supported by and participated, uh, in by every law enforcement agency in the state. This is the agency that is tasked with, uh, studying and going through the digital evidence, um, that, uh, we'd find as we come across criminal cases that's only increasing. We've talked about the cryptocurrency issues. We've talked about, uh, some of the child pornography issues and, and a number of the other terrible, uh, things that have entered the digital space. Uh, this is the agency that we turn to, uh, to make those things happen. Uh, the substitute that you see …
S.B. 51 School Safety Modifications · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Explains that the bill gives the state school board a tool to help districts coordinate flagging students with violent or threatening histories when they transfer schools, citing examples from West High School and an elementary school bullying case, and offers to answer questions.
▶ Watch at 36:55Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, this one is, uh, essentially a flag bill, not that kind of flag bill. When I mentioned that this morning, it brought some trauma out and one of our colleagues, it didn't mean to do that. It's not that. Um, this is the kind of flag when we have a particularly, uh, uh, violent student or someone that, uh, has threatened violence when they're transferring schools. The kind of flag that you raise the hand and say, Hey, when we transfer this one, make sure you look at that record. Let's make sure that we have that process in place so that we're not, uh, transferring a problem. We, I was reminded by one of …
H.B. 221 Coercion Amendments · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Presents the bill, which makes aiding and encouraging suicide through coercion a new second-degree felony with mandatory fines, citing rising sextortion tips and the financial motive behind these cases.
▶ Watch at 43:54Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Pro TEM representatives Utah's, uh, internet crimes against children. Task force ICAC received 1,264 sextortion tips in 2004. As of September, 2025, they had received 2,288, an 81% increase year over year. Uh, extortion is an issue that we've tried to address in the past. One of the sad, uh, realities, and it's not unrelated to the bill that we just, uh, passed, um, oftentimes it's, it is just a financial motive. We had, uh, four, uh, families that had come and talked to us and testified last year, um, whose young sons had had been compromised in extortion cases. They'd lost their money and they ended up taking their own lives as a result, um, …
H.B. 220 Public Safety Data Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Explains that the bill updates public safety data reporting by centralizing required reports with CCJJ, expands the statewide public safety portal to more data sets, clarifies public access limits, and makes technical changes.
▶ Watch at 1:07:49Read what they said
So this bill was, uh, well first off, for the past couple years we've been working on getting, uh, unified data in the criminal justice space to help us inform, to help inform the legislature and policy makers on criminal justice, uh, decisions and, and where, where to best place our resources. So we created the public safety data, uh, database and we are just building upon that. This was recommended by law enforcement and criminal justice inter the Interim committee. It updates how public safety data is reported and centralized by shifting multiple required reports to CCJJ for inclusion in the statewide public safety portal. Uh, so in addition to centralizing the reporting, it strengthens CCJJ oversight by formalizing …
H.B. 259 Parental Access to Children's Medical Records Amendments · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Supports the bill, sharing that he lacked access to his 13-year-old daughter's records during an emergency visit and saying parents should have access to their children's records.
▶ Watch at 1:12:10Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. Um, I've gone through that experience myself, uh, with my own 13-year-old daughter in the last year. And we found out, I think we, I don't, I'm not sure we noticed that we didn't have access to our own daughter's medical record until we ended up at the emergency department over the holiday when I ended up at the emergency department. Then as a father with my 13-year-old who needed care immediately, I was hyper aware that I did not have access to my own child's record who was in an emergency. That's not okay. So however this happens, whatever the provider is, parents, we need to have access …
H.B. 259 Parental Access to Children's Medical Records Amendments · House floor debate (day 30) · Feb 19, 2026
Supports the bill, sharing that he lacked access to his 13-year-old daughter's medical record during an emergency visit and that parents should have access to their children's records.
▶ Watch at 1:12:10Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. Um, I've gone through that experience myself, uh, with my own 13-year-old daughter in the last year. And we found out, I think we, I don't, I'm not sure we noticed that we didn't have access to our own daughter's medical record until we ended up at the emergency department over the holiday when I ended up at the emergency department. Then as a father with my 13-year-old who needed care immediately, I was hyper aware that I did not have access to my own child's record who was in an emergency. That's not okay. So however this happens, whatever the provider is, parents, we need to have access …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House Health and Human Services Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Presents H.B. 559, describes his family's pregnancy and infant loss experience, and says the bill sets statewide training standards for providers and designates October as awareness month.
▶ Watch at 1:04:57Read what they said
5 59. Thank you committee. Appreciate your time today. Um, this one, uh, this is kind of fun, but, um, in a, I wish I didn't have to talk about this kind of way, but families experience all sorts of things when they go through, uh, the attempt to, to have a child, um, to be, my iPad thinks I'm asking it a question. It's a little creepy, but, uh, no, I'm not. Um, from a personal standpoint, we went through this, uh, in the early two thousands. We were married in 99, and we had, we had three, uh, we lost three babies before we finally found the right provider and were able to, uh, to keep a pregnancy. …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House Health and Human Services Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Responds that the sponsor is working with the medical and hospital associations on the requirements, is open to adjustments, and recognizes the training burden on providers.
▶ Watch at 1:12:54Read what they said
I can answer some of that, if that's the Question. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, representative. Um, sure. Yeah, go ahead. Oh, Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah. So to be frank with you, we're didn't expect, I told you this last night, um, we didn't expect this to be released so quick. Um, but because of that, um, we've been having a lot of conversations today. Uh, we're working actively with the medical association, with the hospital association on what that should look like. We're not necessarily married to the specific requirements or language outside of the spirit of the bill that we're going for. Um, but we're happy to, you know, we'll make adjustments along the way. Um, I think …
H.B. 559 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Amendments · House Health and Human Services Committee · Feb 18, 2026
Thanks the committee, says many people know someone affected by pregnancy and infant loss, and says there is room for improvement in care.
▶ Watch at 1:30:08Read what they said
You made me think about the little mots. Oh. Um, I appreciate the comments that have been made by the committee. Um, I think what Hailey said at the beginning, you know, at one point she asked me, should I have 'em raise their hands? You know, who knows somebody that's been through this? I'm like, no, I might bump up against our demonstration rules. Like, I don't wanna do that, but just mention it. 'cause I promise you, all of us know somebody. Like, if it's not us, it's our sister or our brother or our mom that's been through this. And, um, yeah, we, we, we do a good job and we're way better than when we were, …
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · Senate floor debate (day 29) · Feb 18, 2026
Presents HB 24, which reclassifies several minor traffic offenses as infractions, raises penalties for failing to provide proof of insurance, and explains how court fines for that violation could be reduced or dismissed.
▶ Watch at 58:47Read what they said
Um, it adjusts the classification for several traffic related offenses, generally downgrading minor moving violations, uh, to infractions while increasing penalties for failing to provide proof of insurance. Um, for just a couple examples. School zones, those are being downgraded from misdemeanors to infractions. Uh, careless driving downgraded. And uh, but as it pertains to the insurance in kind of our, our modern world, most of us now can have a proof of insurance on our, on our, uh, on our phones. And that can be just accessed through websites automatically. Updated way it was in the code before. If you didn't have the proof of insurance with you, but you were insured, that was an infraction. If you were …
H.B. 220 Public Safety Data Amendments · Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Presents H.B. 220 as an annual update that moves certain reports from going only to the legislature into the public safety data portal via automatic feeds.
▶ Watch at 1:46:18Read what they said
Understand, this is a really quick one too. It Should be. Yeah, it actually should be. I'm not sure if that was a joke or not, but, uh, public Safety Data portal. This is, uh, from the Public Safety Data Task Force. This is, uh, this our annual update bill. Uh, we're removing, uh, some reports that come to the legislature. We're replacing those with the automatic feeds that go into the portal so that we all have those and we take up less time and 'em, and we can, you know, provide that to the public instead of just the legislature. Um, that's the, the operative part. You'll see a list of several of those reports that will no …
H.B. 188 Juvenile Justice Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Thanks the sponsor for working toward agreement on the bill and says the committee is ready to move to public comment.
▶ Watch at 2:50:35Read what they said
I just wanted to thank you for your, uh, your work and helping us to come to a, an agreement today. Um, it's, uh, very much appreciated and I think, uh, most of the committee we're ready to go.
H.B. 188 Juvenile Justice Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Asks Ms. Edwards about how the bill could affect peer court programs and encourages working with the sponsor to avoid harm. · speaker not certain
▶ Watch at 2:56:35Read what they said
Yeah. Um, Susan, if I could ask you a question. I obviously have heard about your peer court. Yes. Um, I'm not sure how exactly this bill would interfere with what you're doing, 'cause I know it's, it's from what everything I've heard is fantastic. Mm-hmm. Um, I was wondering if you could be sure and look closely at the bill and work with Representative Peck Absolutely. To make sure that it's not going to harm your program and those type of programs. Um, and I would encourage more of those peer court programs from everything I've heard. So thank
H.B. 188 Juvenile Justice Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Says the committee has been working on the bill and supports adopting the third substitute.
▶ Watch at 2:58:30Read what they said
Yeah, no, I think I did a little bit earlier. Uh, just kind of signal to everybody that we've been working on this. Um, I appreciate, like I said, the sponsor's, uh, willingness and to sit down and work through some of the issues. I think we're in a good place now, so I I appreciate that. I adores the adoption.
H.B. 188 Juvenile Justice Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Moves to pass HB 188 out of committee with a favorable recommendation.
▶ Watch at 2:59:19Read what they said
Move that we pass out. Third substitute house Bill, what is this? One? 88. 180 8. With a favor recommendation.
H.B. 188 Juvenile Justice Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 17, 2026
Thanks those who attended and urges adoption of the bill, citing the need for school safety to be a priority.
▶ Watch at 2:59:29Read what they said
Yeah. Um, no thanks. Thank you to those who, who came all the way out here. I know it's only, uh, 30 minutes back that way, but I, I'd appreciate you, you being here. Um, we, this is something that we're, we've struggled with in the school safety space. Um, to the one person who mentioned, uh, the top priority of all of our administrators is the safety and security of their students. I wish that were the case. I think that is for a lot of them. And, uh, we need that to be more of a priority in that space on a regular basis. Um, so thank you representative for, for your work and I did urge adoption …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Presents the bill as a follow-up to a recent audit, setting basic cybersecurity standards for schools that were negotiated with the State School Board, UETN and other parties.
▶ Watch at 24:37Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker representatives. This is, uh, following on the audit that we just completed, uh, this last year. Um, what we found is that we needed to adopt some basic cybersecurity standards for, uh, our education world. Um, we had at least four major breaches, including the Power Scrolls breach coming on and preceding that audit. Um, I believe that was, uh, seven eight of our districts, um, across the world. There were hundreds of thousands, or excuse me, across the state, um, hundreds of thousands that were co records that were compromised. These are basic minimum standards, uh, that have been put into place. We've negotiated this with State School Board as well as UTEN and all …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Explains that the third substitute reflects the negotiated agreement and changes who is responsible for training and implementing the standards, including UETN and the schools.
▶ Watch at 25:53Read what they said
Does? Yeah, it represents the negotiated agreement. Um, and really just changes the, the direction of who's responsible for what. Uh, based on the negotiation for who has to actually implement the training and the standards, you know, what UTEN does versus, you know, what's respons, what the schools are responsible for, et cetera.
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Explained that the substitute reflects the negotiated agreement and shifts responsibilities for training and standards among school districts, UETN, and the other entities involved.
▶ Watch at 25:53Read what they said
Does? Yeah, it represents the negotiated agreement. Um, and really just changes the, the direction of who's responsible for what. Uh, based on the negotiation for who has to actually implement the training and the standards, you know, what UTEN does versus, you know, what's respons, what the schools are responsible for, et cetera.
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Says the RFA is more in depth than this bill, which has little fiscal impact, and that most required standards cost little beyond initial training.
▶ Watch at 27:56Read what they said
So, uh, the backend, I mean that RFA is far more in depth than what we're talking about with these basic minimum standards. Most of this, uh, bill does not, uh, have any fiscal tied to it anyway, but that would definitely support the districts. Um, and I'm, I'm fully supporting that. RFA, um, this one, most of the co most of what we're asking for and what those minimum standards in the, the audit came out don't actually cost anything outside of the initial training. So there, you know, it's like, you know, it's consistently using multifactor authentication and, you know, running through those processes that takes care of 90% of the threats that are coming in. And that's …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Said the bill has little fiscal impact beyond initial training, that it would support districts, and that the RFA is a separate, more in-depth program.
▶ Watch at 27:56Read what they said
So, uh, the backend, I mean that RFA is far more in depth than what we're talking about with these basic minimum standards. Most of this, uh, bill does not, uh, have any fiscal tied to it anyway, but that would definitely support the districts. Um, and I'm, I'm fully supporting that. RFA, um, this one, most of the co most of what we're asking for and what those minimum standards in the, the audit came out don't actually cost anything outside of the initial training. So there, you know, it's like, you know, it's consistently using multifactor authentication and, you know, running through those processes that takes care of 90% of the threats that are coming in. And that's …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Says the services were removed while the standards were kept, and that delivery liability moves to UETN, advised by the School Safety Center and USBE.
▶ Watch at 28:54Read what they said
No. Well, there's different pieces of legislation also in the Senate that are coming across. They're dealing with the exact same issue in some cases. Um, our main interest and the recommendation from, uh, our audit was to make sure that we had the, the relevant standards that could be implemented across the education system. And that's what we focused on here. The implementation here, um, as far as the delivery, uh, removes any of that liability from the districts themselves. So the liability moves to UETN to enforce the security Partnering with the advice of the School Safety Center, USBE and others. Yes.
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Said the cost was reduced by removing services while keeping the standards recommended by the audit, and that liability for delivery moves to UETN with advice from the School Safety Center and USBE.
▶ Watch at 28:54Read what they said
No. Well, there's different pieces of legislation also in the Senate that are coming across. They're dealing with the exact same issue in some cases. Um, our main interest and the recommendation from, uh, our audit was to make sure that we had the, the relevant standards that could be implemented across the education system. And that's what we focused on here. The implementation here, um, as far as the delivery, uh, removes any of that liability from the districts themselves. So the liability moves to UETN to enforce the security Partnering with the advice of the School Safety Center, USBE and others. Yes.
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Says the bill covers only cybersecurity standards and is being combined with other bills that are coming.
▶ Watch at 30:07Read what they said
Uh, Mr. Speaker, this is, uh, simply the cybersecurity standards and this isn't, uh, anything else. Oh, You're right. My bad. It was just combining it with the other bills that are coming. Um, yeah. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Said the bill covers only cybersecurity standards and is being combined with other related bills.
▶ Watch at 30:07Read what they said
Uh, Mr. Speaker, this is, uh, simply the cybersecurity standards and this isn't, uh, anything else. Oh, You're right. My bad. It was just combining it with the other bills that are coming.
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Explains that the board overseeing the Cybersecurity Center would be responsible for implementing the rules, while UETN is involved as the network and IT provider for districts.
▶ Watch at 31:17Read what they said
Yeah. Happy to, Mr. Speaker. That's a, that's a good question. And, and some of those kind of, I'll just be frank, some of those kind of turf battles are what we've been negotiating through the, through this process. Um, what, essentially what the responsibility already exists with the districts to keep this information secure. So let's, let's start there. Um, in many cases, we don't have the proper training or the delivery mechanisms to make sure that that actually happens. And that's really what the audit pointed out that we have to take seriously in order to, to keep our kids information secure. Um, the issues with, uh, UTEN and the Cybersecurity Center, um, the intent is that this …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Explained that the Utah Cybersecurity Board oversees the Cybersecurity Center and will be responsible for implementing the rules, while UETN is involved because it provides network and IT services to school districts.
▶ Watch at 31:17Read what they said
Yeah. Happy to, Mr. Speaker. That's a, that's a good question. And, and some of those kind of, I'll just be frank, some of those kind of turf battles are what we've been negotiating through the, through this process. Um, what, essentially what the responsibility already exists with the districts to keep this information secure. So let's, let's start there. Um, in many cases, we don't have the proper training or the delivery mechanisms to make sure that that actually happens. And that's really what the audit pointed out that we have to take seriously in order to, to keep our kids information secure. Um, the issues with, uh, UTEN and the Cybersecurity Center, um, the intent is that this …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Summarizes that the bill sets basic cybersecurity standards to protect student information and asks for members' support.
▶ Watch at 33:18Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker representatives we're not, uh, telling 'em, you know exactly what they have to do with this. We are simply laying out those basic standards that, uh, our own IT people have told us are required in the schools, uh, in order to keep our kids' information safe. Uh, this is not a theoretical problem. I, I mentioned that there were several, uh, data lease, uh, complete losses in the last year from several school districts, including my own childs, um, that ended up being hackers in Ukraine. So it's not a theoretical dis, it's important that we have those basic standards to keep them their information secure so that when they, we launch them into the …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Summarized the bill as setting basic cybersecurity standards for schools to protect student information, citing recent data losses in several districts, and asked for support.
▶ Watch at 33:18Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker representatives we're not, uh, telling 'em, you know exactly what they have to do with this. We are simply laying out those basic standards that, uh, our own IT people have told us are required in the schools, uh, in order to keep our kids' information safe. Uh, this is not a theoretical problem. I, I mentioned that there were several, uh, data lease, uh, complete losses in the last year from several school districts, including my own childs, um, that ended up being hackers in Ukraine. So it's not a theoretical dis, it's important that we have those basic standards to keep them their information secure so that when they, we launch them into the …
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Wilcox presents the bill, which sets a school security funding distribution formula to be used if ongoing money is later appropriated and appropriates no money now.
▶ Watch at 35:21Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. This one is the, uh, the financial, uh, piece for the school security project. Um, one of the things that we've worked on and, and, uh, kind of struggled with in the past, we've had had one time money a number of times, um, but we've struggled to identify sources of income for ongoing funding for folks. And what this does is it doesn't even appropriate any money. But what it does say is, if and when we have the year where we're able to do that, um, this is how we're, we're going to spend it. We've adopted the distribution formula, uh, from, uh, the school, uh, distribution program already. Uh, that prioritizes …
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Wilcox explains that amendment number one would prorate a district's funding when the formula amount does not reach a set threshold.
▶ Watch at 37:13Read what they said
I love the First Amendment. I hope you do, too. Um, this one actually, uh, came from our staff this afternoon. It's a good idea. And that is, uh, given, given that it relies on a formula that it currently exists, if, uh, it basically just says that if it doesn't reach a certain threshold, that they just, uh, prorate whatever that is. So if a district would've received $250,000 under a given formula, uh, to help with this, then they, uh, would get a prorated portion of that. Uh, that's, that's the amendment.
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Wilcox says the bill is a trigger bill, with funding only if the Legislature provides money, and creates no current obligation.
▶ Watch at 38:58Read what they said
Yeah, Mr. Speaker, it, uh, it's all, it's like a kind of a trigger bill. We've passed those in the past. If and when we have money to spend, that's what's anticipated that it would take to cover, um, what they need, that there are other estimates that are higher. Um, we would go for, you know, 1% of the WPU if we were going given our fantasy land, uh, version of this. But there is no money and there is no obligation that isn't current, uh, currently already in law under this bill. Um, it is just, uh, this is how we're going to spend it if and when we have it.
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Wilcox says the School Security Task Force and Education Advisory Board developed the formula to be used if ongoing money is available.
▶ Watch at 40:02Read what they said
So, uh, the plan is laid out, the School security task force, studied it all year, the education advisory board, all of that. And this is the formula that they came up with, uh, wherein if we had all the, you know, if we had a hundred million ongoing, this is how we'd want it distributed and how we'd, uh, fulfill our obligations under the existing law.
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Wilcox says the funds can be used for all school safety requirements, with training being an important part, and the bill does not restrict them to training.
▶ Watch at 41:17Read what they said
No, this is available for all of those things. Um, those particular, the training pieces are the most important parts of anything that we've done. Um, once we get the one time, you know, the secure vestibules and the bleed kits and all of that kind of stuff in place, the ongoing training is the most expensive and the most important part, bleed kits are only useful to the extent that people know how to use them in the event of an emergency. Um, the cost that, uh, law enforcement in particular has have borne, uh, they've really just absorbed, uh, from the beginning. And so this is an effort to make sure that we have the bandwidth and the …
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Wilcox says remaining funds are up to local agencies to use for any school safety and security need.
▶ Watch at 42:47Read what they said
Whatever. Yeah, whatever is remaining Mr. Speaker would be, you know, just up to that local LEA, whatever they needed, whatever they're in, all of the things that we do, uh, for school safety and security, they would be, uh, responsible for that. They could use it for literally anything else.
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Wilcox apologizes for being unclear, says districts, law enforcement agencies, and charters may use the funds for school safety compliance, and asks for support.
▶ Watch at 43:31Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, I apologize if I was unclear, but yes, anything, uh, school districts, LEAs, uh, charters, et cetera, would be able to use under that bill. Um, any of the remaining toward whatever they needed, um, in compliance with the school safety, uh, issues already in the law, uh, we are just making sure that we also are compensating our law enforcement partners, uh, this time around for the services they provide to our schools, uh, in that case. Um, I, I appreciate, uh, the conversation and the questions. I appreciate that we're digging into this. I know, uh, it's been a long time coming and we certainly hope that we can figure that out and, …
H.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Says an update is pending and that the House should be clear about the action it is taking.
▶ Watch at 46:17Read what they said
Yeah, we're waiting on an update. I want to make sure that we're super clear about what we're doing this time before we do it.
H.B. 329 State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Asked how the state agencies would absorb the workload and which employees and agencies the policy would cover.
▶ Watch at 46:44Read what they said
Wilcox. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm, uh, I'm going through this and, uh, just, just last week, you know, we ran some legislation where the potential loss in productivity was listed at $8 million for one day. And I wanna make sure I understand this. They're saying that they can absorb, you know, for how many employees for weeks, what, what does, what does that look like for our state agencies and potential employees that this would apply to?
H.B. 329 State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Asks how state agencies can absorb the cost of employee leave and what the effect would be on agencies and the employees covered.
▶ Watch at 46:44Read what they said
Wilcox. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm, uh, I'm going through this and, uh, just, just last week, you know, we ran some legislation where the potential loss in productivity was listed at $8 million for one day. And I wanna make sure I understand this. They're saying that they can absorb, you know, for how many employees for weeks, what, what does, what does that look like for our state agencies and potential employees that this would apply to?
H.B. 329 State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Said he supports the policy but is trying to reconcile the cost question.
▶ Watch at 47:34Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm in favor of the policy. I'm just trying to reconcile the difference there. Thank you.
H.B. 329 State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments · House floor debate (day 28) · Feb 17, 2026
Says he supports the policy and is trying to reconcile the answer with the fiscal concerns.
▶ Watch at 47:34Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm in favor of the policy. I'm just trying to reconcile the difference there. Thank you.
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Presented HB 454 as targeting public assistance fraud committed knowingly, with penalties and enforcement mechanisms.
▶ Watch at 24:48Read what they said
Thank you. This thing on. There we go. Got it. Thank you, Lacey. Um, you know, this, this committee doesn't work without good staff, and we appreciate looking out for us. Um, the public assistance fraud bill, um, is primarily exists, um, as we've seen, uh, in a handful of cases here in Utah, but mostly in other areas, um, to go after fraud that is, um, intentionally committed by those who are seeking to, um, either profit themselves from benefits fraud, or to engage in that on behalf of another. Um, this one, um, does not target anyone who does this on accident. This is not about filling a form out wrong or any of those issues. This is …
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Gave examples such as organizations enrolling people without checking eligibility and falsified income records, and said the knowingly provision targets intentional bad actors.
▶ Watch at 26:40Read what they said
Some of the examples of this could include, uh, an organization, um, sometimes even a nonprofit, um, whose purpose is to enroll as many as possible in a given program. Um, there's, you know, there's all, you know, all of the rules that we have come about from bad actors in one case or another, uh, 99% of the time, I'm sure those are all on the up and up. Every once in a while. We have those outliers who are not. Um, example would be, uh, when someone signs up for, for, uh, given benefit package and just rolling through everything, um, in an attempt to help probably. Um, but, uh, when you have those who are employed, and …
H.B. 454 Public Assistance Fraud Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 13, 2026
Thanked the committee for the motion and read the knowingly provision aloud, describing it as overt fraud.
▶ Watch at 29:15Read what they said
Um, I appreciate that. Um, just remind everybody, 'cause most of the questions I've had have been about, you know, how this happens is accidentally putting someone in in jail who you know, is just trying to help. But again, just to read it out loud on the record, knowingly includes or instructs the applicant to include false information relating to a material fact required to be disclosed in the application, or does not disclose or instructs the applicant to not disclose a material fact required to be disclosed in the application. And, uh, you know, this is like super clear, you know what you're doing. This is overt fraud, so thank you. Okay.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Rep. Wilcox presented HB 24, which adjusts school zone penalties, insurance-related charges, and duplicate code provisions.
▶ Watch at 2:02:16Read what they said
Thank you. Uh, this is, uh, one of the law enforcement criminal justice interim, uh, committee bills. Um, it addresses a couple of things. One, we're we're trying to take a nuanced approach to, uh, school zones. Um, and by focusing on those who are, uh, egregious violators in here, and at the same time recognizing, uh, the importance of, uh, kind of the, uh, coach and counsel for those who are the low level offenders had a number of, of folks who weren't aware or that kind of a thing, um, that probably didn't deserve the penalty that they ended up with, um, addresses, uh, insurance issue and, um, remove some of the duplicate code issues. Um, the fines …
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Rep. Wilcox said he was grateful for Audrey Baron's testimony and asked for the committee's support of the bill.
▶ Watch at 2:09:34Read what they said
Uh, no, I'm, I didn't know that, uh, she was gonna come testify, but I'm grateful to hear Audrey's testimony today and that you heard that, um, she's clearly not a criminal trying to break the law and, and, uh, you know, be prevented from receiving her bar license here. So I, I appreciate the intent of the bill and ask your support. Thank you.
H.R. 6 House Rules Resolution - Lobbyist Ethics Amendments · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Said the sponsor has laid out the concerns and that holding the bill is the best path, since she knows what she wants to work on.
▶ Watch at 1:07:05Read what they said
Sure. I, I think the sponsor's laid out. That's probably the best path at this point. We've heard some concerns
H.J.R. 24 Joint Rules Resolution - Appropriations Subcommittee Amendments · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says the bill may cause conflict but that is acceptable, and that it would put on the record when a committee disagrees with EAC.
▶ Watch at 1:22:33Read what they said
I don't wanna take up any more time, especially 'cause I'm the last item on the agenda. Um, and this isn't a, a recent problem. This angst has come up every year since I was an intern in 2008. I've heard this, I've heard this problem for years. I like the creative application of it. Um, it could cause conflict. And at the same time, like our entire process is designed to cause conflict. So I think I'm, I'm okay with a little feedback if that's what's necessary when it's egregious, then it would be important to be able to do it. Just like we have V two overrides. This doesn't even carry that kind of authority, at least just …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Presents HJR 23 to require bill sponsors to state policy goals and metrics when opening a bill file, so the Legislature can later review whether bills worked.
▶ Watch at 1:27:14Read what they said
Thank you, uh, Mr. Chair. Um, this one is meant to be a modest, but a, a significant meaningful step forward in our, to make our legislative process not just a little bit more deliberate, but accountable. Um, as you guys have seen, excuse me, for many years, the norm has been, when we draft legislation, when we open a bill file, we're generally responding to a constituent. In fact, we've, we've had this conversation about, you know, why we open so many bill files. You know, why does that happen? Well, it's 'cause we got, we dug into a weird case and either our jurisdiction or in our district, and, um, found out that the only solution to that …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says that for the election-day holiday bill, the intended outcome and measures such as use of the existing time-off provision could be identified at the start.
▶ Watch at 1:31:43Read what they said
Yeah, that's a great question. That's a, like a perfect example. So what you'd be doing in that case, like the, the end goal for me, and that, that might not be the same for everyone, but at least you'd have the intent of the drafter, right? To encourage people to vote in person, person. So I'd like to see, you know, did, what did that look like as, you know, I talked about it a little bit on the house floor. Um, but does it matter that, that we do that as a community anymore? Does it not? Did that work? Did more people get time off to do that where they voluntarily, so we have, we have a …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says continuous improvement is a small first step that would encourage drafters to think about goals, with accountability to be added later.
▶ Watch at 1:33:48Read what they said
Yeah. And so the point of that is, I mean, in my fantasy world, again, um, yeah, we would prioritize continuous improvement. I, I work in an industry that has engaged in this for 20 years. I have an entire continuous improvement department, and it's applied to every, the, the, the smallest of details in how to improve our work that's resulted in groundbreaking changes. And they seem small, but industry-wide, they've saved lives across the country. So this is not, this is not a theoretical, like we've run this process through, this is a science. Um, at that point we're, we're talking about the smallest of steps, which is beginning to identify metrics that matter now as we change …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says the goals and metrics are not normally part of a bill and suggests staff answer how they would be treated.
▶ Watch at 1:35:46Read what they said
I, I would doubt that, right? That's not normally part of it, but that's probably more of a question for our staff and how they would interpret that. Do, do you wanna turn to Megan, see If she has opinion? I'm about that. If this would be public.
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Calls the amendment a baby step and says he is okay with it.
▶ Watch at 1:41:17Read what they said
Um, I mean, this is a baby step. Like this is not something we've done before and this is nowhere near like, uh, fully applying CI to our legislative process. Right? So I think I'm, I think I'm okay with that. Um, really the, the most relevant part of it is the question has an expectation to be asked when we fill it out. Like that's part of the thing. And that question itself, um, is they'll have to ask, is this something that it's applicable to? Is there an obvious metric? Is there something that I want to measure or that the future versions of us can measure to see if this worked? And I think that's valuable. So …
H.J.R. 23 Joint Rules Resolution - Policy Development and Impact · House Rules Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Says the bill aims to create a cycle of continuous improvement in legislation and urges support.
▶ Watch at 1:43:00Read what they said
The whole point is to, to create a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement with legislation. I think this gets us started on that and, uh, urge your support.
H.B. 163 Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Presented HB 163 as a small change adding special education to the Grow Your Own Educator scholarship program, with no new appropriations, after a request from the Ogden School District.
▶ Watch at 1:33:38Read what they said
Thank you. Thank you, Senator. Uh, chair Johnson. I, I appreciate it. That was pretty funny. It made me laugh out loud if you didn't hear that on the record, on the way up. Um, but this one, uh, I think we're fairly familiar. We've been running this program now for, you know, four or five years, and it's, frankly, it's been a, a wild success story on the education side. Uh, it's been kind of beautiful to watch. I've been able to see, uh, up close in our own districts, um, paraprofessionals and, and aides who, uh, we thought always, you know, a person should just be one of our teachers. They're awesome. We love to, to see that …
H.B. 163 Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program Amendments · Senate Education Committee · Feb 12, 2026
Thanked the committee and said special education teachers often burn out early, and that the program helps convert committed volunteers into teachers.
▶ Watch at 1:40:06Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the motion. Um, uh, one of our best friends is a special ed teacher, uh, in the Ogden School District. And they have a hard time hanging on. It's really easy to get burned out as a teacher. We lose a lot the few first few years anyway. Um, so when we, I just want everybody to, that's hearing, and not that I'm pitching to do this, but I feel like a little bit like Senator Riebe. Um, when we find the ones that, uh, are sticking around, the volunteers that show up all the time, that actually, you know, have that in their heart, it's more important than ever that we convert them …
H.B. 179 Milk Amendments · House floor debate (day 24) · Feb 12, 2026
Moves to circle the bill so time can be taken to address concerns about creating a disparate market and different regulatory agencies.
▶ Watch at 24:19Read what they said
Motion to circle, Mr. Speaker, That motion is in order. Would you like to speak to it? Going back through this, I know there's, uh, there's a lot of, uh, passionate feelings on both sides. I don't want to give the same speech, but I could give the same speech of growing up on raw milk, uh, out in West Weaver and carrying that stuff after we got done milking back, back and forth, uh, after, you know, be with the old steel cans, all that stuff. And, um, I remember what happened to our farm, uh, when that changed. There's, I have other concerns, but one of those concerns that I have that I think we need to figure …
H.B. 179 Milk Amendments · House floor debate (day 24) · Feb 12, 2026
Speaks in favor of circling the bill, saying there are concerns about creating a separate market and different regulators and wanting time to find a solution.
▶ Watch at 24:27Read what they said
Going back through this, I know there's, uh, there's a lot of, uh, passionate feelings on both sides. I don't want to give the same speech, but I could give the same speech of growing up on raw milk, uh, out in West Weaver and carrying that stuff after we got done milking back, back and forth, uh, after, you know, be with the old steel cans, all that stuff. And, um, I remember what happened to our farm, uh, when that changed. There's, I have other concerns, but one of those concerns that I have that I think we need to figure out is not creating a disparate market, not creating different standards as much as we can, or …
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Presents HB 72, which combines his bill with Sen. Brammer's, citing crypto ATM scams linked to trafficking, fraud against elderly residents, and the need for reasonable regulation.
▶ Watch at 34:50Read what they said
Thank you. We good? Yeah, I just, I just got my learner's permit, so go ahead whenever you're Ready. Alright. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. It's good to see you up there again. Um, it's been a few years, so, uh, glad to have you back. Um, this one is interesting, uh, to, I, I think we've, I've shared with this committee before, and, and we've talked about it through the interim. We've had presentations on, uh, the issue that we found really starting last year, um, with the, uh, trafficking of young women from Asia that we found in our illicit massage parlors along with those cases. Um, a disturbing part of those cases is we found crypto ATMs …
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Outlines the combined bill's provisions: law enforcement training, licensing and registration, consumer protections, transaction limits, receipts and warnings, and investigation reporting.
▶ Watch at 41:10Read what they said
The combined bill includes law enforcement training, um, you know, licensing, registration, consumer protections with transaction limits, uh, 2000 for new customers first three days, hence the slowing down 5,000 for established customers. Um, you know, kiosks must, you know, and include receipts and appropriate warnings about that transaction transparency, um, and investigation reporting. So we're, we're talking, um, there needs, it has to be a central place right now. Uh, we've been talking to the Department of Commerce on that, um, rather than finance and trying to make it as simple as possible, but you'll see that, uh, reflected in both the substitute and in the amendments.
H.B. 72 Criminal Use of Cryptocurrency Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Urges support, citing local fraud cases and the need to give people time to recognize scams, and encourages committee members to talk with constituents about them.
▶ Watch at 57:38Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Pro Tem. Not sure if that's a thing, but you're doing a good job. Um, in all seriousness, this is, uh, I haven't found a jurisdiction yet that didn't have at least one case, um, yet, by the way, the Davis County thing is a legitimate thing. That case he cited a minute ago with eight, 150,000 also outta Davis County, okay? One outta Morgan County, 1.2 million, lost the home, lost everything. It was complicated. It was targeted, like met someone in real life, and then this stuff started. Um, so you have all sorts of different elements here. The one connecting thread between these criminal cases and the overt fraud is this issue. And …
H.B. 221 Coercion Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Presented HB 221, which adds elements to sexual extortion and aggravated sexual extortion, adds mandatory fines, and targets conduct that encourages suicide, and offered to answer questions.
▶ Watch at 1:57:51Read what they said
Hey, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, uh, this is, if you've read, hopefully you've read through it at this point. Uh, you're familiar with some of the cases that have led to this. Um, as we found, uh, last year in some of those cases out of the Organized Crime Subcommittee, um, they started out as sexual extortion cases. We dealt with prosecuting those and coordination with our federal partners for those who were overseas. Um, we had some related conversations a little bit earlier. So we started off with, uh, the financing of these organizations. Um, this one, uh, relates to, uh, how they try to cover up the crime and what the crime is, what it means when …
H.B. 221 Coercion Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Explained that the amendment aims to avoid reaching domestic disputes between people while still covering legitimate conduct.
▶ Watch at 2:03:34Read what they said
Yeah, no, this is, uh, as a result of going through multiple cases and, uh, cases where, you know, we're not intending to be caught up in, you know, domestic disputes from a, you know, just a fight between a couple kind of a scenario. So we're trying to, to walk that line. Um, and at the same time, anything legitimate we're, we're going after still. So that's the intent of the sub of the amendment.
H.B. 221 Coercion Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 11, 2026
Cited an 81% year-over-year increase in sextortion referrals in Utah and said the state must address this and suicide concerns, and asked for further suggestions to strengthen the bill.
▶ Watch at 2:05:49Read what they said
Yeah, I want to, I wanna highlight one thing kind of sticking in your mind here. So, we've talked about sextortion, we've attacked it now for the last two years with these bills. Um, year over year, uh, 2024 to 2025, data fall two through fall 2025, we're up over 81% on sextortion referrals inside of Utah, year over year 81. Like, we're not, this is taking off way faster than our ability to keep up or pass laws or any of that stuff. So this, this is gonna be something that, uh, culturally we're gonna have to figure out faster than, than we are, because that's not sustainable either. As far as the, this particular bill goes with, uh, …
H.B. 220 Public Safety Data Amendments · House floor debate (day 23) · Feb 11, 2026
Presents H.B. 220 as a public safety data portal bill that centralizes crime reporting, strengthens CCJJ oversight of data collection, adds sexual assault, campus crime, strike force, and parole data, and expands researcher access to the data.
▶ Watch at 43:20Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, this is our safety data portal bill, uh, for the year. Um, does a handful of things to this. It's a minor adjustment from the commission that centralizes reporting, um, so that we don't have so many disparate sources for that, which again, is the whole point of the bill. Um, strengthens CCJJ oversight by formalizing its role in collecting that information. Um, it expands it a little bit. We added sexual assault data, um, student housing, uh, crime, you know, issues on campus of course. And, uh, strike force activity and parole metrics that were missing. And, um, we also did some work to expand access for our researchers to make sure that when, …
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Presents the fourth substitute, which decouples the DNR officer pay plan from other agencies and sets a policy to work with HR and the agency so pay does not fall behind again.
▶ Watch at 59:07Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate, uh, your indulgence here and patience as we've worked through the issues here. Um, you're familiar as much as anyone as a Senate sponsor. Um, you know, what it's taken to get to this point. And just grateful for all those who have, who have put the time and effort in to, to help to get this in the right place. Um, this fourth substitute now, uh, we've decoupled from any of the other agencies altogether. And instead, um, set a policy where we work with, um, HR and the agency itself to make sure that we're not falling behind again. Like we have to the point where we were 40% back a few …
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Says he will go ahead and return to his remarks after the other presentations.
▶ Watch at 1:01:45Read what they said
No, I, I'll go ahead. Does that include our presentation? I'll Come back after, after. Thank you. Yeah.
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee · Feb 9, 2026
Gives closing remarks saying salary is still behind, the bill costs 2.8 million, he will return next year if needed, and he cites officer spouses and conservation officers shot in the line of duty.
▶ Watch at 1:08:15Read what they said
Thank you. And this is what I wanted to save here for my final comments. Um, I know we're down whatever in salary or not in salary, but we're down in salary. That's why we're here. Uh, you know, the budget's a little flat. I know that, and I'm optimistic we can get this done. It's 2.8 million and for some reason we don't. I'll be back next year and I'll be back the year after that until we get it done. Um, I got an email from I bet a lot actually. And so you, you probably should hear 'em too, uh, from a lot of the spouses of our officers after our, our work last year and, and …
H.B. 353 Higher Education Credit Transfer Amendments · House floor debate (day 21) · Feb 9, 2026
Says the bill helps students who transfer between states within the same conference keep credit they earned, so they do not lose one to two years of schooling, and that it makes Utah welcoming to students completing their education.
▶ Watch at 23:17Read what they said
Thank Thank you Mr. Speaker representatives. This one, uh, facilitates a transfer of credits for our students who go outta state, uh, for the beginning part of their career. Many of you, and I think I mentioned this in committee, many of us, uh, are getting kind of older now. And so we have kids that have bounced around this, the country a little bit, uh, pursuing their educational journey. Um, one of those things that sometimes our students from Utah in particular struggle with is when they transfer even from neighboring states within the same conference. I'm not using a hypothetical really anymore, but even within the same conference, when they transfer from, say, a school in Idaho to …
S.C.R. 2 Concurrent Resolution Concerning Remembrances of the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks · House floor debate (day 21) · Feb 9, 2026
Recalls where he was on 9/11, says the resolution calls for remembrance and action, and invites people to attend the 9/11 project event in Salt Lake County and take part in activities during the anniversary week.
▶ Watch at 25:58Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, um, representatives. This one, I think we all remember where we were when that happened. Those of us that are here except for Haps, uh, our youngest member from Utah County, I'm not sure if he was born that day yet or not, but the rest of us do. And it's not something that, uh, that we want to necessarily remember. But I, as I talk about, uh, what happened that day to my own children, to even my, uh, awesome intern here from Brigham Young University, um, they weren't alive. Um, when nine 11, uh, happened in our country, um, the rest of us, us got to watch and some more than others as, uh, …
H.B. 104 State Holiday Amendments · House floor debate (day 21) · Feb 9, 2026
Wilcox said HB 104 is the same bill as last year and would make election day a state holiday, encouraging time off to vote, and that he is willing to take questions.
▶ Watch at 48:40Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Um, this one is the same bill that we had last year. We passed through, uh, I think it died on the Senate board last day, uh, of the session. But the essential part of this one is, uh, that we, um, are making the election day a state holiday. It's not a, a requirement that you take the day off any of those things. We, we had some concerns about that. Um, this is kind of a hybrid of sorts, but it encourages those, uh, who, uh, are voting to be able to give them time to vote on the day and to set that day aside as something special as our, both our civic …
H.B. 104 State Holiday Amendments · House floor debate (day 21) · Feb 9, 2026
Wilcox responded that the bill does not require time off, noted that current law already provides employees up to three hours off to vote on request, and said the bill aims to encourage in-person voting and treat voting as a civic duty.
▶ Watch at 51:33Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I understand that, uh, certainly as the bill does not require, I mean that's certainly an estimate does not require time off for any of those employees. Uh, the current law does though already require at the request of the employee, uh, I believe it's three hours that they are required to give. That's public and private sector. That's not what this bill is. Um, I suppose if, uh, I hope that we're that productive, I should say as state employees, I don't wanna say that we're not, but I also don't want to ever be in a position where we are not doing everything we can to encourage folks to, uh, have confidence in our …
H.B. 111 Wildlife Amendments · House floor debate (day 18) · Feb 6, 2026
Asks whether hunters in the youth golf course hunts would shoot from the tee or the green, or whether a specific location is identified.
▶ Watch at 1:01:39Read what they said
Uh, Mr. Speaker, would the, in this scenario where we're allowing these youth hunts, um, would that, would they need to shoot from the t or from the green or is there a specific location identified for the Turkey hunt on the golf course?
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Presented HB 42 second substitute, which places school cybersecurity minimum standards under the cybersecurity commission's direction with a rulemaking timeline, and offered to take questions.
▶ Watch at 58:19Read what they said
Let me give you, uh, it's not, there you go. And thank you Mr. Chair. I appreciate, uh, the time today. Um, all three of these that you'll hear on the school, uh, security issues are all committee bills that we've had. We brought 'em back to committee because we've had, uh, ongoing negotiation and substitutes. So we wanted to give you a chance to, to hear those. Um, I won't go through too much of it. It's literally the same, uh, cybersecurity standards, um, that we discussed, um, over the, over the interim with, with a few small changes that I'll point out. Um, the operative difference here is that the substitute that I'm speaking to, so I'm gonna …
H.B. 42 School Cybersecurity Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Said a fiscal note exists, that the funding is tied to a separate Senate request, and that the appropriations chair could explain how the funding would work.
▶ Watch at 1:00:57Read what they said
Yeah, there's a fiscal note. Original. Um, There it is on the original. It's supposed to be showing up here. As far as the second sub fiscal note, uh, maybe they're struggling to publish still. I Dunno. Would it be similar or the same as the first One? It'd be similar to the first one. And the reality is that money, uh, that we're talking about, and then we'll have to direct that with our appropriations chairs. That's actually, uh, in an RFA that's coming outta the Senate, not necessarily, you know, directly tied to this bill. So that's already been submitted. And, and another cybersecurity bill that I am the house sponsor of coming outta the Senate. So we …
H.B. 43 School Security Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Presents HB 43, a school safety program distribution plan, and describes the substitute's changes, including its fiscal note and the use of excess funds for school safety.
▶ Watch at 1:03:59Read what they said
Yeah, this one's, uh, HB 43. Similar numbers drafted in a row. Um, 43. Um, our drafting attorney kept referring you to is the dry pipes bill, so to speak. Remember, if you recall, this is the, the distribution plan primarily. Um, if and when we're able to get ongoing funding, whether that's appropriated in this bill or in another bill in a future year, this is how, um, that will be spent. It also includes, uh, a change in this first substitute that you have in front of you that, um, changes a lot of it, meaning it went from, uh, you know, $35 million fiscal note in the first one, um, to, uh, $0 fiscal note, um, which …
H.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Presented the fifth substitute of H.B. 44 and described changes since November, including special function officers, School Guardian eligibility, and visitor management deadlines.
▶ Watch at 1:56:49Read what they said
Okay. I guess, uh, you've been trying and trying, trying and, um, maybe fifth time's a charm. Well, let's just say, um, everyone's brilliant ideas that came along didn't come at the same time, including five minutes before we took the stage here today. But, um, Jeff is very nimble. He's a great attorney, and, uh, he has adapted quickly. Uh, we had to adapt a fifth substitute this time, and this is a good example. I can people see this. So, um, it, it's a slightly different section of the code, which is why we couldn't just amend with a very small paragraph that we added. But, uh, he was able to do that. And so that's why there's …
H.B. 44 School Security Personnel Standards · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Said the changes reflect ongoing implementation work, raised concern about visitor management if the deadline is removed, and said the work will continue with future adjustments.
▶ Watch at 2:04:10Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, Mr. Chair. I, um, we're getting closer. These are mostly minor tweaks, but I think they're important and they would, all the changes that we've been asked to look at reflect the work that's happening behind the scenes. So I don't, I'm not actually worried about there being a fifth sub or another amendment as we work through this, because what it, what it really reflects is that the work's happening. People are implementing the changes that we've asked them to look at. Look at. Um, there are some things, you know, I kind of worry in the background. If we wait on visitor management and we remove the deadline, are they still gonna pull …
S.C.R. 2 Concurrent Resolution Concerning Remembrances of the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Presents the resolution, shares his memories of September 11, 2001, and thanks the committee for its consideration.
▶ Watch at 2:07:17Read what they said
Uh, short version of this and we are just about done. Um, so I'll honor that. Um, it is significant. Uh, we're coming up on the 25th anniversary of the attacks in New York on nine 11. And those of us that, I mean everybody on this committee, I'm sure you all remember where you were that day. I was getting ready to go to school up at Weaver State. My wife was teaching a head start and I was getting dressed and I remember putting on like a pair of pants and sitting on the edge of the bed when I turned the news on. And I didn't leave that spot for the rest of the day. I watched …
S.C.R. 2 Concurrent Resolution Concerning Remembrances of the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 5, 2026
Explains that the resolution encourages schools to mark the anniversary, describes a community walkthrough project, and urges people to take further action.
▶ Watch at 2:14:50Read what they said
Thank you. I wanna point out something here that if you just look at the second to last paragraph, this is one of those res resolutions that obligates us to something, be it further resolved that the legislature and the governor urge all public and private schools in Utah to mark the anniversary with age appropriate educational activities, discussions, and remembrances that foster understanding, empathy and civic awareness. It's pretty light language. It's pretty light language. And whether or not that gets executed is gonna depend on our involvement. It's gonna depend on, and I don't mean us the legislature, I mean us the people. Um, I have the honor of, of serving with the Major Taylor Foundation. And each …
S.B. 32 Child Abuse Homicide Corrections · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Says SB 32 is a follow-on to last year's child abuse torture legislation and a small technical change that moves the provision to the correct place in the code, since child torture is already included in the murder section.
▶ Watch at 29:05Read what they said
You Mr. Speaker representatives. This is a follow on to our child abuse torture legislation last year. And, uh, it really is just a small technical change. All that we're doing is, is, uh, clarifying in the code where it should be housed. So rather than, uh, the statute section that we put it in last year, uh, child torture's already included in the murder section. And so we're correcting that, uh, oversight and drafting.
H.B. 163 Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program Amendments · House floor debate (day 17) · Feb 5, 2026
Presents the bill, saying the Grow Your Own program has been successful and the bill lets existing scholarship funds be used for paraprofessionals and educators seeking special education licenses, without expanding the funds.
▶ Watch at 46:17Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker representatives. The Grow Your Own program is, uh, frankly been a wild success for the past three, four years, uh, since we implemented it here. What it does for those who unfamiliar, it allows our schools to identify paraprofessionals, aides, those who are already working in our schools, and, uh, help to, to facilitate them who they believe would be great educators, great teachers, and to help them get those endorsements, uh, to move 'em to the front of the line. That's working. That's the great news. This one right here, because it's working, um, we have identified an area in public education where we need some more help, and that's with our paraprofessionals in our, …
H.B. 353 Higher Education Credit Transfer Amendments · House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Presented HB 353, saying it would reinforce the Board of Higher Education's work on transfer pathways, including for out-of-state students, and that institutions are already working on the issue.
▶ Watch at 1:11:22Read what they said
Yeah, this one will be, this will be fairly easy in that regard. So, um, very quickly, I don't know how many of you have had adult children yet, but it's kind of terrible. So if they haven't warned you, those of you with littles parenting adult children is very difficult. Um, much more so than anyone ever mentioned. I'm kind of mad at some of you for not warning me. That said, uh, one of the things we got to experience very quickly is our kids transferred around universities, um, uh, within and outside of Yeshi is how difficult it is to transfer credit even for identical, literally identical courses. Um, I happened to, um, have a new daughter-in-law …
H.B. 353 Higher Education Credit Transfer Amendments · House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Said the bill addresses transfer credit issues, including credits from concurrent enrollment and credits lost when students on religious missions defer their studies.
▶ Watch at 1:19:34Read what they said
I'll just say, yeah. We've looked at transfer credits, uh, in, as it relates to concurrent enrollment as well as part of these conversations. And, you know, there's an weird expiration thing, uh, particularly with kids who serve, uh, a religious mission. They go home and some of those are gone. So that's part of this as well. Like, that shouldn't happen. We should be able to defer without automatically losing credit that we've earned already.
H.R. 4 House Rules Resolution - Legislation Disclosure · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Asks how the proposal would handle requests that come informally from agency staff rather than agency heads, and how disclosure would be handled.
▶ Watch at 11:31Read what they said
Thank you, uh, representative. I understand that, um, trying to, trying to sort through all of the different, uh, bills where we've had similar conversations many times, including conversation yesterday. It's not from an agency head, but it's from their staff. It's from, in fact, because of the internal, this will be funny if the governor watches this because of the internal rules with their budget requests and the restrictions that they put on what they can officially say and not, it doesn't mean that those conversations are never had, it just means that they're kind of under the table, right? Like, they're not of official, they don't have official permission, but it's a problem. And then by the time …
H.R. 4 House Rules Resolution - Legislation Disclosure · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Asks whether the proposal would cover only executive agencies or also universities and other entities, and whether it would show if bills mostly come from communities or from government.
▶ Watch at 13:16Read what they said
Okay. So we're not required to, sorry, to follow up please. Okay. Not required necessarily to disclose who or what or when. Some of those cases, it does feel like a whistleblower conversation when we're having those. Um, and if, certainly if we file a bill, we probably went down that same route to how they got there. Um, so just, it would only apply to executive branch agencies. Mm-hmm. Not necessarily any other, um, I'm thinking the universities, right. This stuff will happen a lot in those scenarios or other entities in government. You're not, we're not going, you're not contemplating including any of those. Well, I guess what I'm, what I'm hoping to identify is, is that all …
H.R. 5 House Rules Resolution - House Standing Committees · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Suggested adding a family focus area to an existing committee combined with economic development and workforce as a short-term test, and studying the larger committee question during the interim.
▶ Watch at 38:03Read what they said
Chair. Representative. I think I think you're onto, uh, a need a focus area of need, right? Um, I don't know if you've looked at inclusion in any of our existing ones, but as I read through this last night and was thinking about it, I, the only thing that kept coming back to where I could get comfortable was, was actually economic development workforce family is adding that as a focus area to an existing committee. That both of its other subject areas are directly tied. It consistently needs more work, would be easy to focus on. So I don't know if that's, I mean, it doesn't expand the number of committees and we could do that, but it …
H.J.R. 17 Joint Rules Resolution - Legislative Expenditures Amendments · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Presents HJR 17, which would let each legislator hire a part-time staff member they select to help with legislative work and constituent calls, citing the workload of a full-time job.
▶ Watch at 43:17Read what they said
Thank you. Um, okay. So, uh, I, I prepared for his, I did not even see my own on this agenda. Do do you want us to go to the others or We can, we Can go to the other ones. I can talk to you about it, um, if you want and then just ask you to hold onto it probably. Okay, go ahead. Um, in the interest of having the conversation and beginning that conversation, um, this is my second round through as many of you know, and in between, I, I worked in DC for about five years and I, I work there now often. And so I've seen a lot of well functioning and poorly functioning …
H.J.R. 17 Joint Rules Resolution - Legislative Expenditures Amendments · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Says he wanted to begin the conversation rather than send the bill out now, and wants progress on making staff responsive to constituents without becoming a full-time legislature.
▶ Watch at 52:37Read what they said
Yeah, no, I literally wanted to have the conversation. Um, and I don't, I don't want to send it out right now, so, but I did, I appreciate putting it on the agenda so that we could begin that conversation. I'm, I'm concerned about, you know, a number of, uh, a number of realities that we're facing and not because of anything personal, but because like I said, I've had this bizarre experience where I've been back and forth now, and I've, I've seen it and how it doesn't work and how it maybe should and not worried about like whether it's 20 hours a week or any of that, it's supposed to be written so that it's up to, …
H.J.R. 19 Joint Rules Resolution - Requests for Legislation · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Asks whether the proposal addresses where bill requests originate and whether it limits them, and says the sponsor's answer reflects a balance between constituent needs and workload.
▶ Watch at 1:01:04Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, we just got in talking about a bill with, uh, about origin. I don't know if you were in here for that. You were in here for Representative McPherson's bill about the origin of bills. Um, does your proposal contemplate where bills come from when they're filed? Um, I believe it does. I believe if, if the origin is, and, and this is where I assume you're going with this, is that it comes from the will of the people. Um, I believe that a limitation of some sort, whether it be six 10 or some other number, uh, allows for you to, um, strike a balance between meeting the needs of your constituents and, …
H.J.R. 19 Joint Rules Resolution - Requests for Legislation · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Asks whether limiting bill files could discourage members from opening files early, and asks whether the proposal's effect has been compared with single-subject rules in other states.
▶ Watch at 1:03:23Read what they said
That's what I thought. Yeah. Okay. Thank you Megan. Okay, so that, that's what I wanted to clarify. Um, because the reality is like somebody calls, you don't know. And because priority depends on opening a bill file, you'll open a file when you think that that's likely the case, that's the incentive. And then whether or not you end up running it or combine it with something else. The other question I have, and this will be my last question for you, is, uh, whether or not, I mean, my experience has, has been, it's not just, uh, here, but we have a, a unique rule that is honestly what congress needs to adopt, called the single subject rule. …
H.J.R. 19 Joint Rules Resolution - Requests for Legislation · House Rules Committee · Feb 4, 2026
Says he has no motion, is concerned about discouraging responsiveness to constituents and about changes to the single-subject incentive, and does not understand the trend criticizing bill volume.
▶ Watch at 1:11:15Read what they said
I don't have a motion. I'm just gonna, um, say I'm, I'm concerned about a couple things. One, um, this kind of trend that we've leaned into of demonizing legislators for legislating, I don't know why that's taken off like it has. Um, but literally we're all here, we have access to the same resources. We all, you know, have constituents. Every bill file exists because of some problem. Like, unless you're just sitting around like trying to think, they come to you. That's part of the job of being a legislator as far as the numbers go. Um, if we can, if we want to change the incentive structure with a number of bills, then my questions earlier are …
H.B. 116 Criminal Fines Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Presents HB 116 as a follow-up to last year's policy on illicit massage parlors, raising penalties for traffickers and fines for those committing crimes at these facilities, and says a drafting conflict required the bill to return with augmented trafficker penalties and added tools.
▶ Watch at 38:50Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Mr. Speaker. Um, this one is, uh, really a policy. We decided last year, uh, if you recall, the organized crime subcommittee had worked on, uh, getting a handle on illicit massage parlors and, and traffickers who were bringing young women from Asia primarily into these facilities. Um, this one, uh, targets specifically the, uh, legal prostitution that was taking place, uh, that these young women were forced into. As part of that, we made the policy decision to raise, uh, both penalties for the traffickers as well as fines for those who, um, you know, are committing those crimes at, at the facilities. Um, there was a drafting issue and the bill frankly got caught up. …
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Moves to adopt the second substitute for HB 24, saying the changes are mostly technical fixes the attorney identified.
▶ Watch at 42:31Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to adopt the second substitute HB 24. That motion is an order. Would you like to speak to it? Juror? Mostly it's just technical, uh, issues that the attorney caught that we needed to fix.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Moves an amendment, then withdraws that motion after the amendment number could not be found and moves the first amendment instead.
▶ Watch at 43:14Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to adopt amendment number three in my name. Second representative. I'm trying to look for amendment number three. Representative. I'm not seeing an amendment Number three on the system. I retract that motion Mr. Speaker and move the first amendment.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Moves to adopt amendment number three, then withdraws that motion after it cannot be found on the system and moves amendment one instead.
▶ Watch at 43:14Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Motion to adopt amendment number three in my name. Second representative. I'm trying to look for amendment number three. Representative. I'm not seeing an amendment Number three on the system. I retract that motion Mr. Speaker and move the first amendment.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Explains that the amendment is a corrected draft that clarifies some details of the insurance provisions.
▶ Watch at 44:10Read what they said
Yeah, I'm happy to. Sorry. Sorry about that. Uh, confusion. Mr. Speaker. Um, I think I have a draft of the amendment that lists three Q at the top rather than the published version. Um, now this one, uh, again, uh, in line with what we intended to do, um, uh, clarifies the, some of the details on the insurance piece.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Says he has a draft of the amendment that lists the correct version, and that it clarifies details of the insurance provisions in line with the intended changes.
▶ Watch at 44:10Read what they said
Yeah, I'm happy to. Sorry. Sorry about that. Uh, confusion. Mr. Speaker. Um, I think I have a draft of the amendment that lists three Q at the top rather than the published version. Um, now this one, uh, again, uh, in line with what we intended to do, um, uh, clarifies the, some of the details on the insurance piece.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Describes the bill's changes to school zone penalties: speeding 21 to 29 miles per hour becomes an infraction, higher speeds or repeat offenses carry heavier penalties, and first-time minor violations would be handled without a criminal record.
▶ Watch at 44:55Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I appreciate, uh, your time as we made some of those fixes. As you know, that's, that's sometimes why we circle a bill to make sure everything's wrapped up the way it needs to. Um, this bill, uh, does a couple of things. We, a couple of things is we're trying to target specifically those who are, uh, both committing crimes in a school zone. Um, and, uh, make sure that we're actually impacting that policy. And so we're doing a couple of things. We wanna make sure you understand. If somebody is driving through a school zone between 21 and 29 miles an hour, um, that's converted from a Class C misdemeanor to an infraction. …
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House floor debate (day 15) · Feb 3, 2026
Explains that the bill targets drivers committing offenses in school zones: speeding at 21 to 29 miles per hour would be reduced from a Class C misdemeanor to an infraction, while higher speeds or a second offense would be increased penalties, and offers to answer questions.
▶ Watch at 44:55Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I appreciate, uh, your time as we made some of those fixes. As you know, that's, that's sometimes why we circle a bill to make sure everything's wrapped up the way it needs to. Um, this bill, uh, does a couple of things. We, a couple of things is we're trying to target specifically those who are, uh, both committing crimes in a school zone. Um, and, uh, make sure that we're actually impacting that policy. And so we're doing a couple of things. We wanna make sure you understand. If somebody is driving through a school zone between 21 and 29 miles an hour, um, that's converted from a Class C misdemeanor to an infraction. …
H.B. 220 Public Safety Data Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Presented the second substitute to HB 220, which removes language directing researchers to individual agencies, keeps the public safety data portal changes, and routes requests through CCJJ.
▶ Watch at 29:21Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. All right. Um, I will note on this one that I'm gonna speak to the changes that were made in the second substitute. We do need to adopt that. Um, so this is House Bill two 22nd substitute should be online. Primarily the changes. And this from our, uh, our initial committee work, um, has to do with, uh, removing some of the language that directed, uh, researchers to individual agencies rather than through our clearing house at CCJJ. It proved to be far more complicated than we, than we expected to get that done. Um, and we, in this substitute, we've removed that language and, uh, retained the, the rest of the bill that we …
H.B. 220 Public Safety Data Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Feb 2, 2026
Said the substitute adds a few new points of contact and that the key goal is de-identified data for relevant decisions.
▶ Watch at 32:34Read what they said
Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. And this is just, uh, the next step in this project and the criminal justice data portal. We are adding a few, um, a few new points of contact, but again, the most important part is, um, not just the, the new data points. It's in making sure that we have appropriate de-identifying data to make relevant decisions.
H.B. 404 Sex-Designated Housing Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Asked whether there are requirements to communicate the housing policy to prospective tenants and students.
▶ Watch at 36:57Read what they said
Thank, thank you Mr. Chair, what are the, can you talk to us about the communication requirements? How's, how's this to be understood? How's, are there any requirements to communicate this to both potential clients and, you know, students, I guess if, if that's the target audience so that they understand that this is what they're signing up for, or that there's a landlord that they're signing up for that, uh, that isn't following the proposed statute.
H.B. 404 Sex-Designated Housing Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Suggested adding clear notice standards, especially for housing advertised through universities, to avoid conflicts.
▶ Watch at 37:55Read what they said
So it's one thing I'm asking the question, sorry Mr. Chair's follow up, but I'm asking the question mostly because I'm aware of, of scenarios where I'm, there were supposed to be different policies in place and that was never really communicated to the students. Right. So I'm, I'm wondering if we need to add something that if this is, uh, at where it's advertised. So in particular, if it's advertised to the universities, um, that needs to be super clear. I think if everybody understands what the scenario is that they're signing up for, then it avoids a lot of the potential conflict down the road anyway. If they understand that they're signing up for, you know, all one …
H.B. 404 Sex-Designated Housing Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Said disclosure and contract language need work, but he is comfortable codifying the federal standard and will support the motion.
▶ Watch at 1:17:23Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, part of the, the line of question i I was going after earlier, it's, it's one thing for in contractual arrangements for folks to go into it, understanding what they're getting into. And I don't know that I'm interested in even wading into those waters, right? If everybody has full disclosure, we've also had cases brought to us where that wasn't the case. And, and I'm not sure, I'm not sure how to argue that. Is that breach of contract is that, uh, you know, non-disclosure. At what point is that void? And that's, that's part of what I think probably needs to address. It's not about keeping anybody out of housing in that scenario. …
H.B. 203 Non-Compete Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Wilcox asked whether the sponsor would add language addressing exclusivity contracts.
▶ Watch at 2:02:03Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd, um, curious about how exclusivity contracts would apply to this idea. I mean, I've seen all sorts of those, whether in a collective environment or others where it functions the same. Would you be willing to add some language surrounding exclusivity?
H.B. 203 Non-Compete Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Wilcox said exclusivity clauses bar workers from side jobs, function like non-competes, and that clear disclosure up front matters to him.
▶ Watch at 2:02:41Read what they said
I mean, typically it's similar to a clause that nobody notices when they sign the agreement. Um, they have no idea, um, until they attempt to take another job. Often it's side jobs, so you're skilled laborers, your, you know, guys that, that need, that want to do a side job so they can pay for Christmas, right? That find themselves, uh, barred from that because of an exclusivity clause. So I'm, uh, I'm particularly interested in that, uh, part of this, I, I don't know if the number's in the right place either, um, if we're even gonna have that conversation, but much like if you heard the last conversation, which I think you did, um, I'm very concerned …
H.B. 203 Non-Compete Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Wilcox asked whether the industry's non-competes apply when someone is terminated.
▶ Watch at 2:16:33Read what they said
Thank you. And I, I don't know the answer to this question. Um, but, uh, do your, do your non-competes, generally speaking, do they all apply when someone is terminated?
H.B. 203 Non-Compete Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Wilcox clarified he was asking about employees who leave involuntarily.
▶ Watch at 2:16:52Read what they said
An non-comp terminated. So if you, that implies they were fired Or, yes. I'm, I'm talking about when an employee leaves involuntarily, they don't necessarily want to go look for another job or they then immediately subject to the non-compete.
H.B. 172 Food Safety Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Rep. Wilcox asked whether Chad Pritchard had ever been under a non-compete agreement in the restaurant industry.
▶ Watch at 2:52:04Read what they said
You, Mr. Chair. Um, just outta curiosity, have you ever been under a non-compete agreement in the restaurant industry?
H.B. 172 Food Safety Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Rep. Wilcox joked about a promise to bring a pizzeria to Ogden.
▶ Watch at 2:52:38Read what they said
I was just curious. I was gonna say, that's not something I'm speaking about. The more important question Mr. Chair, is, uh, whether or not, um, he's ever gonna make good on his promise to me, made at one point, maybe in a drunken state, to bring a pizzeria to Ogden. That's, that's a more important
H.B. 172 Food Safety Amendments · House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee · Jan 30, 2026
Rep. Wilcox moved to adopt the first substitute of H.B. 172.
▶ Watch at 3:00:28Read what they said
I'd like to move that we pass out We first sub Favorably HB 1 72. First sub first substitute, sorry. Adopt the first substitute.
S.B. 18 Criminal Offense Modifications · House floor debate (day 11) · Jan 30, 2026
Explains that S.B. 18 makes mostly technical changes to correct cross-references and errors in the criminal code, is a committee bill from the law enforcement committee, and offers to answer questions.
▶ Watch at 18:12Read what they said
Thank you. This is, uh, mostly technical changes related to criminal code reification, uh, committee bill out of law enforcement. Over the interim, happy to answer any questions if there are any. Uh, but mostly corrects some, uh, errors in the code. Most, uh, cross references, things like that.
S.B. 13 Statutorily Required Reports and Presentations Amendments · House floor debate (day 11) · Jan 30, 2026
Presents S.B. 13, saying it requires the sentencing commission to send data to the public safety data portal, including annual collections of offenses and sentencing changes, and makes some smaller changes to their work.
▶ Watch at 36:24Read what they said
Thank you. The functional part of this one, uh, and also a, a interim bill is to make sure that, um, the sentencing commission also sends in, uh, two, uh, the public safety data portal. In other words, to all of us, the public, everyone, um, their annual collection of, uh, offenses that we've increased and decreased and, and everything that we've actually done, hopefully to end up where we all understand, uh, the impact of the decisions that we've made. Uh, make it easier for policy, make policy makers across every jurisdiction. It also handles, um, a few other small, uh, changes for their work. But that's the sum of the bill. Thank you.
H.B. 143 Special Education Amendments · House floor debate (day 11) · Jan 30, 2026
Spoke in support, saying clear communication with families can prevent many problems and that families of children with disabilities are affected unevenly.
▶ Watch at 1:01:29Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, Mr. Speaker, just standing in support. I don't know that it that we need it. Um, we've got, uh, a number of the, uh, families in this situation where that hasn't happened in the past in my district and, uh, both with this and with udot, uh, but we're working on the other one. But thank you for taking care of this one, uh, to the good representative in Davis County. Um, it really is just a, the right communication that can solve a lot of these problems ahead of time. And it, there is a disparate impact on our, our families with disabled children. It just is different for all of 'em. Thank You. …
H.B. 104 State Holiday Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 29, 2026
Presented the bill, which makes the first Tuesday in November a state holiday without requiring time off, and said it has no fiscal note.
▶ Watch at 1:27:43Read what they said
All of you. Yes, thank you. Um, good to be back in here and seeing you on that particular dais representative. Um, yeah, Seems like we were just here. Um, but yeah, this, this bill is literally the exact same bill that we passed off the floor last year and died on the Senate board. Um, it, uh, makes, uh, the first Tuesday, November election day a state holiday. Um, although with some caveats we're not actually forcing anybody to take the day off. Um, it's kind of a hybrid that way, meaning it'll get the title and hopefully sometime soon when the current administration finalizes their plans, then it'll become a federal holiday. But, uh, until then it'll be …
H.B. 104 State Holiday Amendments · House Government Operations Committee · Jan 29, 2026
Explained that he wants voting to be recognized as a state holiday to honor the secret ballot and encourage participation in elections.
▶ Watch at 1:36:02Read what they said
You. Uh, I just, I think it's important given, uh, that nomination or that recommendation that was purely a financial question last year. I know I love Columbus Day. I'll forgive you next year. Forgot about my passionate Italians body. Okay. No. Um, in all seriousness, uh, one of the first bills that I spoke to on the floor in like 2009 when I was much younger and handsomer had to do with our, our right to vote into a secret ballot. And when we step into that booth was the example I used. Nobody had ever heard of mail-in voting yet, or, uh, any of these other things that this has kind of turned into. But how when we …
H.J.R. 14 Joint Rules Resolution - Requests for Appropriation · House Rules Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Asked about the scope of the 1% fund and the amount each legislator would receive.
▶ Watch at 42:06Read what they said
Thank you. Mr. Chair, can you help, uh, help me understand the, the scope of the 1%? Like if that were in place right now? What are we talking about per member?
H.J.R. 14 Joint Rules Resolution - Requests for Appropriation · House Rules Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Asked whether this fund would replace the current end-of-session round robin process using the same pot of money.
▶ Watch at 43:07Read what they said
And you could just to follow up, sorry, this is really a series of questions, please. Yeah. Okay. So then that, uh, you'd have that in place that would take the place. I, I then assume of kind of what we do now at the end of the session, which is the end, like this round robin speed dating process where we, where we make the argument, we all vote. Um, that's that same pot of money, right?
H.J.R. 14 Joint Rules Resolution - Requests for Appropriation · House Rules Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Asked whether the sponsor had discussed the idea with other states that have similar programs.
▶ Watch at 44:31Read what they said
Okay. Have you, uh, had this conversation with other states? I know similar programs exist in surrounding states?
H.J.R. 14 Joint Rules Resolution - Requests for Appropriation · House Rules Committee · Jan 28, 2026
Said the speed dating process is frustrating and that the bill needs firm boundaries so it does not become a campaign promise vehicle, and offered to help work on it.
▶ Watch at 46:48Read what they said
Um, if it were something where we could maybe, uh, increase, I think the, the greatest value in this is that you're increasing, you're trying to increase the, the voice of the local legislator for the needs of their district. That's beautiful. That's the right, you know, direction to go. If we can figure out a way to do that. Um, I, I know exactly what you're talking about. When you go through the speed dating thing, you don't even really know if that's worth doing. And we all have, we all have priorities in there. And, uh, and that can be very frustrating, and especially with our current process where literally all the eggs are in the basket of …
H.B. 163 Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Presents HB 163 to add special education to the Grow Your Own program, saying the program has helped districts fill educator positions and that special education staffing remains a challenge.
▶ Watch at 1:37:57Read what they said
Thank you. Hopefully we don't need as much debate on this one. Um, hopefully everyone's familiar with the Grow Your Own Program. We're a few years into that right now. I'm a super fan of this. Um, I don't know if Luke's behind me. Sorry, superintendent either. Yeah. Everybody please recognize his beautiful Royal Blue suit in honor of his favorite team. The, the BYU Cougars on the record. I appreciate him wearing that for me today. I'm still not seeing him. I think he's planning on Yeah, I think that, uh, you're being invited to join, join the Good Representative. Unless, unless that's visible to everyone on the camera. I don't think it has the same effect, uh, superintendent. …
H.B. 163 Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Says the bill differs from alternate-route programs but uses the same scholarship program, now extended to special education licenses, and cites the need in that area.
▶ Watch at 1:40:48Read what they said
Compare? Yeah, that's good question. Um, Mr. Chair, it's, uh, it is, it is a little bit different, but it's really just the same scholarship program. We're just allowing it to apply to a special education license. Where previously we were, uh, we weren't allowed to do that. And we have a massive need in this particular area. We've seen it work, it's proven now. This isn't like a risky thing we're doing. Um, and you know, I will say after visiting, I know Representative Thompson has talked, talked recently to me about, uh, his visits to schools when I've made those, those are some of the most, uh, both heartbreaking and heart, uh, warming are the ones that get …
H.B. 163 Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Confirms that existing requirements are unchanged and the bill only extends the program to special educator licenses.
▶ Watch at 1:42:16Read what they said
To answer it more simply, yes, all of those things still apply. Okay. Yeah, we haven't changed any of those programs. We're literally just expanding Grow your own to allow the special educator license.
H.B. 163 Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline Program Amendments · House Education Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Says the bill is a policy matter and that he is not aware of data at that level of detail, only anecdotal results.
▶ Watch at 1:43:06Read what they said
For data. Sure. Yeah. I don't, I don't know that we have that level of data, right. I mean, we have anecdotal stuff like obviously we have in Ogden, we've seen the other one work. But, you know, in talking to the school board, I don't, I don't believe we have that level of data.
H.B. 39 Prison and Jail Standards Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Presents HB 39, which requires sheriffs and jail managers to ensure independently administered standards and a regular inspection schedule, and says the bill does not dictate which standards are used.
▶ Watch at 1:51:54Read what they said
Thank you. Uh, I appreciate, uh, not adjourning. Thank you very much. It's very kind of you. Um, I am curious as to Senator Musselman. Uh, I believe he does have a, a bill in my committee tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to that. Um, but no, this one in, in real life. This one is, uh, is uh, one of our committee bills from the interim. And oh, incidentally, the good senator, uh, is the Senate sponsor. So yes, that's good. Um, it requires, it's pretty simple. It requires, uh, a sheriff or, uh, jail manager of any kind to ensure, uh, that we have a system of independently administered standards and that we're checking, like this is making …
H.B. 39 Prison and Jail Standards Amendments · Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 27, 2026
Responds to public comment that the bill intentionally does not name the oversight entity, saying independence could be defined by accreditation and standards and that the bill could be adjusted later if needed.
▶ Watch at 1:58:56Read what they said
Sure. I mean, I, in some ways we intentionally didn't identify, um, exactly who or what entity that should be. Um, independent oversight I'm insured by our attorneys, um, alone allows that to, uh, be defined as, uh, someone with the correct professional, you know, accreditation and standards that could be theoretically, you know, other professionals as long as they're outside of that agency, they're independent of the agency that they're, you know, inspecting. So there's, or that could also be others that are qualified for that, um, rather than dictating that answer. But I appreciate the motion and, and, uh, if we need to adjust that in the future, I'm happy to do that.
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Introduces HB 24 and says it makes several changes, including penalties for driving without insurance and for speeding in a school zone.
▶ Watch at 38:47Read what they said
So, hospital 24. Um, the first one here today, um, is doing a, a few different things. Um, note, I wanna note that I'm gonna speak to the substitute and then we also have an amendment that we need to adopt there. But, uh, we're doing a, a handful of a handful of things here. Uh, one of these, uh, we found, in fact, if I could have, where is he? Dan, with the sentencing commission. If you wanna introduce yourself Officially,
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Describes the bill's changes to uninsured driving penalties and school-zone speeding, and says Strong can answer technical questions.
▶ Watch at 39:28Read what they said
of operative things that we're doing here. One of those is that we have, um, an insurance issue when, when folks don't have insurance, that we're, we're attempting to make sure there's some ambiguity in the system where they sometimes are not charged a charge for an infraction. Um, you know, when you encounter someone who causes an accident and doesn't have insurance, we wanna make sure that that's charged appropriately as a misdemeanor. And so we're addressing that. Um, so we're increasing the penalty on that one. And then we have, you know, repealing, uh, a clerical issue on that side. Um, and then reducing the criminal offense, so when someone is speeding in a school zone from 20 …
H.B. 24 Criminal Penalty Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Says the bill reflects work by the sentencing commission and other groups to reduce confusion and court burden.
▶ Watch at 47:38Read what they said
Yeah, thank you. Um, no, I I will mention that, uh, people ask the, the question, do we really want to do, you know, x, y, Z all the time? And this is a good example of, you know, Juab sentencing, commission, defense, all, you know, seeing what makes sense and where we're causing confusion and problems in the court system, uh, with the courts we're seeking to reduce their burden already. Hopefully this does that a little bit. Thanks.
H.B. 116 Criminal Fines Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Presents HB 116 as repeating language from last year's organized crime prostitution bill, fixing conflicts with two other passed bills, with no policy changes, and notes possible changes to some fines may be considered later.
▶ Watch at 48:38Read what they said
Yeah, HB one 16 is literally, uh, the same language that we had in the, the organized crime prostitution bill we had last year. Um, we had some conflict ended up in some conflicting language with like two other bills that had passed, and at the end of the day, this was the fix. We thought about doing it during the special session. This is the same policy. We didn't change any of the policy this time around all the, all the same stuff from last year. So, um, happy to answer any questions about it if anybody has any questions, but it's, um, I have been approached about perhaps it altering some of the fines that we're talking about …
H.B. 116 Criminal Fines Amendments · House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee · Jan 23, 2026
Declines to add remarks and notes the bill was discussed extensively last year.
▶ Watch at 50:18Read what they said
No. Um, I think I'll wave. We're good. Okay. We talked about this a lot last year.
H.B. 47 Vehicle Registration and Insurance Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Moves to adopt the first substitute on the system.
▶ Watch at 18:28Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to make a motion to move the substitute on the system.
H.B. 47 Vehicle Registration and Insurance Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Says a constituent with a seasonal vehicle is facing this issue and offers the substitute.
▶ Watch at 18:44Read what they said
I was gonna speak to this one anyway, so, yeah. Um, I received a letter Friday from a constituent who, uh, has a vehicle that is literally only in use a few months, a year, and is facing this exact issue. So it's, I know it's not an innocuous one, it's one that, uh, our constituents are actually dealing with and are frustrated by that, uh, oversight. So happy to offer the substitute. Thank you.
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Sponsor says the bill continues a policy raising DNR law enforcement salaries and equalizes pay with DPS officers of similar experience, and asks members to speak closer to the microphones.
▶ Watch at 37:43Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know who to give these feedback to, but I'm getting text messages from constituents that we are too quiet with our new microphones that they can hear the Senate really well, but not us. So I don't know if our audio people listening can help fix that, but that has nothing to do with my bill. Just maybe we can speak into the microphone better. We'll try that too. All right. This bill, uh, house Bill 49. It's the continuation of the same policy we've had with our DNR law enforcement trying to get their salary brought up to where it needs to be for, uh, market level. Um, what this one does is …
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Says the bill does not direct that transfer, that it reflects a formula used in the past, and that discussions are ongoing about the concern raised.
▶ Watch at 39:36Read what they said
I believe that's what the current fiscal note says that is not directed in the bill. That is simply a formula they're using that they've used in the past. I will say to the good representative from down south, that we are actively having those conversations based on the same concerns that you have.
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Says DNR officers are law enforcement officers who work alone in remote areas, that they deserve a raise, and that treating them differently from other officers is not something he is comfortable with.
▶ Watch at 41:36Read what they said
Yeah, happy to. Um, they're law enforcement officers, just like any other law enforcement officer in the state of Utah. Um, in fact, we in recent years have combined them into one agency. So we don't have a separation of, uh, you know, parks officers or just wildlife officers. Um, rather it's one entity in itself. Um, they enforce state and federal law. Um, typically they do it on their own. So one of the highlights of this, and one of the tragedies, I'm happy to introduce you to some of 'em if you'd like, but is that when they encounter the problems that they encounter, they are typically tens of hundreds of miles away from anyone else or any …
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Says other officers would likely want raises too, but this change addresses a gap in one agency so that its sergeants are not paid far less than those at another agency.
▶ Watch at 43:42Read what they said
That's a good question. Uh, representative or Mr. Speaker? Um, happy to answer that. There's, I'm sure they would all want one, but this is a situation where we have one agency, which has been dramatically lower than the others, not the other way around. And so we're not adjusting those ones necessarily. We are asking to equalize this so that we're not treating sergeants for one state law enforcement agency dramatically different than sergeants for another. We don't want to be poaching from ourselves, for example. And we've created a situation where that's a natural progression. You can do what you love if you're willing to take that kind of a risk out in the middle of nowhere with …
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Opposes the motion to circle, saying funding will come from the general fund during the budget process and the policy should advance now.
▶ Watch at 45:30Read what they said
I think I would oppose the motion to circle, to circle right now. The question isn't about whether you know exactly which part of that department the budget's gonna come from. Ultimately, it's gonna have to come from general fund. We're in a year where we know that that's down. Um, the policy is just as important as the actual, uh, budgeting that budget process, as we're all well aware is just beginning. We haven't even started our appropriations hearings really yet. We're gonna go through that at the end of the session. If we haven't been able to figure that out and where that should live, then, then this policy will need to be fought again next year, and …
H.B. 49 Law Enforcement Salary Amendments · House floor debate (day 2) · Jan 21, 2026
Gives summation, thanks members and DNR officers, and asks for support of the bill.
▶ Watch at 47:34Read what they said
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Um, representatives, we've, we've done a lot of good work here. I don't know if we're gonna get there this year or not. We're gonna take the shot and we're gonna keep going until we fix it. So, appreciate your support of our DNR law enforcement officers in the past, and, uh, I know that they're, they're watching and, and appreciate I've, I probably should pass along all the thank yous that I've received throughout the year from their spouses. It really does mean a lot to them that we have stepped up and that they don't have to leave the job that they love, um, because it just doesn't make sense for their family anymore. …
H.J.R. 2 Joint Rules Resolution - Resolution Amendments · House Rules Committee · Jan 20, 2026
Expressed concern that the immediate effective date changes rules during work already underway since May, and suggested a regular effective date, while saying the policy is solid.
▶ Watch at 1:04:16Read what they said
Thank you. Representative or chair. That's my only concern right now is that I'm sure that they're, you know, we're, we're changing the rules literally in the middle of the game on the day one for the public. Who's watching? They think today's the first day of the session. It started in May. So everybody's been working on this stuff for several months. So I'm a little concerned about that. I'd probably resolve all of my concerns if we put this effective date as a regular effective date so that we're not changing the rules in the middle on this particular one and undermining something someone's already doing. I think we're already doing a lot of this in the house, …
H.B. 39 Prison and Jail Standards Amendments · House floor debate (day 1) · Jan 20, 2026
Says HB 39 sets a baseline standard for prisons and jails and requires an independent assessment about once a year to check compliance with those standards.
▶ Watch at 1:35:25Read what they said
Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill representatives, uh, establishes a baseline standard for our prisons and jails. Um, and frankly requires, um, an independent assessment, uh, once a year or so to make sure that, uh, we're living up to the standards that we profess.
From the official recordings' automatic captions, with speakers and summaries identified by AI. Use the ▶ links to check the recording before you rely on a quote.