Welcome to the 7th day on the Hill.
Priority bills from Republican legislative leadership continue to move quickly through the process, while other bills aren’t so lucky and are being held up behind the various procedural hurdles in the legislative process.
There’s only 38 days left!
Observations from the Hill
CRISIS RESPONSE WITHOUT LANGUAGE BARRIERS: That Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee also advanced a proposal to expand SafeUT with real-time translation services, primarily focused on including Spanish but with the capability to include other languages. The request for $10,000 in ongoing state funding comes from Sen. Heidi Baldarree, who emphasized that language should never be a barrier in a mental health or safety crisis. The cost is modest, and the argument was straightforward: when seconds matter, access matters too.
ELECTIONS AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: HB 209 Voting Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Cory Maloy, was heard on the House floor this morning. The bill tightens voter eligibility enforcement by allowing election officials to question a voter’s citizenship and require documentation proving citizenship before casting a state ballot, otherwise creating a bifurcated election system in which “undocumented” voters could only vote for federal races.
Supporters framed the bill as a safeguard for election integrity, even while acknowledging that verified cases of noncitizen voting in Utah are vanishingly rare, as confirmed by an ongoing review by the Lt. Governor’s Office. Critics warned that the bill risks empowering officials to block eligible voters based on suspicion alone and could disproportionately impact naturalized citizens, seniors, and others without immediate access to documents. Despite those concerns, the bill passed comfortably by a vote of 62-13.
COURTS, POWER, AND PERCEPTION: Over in the Senate, for the second time senators debated and voted on SB 134 Court Amendments, a bill sponsored by Sen. Chris Wilson that adds seven new judges across Utah’s court system, including two new justices on the Utah Supreme Court.
Supporters argued that population growth and rising caseloads demand more judicial resources, particularly in district courts. Opponents, including Senate Democrats and a handful of Republicans, raised concerns about cost in a tight budget year and the optics of expanding the Supreme Court amid ongoing tension between lawmakers and the judiciary over redistricting, ballot initiatives, and reproductive rights.
The bill ultimately passed the Senate by a vote of 21-8, with Sen. Emily Buss of the Forward Party and Sen. Evan Vickers of the Republican Party joining all the Democrats in voting against.
BALLOT INITIATIVES & PETITION RULES: A trio of bills in House Government Operations took aim at different parts of Utah’s citizen initiative and petition process.
HB 242 Initiatives and Referendum Signature Gathering and Removal Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Karen Peterson, extends existing rules for paid signature gatherers to also cover paid signature removal gatherers, prompted by allegations of misleading practices in a local referendum fight. It passed out of committee by a unanimous vote of 11-0.
Another proposal, HB 25 Candidate Petition Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepherd, would decentralize candidate petition signature verification, shifting responsibility from a single statewide clerk’s office contracted to verify all signatures to the county clerk of a majority of the signatures gathered in each packet, a move supporters say increases transparency but critics warn could create inconsistencies and unfunded local mandates. This bill was held in committee to give the sponsor time to work out some issues on candidate signature gathering deadlines before bringing it back for more action.
A third bill, HB 160 Statewide Initiative Modifications, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Stoddard, sought to raise the signature threshold for the indirect initiative pathway that proposes laws to the Legislature for its consideration to make it equal with the threshold for initiatives proposed directly to the people. This proposal raised concerns that it would effectively eliminate the indirect initiative pathway from consideration by those seeking to propose laws and drew concerns that lawmakers are steadily narrowing the tools voters have to put issues directly on the ballot. Although it was first proposed to table the bill, effectively killing it, the committee more mercifully chose to hold the bill, giving the sponsor more time to work on it if he so chooses.
Together, the bills reflect a broader trend in this and prior legislative sessions: continued legislative scrutiny and tightening of citizen-led democracy.
