UTAH (ABC4) – On July 1, several noteworthy bills passed during the 2022 Legislative Session will take effect.
Many of these laws will impact the day-to-day lives of Utahns.
With that in mind, here’s a quick rundown of some of the more noteworthy ones
H.B. 11: Student Eligibility in Interscholastic Activities
-This bill was without a doubt the most controversial legislation passed during the 2022 session, in terms of public reaction. The bill, which was initially vetoed by Gov. Spencer Cox, will ban transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports, requiring schools to designate athletic activities by sex.
S.B. 100: Paid Leave Modifications
-This bill requires certain state employers to offer paid parental leave in the following circumstances:
the birth of the employee’s child
the adoption of a minor child; or
the appointment of legal guardianship of a minor child or incapacitated adult
H.B. 34 – Cigarette Amendments – Modifies tax and criminal code provisions related to cigarettes along with modifies the definitions of “cigarette” and “electronic cigarette.”
H.B.39 – Construction Code Amendments – Changes Title 15A, State Construction, and Fire Codes Act, and creates an exemption from licensure in the Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors Licensing Act
H.B. 33 Instream Water Flow Amendments – Makes changes related to change applications for certain uses of water.
H.B. 70 Public Safety Disability Benefits Amendments – Modifies disability coverage provisions of the Utah State Retirement and Insurance Benefit Act.
H.B. 157 Sovereign Lands Revenue Amendments – Addresses issues related to revenues received by the state from activities on sovereign lands.
H.B. 176 Utah Health Workforce Act – Enacts provisions relating to Utah’s health workforce, creates the Utah Health Workforce Advisory Council
H.B. 196 Transfer of Domestic Violence Cases – addresses the transfer of domestic violence cases from the justice court to the district court.
H.B. 250 Environmental Quality Revenue Amendments – Addresses fees and funds related to environmental quality
H.B. 305 Natural Resources Revisions – modifies provisions related to the management, regulation, conservation, and use of natural resources
H.B. 323 Transient Room Tax Amendments – modifies provisions related to the transient room tax
H.B. 333 Economic and Workforce Development Amendments – Modifies provisions related to economic and workforce development.
H.B. 359 Eviction Records Amendments –
-Addresses a stipulation by the parties of an eviction to expungement;
-Defines terms relating to the expungement of eviction records;
-Addresses the automatic expungement of certain evictions;
-Addresses the expungement of certain evictions by petition; and
-Addresses the distribution and effect of an order for expungement of an eviction
H.B. 396 Paid Professional Hours for Educators –
-requires the State Board of Education (state board) to provide funding to local
-education agencies (LEAs) for additional paid professional hours for educators
-describes the professional development LEAs will provide with state board funding
-requires the Executive Appropriations Committee, in preparing budget bills, to use one-time appropriations in the Public Education Economic Stabilization Restricted
-Account for a certain amount of paid professional hours for educators
H.B. 456 Digital User Asset Payment Amendments –
-defines terms
-requires the Division of Finance to contract with a third party to accept payments to
-participating government agencies in the form of digital assets
-authorizes the Division of Finance to contract with a third party to accept payments
-to political subdivisions in the form of digital assets
-gives the division rulemaking authority to determine standards a third party must
-meet to provide the payment service; and
-describes the assignment of liability with respect to aspects of providing this
-payment service
S.B. 001 Higher Education Base Budget –
-provides appropriations for the use and support of higher education agencies and institutions
-provides appropriations for other purposes as described
S.B. 004 Business, Economic Development, and Labor Base Budget –
-provides appropriations for the use and support of certain state agencies;
-provides appropriations for other purposes as described
S.B. 006 Infrastructure and General Base Budget –
-provides appropriations for the use and support of certain state agencies;
-provides appropriations for other purposes as described
S.B. 007 National Guard, Veterans Affairs, and Legislature Base Budget –
-provides appropriations for the use and support of certain state agencies
-provides appropriations for other purposes as described
S.B. 008 State Agency and Higher Education Compensation Appropriations –
-provides funding for a 3.5% labor market increase for state employees
-provides funding for performance-based discretionary, targeted, and directed salary increases for state employees
-provides funding for a 5.75% labor market and performance-based increase for higher education employees
-provides funding for step and lane increases for employees of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
-provides funding for an average 6.7% increase in health insurance benefits rates and 1% increase in dental insurance benefits
S.B. 024 Utah Retirement Systems Revisions –
-requires a participating employer to certify each employee’s status for retirement benefits
-provides the time period for which a retiree’s retirement allowance is canceled due to a violation of the earnings limitation for a part-time appointed or elected board member
-aligns the time period for determining the final average salary with the time period for calculating years of service credit
-adds the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety and the executive director of the Department of Corrections to the definitions of public safety service employee
-clarifies when an elected official who is initially elected to office on or after July 1, 2011, may continue to participate in a retirement plan in which the elected official had previously accrued service credit
-provides that a full-time Tier II employee who begins employment with an institution of higher education and has previously accrued service credit has a one-time irrevocable election to continue participation in the Utah Retirement Systems
S.B. 028 Office of American Indian-Alaska Native Health and Family –
-defines terms
-creates the Office of American Indian-Alaska Native Health and Family Services within the Department of Health and Human Services;
-moves the American Indian-Alaska Native Health Office and the American Indian-Alaska Native Health Liaison to the Office of American Indian-Alaska Native Health and Family Services
-requires the executive directors of the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services to jointly appoint:
• a director of the Office of American Indian-Alaska Native Health and Family Services;
• an Indian Child Welfare Act Liaison
• an American Indian-Alaska Native Health Liaison;
-requires the Indian Child Welfare Act Liaison and the director of the Office of American Indian-Alaska Native Health and Family Services to meet certain qualifications
-defines the duties of the Office of American Indian-Alaska Native Health and Family Services and the Indian Child Welfare Act Liaison;
-modifies the duties of the American Indian-Alaska Native Health Liaison;
-creates reporting requirements
-makes technical and conforming changes
S.B. 045 Department of Health and Human Services –
-implements the reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services;
-specifies the duties and responsibilities of the newly combined agency;
-harmonizes conflicting provisions of the Utah Health Code and the Utah Human Services Code;
-amends the responsibilities of the Department of Workforce Services;
-updates cross-references throughout the Utah Code
-makes technical and corresponding changes
S.B. 080 Real Property Recording Amendments –
-provides the requirements for a legal description of real property in a document to be recorded with a county recorder
-makes technical and conforming changes.
S.B. 085 Protective Order and Stalking Expungement –
-defines terms relating to the expungement of protective orders and stalking injunctions;
-makes statutory provisions for the expungement of protective orders and stalking injunctions retroactive;
-allows for the expungement of certain protective orders and stalking injunctions;
-provides the requirements for expunging certain protective orders and stalking injunctions;
-addresses the distribution and effect of an order for expungement of certain protective orders and stalking injunctions
-makes technical and conforming changes.
S.B. 093 Business Tax Amendment –
-exempts supplies used in the course of business from personal property tax
-exempts certain tangible personal property consumed in the performance of taxable service from sales and use tax.
S.B. 100 Paid Leave Modifications –
-defines terms
-requires certain state employers to provide certain employees paid parental leave upon:
• the birth of the employee’s child
• the adoption of a minor child
• the appointment of legal guardianship of a minor child or incapacitated adult
-requires the Department of Human Resource Management to adopt rules to administer parental leave
-allows the Department of Government Operations to transfer certain money for the costs of parental leave.
S.B. 106 Electrical Facility Sales Tax Exemption –
-enacts a sales and use tax exemption for amounts paid or charged in connection with the construction, operation, maintenance, repair, or replacement of facilities owned by a distribution electrical cooperative or a wholesale electrical cooperative
-makes technical changes
S.B. 147 Utah Communications Authority Amendments –
-revokes the Utah Communications Authority’s existing exemption from the Budgetary Procedures Act;
-adjusts the collection amount for:
• the Utah Statewide Radio Restricted Account;
• the public safety network;
• the 911 emergency service charge;
-revokes a repeal date for the emergency services telecommunications charge;
-sets a future repeal date for charges to maintain the public safety communications network
-makes technical and conforming changes.
S.B. 188 Energy Efficiency Amendments –
-expands the Clean Fuels and Vehicle Technology Program to be the Clean Fuels and Emission Reduction Technology Program;
-expands low-income assistance programs related to customers of an electrical corporation or gas corporation
-makes technical changes
S.B. 218 Fund of Funds Modifications –
-repeals the Utah Capital Investment Board;
-modifies and repeals certain provisions relating to the Utah Capital Investment Corporation and the Utah fund of funds to begin the process of winding up the affairs of those entities;
-modifies the Utah Capital Investment Restricted Account to accept funds disbursed to the state by the Utah Capital Investment Corporation or the Utah fund of funds;
-exempts the Utah fund of funds from the Utah Money Management Act
-makes technical and conforming changes
S.B. 220 Missing Child Identification Program –
-creates the Missing Child Identification Program to be administered by the attorney general to provide a fingerprint and DNA collection kit to a parent or legal guardian of a child entering kindergarten.
S.B. 220 Water-Related Sales and Use Tax Amendments –
-changes certain references from dedicated credits to designated sales and use tax revenue;
-creates the Water Rights Restricted Account;
-provides that certain revenue be deposited into the restricted account;
-makes technical changes.
S.B. 221 Water-Related Sales and Use Tax Amendments –
-changes certain references from dedicated credits to designated sales and use tax revenue;
-creates the Water Rights Restricted Account;
-provides that certain revenue be deposited into the restricted account
-makes technical changes.
S.B. 226 Higher Education Data Privacy and Governance Revisions –
-transfers the Utah Data Resource Center (center) from the Department of Workforce Services to the Utah System of Higher Education;
-expands the duties of the center by requiring the center to collect and promote access to data from institutions of higher education and collaborate with the Board of Higher Education and the State Board of Education to coordinate access to certain student identifier information;
-requires the commissioner of higher education to:
• appoint a director of the center to serve as chair of the Utah Data Research Advisory Board;
• appoint the member who represents the center to the School Readiness Board;
-requires the center to include information regarding the center’s activities and accomplishments in the center’s annual report to the Legislature;
-provides for higher education student data protection at the state and institution of higher education (institution) levels;
-requires the state privacy officer to establish a privacy advisory group;
-enacts requirements for data protection and maintenance for the Utah Board of Higher Education, institutions, and third-party contractors;
-creates requirements for a third-party contractor’s use of student data;
-creates penalties for an institution that contracts with a third-party contractor that permits unauthorized collecting, sharing, or use of student data;
-defines terms
-makes technical and conforming changes.
S.B. 240 Health Care Liability Insurance Amendments –
-prohibits the Medicaid program from paying for home health services unless the provider of the services has liability insurance
For all bills passed, click here.
