Here are several notable bills Utah lawmakers didn't pass this year

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are no strangers to courting controversy, but this year, many of the most contentious proposals were watered down or didn't make it through by the time the clock ran out on Friday.

Gov. Spencer Cox praised the recent legislative session as the "best" he's seen, citing more collaboration and work to iron out the specifics of bills. Top Republican lawmakers agreed, saying a cumulative effort helped the Legislature arrive at the best policies.

"I appreciate the collaboration," the governor told KSL Friday. "It doesn't mean we get everything we want. There are lots of bills I don't love, but that doesn't mean I veto those bills. It means we worked together and tried to get them in a better place, and that happened more this session than any other session."

And although lawmakers introduced a record number of bills, the 540 they passed is fewer than each of the last three sessions. That decrease was seen as a positive sign for many, including Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.

"I used to have a Costco card. I would buy really big quantities of things that I ended up not consuming all of and I thought, 'Is it really worth it for me to get all of this when what I end up actually needing is far less?'" she told reporters Wednesday.

She added that she loves the store, but said she hopes this year "communicates to all of the legislators that they need to be quite strategic if they want to advance a bill through the Legislature and that not everything can fit in the freezer."

Some of the bills that would have impacted the capital and other cities included ones limiting the amount cities could raise property taxes each year and changing property tax exemptions.

Among the most controversial bills that were introduced were several bills directed toward undocumented immigrants living in the state and an election proposal that would have required voters who returned mailed ballots in person to show their identification.

That policy has been floated before and is likely to be proposed in future years, but for now, lawmakers opted instead to study the issue to guide future legislation.

Lawmakers made some changes to immigration policy, but the majority of proposals stalled out.

Here are some of the other notable bills that were voted down or not considered during the 45-day session:

Court overhaul

Lawmakers did vote to add new justices and judges to the state court system and created a way to convene a random three-judge panel to hear constitutional cases, but several other proposals that would have meant even bigger changes for courts did not advance.

One proposal that surfaced late in the session would have allowed Utahns to vote to overturn state Supreme Court rulings. The bill raised concerns about its constitutionality and whether it would upset the traditional separation of powers.

But its sponsor said the bill was not likely to pass and was meant to raise conversation in light of recent redistricting rulings that some lawmakers' say have eroded the Legislature's role in drawing political maps.

"This is a messaging bill, for sure," Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City, told KSL last month. "But I also think it behooves all of us to review what it is that the courts actually opined on and how that actually works in our form of government."

Other proposed changes to the courts did not advance, including proposals that would have required a two-thirds vote to retain judges, give the governor more power over choosing judicial nominees and allow the Legislature to initiatiate a special retention election if a judge engages in certain conduct that lawmakers don't like.

Changes to city incorporation

Like last year, a proposal emerged to give local leaders more say in creation of cities by developers, permitted under certain circumstances thanks to 2024 legislation. It ultimately stalled, though, getting approval by House lawmakers but narrowly failing in the Senate.

The new proposal, HB510, would have amended the 2024 law, requiring more engagement between county officials and developers looking to establish preliminary municipalities. The 2024 law, SB258, was approved as a mechanism to promote development of housing in Utah's rural corners, but critics worry it gives too much power to developers.

One city has been established under SB258, Echo Canyon near Moab, and three other new locales are in the works, Park City Tech in Summit County, Nine Springs in Morgan County and Willow in Kane County. Kane County Commissioner Celeste Meyeres, who favors tweaks to SB258, hopes the issue reemerges for debate in the 2027 legislative session.

A proposal that would have exempted traditional healers in the Native American community from having to get state licenses, HB277, passed in the House. The legislative session ended, though, before it could get consideration by the full Senate.

Rep. Jake Fitisemanu, D-West Valley City, touted the measure as clarifying a "gray area" of law on the issue. Many in the Native American community have relied on traditional healers for generations.

Contributing: Carter Williams

Related topics