What the Hill, 2026 Edition
A Beginner’s Guide to the Utah Legislature
Happy MLK Day! We hope you’re enjoying a peaceful holiday filled with skiing, fresh air, and rest. Oh, wait, just kidding.
Tomorrow, the 2026 Utah Legislative Session starts, so please grab your emotional support water bottle and prepare accordingly.
We are once again entering the annual tradition where 104 lawmakers descend on Capitol Hill to introduce hundreds of bills, most of which you were not consulted on, many of which you will not like, and even a few that might even make you say, “hill yeah!”
In the meantime, we are stocking up on:
Fresh packs of sticky notes
Pillows to scream into
Desks to metaphorically and literally flip
Fun nicknames for bills that make their contents a little more bearable
But seriously: we’ve spent the last few months trying to get our act together so we can bring you the most accessible, least miserable, and dare we say… fun coverage of the legislative session. Because this system is designed to overwhelm you into disengagement, and frankly, we refuse to let it win.
So before we start throwing bills at you (lovingly and educationally), here’s your quick guide to surviving session with us.
Your 2026 Legislative Survival Kit
Your One-Stop Shop
👉 elevateutah.news 👈
Bookmark it. Tattoo it on your soul. This is where everything lives: explainers, bill breakdowns, receipts, and links to everything else.
Almost Daily Social Media (You’re Welcome)
Follow us on Instagram and TikTok for daily videos breaking down what just happened at the Legislature. Mostly daily. Often, those will be posted late at night. Yes, we are tired already.
We will even be updating Facebook this year. We don’t like it either. Please clap.
YouTube – They Say This is Where The Kids Are At
We launched a YouTube channel because sometimes three minutes on social media simply does not cut it. Do us a big favor and go over there and follow our channel - it’s new, and we need to boost that engagement! There, you can expect to find:
Longer daily breakdowns
Weekly recap videos
Bonus context
Extended rants
The worst outtakes we probably should not post, but we will just for you
This Substack (Hi, You’re Here)
Congrats, you are already subscribed and ready to go. Unless you’re reading this because a friend forwarded it to you, welcome. That friend will be blessed for ten years. You should subscribe.
To save your inbox, we will send weekly session recaps. Paid subscribers will get extra detail, deeper dives, and more behind-the-scenes content.
The Digital Bill Tracker (Our Pride and Joy)
If you’ve seen our whiteboard and sticky notes on social media, imagine that… but online and interactive.
We’ll be tracking:
The bills we support
The bills we oppose
The pure crazy ones
The bills we are not sure about, but we’re going to try to figure them out
Our categories are very much not objective, not neutral, and not pretending to be. You will see our support. We will not be tracking all 1,000+ bills, because we value our sanity and yours.
For the Data Nerds
If you want charts, graphs, filters, and the ability to doom-scroll responsibly, we’ve got a more detailed interactive bill dashboard where you can dig into everything yourself.
Touch Grass With Us: Hill Talk on Wednesdays
Because reading about the Legislature alone on your couch can only take you so far, every Wednesday during session, we’re taking this show offline and into real life with Hill Talk at Church & State (pun intended). Think of it as group therapy for people who care about Utah politics, but with beer, smarter takes, and significantly more fun than being online.
Each week, we’ll also be joined by a different partner organization working on the issues actually impacted by the bills moving through the Capitol. Because we can’t pretend to be experts in everything. You will get new information, new ways to get involved, and new friends.
No two weeks will be the same, and there will be food and drinks! (And also, Church and State has one of the best ice cream shops in the city, so how can you say no to that?)
The Rules
Casual, not preachy
Informative, not wonky
Smart, but never serious
You can show up late
You can just listen
You can bring a friend who “doesn’t usually follow politics” (we love those people)
When & Where
Wednesdays during the legislative session
Church & State
6 PM - 7:30 PM
We’ll post the weekly partner orgs and topics ahead of time so you can plan which nights you want to come, but you are always welcome every week.
Leg Session Process & Definitions
Here are the quick and dirty, simple definitions and key things you might need to know.
The Basics
General Session runs 45 days (January–March). This is when almost everything happens, often very quickly and sometimes on purpose.
Special Sessions happen whenever lawmakers decide they simply must act immediately. You’ll know one is bad if it’s announced late at night.
Bills 101
A bill is a proposed law. They’re labeled HB (House Bill) or SB (Senate Bill).
Most bills get rewritten multiple times. If you’re confused, that’s normal. It’s also the point.
Not all bills are created equal. Some matter a lot. Some exist solely to make a statement. Some are very technical changes and definition updates.
Committees
Bills usually start in a committee, which is a small group of lawmakers who decide whether a bill lives, dies, or limps forward.
Committee hearings are where the public can testify and it really does matter!
Floors & Votes
If a bill passes committee, it goes to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote.
Bills must pass both chambers in the same form to move forward. So they go through the same process (Committee → floor → committee → floor → Governor)
Substitutes & Amendments
Substitute bill = a rewritten version of the original. Sometimes minor. Sometimes a completely different bill.
Amendments are short changes made during committee or floor debate.
The Governor
Once passed, bills go to the Governor, who can sign them, veto them, or let them become law without a signature.
Veto overrides are rare but very much possible considering Republicans’ supermajority control and therefore ⅔ veto override ability.
Why It Feels Bad
Things move fast by design.
Confusion favors people who already know the rules.
Paying attention is an act of resistance.
We’ll flag where each bill is in this process every week and in our daily updates so that you can follow along live.
Need Us?
Questions, tips, or “are you seeing this???” emails can be sent to:
hillyeah@elevateutah.news
What’s Next
Look out tomorrow for our first session email, breaking down some of the early bills to watch.
We’re glad you’re here. We’re grateful you’re paying attention. And we promise to make this as understandable, entertaining, and rage-manageable as possible.
We’ll get through this together.
Thanks team!