Week 4: Signs of Life

Okay, look, we’re officially past the halfway mark of the 2026 session, it’s Valentine’s Day, and you’ve got a long weekend stretching out in front of you. Which means before you go enjoy your Presidents Day freedom, you deserve something we don’t give you nearly enough of: good news.

A little love letter to Utah.

Week 1 was all posture - everybody setting up their chess pieces and making their big announcements. Week 2 was acceleration, bills flying through committees at alarming speed. Week 3 was simmering, that tense moment where you’re watching the pot and waiting for something to boil over. And week 4? Week 4 is where we show you the signs of life. The good stuff that’s actually happening while you’ve been overwhelmed by all the terrible bills.

Because we forget sometimes when we’re deep in the legislative weeds, tracking 900+ bills and watching yet another attempt to consolidate power: there are good bills moving. There are bad bills dying. There are actual wins happening that don’t make you want to pack up your entire life and move to Colorado.

But you’re here because Utah is worth fighting for. There’s still plenty happening under the dome that makes us want to lie face down on the Capitol lawn. But ultimately, Utah is worth fighting for. It always has been. And for all the frustration we feel, most of the people elected in this state (yes, even the ones who drive us absolutely insane) believe they’re trying to make Utah better. Even if they have a really funny way of showing it.

So we’re sending you into this long weekend with wins, with good bills you should know about, and with a reminder that democracy isn’t dead yet; we’re all still here.

But before we get into any of it, can we just say something?

We love you.

Truly. We do.

You are the reason we have gotten this far through session.

Over 400 of you have shown up to our weekly in-person events. Four. Hundred. People. Every week.

Utah has never really seen anything like this.

You’ve shown up. You’ve paid attention. You’ve cared loudly. You’ve cared quietly. You’ve cared consistently.

You have no idea what your support means to us. Not just personally, though yes, personally. But also in the larger sense. The energy in those rooms, the questions you ask, the emails you send, the calls you make, it really matters. And people are noticing.

And maybe more importantly, it says something about who you are.

You love this state. You love it hard. You’re willing to fight for it. You’re willing to stay when it would be easier to disengage. Thank God you’re here. Because this work only feels possible when we remember we’re not doing it alone.

So we love you, our Elevate Utah crew (Elevators? The Life Elevated?). We couldn’t do this without you.

Thank you <3

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So Naturally, Let’s Talk About Death

Because sometimes at the Utah Legislature, the best news is about the bills that die. And this week, we had bodies.

HB96 - Trevor Lee’s Ivermectin For Everyone

This bill would’ve made Ivermectin available over the counter with no prescription, no medical supervision, just walk into any pharmacy and grab it like it’s Sudafed. It failed in committee this week. Trevor Lee is not having a good session, and frankly, we love that for him.

HB156 - Bring Your Own Blood To The Hospital

This one officially died in the Senate. Kristin Chevrier worked on this bill for two years, poured her heart into it, and it’s genuinely tragic for her that it didn’t make it. But for the rest of us? Pour one out for BYOB. Actually, pour out a bag of blood. It seems you won’t be able to bring your own vaccine-free blood to the hospital.

HB399 - Don’t Teach Empathy

Another Trevor Lee Special. The bill that would ban social-emotional learning in K-12 schools - because apparently teaching kids to understand their feelings and work through conflict is too dangerous for Utah - got held in committee. It might come back. These things have a habit of rising from the dead. But for now, we’re calling it dead.

HB288 - The Voter Registration Bill That Became Something Terrifying

This one started as a nice bill to provide voter registration info when people get hunting licenses. Then Trevor Lee (yes, again) substituted language on the House floor - without consulting the Lieutenant Governor’s office - that would give the LG a tool to audit voter information through external databases.

Senator McKell said turning voter information over to databases “scares him to death.” The Senate unanimously voted to table it. The bill is (mostly) dead. And boy, Trevor really looked gutted. Tough week.

Some Bills Got Less Bad (and that’s a win too!)

Not every win is a full funeral. Sometimes the victory is that something awful becomes… moderately less awful. And that counts.

HB274 - The Sentencing Commission Bill started out removing ALL defense attorneys from the Sentencing Commission and replacing them with more law enforcement. Now the 3 defense attorneys are back on the commission. It still removes the juvenile defender and indigent defender. Is it perfect? No. Is it better than it was? Yes. And as the Legislators like to say, it’s only good policy if no one is happy.

HB197 - The Book Banning Bill started with AI-powered screening tools to automatically identify and ban books, private lawsuits letting parents sue schools for $500 per violation, mandatory filtering software on all school devices, and extensive vendor contract requirements. The substitute removed almost all of that - the AI censorship tools are gone, the private right to sue is gone, the filtering mandates are gone. What’s left is a prohibition on advertising in digital materials and a new requirement that school libraries stock “academically rigorous” books about the founders and US history. Still ideologically motivated, but way less dystopian than algorithms deciding what kids can read.

Sometimes they surprise us. Sometimes bills get better instead of worse. Sometimes the process actually works the way it’s supposed to.

The Good Stuff! (Yes, It Exists)

Okay, we need to be honest about something: we’re part of the problem.

It’s easy to focus only on the bad bills. The ones that make you want to scream into a pillow, yell at your monitor, or go into hiding. Those are the ones that get our attention, get our outrage, get our newsletter real estate. And look, they deserve it - some of this stuff is incredibly alarming.

But we don’t want to only talk about what’s going wrong. We want to give credit where credit is due. It’s important to recognize when legislators do good work, when bills actually solve problems, and when we are making good progress in our state.

So here are the some of the good bills moving through the legislature. These ones make people’s lives better. They are the ones that actually address real problems instead of manufacturing new ones. The ones worth celebrating.

HB443 - Let Voters Choose Their Lawmakers

When a legislator resigns mid-term, who picks their replacement? Right now, it’s usually a handful of party delegates - not voters. Rep. Andrew Stoddard’s bill would require a special election instead. About a quarter of current lawmakers were appointed rather than elected, sometimes by just a few dozen people (party delegates) deciding who represents tens of thousands of Utahns. This bill passed House committee 7-3. Democracy working the way it’s supposed to? Novel concept.

HB68 - Housing Reorganization

This reorganizes state housing agencies into one office with a single director accountable to the Governor - consolidating existing programs instead of creating new bureaucracy. It responds to audit findings about lack of coordination. It would be a good solution to a massive problem. It passed the House 55-13. Housing advocates have been asking for this kind of coordination for years and we are making good progress.

SB180 - Free School Lunch Expansion

Sen. Luz Escamilla’s bill expands eligibility for free school meals so more kids can eat at school without stigma or paperwork barriers. Families earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level would qualify. It uses existing liquor tax revenue and recognizes that no child should go hungry because their family earns just enough to miss outdated eligibility cutoffs. Food security is foundational to learning. This passed the Senate Education Committee unanimously.

HB29 - Ban Hidden Fees

Rep. Tyler Clancy’s bill cracks down on hidden fees by requiring businesses to show the total price upfront - no more bait-and-switch pricing where the “mandatory” fees appear at checkout. It gives the Division of Consumer Protection enforcement power, including fines up to $2,500 per violation. All-in pricing. What a concept. It passed the House with only 3 opposed.

SB215 - Eviction Record Expungement

Sen. Stephanie Pitcher’s bill shortens the waiting period for automatic expungement of dismissed eviction cases. Right now, even if an eviction case gets dismissed, that record follows renters for years, locking them out of housing, jobs, and credit. This bill clears those records sooner, letting families move forward instead of being haunted by a case that went nowhere. On the Senate floor now.

SB76 - Rent Reporting Builds Credit

Sen. Jen Plumb’s bill requires landlords to offer renters the option to have on-time rent payments reported to credit bureaus. It applies to any corporate landlord (even with just one unit) and individual landlords with 16+ units. Rent is often a household’s largest expense, but it rarely helps build credit. This gives renters a voluntary way to strengthen their credit history. In Senate committee.

SB248 - Childcare as Infrastructure

Sen. Escamilla’s bill creates a public-private partnership where the state retrofits obsolete buildings into childcare facilities and leases them to employer sponsors who contract with licensed providers. State employees get childcare access, the state gets lease revenue, and employers can actually help workers afford childcare. Passed committee 4-1.

HB245 - Prevailing Wage Returns

Rep. Tyler Clancy’s bill reestablishes prevailing wage standards for state construction projects - ensuring workers on publicly funded projects get paid fairly. This protects workers from being undercut and maintains construction quality standards. It passed House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee 6-5. After last year’s labor battle it is good to see that sometimes labor protections actually move forward in the Utah Legislature.

SB253 - Protecting Libraries from Book Bans

Sen. Mike McKell’s bill requires clear, public policies for how library materials are selected and challenged, limits repeat challenges to once every four years per title, keeps materials available while under review, and prevents removal solely due to “partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval.” It protects librarians from retaliation and restricts digital providers from tracking individual student reading. It was written in collaboration with coalitions, librarians, and the people actually affected. Passed Senate Education Committee.

SB51 - School Safety Information Sharing

Sen. Derrin Owens’ bill creates a system for tracking students who have made credible threats of violence, allowing schools to share that information when a student transfers districts. It includes privacy protections and legal immunity for staff who report in good faith. The goal is to help schools identify potentially dangerous situations earlier and prevent violence. This is on it’s last step on the House Floor.

SB69 - Bell-to-Bell Phone Ban

Sen. Lincoln Fillmore’s bill extends the school phone ban from “during instructional time” to “during the school day” - basically bell to bell instead of just during class. Kids can still have phones, they just can’t use them all day at school. It passed the Senate side and now is In House Education Committee.

SB176 - Electric Landscaping Equipment

Sen. Stephanie Pitcher’s bill requires state agencies to buy electric-powered landscaping equipment (mowers, trimmers, leaf blowers) when procuring for smaller state properties in urban counties. It cuts emissions, protects workers and nearby communities from noise and pollution, and saves money over time through lower fuel and maintenance costs. On the Senate floor now.

SB244 - Cardiac Emergency Response in Schools

Sen. Jerry Stevenson’s bill requires schools to develop cardiac emergency response plans, including proper placement of AEDs, training staff in CPR and first aid, and establishing a grant program to help schools implement the plans. Kids’ hearts matter. This is in Senate Education Committee.

So go enjoy your long weekend. Take a break from the legislative chaos. Eat some chocolate. Remember why you care about this state in the first place.

Because when you come back on Tuesday, there will be 20 days left in the session. Twenty days to keep fighting for the good bills, to kill the bad ones, and to remind the legislature that we’re still here, we’re still watching, and we’re not going anywhere.

Utah’s worth it. You’re worth it. We’re all worth it.

See you next week.

As always:

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