YWCA Utah Bill Tracker

We’ll keep you informed about bills that affect you with the YWCA Utah Bill Tracker. Year-round, we work with statewide partners and legislators to make policies that benefit all Utah women and girls.

See more bills we track below.

YWCA Utah tracks bills in three priority areas:

Empowerment & Economic Advancement for Women and Girls

Position	Bill	Bill Sponsor(s)	Status
Priority Support	HB 47 Early Childhood Coordination Amendments Creates Governor’s Early Childhood Commission to help align Utah services and programs serving children age 6 and under.	Rep. Snow Sen. Millner	Signed
Priority Support	HB 129 Campaign Amendments Permits a candidate for public office to use campaign funds to pay childcare expenses while the candidate is engaged in campaign activity.	Rep. Hall Sen. Henderson	Signed
Priority Support	HB 333 Workforce Development Incentives Amendments Defines the term “working parent benefits”, and provides that the Governor’s Office of Economic Development may consider whether an employer will provide working parent benefits when awarding certain economic development tax credits.	Rep. Harrison Sen. Anderegg	Passed Committee Unanimously, Not Heard on Floor, Filed
Priority Support	HJR 21 Joint Resolution Reaffirming the Value of Women Reaffirms women’s equal political, civil, and religious rights contained in the Utah Constitution, and recommends the inclusion of similar language in the United States Constitution.	Rep. Kwan Sen. Mayne	Signed
Priority Support	SB 110 Family Medical Unpaid Leave Provisions Enacts and addresses enforcement of provisions related to 3 weeks of family and medical unpaid leave for employers with 30-49 employees.	Sen. Hemmert Rep. Schultz	Passed Committee Unanimously, Not Heard on Floor, Filed
Support	HB 103 Utah Intergenerational Poverty Work and Self-sufficiency Tax Credit Creates state-based Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for families experiencing intergenerational poverty.	Rep. Spendlove	Included in tax reform bill (held until special session), Filed
Support	SB 34 Affordable Housing Modifications Funding was taken out of bill so it now only requires municipalities and counties to include more moderate- and low-income housing in their housing plans.	Sen. Anderegg Rep. Potter	Signed
Support	HB 204 Employment Selection Procedures Act Amendments Prohibits employers from seeking an applicants employment and compensation history.	Rep. Wheatley	Failed in House Committee, Filed
Support	HB 222 Social Security Tax Amendments Provides for an individual income tax credit for certain social security benefits.	Rep. Brooks Sen. Ipson	Included in tax reform bill (held until special session), Filed
Support	HB 260 Access Utah Promise Scholarship Program Combines current merit-based scholarships to create need-based Access Utah Promise Scholarship Program. Increases access to higher education for more marginalized students, including returning adults who are often women.	Rep. Owens Sen. Vickers	Signed
Support	HB 386 Economic Development and Affordable Homes Amedments Modifies provisions related to housing and community development, and creates the Affordable Housing Preservation Fund.	Rep. Briscoe Sen. Weiler	Passed House, Failed in Senate Committee, Filed
Monitor	HB 441 Tax Equalization and Reduction Act Tax reform bill – adds state sales tax to services while reducing overall sales tax rate from 4.7% to 3.1%, reduces state income tax rate from 4.95% to 4.75%, includes Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for families with the state’s Intergenerational Poverty (IGP) designation, and provides a small social security tax credit.	Rep. Quinn	Held for Special Session, Filed
Support	HB 442 Family Leave Amendments Requires state executive branch agencies and higher education employers to provide parental leave.	Rep. Weight	Held in Committee, Sponsor announced that it will be an interim project with executive agencies, Filed
Support	SCR 11 Concurrent Resolution Designating Utah Girls in Tech Day Designates March 20th as “Utah Girls in Tech Day”, where it will be recognized that women are underrepresented in the technology related fields, and will also encourage more young women to pursue tech related careers.	Sen. Millner Rep. Peterson	Signed

Racial Justice & Civil Rights for Women and Girls of Color

Position	Bill	Bill Sponsor(s)	Status
Priority Support	HB 373 Student Support Amendments Provides an ongoing grant program for schools to apply for funds to increase mental health services, including social workers and nurses, in schools.	Rep. Eliason Sen. Millner	Signed
Priority Support	HB 390 Workplace Protection Amendments Ensures that employees in small organizations (less than 15 employees) receive the same protections through Utah’s anti-discrimination labor laws as those who work for larger employers.	Rep. Hutchings	Held in House Committee, Filed
Support	HB 404 Juvenile Justice Reform Amendments Ensures that savings realized from juvenile justice reform efforts to detain fewer youth are invested in services for youth in nonresidential, community-based programs.	Rep. Snow Sen. Weiler	Signed
Priority Support	HR 3 House Resolution Supporting Humane Response to Refugee Crises Urges humane response to humanitarian crises at U.S.-Mexico border, opposes separating children from families.	Rep. Dailey-Provost	Signed
Support	HB 81 School Counselor Services Directs State Board of Education to adopt rules for services provided by school counselors in order to decrease time spent on administrative and other duties for already understaffed role.	Rep. Pulsipher Sen. Fillmore	Signed
Support (Priority Amend)	HB 120 Student and School Safety Assessment Provides funding for new staff and development of program at State Board of Education to develop policies around school safety and student support. Includes mental health specialist and calls for school climate surveys.	Rep. Ward Sen. Millner	Signed
Support	HB 244 Misdemeanor Sentencing Timeline Clarifications Reduces the maximum penalty for misdemeanors by one day to 364 days. This benefits refugees and legal residents by not triggering automatic deportation at the federal level with a 365-day sentence.	Rep. Hutchings Sen. Thatcher	Signed
Support	HB 340 School Absenteeism and Truancy Amendments Establishes which absences from school are considered truancy and limits when schools may impose penalties. Supports juvenile justice reform efforts to ensure that minor behavioral challenges are not overly disciplined/referred to courts.	Rep. Snow	Filed
Support	SR 1 Senate Resolution Regarding the Separation of Families at the Border Urges U.S. Congress and policymakers to preserve and reunify families at the border.	Sen. Davis	Held in Senate Committee, Filed
Support	HCR 6 Concurrent Resolution Designating May 5 as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and LGBT+ Awareness Day Calls on the people of Utah to commemorate the lives of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and LGBT+ and demonstrate solidarity with the impacted families.	Rep. Romero Sen. Escamilla	Signed
Support	SB 32 Indigent Defense Act Amendments Improves the Indigent Defense Act in order to create well-defined and consistent indigent defense, including defense for indigent juveniles.	Sen. Weiler Rep. McKell	Signed
Support	SB 103 Victim Targeting Penalty Enhancements Enhances penalties of a criminal offense if the offender acted out on an individual due to ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, or sexual orientation.	Sen. Thatcher Rep. Perry	Signed
Support	HJR 8 Proposal to Amend Utah Constitution – Slavery and Involuntary Servitude Prohibition Proposes to amend the Utah constitution to remove an exception that allows slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.	Rep. Hollins Sen. Anderegg	Signed

Health & Safety for Women and Girls

Position	Bill	Bill Sponsor(s)	Status
Priority Support	Maternal Mental Health Appropriations Request ($220,000 ongoing) Increases statewide capacity to provide healthcare services and peer support for women and families.	Rep. Dailey-Provost	Included in SB 2 (Budget Bill) Signed
Priority Support	Domestic Violence: Preventing Sexual Assault and Interpersonal Violence Appropriations Request ($250,000 one-time) Through a statewide partnership of victim service providers, provide research based primary prevention education and training to improve bystander intervention and promote safe and healthy conflict resolution strategies with youth and adults.	Rep. Romero	Included in SB 3 (Bill of Bills) Signed
Priority Support	Domestic Violence Home Safe Program Appropriations Request ($300,000 ongoing) This funding will be used to expand services for high risk DV survivors through essential shelter, housing, childcare, and supportive services. In partnership with Crossroads Urban Center and Voices for Utah Children, the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition (UDVC) will coordinate a 3-year pilot project to ensure survivors are supported with employment, childcare and independent housing.	Sen. Christensen	Included in SB 2 (Budget Bill) Signed
Support	HB 238 Marriage License Fees Amendments Raises the marriage license fee from $10 to $35 to provide funds for domestic violence shelter operations.	Rep. Romero	Failed to Pass Committee, Filed
Support	HB 19 Pretrial Release Amendments Modifies jail release conditions, strengthens protections for domestic violence victims.	Rep. Romero Sen. Weiler	Signed
Priority Support	HB 53 Victim Communications Amendments Enacts the Privileged Communications with Victim Advocates Act in order to ensure that confidentiality between community-based victim advocates and victims is protected in state law.	Rep. Snow Sen. Weiler	Signed
Support	HB 36 Bureau of Criminal Identification Reporting Amendments Ensures that Utah reports protective orders with firearms restrictions to the national database, which is important for restricting further firearms purchases for domestic violence offenders.	Rep. Ward Sen. Ipson	Signed
Support	HB 111 Expungement Modifications Amends Provisions of the Utah Expungement Act regarding domestic violence so that offenders who plea must wait 5 years before requesting expungement.	Rep. Stoddard	Passed Committee, Failed on House Floor, Filed
Support	HB 137 Domestic Violence Enhancement Amendments Extends the duration between domestic violence offenses for purposes of applying a penalty enhancement.	Rep. Pitcher Sen. Mayne	Signed
Support	HB 209 Extreme Risk Protective Order Keeps individuals that are perceived as extreme risks from possessing firearms for a specified amount of time.	Rep. Handy	Introduced in House, Filed
Support	HB 210 Medicaid Expansion Program Revisions Amends provisions relating to Medicaid expansion, making Medicaid more accessible.	Rep. Ward	Filed
Oppose	HB 243 Domestic Domestic Violence Modifications Provides that certain criminal penalties for carrying a concealed firearm without a permit do not apply to a victim of domestic violence or dating violence for a limited period after the victim is issued a protective order.	Rep. Watkins Sen. Hinkins	Signed
Support	HB 253 Domestic Violence Response Amendments Amends provisions relating to to the pretrial and post-conviction monitoring of a domestic violence defendant.	Rep. Spendlove	Held in Committee, Filed
Support	HB 275 Contraception for Women Prisoners Provides that jails must provide women prisoners with the option of continuing any medically prescribed method of contraception.	Rep. Dailey-Provost	Held in Committee, Referred to Interim Study
Support	HB 325 Domestic Violence — Weapons Amendments Requires law enforcement to report data on frequency of, and response to, domestic violence offender attempts to illegally purchase firearms.	Rep. King Sen. Henderson	Signed
Monitor	HB 392 Telemedicine Reimbursement Amendments Requires the Medicaid program to reimburse for certain telemedicine services at rates set by the Medicaid program.	Rep. Ivory Sen. Cullimore	Signed
Support	HB 393 Suicide Prevention Amendments Greatly expands the scope of suicide prevention programs in schools.	Rep. Eliason Sen. Ipson	Signed
Support	HB 451 Victim Address Confidentiality Program Creates an address confidentiality program in the Utah Office for Victims of Crime that will help keep the victims addresses stay confidential.	Rep. Pitcher Sen. Weiler	Held in Committee, Referred to Interim Study
Support	SB 45 Domestic Violence Revisions Adds aggravated cruelty to an animal to the list of offenses that may qualify as a domestic violence offense.	Sen. Christensen Rep. Ray	Signed
Support	SB 75 Domestic Violence Amendments Modifies provisions relating to a domestic violence protective order so that current compliance with the order, and current threat of domestic violence, rather than past behavior is the standard for a court’s decision to dismiss an order.	Sen. Christensen Rep. Ray	Signed
Support	SB 106 Mental Health Services in Schools Provides for increased coverage by Medicaid and some insurers of mental health services provided in schools.	Sen. Fillmore Rep. Pulsipher	Signed
Priority Oppose	SB 96 Medicaid Expansion Adjustments Changes eligibility requirements for expansion population, lowers number of people covered, imposes spending caps.	Sen. Christensen	Signed
Oppose	SB 97 Medicaid Program Revisions Repeals expansion of state Medicaid program (2018 Ballot Proposition #3).	Sen. Anderegg	Filed

Policy priorities are informed by the YWCA Utah Public Policy Committee, YWCA member feedback, and YWCAdvocacy Connect policy survey responses, and The Well-Being of Women in Utah Fact Sheet, which we will continue to publish annually with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Learn more about our 2019 Policy Priority Areas and policy work for all women and girls in Utah.

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