Utah lawmakers of all stripes have declared lowering costs a top priority for the 2026 legislative session.
Prices for almost everything seem to be rising nationwide. There is a housing crisis, child care costs are through the roof and grocery prices are leaving the consumer with less for more. Affordability has become a political buzzword at all levels of government, including President Donald Trump, who campaigned heavily on the economy but has called affordability “a hoax.”
When asked about affordability in the Utah legislative session’s first Senate media availability, Republican Sen. Lincoln Fillmore focused on housing. He said the key to making it affordable for Utahns is as simple as supply and demand.
Fillmore, the co-chair of Utah’s Commission for Affordable Housing, said that the state has “a lot of homes entitled in cities to be built but on land that doesn't have access to transportation, water and other utilities.”
To address that, he wants to continue building on what the legislature did in 2024 with the Utah Homes Investment Program. Through it, lawmakers allowed financial institutions to tap into a revolving fund from the State Treasurer to offer low-interest loans to developers to build more housing. Fillmore wants to take a similar approach and use local government reserves to help developers and cities create the needed infrastructure to serve those housing plots.
Republicans have other ways they want to address affordability, too. In their 2026 house priorities announcement, they mentioned reducing property taxes, lowering gas prices and continuing to cut income taxes.
If the state decides to cut income taxes again this year, it would be the sixth year in a row. Senate President Stuart Adams remained coy, saying only that they would discuss it.
“I would like to see us look at an income tax, but we're going to measure twice,” he said, explaining that Utah’s budget has already been reduced by $300 million thanks to federal tax cuts that were part of President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.
How the state deals with it will come down to allocations made in the budget, which is expected to be finalized toward the end of the session.
Utah Democrats want to take a different approach to affordability. Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla said they’re focused on lowering costs in other parts of a household’s budget, such as child care and groceries.
“In terms of affordability, I mean it’s worthwhile to talk about making sure we have infrastructure in place to help families that may be a paycheck away from losing their homes if they already own a home or not be able to make rent, so you're that flat tire away from something happening, and you can’t make those payments,” she said.
She said her caucus will bring forward bills related to essential needs.
“Food Insecurity is in the top three issues of families in Utah. So those basic things need to be met in order to continue that American dream of home ownership and continue that prosperity piece,” she said.
Several bills focused on housing and affordability are expected this session, though many are not yet numbered. On the list is a resolution to continue implementing the Utah Housing Strategic Plan, an initiative with the goal to build 35,000 starter homes around the state by 2028.
Also before lawmakers is HB68, which, if passed, would create the Division of Housing in the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. The division would take on some of the affordable housing‑related workload currently handled by the Department of Workforce Services.
The session will also include a proposed amendment to the Utah Constitution aimed at creating certain exemptions for property taxes. If passed, it would be added to the 2026 ballot for a citizen vote.
