2026 Utah Legislative Session

A proposal to broaden the definition of recidivism to include arrests and jail time is prompting warnings that it could distort crime statistics — and end up misinforming public safety policy.

Sen. Derrin Owens wants to help the rural districts he represents. He hopes getting them a piece of Utah’s nuclear pie could boost their declining economies.

As Utahns increasingly worry about the economic effects of inflation and tariffs, state lawmakers are eyeing an income tax cut for the sixth year in a row.

After a weeks-long spat with Idaho, Utah leaders tout deals to increase gas supply and cut the gas tax at home, while they also inked an interstate collaboration on the Bear River watershed.

We’re talking tech (hello, AI!), we’re talking state sovereignty and we’re talking about child safety (two big Utah tentpoles).

A memo from the White House said a child safety AI bill from state Republican Rep. Doug Fiefia was “an unfixable bill that goes against the Administration’s AI agenda.”

Gov. Cox vetoed the idea last year. Republican lawmakers insist that they need the budget flexibility that moving the money to a state fund, instead of to school districts, would provide.

The Utah League of Cities and Towns, which represents the interests of municipalities, says it has its eye on 207 bills this session.

The proposed bill would make it free and easy for the public to access more court documents and stream most hearings. Some lawyers worry about what this means for the people going before the courts.

With a Republican supermajority, Utahns hear some pretty common values from politicians. Small government is one of the big ones. But what happens when a state that's all about “local control” steps into the business of its cities?

Republican Rep. Nicholeen Peck finds it hard to believe Medicaid isn't being used to cover abortion in some way, so she’s proposed a bill to make clinics that offer the procedure ineligible for Medicaid.

Electroconvulsive therapy has been used to treat mood disorders since the 1930s. But this year, lawmakers and specialists alike want to raise awareness of it.