Here are 12 bills headed to the governor as Utah wraps 2025 legislative session
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The Utah Legislative session closed on Friday. Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Utah's 45-day legislative session came to a close Friday.
What we're watching: Gov. Spencer Cox has until March 27 to sign, veto or allow bills to pass without his signature.
- He declined to say during a Friday press conference which bills were on his veto list.
Here are some of the bills headed to his desk:
🏳️🌈 Pride flags would be banned from being displayed in schools and government buildings under HB 77.
- The big picture: The bill's Senate sponsor, Sen. Dan McCay (R-Riverton) argued the legislation would neutralize government buildings and classrooms from political speech.
- The latest: The bill has received staunch pushback from LGBTQ+ and civil rights groups. In a statement, Equality Utah said the bill targets free expression and that it would support legal action to fight it in court.
🗳️Any citizen-led initiatives that raise taxes would have to win 60% voter approval, rather than a simple majority, under a state constitutional amendment proposed in SJR 2.
- Case in point: Medicaid expansion and the medical cannabis program that passed in 2018 would have failed under this amendment. Since it's a constitutional amendment, SJR 2 would still have to get voter approval in the 2026 general election.
- Meanwhile, citizens who initiate a ballot measure would have to foot the bill to print the measure in newspapers, as required by the state constitution, under SB 73.
📱 Cell phones and smart watches would be prohibited in classrooms under SB 178 unless a school district establishes exemptions.
🗳️ Starting in 2026, voters would have to include the last four digits of their driver license or state ID on their mail ballot instead of their signature, per HB 300. To vote by mail, Utahns will have to opt-in before 2029.
🌿Want to grow dank weed? Under HB 343, you'd have to submit a plan to the state to show your farm won't stink out the neighbors.
⛕ State transportation officials would be allowed to veto some of Salt Lake City's traffic-calming street design efforts under a measure in SB 195 that specifically targets Utah's capital city.
🍸 Bartenders would be allowed to sample cocktails using the "straw test" method in SB 238 to ensure quality.
⚖️ The governor would appoint the chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court if SB 296 passes. Justices currently elect the chief justice by a majority vote.
🌫️ Halogen emissions — a big contributor to winter inversions — would be subject to more study and regulation under HB 420.
👶 Infants could be relinquished to the state without penalty up to 90 days after birth, rather than 30, under SB 57.
🍱 Kids in public schools would have expanded access to free and reduced-price lunches under HB 100.
🚱 Utah would become the first in the nation to prohibit adding fluoride in public water systems if Cox signs HB 81.
- Zoom out: The move comes soon after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opposed the practice.