• And as a hodgepodge of other general interest items, Utah became the first U.S. state to require app stores to verify user ages, the first state to ban fluoride in public water systems, and will now require voters to use the last four digits of their driver license or state ID for mail-in ballots, as well as requiring voters to opt-in to receiving mail-in ballots by 2029. This year, legislators showed a bit more restraint, with “only” 1,377 bill requests, as compared to last year’s record-breaking 1,487 bills, but with a record-breaking volume of bills numbered and introduced, 959, as compared to the 934 in the 2024 session. While 2025 saw record highs in terms of bills introduced and passed through each house, the final days of the session saw significant delays in bills moving through the process, with the Senate and House more at odds with one another than in the recent past. Come the stroke of midnight on Friday, March 7, the legislature passed (only?!) 582 bills. The Utah Legislature concluded its 2025 General Session with a budget of $30.8 billion for fiscal year 2026 (compared to a similar $29.4 billion budget the previous year), more details about what was funded and significant fiscal actions can be found online at budget.utah.gov. From a fiscal perspective, we were told that 2024 was a “socks and underwear Christmas” and 2025 was “re-washing the socks and underwear” (two gems from the chair of Executive Appropriations!). It was a good year for UPA not to run any appropriation requests. However, through HB378, we were able to secure substantial ongoing funding for the Species Mitigation Account (formerly known as ESMF) to bolster their work preventing listings under the ESA and providing for downlistings and delistings, which can be major roadblocks to a wide variety of infrastructure projects (see graph on page 10). TAKE US ANYWHERE! Scan to read the most recent publication. Stay up to date from your couch, office or even the moon! Place a 1” x 1” QR Code White on Black Here to the main website Place this indd file at 100% and place an image or pdf of THIS ISSUE’S COVER in a frame that is 12p9 by 16p6 (2.125” x 2.75”) to cover this text. Then proportionally resize the whole thing as needed. 9 UPDATE
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