Utah Legislature Wrap-Up for 2026
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Utah’s 2026 Legislative Session has come to an end with over 500 bills passed! Below you can find a summary of bills and funding items the IDRPP tracked along with links to items and resources where you can learn more.
Passed Bills:
H.B. 12 Outdoor Recreation Accessibility Amendments – Rep. Welton & Sen. Owens
HB 12 will add "construction of trails or facilities, improvements of trails or facilities, or acquisition of equipment for disabled or adaptive users" into recreational infrastructure projects.
H.B. 23 Service Animal Amendments – Rep. Lisonbee & Sen. Weiler
HB 23 will require the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code to provide the contact and website for the state's protection and advocacy agency (Disability Law Center) on websites accessible to the public. The first version of this bill would have also increased the penalty for the abuse or harassment of a service animal from a class B misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, but this did not make it into the final version of the bill.
H.B. 53 Community Rehabilitation Program Amendments – Rep. Miller & Sen. Brammer
This bill will extend the sunset date and implements reporting requirements for a program that supports government agencies with position vacancies to contract with community rehabilitation providers and help fill these roles with adults with disabilities looking for employment.
H.B. 108 Minors in State Custody Amendments – Rep. Fiefia & Sen. Weiler
HB 108 will create an account that puts money into minor beneficiary accounts for children in DCFS to use once they age out of services. For children with disabilities, this will go into an ABLE account. Fiscal note is $716,700 ongoing and $119,500 one-time.
H.B. 143 Special Education Amendments – Rep. Peterson & Sen. Balderree
If a Local Education Agency (LEA; school district) boundary changes and impacts the location of special education services/classes, HB 143 requires the LEA to let parents know at least 30 days in advance to the change.
H.B. 393 Early Intervention for Dyslexia Amendments – Rep. Defay & Sen. Millner
HB 393 will create the Dyslexia Screening Pilot Program and develops a statewide dyslexia intervention plan. The fiscal note includes $3.5 million one-time funding to support the development and implementation of this program.
S.B. 54 S3 Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship Program Amendments – Sen. Fillmore & Rep. Walter
SB 54 makes several changes to the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship, including eliminating the income requirement, removing eligibility for a sibling, and aligns requirements with the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program. Makes parents of scholarship recipients ineligible to be home-based school providers.
S.B. 68 Disability Litigation Amendments – Sen. Brammer & Rep. Abbott
SB 68 will attempt to address “abusive" lawsuits for website access violation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It includes several items that may define a lawsuit as "abusive," such as if the filing party had previous similar lawsuits, if previous lawsuits were deemed "frivolous," if the primary reason for the lawsuit was monetary gain, etc. Additionally, it includes actions to be taken if lawsuit is deemed "abusive."
S.B. 154 S2 Protection and Advocacy Agency Reporting – Sen. Weiler & Rep. Thurston
SB 154 asks for additional reporting and engagements requirements on the Disability Law Center including legislative reports and meetings with the public. The DLC already provides a federal report (open to the public) and hosts community listening sessions throughout Utah.
S.B. 160 Medicaid Reimbursement Rate Amendments – Sen. Weiler & Rep. Gricius
SB 160 makes permanent the budgeting mechanism under which Medicaid reimbursement rates or applied behavior analysis may increase. The fiscal note is $18,000 in one-time and ongoing funds.
S.B. 161 S1 Evaluations in Guardianship Amendments – Sen. Weiler & Rep. Ballard
SB 161 will require health care providers to not base their assessment solely or predominately on the opinions of the individual seeking guardianship over another individual in guardianship cases.
S.B. 167 Reintegration for Disciplined Students – Sen. McKay & Rep. Romero
SB 167 impacts "disciplined students;" it adds students who "have any school safety incidents or safe-school violations" to the list of reasons a local school board may deny a student's application; sets timelines for when reintegration plans must be made if a student's reintegration date is provided during the summer; adds "any other interventions that the multidisciplinary team, the student, and the student's parent or guardian determine are necessary" to the plan's requirements; and requires an integration plan to be in effect for an entire school year or 180 days form the plan's implementation.
S.B. 181 School Discipline Amendments – Sen. Escamilla & Rep. Thompson
SB 181 will implement requirements around the use of seclusion rooms in schools including the use of audio and video recording, venting/heating/cooling requirements, among others. One-time funding ($14,500) is provided for schools to come into compliant with SB181; funding is not be used to create seclusion rooms.
S.B. 288 S5 Medicaid Provider Amendments – Sen. Stratton & Rep. Eliason
The final version of SB 288 will include a quality metrics program for certain Medicaid provider groups with a relatively small fiscal component tied to it. Based on conversations with DSPD, that program is not intended to apply to community service providers working under DSPD. Instead, the bill ended up including a direct appropriation for DSPD provider rates. It provides $4 million in ongoing state funds, which with the federal Medicaid match is estimated to equate to roughly a 2% rate increase.
Failed Bills:
H.B. 28 Health and Human Services Sunset Amendments – Rep. Eliason & Sen. Grover
HB 28 would have extended the repeal dates for several programs and committees by three to 10 years including the Rare Disease Advisory Council Grant Program, Newborn Hearing Screening Committees, Mobil Crisis Outreach Team Grant Program, Behavioral Health Receiving Center Grant Program, and Behavioral Health Crisis Response Committee. Fiscal note was $19,000.
H.B. 578 Guardianship and Conservatorship Resources Amendments – Rep. Dailey-Provost
HB 578 would have required the state's protection and advocacy agency, local mental health authorities, and certain offices and divisions under DHHS to provide information and referrals to resources on guardianship and conservatorship to individuals contacting these entities. Information would include alternatives, the Office of Public Guardian, family support organizations, how to find a guardian-specific attorney, among other resources.
H.B. 579 Medicaid Funding Modifications – Rep. Dailey-Provost
HB 579 would have directed part of the interest earned ($700,000) on the Medicaid ACA Fund to be used for funding the DSPD waitlist.
S.B. 118 Mental Health Services in Higher Education – Sen. Plumb
SB 118 would have created a Peer-to-Peer Coaching and Mental Health Counseling grant that institutions for higher education would be able to receive.
S.B. 159 Dyslexia Screening Amendments – Sen. Reibe
SB 159 would have expanded dyslexia screenings in schools and allow parents of charter and homeschooled students to request dyslexia screening for their students. While this bill did not pass, see HB 393.
S.J.R. 7 Joint Resolution Regarding Utah's Protection and Advocacy Agency – Sen. Weiler & Rep. Thurston
SJR 7 would have formally asked the Governor, who designates the State’s Protection and Advocacy agency (the Disability Law Center or DLC), to review the DLC and bring steps for redesignation pending outcomes of the review.
Funding Items:
Early Intervention received $2 million ongoing (listed as “Sustaining Special Education - Infants and Toddlers”). While we hoped that the Executive Appropriations Committee would take the Social Services Subappropriations Committee’s recommendation of providing $4.5 million ongoing, we are excited to see ongoing funding for these services.
Several Medicaid provider groups received rate increases through SB 288 (and included in the Executive Appropriations Committee) including Division of Services for People with Disabilities providers, New Choices Waiver providers, and Home Health providers.
The Executive Appropriations Committee also provided one-time and ongoing funds to bring 100 people off of the waitlist for services through the Division of Services for People with Disabilities.
You can see find the Executive Appropriations Committee budget summary here and additional proposed funding items here.