Utah 2026 General Session Status: To Executive 2 R cosponsors

HB 85 — State Sovereignty Amendments

Last action — House/ filed

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed House
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been sent to the executive. Introduced September 02, 2025. It awaits signature.

Next likely step: the executive signs it into law or issues a veto.

Prognosis

Advancing 46% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • To Executive

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 R).

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

5 changes Share ↗

Compared against the Utah Code as published AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill restricts the authority of state officials to declare states of emergency in response to international organization directives, asserting state sovereignty.

  • 53-2a-203

    "International organization" means the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, or the World Health Organization.

    Defines 'international organization' specifically.

  • 53-2a-203

    The chief executive officer of a municipality may not exercise powers under this chapter to respond to an epidemic or a pandemic. → A chief executive officer may not exercise powers under this chapter exclusively in response to an international organization's proclamation declaring a state of emergency.

    Prohibits chief executive officers from declaring emergencies based solely on international organization proclamations.

  • 53-2a-205

    A chief executive officer may not exercise powers under this chapter exclusively in response to an international organization's proclamation declaring a state of emergency.

    Reinforces the prohibition on acting in response to international organization's emergency declarations.

  • 53-2a-206

    A state of emergency may be declared by executive order of the governor if the governor finds a disaster has occurred or the occurrence or threat of a disaster is imminent in any area of the state in which state government assistance is required to supplement the response and recovery efforts of the affected political subdivision or political subdivisions. → Subject to Subsection (1)(b), the governor may declare a state of emergency by executive order if the governor finds a disaster has occurred or the occurrence or threat of a disaster is imminent in any area of the state in which state government assistance is required to supplement the response and recovery efforts of the affected political subdivision or political subdivisions.

    Clarifies the procedure for declaring a state of emergency while adding restrictions related to international organizations.

  • 53-2a-206

    The governor may not declare a state of emergency under Subsection (1)(a) exclusively in response to an international organization's proclamation declaring a state of emergency.

    Establishes additional restrictions on the governor's authority regarding international organization proclamations.

Action History

  1. House/ filed

  2. House/ strike enacting clause

  3. Senate/ to House

  4. Senate/ failed

  5. Senate/ 3rd reading

  6. Senate/ passed 2nd reading

  7. Senate/ 2nd reading

  8. Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar

  9. Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]

  10. Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]

  11. Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]

  12. Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

  13. Senate/ received from House

  14. House/ to Senate

  15. House/ passed 3rd reading

  16. House/ 3rd reading

  17. House/ 2nd reading

  18. House/ committee report favorable [House Political Subdivisions Committee]

  19. House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Political Subdivisions Committee]

  20. House/ to standing committee [House Political Subdivisions Committee]

  21. House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

  22. House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst

  23. House/ received bill from Legislative Research

  24. LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0085

  25. LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0085

  26. Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed

  27. Bill Numbered but not Distributed

  28. LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0085

  29. LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0085

  30. LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0085

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 102 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

Not signed on (102)

102 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 102 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HB 85?
HB 85 is sponsored by Ronald M. Winterton (Republican) and Lisa Shepherd (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 85?
This bill has been sent to the executive. Introduced September 02, 2025. It awaits signature.
Where can I track HB 85?
Track HB 85 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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