Utah 2026 General Session Status: Enacted 2 R cosponsors

SB 131 — Charter School Eligibility

Last action — Governor Signed

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

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 13, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Spencer Cox (Republican) on March 19, 2026.

Prognosis

Advancing 54% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    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

What changed in the latest version

75 added · 82 removed

Plain-language change summary

The updated version of Bill SB 131 has removed specific definitions related to "COVID-19 emergency," "open enrollment threshold," "refugee," and "school of residence." This streamlining aims to reduce complexity within the bill, making it easier to understand and apply. By focusing on essential elements, the bill seeks to clarify the admission process for charter schools, which is important for ensuring that more students can access education opportunities, especially those in vulnerable situations like foster care.

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Previous
Latest
02-20 12:47 S.B.
Enrolled Copy S.B.
53G-6-502, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapter 438 19 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
53G-6-502, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapter 438 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
S Ĥ→ [(b) "COVID-19 emergency" means the spread of COVID-19 that the World Health B Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020.] .
[(b) "COVID-19 emergency" means the spread of COVID-19 that the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020.] [(c)] (b) "Open enrollment threshold" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-6-401.
26 [(c)] (b) ←Ĥ "Open enrollment threshold" means the same as that term is defined in 3 26a Section 1 53G-6-401.
[(d)] (c) "Refugee" means a person who is eligible to receive benefits and services from S.B.
Ĥ→ [(d)] (c) ←Ĥ "Refugee" means a person who is eligible to receive benefits and 28a services from the S.B.
131 Enrolled Copy the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
131 02-20 12:47 federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
[(e)] (d) "School of residence" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-6-401.
Ĥ→ [(e)] (d) ←Ĥ "School of residence" means the same as that term is defined in 30a Section 53G-6-401.
(i) a student who resides within the boundaries of a political subdivision containing the - 2 - 02-20 12:47 S.B.
(i) a student who resides within the boundaries of a political subdivision containing the - 2 - Enrolled Copy S.B.
Ĥ→ or ←Ĥ [(j)] (k) a child of a DOD civilian Ĥ→ [;
or [(j)] (k) a child of a DOD civilian[;
←Ĥ [(k) Ĥ→ (l) for the 2022-2023 school year, a student who withdraws from the charter 65a school to attend an online school or home school for the 2020-2021 or 2021-2022 school years due to the COVID-19 emergency.] ←Ĥ (5)(a) Except as provided in Subsection (5)(b), and notwithstanding Subsection (4)(h), a charter school that is approved by the state board after May 13, 2014, and is located in a high growth area as defined in Section 53G-6-504 shall give an enrollment preference to a student who resides within a two-mile radius of the charter school.
[(k) for the 2022-2023 school year, a student who withdraws from the charter school to attend an online school or home school for the 2020-2021 or 2021-2022 school years due to the COVID-19 emergency.] (5)(a) Except as provided in Subsection (5)(b), and notwithstanding Subsection (4)(h), a charter school that is approved by the state board after May 13, 2014, and is located in a high growth area as defined in Section 53G-6-504 shall give an enrollment preference to a student who resides within a two-mile radius of the charter school.
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Amendments

1 amendment

Click Show changes on an amendment above to see how it modifies the bill.

Action History

  1. Governor Signed

  2. Senate/ to Governor

  3. Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing

  4. Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing

  5. Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate

  6. Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared

  7. Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling

  8. Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling

  9. Senate/ received from House

  10. House/ to Senate

  11. House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate

  12. House/ received from Senate

  13. Senate/ to House

  14. Senate/ concurs with House amendment

  15. Senate/ placed on Concurrence Calendar

  16. Senate/ received from House

  17. House/ to Senate

  18. House/ passed 3rd reading

  19. House/ 3rd reading

  20. House/ 2nd reading

  21. House/ comm rpt/ amended [House Education Committee]

  22. House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Education Committee]

  23. House Comm - Amendment Recommendation [House Education Committee]

  24. House/ to standing committee [House Education Committee]

  25. House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

  26. House/ received from Senate

  27. Senate/ to House

  28. Senate/ passed 3rd reading

  29. Senate/ 3rd reading

  30. Senate/ passed 2nd reading

  31. Senate/ 2nd reading

  32. Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar

  33. Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Education Committee]

  34. Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Education Committee]

  35. Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Education Committee]

  36. Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

  37. Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst

  38. LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for SB0131

  39. LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for SB0131

  40. Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research

  41. LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for SB0131

  42. LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for SB0131

  43. Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed

  44. Bill Numbered but not Distributed

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

education
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 SB 131?
SB 131 is sponsored by R. Neil Walter (Republican) and Heidi Balderree (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 131?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 13, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 131?
Track SB 131 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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