These new Utah laws take effect Wednesday
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Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Two months after this year's general legislative session ended, many new laws are taking effect.
The laws will impact Utahns' lives on a variety of issues, from health and safety to how much we pay in taxes to housing.
Here's a look at what's changing starting Wednesday.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Salt Lake City on April 7. Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, HB81 bill sponsor, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, listen. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Health
The Capitol is pictured in Salt Lake City, on Feb. 8, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Business and taxes
Fatal doses of heroin and fentanyl are on are display at the Drug Enforcement Administration Salt Lake City District Office in Salt Lake City on July 25, 2024. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Crime and policing
Signage from Oak Ridge National Labratory is displayed during The Advanced Reactors Summit XII and Technology Trailblazers Showcase held by the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council in Salt Lake City on Feb. 18. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Transportation, energy and environment
Nuclear energy : Utah is pushing to go nuclear. HB249, which takes effect Wednesday, is designed to lay the groundwork for bringing nuclear power to the state. It creates the Nuclear Energy Consortium to advise on nuclear development in Utah and recommend appropriate regulations for it, among other things.
Water conservation: Municipalities in Utah now have to factor in water conservation when setting water rates under HB274.
Road safety projects: SB195's one-year moratorium on road safety projects in Salt Lake City begins Wednesday, as the Department of Transportation studies the impacts of such projects.
A voter drops their ballot in a drop box at the Utah County Health and Justice Building in Provo on Oct. 30, 2024. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Elections, transparency and governance
Protesters unfurl a 200-foot transgender flag during the start of a march down State Street starting at the Capitol for Transgender Day of Visibility in Salt Lake City on March 29. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Social issues and education
Flag ban: One of the most closely watched bills of the recent session, HB77, takes effect Wednesday, barring gay pride and 'Make America Great Again' flags from being flown in public school classrooms or at government buildings.
Gender Inmates won't be able to initiate gender-related surgeries or hormone treatment while in prison. HB252 also requires inmates be housed in facilities matching their biological sex. It also prohibits staff in juvenile detention centers from engaging in sexual relationships with inmates in custody up to the age of 25.
Hands-on education: Aimed at getting more high school students into career and technical education programs, HB447 will support 'catalyst centers' across the state. The new law championed by Utah's House speaker allocates $65 million to create or expand those centers in the next fiscal year, with an ongoing cost of $150,000 to manage the program.
Isa Empey, left, and Haley Kline, center, both hold vigil candles during the annual Homeless Persons' Memorial Vigil in Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City on Dec. 19, 2024. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Housing and homelessness
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In its annual report published Wednesday, the Utah Office of Homeless Services attributed the rise in homelessness to a rapidly growing population that has outpaced the supply of affordable housing and access to behavioral health services. The increase also follows an unprecedented spike in fentanyl being trafficked through the state. Between 2020 and 2024, the quantity of fentanyl seized in Utah increased 95-fold — with interdictions in 2025 nearly overtaking the prior year's record before May. 'The data is clear. There is an overlap between the drugs, the transient-related crime and violent crime,' Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd told the Deseret News. 'There is a connection to those things.' Around two-thirds of Utah's homeless population lives in the Salt Lake City area, according to the Office of Homeless Services. On Wednesday, Redd and Mendenhall held a press conference outside City Hall to send a message to the governor and legislative leadership about where responsibility lies for the growing problem. Wednesday's report 'should be heard as a battle cry,' Mendenhall said, spurring action at the Utah Capitol to fully fund services and shelter space to prevent homelessness, encourage treatment and keep Utahns off of the streets. 'We need our state leaders to prioritize the resources to get this done,' Mendenhall said. 'So to Gov Cox, President Adams and Speaker Schultz, I'm calling on our state leadership to create a sea change that we need to address an issue that impacts all Utahns and just increased by 18%.' In December, Cox; Adams, R-Layton; and Schultz, R-Hooper; sent a strongly worded letter to Mendenhall that called for the city to find solutions to 'eliminate crime and restore public safety' or have the Legislature step in. Mendenhall subsequently provided a public safety plan with 27 recommendations that revolved around remaking city law enforcement and another 23 requests relying on state partners to help close the gap in homeless beds and the criminal justice system. Since Redd has taken over as police chief, the department has taken 'enforcement as far as we can,' answering a record number of 911 calls with a record number of yearly arrests, contributing to a 16-year-low in crime, Mendenhall said. The largest obstacle to changing 'the trajectory of homelessness in Utah,' Mendenhall said, isn't Salt Lake's willingness to crack down on crime, it's the Legislature's commitment to invest in long-term solutions, like funding the so-called 'transformative campus' touted by Cox and lawmakers. 'I'm extremely concerned by the lack of forward momentum from legislative leaders,' Mendenhall said. 'Salt Lake City is making good on our part, but the reality is, this is a humanitarian crisis, this is not something that we can police our way out of.' State leaders push back on Mendenhall Cox, Adams and Schultz pushed back against Mendenhall on Wednesday. Since Utah's homeless numbers began climbing in 2020, the state has invested more than $266 million on addressing homelessness, they said. This level of direct state investment is rare; most states delegate homelessness policy to cities and counties. Cox, Adams and Schultz said the Utah Governor's Office and Legislature remain committed to helping municipal and private-sector partners 'find real solutions.' The overhaul to city law enforcement under Redd has been an encouraging sign, the leaders said. Mendenhall agreed the city and state must work closer together to address homelessness concerns before the Salt Lake City Temple open house in 2027 and the Olympic Winter Games in 2034. 'The city needs to stay focused on its core responsibility of protecting its citizens, keeping streets safe and clean and making our capital a place Utahns can be proud of and visitors want to experience,' Cox, Adams and Schultz said. 'We urge Mayor Mendenhall to turn down the politics and keep working with us to find practical and lasting solutions to this complex issue. Our citizens expect results, not finger-pointing.' During the 2025 legislative session, Utah lawmakers approved, and Cox signed into law, $3.9 million in ongoing funding to launch a second family shelter in Salt Lake County, $5.5 million in one-time funding to expand emergency cold-weather shelter operations statewide and $16.7 million to shore up public resources in shelter cities. Will lawmakers fund the planned shelter? The session prior, the Legislature appropriated $25 million to buy land and construct the future backbone of the state's homelessness response: a 30-acre campus with 1,200-1,600 beds and an integrated system of treatment resources and recovery programs on site. Niederhauser said they are still investigating several potential properties for the campus. But many of them, including an area near the Salt Lake City Airport that the Legislature made available for eminent domain, require wetland studies that will take several more weeks to apply for, and several months to complete through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The priority for Niederhauser's office going into the 2026 legislative session is appropriations to fully fund the construction of the facility because the $25 million they received 'isn't going to be sufficient to do it all,' Niederhauser said. But Niederhauser said they won't put '$25-50 million of infrastructure on the ground' until the Legislature has decided whether it is willing to set aside the necessary annual funding to make the campus functional, 'which is going to be a very large number.' It currently costs the state $15-$20 million to fund the shelter beds that are available, Niederhauser said. And a campus that is actually intended to model operations like Haven For Hope homelessness campus in San Antonio, Texas, could cost twice that much every year. 'We're obviously going to need to have additional funding for the campus, and that'll be a high priority for us,' Niederhauser said. 'That would probably be our focus.' In the meantime before the campus is completed, Niederhauser said the Legislature can appropriate funding to keep the 1,100 winter beds available past April so providers aren't forced to release 'hundreds of additional people to sleep on the street' each spring. Solve the daily Crossword
