The 2026 Legislature adjourned Friday night, closing the curtain on a session — more mild than recent years past — centered around power and populism.

Early in the annual 45 days of lawmaking, a focus on Utah’s balance of power came to the fore as Republican lawmakers passed a series of bills to dramatically overhaul the judiciary. That branch has lately been the greatest impediment to the supermajority GOP Legislature implementing its conservative agenda.

The right-leaning populism came shortly after, as legislators enacted policies that will resonate with the mostly Republican constituents of the roughly 90 lawmakers competing for reelection this year.

That included cutting the income tax for the sixth consecutive year, providing a temporary break on gas taxes, clamping down again on LGBTQ+ Utahns and banning cell phones in schools, among a host of other efforts.

Over the last several weeks, lawmakers considered a record-high 1,015 pieces of legislation, but passed 541 of them. They also enacted a budget that will spend more than $31 billion in taxpayer dollars

Gov. Spencer Cox said Friday that of all his years in state politics, 2026 “was maybe my favorite session in those 14 years.”

“The collaboration between the House and the Senate and the executive branch, just working together to find better spots for bills — it doesn’t mean there aren’t some things that didn’t pass that I wish would have — but it does mean I feel great about it,” Cox said. “For the first time, I don’t have, like, a secret veto list that I’m heavily considering.”

“That doesn’t mean there won’t be any,” he added.

Judicial retribution

After years of defeats in the courts on issues ranging from abortion and school vouchers to redistricting, the Republican-dominated Legislature’s anger boiled over with a host of bills that will dramatically remake Utah’s judiciary.

Early this session, GOP lawmakers pushed through Senate Majority Whip Chris Wilson’s bill to add two justices to the Utah Supreme Court, its first expansion in more than 100 years. It was a move that Wilson said was needed to help the Supreme Court deal with an influx of cases in a timely manner.

Court data shows that filings with the high court have increased by less than 7% over the last 15 years. Chief Justice Matthew Durrant warned adding justices would delay rulings and said there was “essentially no backlog” in the court. Critics of the move, including conservative commentator Glenn Beck, assailed it as an effort to pack the court with justices more ideologically aligned with the Legislature.

The Legislature also added a pair of judges to the Court of Appeals and three to the district courts — half of what the judiciary said it needed to deal with caseloads.

Cox signed the bill shortly after it hit his desk. Once he has filled the spots, Cox will have appointed five of the seven justices.

But legislative Republicans were just getting started. HB392, from Rep. Matt McPherson, R-West Valley City, creates a panel of three randomly selected judges that the government can call on, if it chooses, to hear lawsuits against the state. The parties suing the state cannot access the new panel.

Attorney General Derek Brown moved four cases to the new panel — a challenge to Utah’s abortion ban, the ongoing litigation over gerrymandered congressional districts, a suit accusing the state of failing to protect the Great Salt Lake, and a case over the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. Each move faced a quick challenge by plaintiffs asking the Utah Supreme Court to declare the panel unconstitutional.

That prompted lawmakers, in the waning days of the session, to pass a new bill that allows either party to bring cases to the panel. It also creates a fallback — three permanent judges on a “Constitutional Court” to hear challenges to state law — if the Supreme Court strikes down the panel.

Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Cottonwood Heights, said Friday that lawmakers were no t trying to influence the outcome of the lawsuits, but responding to constituent concerns about how judges have handled cases. Lawmakers, he added, wanted a neutral process with “more eyes” on important issues.

“The way some of these decisions have worked out, we’re getting a lot of pressure for impeachment or addressing this another way,” Cullimore said. “So to the concerns that we’re trying to influence particular cases, I would say there’s just as many, if not more, concerns that there has been inappropriate, undue influences already on those cases, and that’s what we’re trying to address.”

Elizabeth Wright, executive director of the Utah State Bar, said the Legislature put millions in resources toward its own issues, rather than addressing the pressing needs court officials said would help average Utahns dealing with divorces, criminal cases and contract disputes in a timely manner.

And the criticism directed at the court, she said, “was very damaging to the judiciary and our democracy.”

“They really dialed it in about ‘unelected judges’ and ‘unaccountable courts’ and a lack of transparency,” she said. “I just think that erodes the public trust in the judiciary.”

Beyond that, the Legislature required recording and improved public access of proceedings, mandated that judges file financial disclosure forms — Utah is one of just two states that currently does not — and created a new “Housing and Collections Court” to handle eviction cases.

Cox said Friday he was pleased with the overall outcome. He said he “pushed back” against several proposed changes that failed to pass and believes the additional judges is a “huge win” for the state.

“And if we can help to lower the temperature between the Legislature and the judiciary,” he said, “that’s a positive.”

Senate squashes election bills

As U.S. Sen. Mike Lee — the senior member of Utah’s congressional delegation — pushes his colleagues in Washington to adopt a national mandate that voters provide proof of citizenship, Utah lawmakers passed their own version of the bill.

Rep. Cory Maloy’s, R-Lehi, HB209 will require Utahns to prove their citizenship when they register to vote, but its stipulations are less strict than those in Lee’s SAVE America Act. It still needs the governor’s signature.

To vote in the November midterm general elections, Utahns must either update their registration to include documentary citizenship proof or bring proof with them to the polls.

Most Utahns have already provided that documentary proof by including their Utah driver’s license or ID number in their voter registration. County clerks are required to notify registered voters if they do not have proof of citizenship on record.

Other documents that would qualify under the bill include birth certificates, a certificate of a degree of “Indian” blood or Bureau of Indian Affairs birth affidavit, tribal treaty or tribal enrollment cards, a U.S. passport or U.S. naturalization documents.

The requirements would only determine eligibility in elections for state offices, not federal, to comply with federal laws meant to prevent voter suppression. Voters who do not meet documentation specifications would receive a separate ballot listing only federal races.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported in January that, after spending months reviewing 2.1 million people on Utah’s voter rolls, the lieutenant governor’s office has not found a single instance of a noncitizen voting and only one instance of an ineligible individual registering to vote. That review is ongoing as the office attempts to contact just over 400 people whose records were either inaccurate or incomplete.

Some of the Legislature’s most notable actions around elections this session surrounded its refusal to enact drastic changes stemming from false claims of widespread election fraud.

A Senate committee voted to table a proposed constitutional amendment and accompanying bill to take elections oversight from Utah’s lieutenant governor and give it to a newly created and independently elected secretary of state. The House of Representatives passed both proposals.

The legislation’s sponsor, Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, insisted the measures were not meant as an attack on current Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who is also a Republican. Shepherd told lawmakers, “We have a bit of an inherent distrust of elections, no matter if the actors are good.”

In 1980, 56% of Utah voters elected to amend the state constitution to do away with a secretary of state.

“It’s a fair question — have we moved past that time [for a lieutenant governor to oversee elections], or is the system that we have right now still working?” Henderson said at a Friday night news conference. “I think it’s working.”

That same Senate committee also blocked a bill from Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Salem, that would have mandated Utahns indicate when registering whether they plan to return their ballot to a drop box or through the mail.

Starting in 2027, it would also have limited the hours during which voters can submit their ballot to a drop box by only allowing them to be open when two poll workers are present to check IDs.

President Donald Trump has, in the years since he lost the 2020 election, falsely claimed vote-by-mail elections enable widespread fraud — despite casting his own ballot through the mail that election — and has repeatedly called for state and federal officials to end or restrict the practice. Schultz posted a video last month endorsing Burton’s bill.

As part of what Senate leadership called a “compromise,” the Legislature is slated to give $100,000 to Utah Valley University to study “the security of ... voting by mail.”

‘Landmark session’ for homelessness

Going into the session, legislators seemed poised to add funding to, and adopt rules for, a planned homeless campus on Salt Lake City’s west side.

Instead, they voted to spread $43.5 million on mental and behavioral health care programs to target Utahns cycling through the courts and other shelter and housing projects. Lawmakers did not give any financial support to the campus’ operations nor its construction.

And despite four bills — three from Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, and one from House Majority Leader Casey Snider, R-Paradise — that could have altered how the campus would be run, legislators did not make any policy changes directly related to the project.

But other bills responding to homelessness did advance.

“I couldn’t be happier, honestly,” Cox said about the homelessness funding. “We’ve been trying for four years to get some ongoing funding in this area and we struck out every time. … This is, to me, the landmark session when it comes to homelessness and our ability to make a difference.”

HB370 from Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, requires a new ankle monitoring program of homeless sex offenders and has passed both chambers. So has Sandy Republican Rep. Steve Eliason’s HB572, which makes changes to Utah’s behavioral health system, requires a state database of people involuntarily committed to treatment and boosts communication between law enforcement, the courts and health care providers.

HB308 from Rep. Clint Okerlund, R-Sandy, also passed the House and Senate. The legislation streamlines some work of Utah’s Office of Homeless Services and requires officials to draft a comprehensive budget for such services each year.

Legislators also passed Provo Republican Rep. Tyler Clancy’s HB205. It would prohibit syringe exchange programs in parks, create substance abuse treatment beds in jails and allow judges to bar people convicted of drug offenses from returning to the area where the crimes occurred.

Tax cuts and child credits

For the sixth year in a row, the Legislature sought to cut the state income tax rate, passing SB60 to lower the rate from 4.5% to 4.45%.

The decision to pass another tax cut came despite concerns among lawmakers about a “socks and underwear” budget year following the passage of the federal Big Beautiful Bill last year, which made current federal tax rates permanent. The result was a loss of about $300 million in expected income for the state.

Cox did not originally push for an income tax cut when he announced his proposed budget, and state agencies were asked to look for 5% spending cuts ahead of the legislative session, public support for a tax cut grew among lawmakers after more positive revenue figures were released last month.

Though some Democrats and advocates pushed for that funding to go to social services programs, GOP leaders argued a tax cut would better stimulate the economy.

“People get frustrated we’re not cutting … taxes faster,” House Speaker Mike Schultz told reporters Friday afternoon. “People criticize that it’s only a small cut. We want to make sure what we’re doing is responsible, right?”

Schultz added, “We think a slow, measured approach is the right way, doing incrementally every year, a little bit every year, and this equates to an 11% reduction in income taxes over the last six years. We’re very proud of that.”

Utah’s tax cuts have historically benefited the state’s wealthiest residents most, an analysis from the progressive non-profit Voices for Utah Children found. Under SB60, they concluded, the top 1% of earners in Utah would save $1,212 annually, while the bottom 20% — people making less than $34,600 a year — would save $13, and middle-class households that bring in between $34,600 and $157,300 would see annual savings between $24 and $57.

Lawmakers also expanded the Child Tax Credit for families with children under the age of six, raising the income threshold to $61,000 for couples and $49,000 for single parents. Another bill to expand tax breaks for employers that provide child care for employees also passed.

And after a fight early in the session with Idaho lawmakers over potentially taxing fuel exports, the Legislature ultimately moved to give Utahns tax relief at the gas pump, passing HB575. The bill cuts the gas tax by six cents, down to 32 cents per gallon from the current 38 cents per gallon.

The bill is temporary and intended to lower taxes during the summer months when gas is typically more expensive. It will go into effect July 1 and end December 21 of this year and will cost the state an estimated $11.9 million in expected revenue.

Immigration bills are held

As a debate about immigration rages nationally, Utah lawmakers brought up a number of bills related to the issue, but two of the most controversial failed to pass the Senate.

Layton Republican Rep. Trevor Lee’s HB88 sought to ban anyone in the country illegally from accessing public benefits, including vaccines, homeless shelters and nutrition assistance, among other benefits. It stalled despite Lee’s attempts to put some provisions from the legislation into another bill, which passed the House but failed to get a Senate sponsor.

Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said the bill was a violation of the Utah Compact, which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endorsed.

“That compact was vetted by a lot of stakeholders many years ago, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of them,” Adams said. “If you don’t bring stakeholders back together, you don’t bring everyone back together, how do you actually wash away a compact without that type of effort? And we didn’t see that effort.”

Cox, too, said the bill was not the Utah way.

“The law is the law and I support that,” he said in an interview Friday. “But the way we do things matters, and trying to tell people at a food bank that they can’t help someone unless they show them their papers, that’s not how we do things.”

Another bill that raised concerns among immigration advocates was Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain’s HB141, which would impose a 2% tax on international money transmissions unless the sender could show certain forms of ID. Though Gricius’s bill got a senate sponsor in Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, it did not get a hearing in a Senate committee.

Kratom — mostly — banned

Among the highest-profile issues on the hill this session was a push to ban kratom in Utah. The plant, derived from a tree in Southeast Asia, is not an opioid but works on similar brain receptors.

Senate Majority Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, sponsored a bill that aimed to fully ban kratom in Utah, while two other lawmakers — Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, and House Minority Whip Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City — sought to regulate its production and sale.

Ultimately, after extended debate that included one lawmaker attempting to include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Word of Wisdom as part of kratom-related legislation, legislators agreed to ban concentrated kratom products in the state, but allow for whole-leaf production and sale to remain legal.

LGBTQ+ bills and Charlie Kirk Boulevard

Tax cuts weren’t the only streak Utah’s supermajority Republican Legislature maintained this session — it also made 2026 the fifth consecutive year it passed laws restricting the rights of Utah’s transgender residents.

Three years after lawmakers voted to place a “moratorium” on gender-affirming care for transgender children and teenagers, they voted to make the restrictions permanent.

The state currently prohibits surgically changing a transgender minor’s sex characteristics, and bars health care providers from prescribing puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy to Utahns under 18 who were not diagnosed with gender dysphoria prior to the 2023 law.

A bill successfully introduced by Rep. Rex Shipp, R-Cedar City, answered questions about whether the Legislature would keep the hormone treatment restrictions in state law after a medical evidence review lawmakers commissioned in 2023 concluded gender-affirming care for minors with gender dysphoria is largely found to result in positive outcomes and reduce the likelihood of suicide.

If Cox signs Shipp’s HB174, beginning Jan. 28, 2027, Utah doctors must stop providing gender-affirming care to minor patients who have not started hormone replacement therapy before May 6, and cannot continue the care for anyone under 16 years old — even if they were diagnosed with gender dysphoria before 2023.

In the nine months since the Utah Department of Health and Human Services delivered the review compiled by University of Utah researchers to lawmakers, those health officials and experts have not been invited to speak at the Capitol about their work. Instead, lawmakers have largely relied on the advice of conservative, anti-transgender activists in passing the additional restrictions.

And Lee, of Davis County, proposed to rename Harvey Milk Boulevard — 900 South in Salt Lake City — to Charlie Kirk Boulevard, which sparked significant outcry among business owners and residents in the area.

Like several other controversial pieces of legislation this session, the bill never made it out of the Rules Committee.

Correction, March 9, 10:35 a.m. • The story has been corrected to reflect that the final version of the judicial transparency bill requires proceedings to be recorded.