State Advocacy

The ACLU of Utah strongly urges Governor Cox to veto House Bill 209, Voting Amendments.

HB315 promotes “Baby Olivia,” a medically inaccurate, computer-generated fetus video produced by extremists pushing abortion bans.

Public Urged to Help Defeat New Law that Would Further Censor Books in Schools

The two-hour event will feature a community reading hour followed by remarks from authors and other speakers, including Representative John Arthur and author Abdi Nazemian, whose novel Like a Love Story was banned statewide in Utah in 2025.

HB392 proposes a new three-judge panel to hear selected cases against state actors. It would allow the Attorney General, Legislature, and the Governor to reassign cases against them to a three-judge panel, effectively giving the state actor party two bites at the apple when it comes to the forum that will hear their legal case. The other parties to the case do not have the ability to reassign their case to this panel. Additionally, the Legislature, Attorney General or Governor will be able to reassign pending cases, no matter the stage of litigation, to the three-judge panel, including high-profile cases currently against the Legislature including the abortion trigger ban and redistricting case involving Prop. 4. Given the Legislature's recent losses in the courts, changing the structure of our court system risks the appearance of the Legislature creating new rules that will favor them when courts weigh whether the laws it passes are constitutional.

HB294 will change current law regarding which private employers are required to use the E-Verify system to check the immigration status of its employees. Current law requires all private employers who employ over 150 people to do so, but HB294 will lower that number to 50 employees. The bill also cites criminal penalties for the use of fraudulent identification to obtain employment.

This bill builds on HB300, which made significant changes to election adminsitration to roll back vote-by-mail and was passed during the 2025 legislative session. HB311 would allow poll workers to do signature verification even if the voter supplied the last 4 digits of their valid ID or SSN, if the poll worker has any reason to believe that the signature on the ballot return envelope is not the voter's signature. The bill also further limits the forms of ID that Utahns can use to register to vote, eliminating utility bills and bank statements as an option to prove residency.

This bill would eliminate the driving privilege card program, a program that allows Utah residents who are not eligible for a REAL ID document or are unable to establish lawful presence to acquire the lawful ability to drive. This program helps everyone as it allows all drivers to be screened for driving ability and to obtain auto insurance, protecting everyone on Utah roads. The bill would also require local law enforcement to notify ICE when a car accident takes place involving a driver who does not have lawful immigration status, further intertwining local law enforcement duties with federal immigration enforcement.