HB 394 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Statutory Intent Amendments

HB 394 removes or modifies phrases in Utah statutes that reference "legislative intent" or "statutory interpretation," replacing them with more neutral, procedural language. It affects over 20 Utah code sections, including those governing water districts, county audits, nuclear waste regulations, and financial oversight. The bill makes technical drafting changes to eliminate subjective statements about lawmakers' intentions, such as replacing "It is the intent of the Legislature that..." with direct policy language. This is a procedural update to improve clarity in existing laws, not a policy change affecting residents or programs. No funding or new requirements are added.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Feb 4, 2025 Signed Mar 26, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute #1 Enrolled · 7 edits · Mar 26, 2025
MODERATE
This bill modifies Utah statutes to remove outdated legislative intent statements and update statutory language to reflect current legal standards. The changes primarily involve clarifying the state's stance on nuclear waste, adjusting fee caps for public utilities, and refining definitions for adoption and education assessments. These updates ensure laws align with modern practices and remove redundant or conflicting intent declarations.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains legislative intent and statutory interpretation across various code sections, but the applicability of specific intent statements has been altered or removed in several areas.
REQUIREMENT

Removed redundant legislative intent statements from multiple code sections, including those regarding nuclear waste and utility fees, to streamline the statutes.

Updated Section 7-17-1 to remove the phrase 'It is the intent of the Legislature that the' and replace it with direct statutory language governing borrower and lender rights.

Revised Section 19-3-302 to change language from 'asserts a right' to 'recognizes' regarding the state's position on high-level nuclear waste placement.

Adjusted Section 53E-4-301.5 to renumber subsections and clarify that the state board must ensure assessments provide evaluative information and identify resource needs.

Changed Section 54-5-1.5 to modify fee caps for public utilities, adding specific percentage limits and clarifying the Supplemental Levy Committee's authority.

Updated Section 78B-6-102 to refine language regarding unmarried biological fathers' rights, emphasizing their responsibility to protect their interests and the state's interest in preventing fraud.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the bill from February 11, 2025, to March 14, 2025.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
35
Key actions
7
Committee
4
Mar 26, 2025
Signed into law
Governor Signed
executive
Mar 8, 2025
Legislature · Passed
House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling
legislature
Mar 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House
lower
Feb 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate/ committee report favorable
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Committee
Senate/ to standing committee
upper
Feb 18, 2025
Introduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
upper
Feb 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
House/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors