HB 409 Utah House · 2026 General Session

Legislator Leave Amendments

HB 409 provides paid leave for Utah state employees and teachers who serve as legislators during official session days. It requires employers to grant this leave for the full hours absent during legislative sessions, while clarifying that legislators using this leave cannot earn retirement credit or receive retirement contributions for that time. Employers may seek partial reimbursement from legislative chambers for costs related to providing this leave. The bill modifies existing rules to standardize how legislators who hold public-sector jobs manage their time and benefits during sessions.

Bill status passed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action Mar 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the rules for state employees and teachers serving as legislators, clarifying that they receive paid leave but cannot earn salary or retirement credits for those specific legislative days. It also introduces a new provision allowing state employees and teachers to negotiate alternative arrangements if they choose not to use the standard legislator leave policy.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include 'teachers' in the reimbursement and leave provisions alongside state employees, and it added a new option for employees to opt out of the standard leave policy in favor of a mutually agreed-upon alternative.

ELIGIBILITY

Clarified that employees using legislator leave continue to accrue service credit and receive retirement contributions, but cannot receive salary or accrue service credit for their time serving as a legislator.

Added a new provision allowing state employees and teachers to agree with their employer on an alternative arrangement if they choose not to use the standard legislator leave policy.

FISCAL

Updated reimbursement limits to cap costs based on the total savings from legislators' ineligibility for both salary and retirement contributions.

TECHNICAL

Corrected formatting errors in the text, such as misplaced section numbers and inconsistent numbering sequences.

Floor votes · House Feb 25, 2026

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate/ comm rpt/ substituted [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee]

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

House/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

House/ committee report favorable [House Government Operations Committee]

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Government Operations Committee]

lower

Feb 13, 2026

Committee

House/ to standing committee [House Government Operations Committee]

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor