Housing

SB 108 prevents Utah cities and counties from creating rules for online marketplaces like Etsy or Airbnb. It specifically blocks local governments from regulating how these platforms operate or demanding user data without a court order. The law allows exceptions for short-term rental rules and for regulating people who use the platforms, not the platforms themselves.

SB 277 expands Utah's Homes Investment Program to allow state-approved lenders to finance new housing types, including multi-family developments meeting affordability criteria, affordable rental projects, housing acquisitions, and city-run programs offering low-interest loans for home improvements to income-eligible homeowners. It removes limits on loan interest rates for developers and cities, and requires the state treasurer to conduct an economic impact study after the program ends. The bill directly affects developers, municipalities, and low-income homeowners seeking affordable housing options through expanded financing. It does not appropriate new state funds and aims to increase housing availability by broadening eligible projects under the existing program framework.

HB 183 amends Utah state laws to replace the term "gender" with "sex" in all relevant statutes and removes protections based on gender identity. It repeals existing provisions covering gender identity in housing, employment, and crime, prohibits changes to sex designations on birth certificates, and restricts student access to privacy spaces based on biological sex. The bill also requires state agencies to use "sex" instead of "gender" in rulemaking, bars certain employees in child-related roles from having face-to-face contact with children if their work presents a different sex than their biological sex, and directs courts to consider parental opposition to a child's gender identity (conflicting with biological sex) as a factor in custody decisions. These changes directly affect transgender and gender-diverse individuals, schools, healthcare providers, and courts handling custody cases. The bill contains no funding impacts and is currently in early legislative stages.