The Utah Senate met on Day 35 of the 2025 session and passed a large group of bills on consent and third reading, moving measures on topics ranging from tax apportionment for financial institutions to Medicaid doula services and changes to rules for congregate care.

Why it matters: The floor action advances measures to the House for concurrence or further consideration and includes a handful of bills that drew substantive debate and close recorded votes that could affect health care access, congregate care licensing and criminal statutes related to child sexual abuse material.

The most contested items

Senate Bill 2 14 — Health insurance coverage amendments: Sponsor: Senator Kwan. The bill expands who may diagnose autism spectrum disorder for insurance purposes to include certain master’s-level clinicians who meet specified education, training and experience criteria, while clarifying it does not change a licensee’s scope of practice. Sponsor Senator Kwan disputed the fiscal note and said the measure “is not new monies that are going to go for … an additional group of people who are going to be diagnosed. What this does is actually drills down on that wait list.” Senator Fillmore asked to delay until a revised fiscal note could be produced; the sponsor said a prompt revision was uncertain. The Senate passed the measure by roll call, 17 yea, 8 nay, 4 absent. (Recorded roll call on the floor.)

Senate Bill 2 40 — Congregate care modifications: Sponsor: Senator Owens. The bill makes procedural and certification changes for congregate care providers, including timelines for background-check determinations and authority for certain fees and inspections. Sponsor Owens described the measure as an effort to “remove bad actors” and provide clarity for a sector facing closures. Senator Plumb explained his “no” vote, saying he was concerned the bill could limit local authorities and cited constituent problems with some facilities. The Senate passed the second substitute, 21 yea, 3 nay, 5 absent; it will now go to the House for further consideration.

Senate Bill 144 — CSAM and related offenses (second substitute): Sponsor: Senator Kwan. The substitute updates state statutes to address evolving technology and close gaps for cases involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including wording to capture intent-to-view and conduct involving cloud storage or livestreamed material and to align certain definitions with federal law. The sponsor framed the bill as closing prosecutorial loopholes created by changing technology. The motion to read the bill for a third time passed on the recorded vote shown in session; the roll call recorded 18 yes, 5 no, 6 absent (as announced on the floor) and the bill advanced toward third reading.

Votes at a glance (selected bills and outcomes)

- House Bill 174 (Water rights restricted account) — Passed on consent; announced on the floor as having received 24 yea, 0 nay, 5 absent; sent to the House with signatures. Sponsor on the floor: Senator Owens.

- First Substitute Senate Joint Resolution 7 (State authority in election governance) — Passed the Senate; announced as having received 20 yea, 4 nay, 5 absent; will be transmitted to the House. Sponsor: Senator Cullimore.

- Senate Bill 249 (Student Integration Amendments) — Passed third reading; announced as having received 22 yea, 0 nay, 7 absent; will be sent to the House. Sponsor: Senator Collamore.

- Senate Bill 128 (Assisted reproduction amendments) — Passed third reading; announced as having received 22 yea, 0 nay, 7 absent. Sponsor: Senator Pitcher.

- Senate Bill 275 (Placental Tissue Amendments) — Passed third reading; announced as having received 23 yea, 0 nay, 6 absent. Sponsor: Senator Vickers.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 276 (Utah Horse Racing Commission amendments) — Passed; announced as having received 22 yea, 0 nay, 7 absent. Sponsor: Senator McCall.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 255 (Line-of-duty death benefit amendments) — Passed; announced as having received 23 yea, 0 nay, 6 absent. Sponsor: Senator Owens.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 219 (Financial institution tax amendments) — Passed; announced as having received 22 yea, 0 nay, 7 absent. Sponsor: Senator McCall.

- Senate Bill 256 (General government and appropriations amendments) — Passed; announced as having received 24 yea, 0 nay, 5 absent. Sponsor: Senator Plumb.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 295 (Property tax modifications) — Passed; announced as having received 24 yea, 0 nay, 5 absent. Sponsor: Senator McKay.

- Senate Bill 264 (Higher education certification amendments — USU workforce/certification pilot for childcare) — Passed; announced as having received 23 yea, 0 nay, 6 absent. Sponsor: Senator Escamilla.

- Senate Bill 279 (High school rodeo excused absences) — Passed; announced as having received 23 yea, 1 nay, 5 absent. Sponsor: Senator McKell.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 223 (Public education bullying amendments, uncircled and passed) — Passed on final read; announced as having received 25 yea, 0 nay, 4 absent. Sponsor: Senator McCall.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 282 (Higher education hiring amendments) — Passed; announced as having received 24 yea, 1 nay, 4 absent. Sponsor: Senator Wilson.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 214 (Health insurance coverage — autism diagnosis by certain master’s clinicians) — Passed; announced as having received 17 yea, 8 nay, 4 absent. Sponsor: Senator Kwan. (Discussed above.)

- Senate Bill 39 (Education testing amendments; standardizing tests across grades 3–10) — Passed; announced as having received 25 yea, 0 nay, 4 absent. Sponsor: Senator Johnson.

- Second Substitute Senate Bill 240 (Congregate care modifications — see above) — Passed; announced as having received 21 yea, 3 nay, 5 absent. Sponsor: Senator Owens.

- Senate Bill 284 (Medicaid doula services) — Passed; announced as having received 25 yea, 0 nay, 4 absent. Sponsor: Senator Escamilla.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 283 (Funds amendments) — Passed; announced as having received 24 yea, 0 nay, 5 absent. Sponsor: Senator Bridal.

- Senate Bill 292 (Ticketing delivery amendments) — Passed third reading; announced as having received 27 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent. Sponsor: Senator Wyler.

- Senate Bill 298 (Mowing ordinance amendments, narrow carve-out for golf-course maintenance) — Passed third reading; announced as having received 22 yea, 4 nay, 3 absent. Sponsor: Senator McKay.

- Senate Bill 278 (State debt collection amendments) — Passed third reading; announced as having received 25 yea, 0 nay, 4 absent. Sponsor: Senator Wyler.

- First Substitute Senate Bill 283 (Funds amendments, third-reading passage later in the day) — Passed; announced as having received 24 yea, 0 nay, 5 absent. Sponsor: Senator Bridal.

What senators said and procedural notes

President Adams (President of the Senate) presided over the session and announced roll-call totals when each bill passed. Several measures were “circled” (set aside) or “uncircled” by motion when sponsors asked for additional time or substitutes; multiple bills were moved on a motion to “circle” with the sponsor off the floor and later returned. Senator Kwan (floor sponsor, health insurance coverage amendments) urged passage despite a disputed fiscal note, saying the bill addresses an access bottleneck by expanding the pool of qualified diagnosticians and “drilling down on that wait list.” Senator Plumb voiced opposition to the congregate care changes, citing constituent concerns with some facilities and saying he could not support a bill he felt might limit local protections.

Next steps

Bills that passed the Senate will be transmitted to the Utah House for concurrence or consideration where applicable. Several items passed on the consent calendar; others required recorded roll-call votes and will proceed through the House as the session advances toward its close. The Senate recessed at the end of the afternoon until 2:00 p.m., as announced on the floor.