The Senate Business and Labor Committee voted to favorably recommend the first substitute to Senate Bill 259 on Feb. 25, a bill that creates a separate designation of "state holy days," lists several faith observances and clarifies that state employees may use an additional personal-preference day to observe such days.

Sponsor Senator Sandra Stratton (presenting the bill) described three pillars of the proposal: designating Easter Sunday as a state holiday (the bill identifies the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox), establishing a separate category called "state holy days," and allowing employees to use an additional personal-preference day to observe a state holy day or another day they choose. The bill also enumerates a list of holy days the legislature would formally recognize in the statute.

Supporters urged a stronger step to create Good Friday as a legal holiday, arguing that it is a significant observance for many Utah residents. Lonnie Hilton (represented in committee by her daughter Anne Marie Hilton) urged the legislature to designate Good Friday a legal holiday or at minimum permit employees and parents to excuse students without penalty. "She says ... she is here to express my strong support for the original version of SB 259 which would establish Good Friday as a legal holiday," Anne Marie Hilton read on her mother's behalf.

Other witnesses, including Diane Livingston of Worldwide Organization for Women and Kristen Ritchie of Eagle Forum, spoke in favor of the substitute and emphasized the personal-preference day as a mechanism to respect diverse faiths. Livingston suggested extending accommodation language to schools so students could be excused without academic penalty on holy days they observe.

Committee members discussed the language that allows an employee to use a state holy day as a personal-preference day and confirmed the bill preserves existing personal-preference-day procedures while explicitly permitting the use of newly listed holy days. The bill includes a cross-reference to existing statute (cited in committee as section 63G-1-111(1) in discussion) that governs personal leave rules for state employees.

The committee voted to favorably recommend the first substitute to SB 259 by voice vote; the chair recorded that the motion passed unanimously.