Emily Buss is a Utah Forward Party state senator from Utah Senate District 11 who is seeking election on November 3, 2026.[1][2]Gov. Spencer Cox appointed her on December 12, 2025, to replace Daniel W. Thatcher, and she assumed office on December 17, 2025.[1]
Their recorded votes on bills that divided the chamber (unanimous votes left out), grouped by topic. A bill can sit under more than one topic. How topics are assigned
This bill amends provisions relating to voting. This bill: defines terms; provides a process for an election officer to independently determine whether a registered voter is not a citizen of the United States; provides a process to challenge a determination described in the preceding paragraph; prohibits an individual from voting if an election officer independently determines that the voter is not a citizen of the United States and the individual does not successfully dispute the determination; creates a bifurcated ballot system where, for an election held on or after November 1, 2026: a…
This bill makes changes related to the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission. This bill: amends definitions; renumbers and reorganizes statutory provisions in Title 78A, Chapter 12, Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission; addresses the requirements for a meeting of the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (Commission); requires the Commission to perform a study regarding reversal on appeal and provide a report to the Judiciary Interim Committee on the study; requires the Commission to allow a judge to appear and speak at a commission meeting in certain circumstances; modifies…
This resolution urges the Governor to review Utah's designation of the Disability Law Center as the state's Protection and Advocacy agency to ensure that all individuals with disabilities, regardless of type or functional capacity, receive equitable advocacy and representation.
This bill modifies provisions related to tax revenue. This bill: defines terms; limits the amount of reserve funds maintained by cities and counties; reduces the amount of the residential property tax exemption for rental properties, with certain exceptions; clarifies the applicability of the residential exemption for owners of multiple primary residences in the state; requires counties to provide information to the Multicounty Appraisal Trust regarding business entities that receive the residential exemption; excludes certain property valuation increases from the calculation of locally…
This bill amends provisions related to the minimum basic tax that school districts impose. This bill: ensures state funding in an amount that covers the total cost of the basic school program for a school district that imposes the minimum basic tax rate; requires school districts that impose the minimum basic tax to remit to the state the revenue the tax generates; creates a special revenue fund for the revenue that the minimum basic tax generates; requires a specific statement on the property tax notice; repeals provisions regarding state and local contributions toward the basic school…
This bill modifies property tax relief provisions. This bill: defines terms; authorizes counties to provide certain property tax relief to qualifying individuals through a country relief program; establishes notice and public hearing requirements before a county may approve a county relief program by ordinance; requires a county to impose a separate county relief levy for the relief the county provides through a county relief program; changes the qualifications, scope, duration, and interest rate applicable to the nondiscretionary deferral program; authorizes the Multicounty Appraisal Trust…
This bill modifies provisions relating to educator license discipline and restrictions on employment and volunteer service. This bill: amends provisions relating to ineligibility for educator licensure following license denial; establishes a tiered framework for restrictions on employment and volunteer service following license suspension or revocation; requires automatic restrictions for serious misconduct involving actual harm or credible risk to children; requires written findings demonstrating specific risk for restrictions in other cases; exempts technical violations from automatic work…
This bill amends the Excellence in Education and Leadership Supplement to expand access to the performance-based teacher award program. This bill: broadens statewide eligibility for the performance-based teacher award program; provides a process for teachers employed in non-participating local education agencies to be considered for an award; and makes conforming changes.
This bill changes the flexible allocation to teacher and classroom salary support. This bill: changes the flexible allocation to teacher and classroom salary support; and makes technical changes.
This bill addresses reporting related to water use and large data centers. This bill: defines terms; directs land use authorities to issue certain notices; requires certain large data centers to communicate with water providers; requires reporting by operators of certain large data centers before construction and annually; addresses disclosure of the reported information; provides for enforcement mechanisms; addresses rulemaking; and makes technical and conforming amendments.
This bill addresses the jurisdictional management of public lands. This bill: defines terms; asserts the state's jurisdictional interest in land controlled by the federal government under a proprietary interest; directs the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office (office) to promote the state's jurisdictional interests on landscape-scale public lands; requires the office to: identify and map landscape-scale lands in the state; establish map layers for certain criteria on landscape-scale lands; map a landscape public nuisance area on landscape-scale lands containing forested areas; and report…
This bill addresses water rights and the state engineer's actions related to water rights. This bill: addresses actions related to an application to appropriate public water; modifies the extent to which the state engineer may consider a protest; addresses temporary applications; modifies the grounds that the state engineer may consider in approving or rejecting an application, including what the state engineer may consider related to public welfare; clarifies who is an aggrieved person for purposes of seeking judicial review; and makes technical and conforming changes.
This bill amends provisions related to insurance coverage. This bill: requires a health benefit plan to cover certain procedures and treatment to reverse a sex transition if the health benefit plan covers certain treatments or procedures to effectuate a sex transition.
This bill amends provisions related to the provision of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to minors. This bill: prohibits providing cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to minors after a certain date.
This bill amends provisions related to parent access to a minor's medical record. This bill: defines terms; specifies that a parent has the right to access their child's medical record; requires a health care facility to ensure that a child's parent has access to the child's electronic health record unless certain circumstances are met; requires an electronic medical record system vendor to ensure a health care facility can provide access to parents; authorizes the attorney general's office to bring enforcement actions; and requires a health care facility to provide medical records free of…
This bill amends provisions related to transportation, including road usage charge, towing dispatch, and local option sales tax use. This bill: allows a political subdivision to prohibit a mobile business from operating on a street or sidewalk that is temporarily closed for certain events; requires commercial electric vehicles with a gross weight of 6,001 pounds or more to pay a road usage charge with a higher road usage charge cap; exempts buses operating on the bus's planned route to temporarily cross lane lines to stop at a bus stop; exempts the Department of Transportation from certain…
This bill addresses drivers without a driver license, driving privilege card, or learner permit. This bill: defines terms; modifies the circumstances in which law enforcement is required to impound a vehicle; addresses identification of an individual who operates a vehicle without a valid driving credential; allows certain fees to be waived in certain circumstances; modifies certain fees and the allocation of fee revenue; amends certain penalties associated with driving without a driver license; amends provisions related to administrative suspension of a driver license; requires a vendor…
This bill addresses commercial driver license (CDL) applicants. This bill: requires a CDL applicant to sign a form attesting to the applicant's English language ability; requires reporting regarding CDL driver training schools; and makes technical changes.
This bill addresses reporting related to water use and large data centers. This bill: defines terms; directs land use authorities to issue certain notices; requires certain large data centers to communicate with water providers; requires reporting by operators of certain large data centers before construction and annually; addresses disclosure of the reported information; provides for enforcement mechanisms; addresses rulemaking; and makes technical and conforming amendments.
This bill modifies the Uniform Commercial Code. This bill: defines terms; excludes programmable money from the standard definition of money; prohibits a person from requiring the use of programmable money for a transaction unless the person also offers a free, non-digital alternative; outlaws an issuer denying a transaction based on discriminatory criteria, including a person's political opinions, religious beliefs, medical history, or lawful ownership of a firearm; prevents an issuer from using environmental, social, or governance standards and diversity programming compliance as a basis for…
This bill addresses website access litigation brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This bill: provides a sunset date for statutory provisions related to abusive website access litigation; defines terms; creates a civil action for a court to determine whether a lawsuit alleging a website access violation under the Americans with Disabilities Act is abusive; and allows a court to award attorney fees and costs, punitive damages, and sanctions if the lawsuit is abusive.
This bill modifies provisions related to tax revenue. This bill: defines terms; limits the amount of reserve funds maintained by cities and counties; reduces the amount of the residential property tax exemption for rental properties, with certain exceptions; clarifies the applicability of the residential exemption for owners of multiple primary residences in the state; requires counties to provide information to the Multicounty Appraisal Trust regarding business entities that receive the residential exemption; excludes certain property valuation increases from the calculation of locally…
This bill modifies property tax relief provisions. This bill: defines terms; authorizes counties to provide certain property tax relief to qualifying individuals through a country relief program; establishes notice and public hearing requirements before a county may approve a county relief program by ordinance; requires a county to impose a separate county relief levy for the relief the county provides through a county relief program; changes the qualifications, scope, duration, and interest rate applicable to the nondiscretionary deferral program; authorizes the Multicounty Appraisal Trust…
This bill creates an exemption in the Utah Fair Housing Act allowing a landlord to designate housing as single-sex based on biological sex. This bill: defines terms; permits a landlord to restrict occupancy in single-sex housing to individuals of the designated biological sex; clarifies that such restriction is not unlawful discrimination under the Utah Fair Housing Act; and makes technical and conforming changes.
This resolution urges the government of the United States to not resume explosive nuclear weapons testing. This resolution: urges the government of the United States to not resume explosive nuclear weapons testing.
This bill addresses state sovereignty. This bill: defines terms; prohibits the governor or the chief executive officer of a political subdivision from declaring a state of emergency exclusively in response to an international organization's proclamation declaring a state of emergency; declares that an international organization has no power, jurisdiction, or legal authority in the state; prohibits the state, state agencies, and local governments from implementing or enforcing an international directive issued by an international organization; and makes technical changes.
This bill amends provisions dealing with the sale of land to restricted foreign entities. This bill: lowers the percentage of ownership a restricted foreign entity may maintain in a separate entity before the separate entity is considered a restricted foreign entity; provides that the Department of Public Safety (department) shall send a letter to an entity the department suspects of being a restricted foreign entity; provides that an entity to which the department sends a letter shall provide evidence that demonstrates the entity is not a restricted foreign entity within 30 days after the…
Substantive votes concern legislation or nominations; procedural votes concern how the chamber considers them. A Yes vote applies to the motion shown, which may not be final passage.
HB 212 · UT SENATE
County Formation Amendments
NoVOTED
Motion: Senate/ failed
This bill modifies provisions related to the creation of a new county. This bill: defines terms; establishes a process for the legislative body of a petitioning municipality to initiate a process to create a new county; imposes a threshold for petitioners and certain viability requirements on the formation of a new county, including the completion of a feasibility study; allows certain rural property to remain in a seceding county, in certain circumstances; provides for the continuation of property taxation between a seceding county and a new county to satisfy general obligation or revenue…
This bill enacts provisions relating to punitive damages. This bill: provides that an insurer may not rely on the existence, likelihood, possibility, or exposure to punitive damages when taking actions under Title 31A, Insurance Code; provides the circumstances in which a court may award punitive damages against an employer, managing agent, or principal for the conduct of the employer's, managing agent's, or principal's employee or agent; provides that the provisions this bill enacts apply only to a claim arising after the effective date of the bill; and makes technical changes.
This bill requires the State Board of Education (state board) to study best practices regarding the use of software in public schools. This bill: defines terms; requires the state board to: conduct a study regarding the use of software and digital services in public schools; review best practices related to the educational effectiveness, design, and data practices of software that students use; publish guidance describing best practices for the responsible use of software in a public school; and upon request, report the findings of the study to the Education Interim Committee; and makes…
Concurrent Resolution Emphasizing Utah's Commitment to Advanced Air Mobility
YesVOTED
Motion: Senate/ concurs with House amendment
This resolution recognizes Utah's role in aerospace innovation and affirms the state's commitment to developing and implementing Advanced Air Mobility technologies. This resolution: recognizes Utah's history as a global leader in aerospace innovation and research; describes the potential of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) technologies; recognizes Utah's ideal political, economic, and geographic environments for the testing and implementation of AAM technologies; outlines Utah's long-term goal to establish an operational AAM system and vertiport network before the 2034 Winter Olympic Games; and…
This bill concerns public assistance fraud. This bill: amends certain criminal provisions concerning obtaining or using public assistance; creates the offense of public assistance fraud by a person facilitating an inaccurate public assistance application; adds the newly created offense to the list of predicate offenses for a pattern of unlawful activity; and makes technical and conforming changes.
This bill amends a definition related to a student being excused from school. This bill: amends a definition related to a student being excused from school; and makes technical and conforming changes.
This bill concerns criminal conduct on public lands. This bill: defines terms; creates the Public Lands Restoration and Protection Fund (fund) to be administered by the State Historic Preservation Office; amends the criminal offense of defacing by graffiti on public lands, including to add conduct involving natural and archaeological features; amends penalty provisions for certain criminal violations of the offense of antiquities alteration, removal, injury, or destruction; provides that a court may order criminal restitution to be deposited into the fund for a violation of: defacing by…
This bill amends provisions related to general education writing requirements. This bill: allows institutions of higher education to voluntarily adopt certain writing requirements; directs the Utah Board of Higher Education to establish minimum requirements for using primary source documents in writing courses; and makes technical and conforming changes.
Motion: Senate Conference Committee - Final Passage
This bill addresses natural resources within the state. This bill: facilitates faster permitting by the Department of Environmental Quality and the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining; modifies the tax credit for mining exploration; creates the State Reinvestment Restricted Account and diverts various streams of income related to severance taxes into the State Reinvestment Restricted Account; addresses property tax differentials based on critical minerals zones; defines terms; establishes the state critical minerals objectives and policy, including providing for annual reviews; creates the…
This bill amends the criminal offense of emergency reporting abuse. This bill: modifies the offense of emergency reporting abuse to include conduct in which an actor contacts a 911 emergency response service when the actor knows, or reasonably should know, that no actual or perceived emergency, crime, or other circumstance jeopardizing public safety exists; adds new penalties to the criminal offense of emergency reporting abuse; moves a definition to the statute in which the definition is referenced; and makes technical and conforming changes.