HB 206 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Chronic Absenteeism Pilot Program

HB 206 creates a pilot program to address chronic absenteeism in Utah public schools by offering financial incentives through my529 savings accounts. The program targets schools with high absenteeism rates (defined as missing 10%+ of school days), limiting participation to no more than five schools statewide (100 students per school). It appropriates $660,000 for fiscal year 2026 to provide $440 annually per student in incentives - $400 deposited quarterly into my529 accounts and $40 per student for school administration. The State Board of Education will oversee implementation, require data sharing with the Utah Educational Savings Plan, and report on program effectiveness by November 2026.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Mar 8, 2025

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to add specific funding amounts, limit program participation to five schools with 100 students each, and establish fixed incentive payment amounts. These changes make the pilot program more concrete and manageable by defining exactly how much money will be spent and how many students can participate.

Scope change

The bill now explicitly limits participation to no more than five schools statewide and no more than 100 students per school, whereas the original version did not specify these limits.

FISCAL

Added $660,000 in operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2026 to fund the pilot program.

Established fixed financial incentive amounts: $440 per student per year total, with $400 distributed as quarterly payments to students and $40 allocated to schools for administration.

ELIGIBILITY

Added specific limits on participation: no more than five schools statewide and no more than 100 students per participating school.

TIMELINE

Added requirement for the state board to begin implementation of the pilot program by July 1, 2026.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the rulemaking requirements to include specific structure for financial incentives rather than leaving amounts to legislative appropriation.

Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 28, 2025

Committee

House/ to standing committee

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors