HB 266 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Veteran Housing Amendments

HB 266 requires Utah's Homeless Services Board and the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs to jointly develop best practices for assisting homeless veterans. It directly affects veterans experiencing homelessness in Utah by mandating coordinated efforts between these state agencies. The bill's key mechanism is creating standardized approaches to housing support, including promoting client dignity, self-reliance, and data sharing for better service coordination. The bill makes no new funding commitments and focuses on procedural improvements to existing veteran housing programs.

Issues: ✓ Housing ✓ Veterans

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

Signed into Law

Mar 2025

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Signed Mar 27, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Enrolled · 7 edits · Mar 27, 2025

MODERATE

This bill amends Utah's homeless services and veterans affairs laws to require collaboration between the Utah Homeless Services Board and the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs to create best practices for preventing veteran homelessness. The legislation adds specific duties for both agencies to work together, establishes new requirements for funding approval processes, and expands the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs' responsibilities to include homelessness prevention efforts.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the Utah Homeless Services Board's duties to include mandatory collaboration with the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs, and adds homelessness prevention to the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs' core responsibilities.

REQUIREMENT

Requires the Utah Homeless Services Board and Department of Veterans and Military Affairs to work together to create best practices for helping veterans avoid homelessness

Adds new duties for the Homeless Services Board to coordinate with the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs and establish standards for prioritizing homeless shelter beds

Expands the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs' responsibilities to include creating best practices for veteran homelessness prevention

Requires a two-thirds board vote to approve funding formulas for homeless services

Adds new grant-making authority for the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs to support veteran outreach, employment, education, healthcare, and homelessness prevention

Updates the Homeless Services Board's duties to include developing metrics for measuring provider effectiveness and creating best practices for service delivery

MODIFIED

Changes formatting and layout of the bill text from draft version to enrolled copy format

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 27, 2025

Signed into law

Governor Signed

executive

Feb 21, 2025

Legislature · Passed

House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling

legislature

Feb 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Senate/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Feb 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Senate/ committee report favorable

upper

Feb 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

Feb 11, 2025

Upper · Passed

House/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

House/ committee report favorable

lower

Jan 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Committee

House/ to standing committee

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor