HB 563 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Ballot Title Amendments

HB 563 updates Utah law to shift responsibility for preparing ballot titles and analyses of constitutional amendments from the presiding officers to the Legislative General Counsel. This change affects how the state generates the official descriptions voters see on ballots for constitutional amendment proposals. The bill amends specific code sections to require the Legislative General Counsel - not the presiding officers - to draft ballot titles, assign identifiers, and deliver these materials to the lieutenant governor. The change streamlines the process by centralizing this task within the Legislative General Counsel's office without altering the content or requirements for ballot titles.

Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Governor

Introduced Feb 26, 2025 Last action Mar 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Amended Excerpts 3/3/2025 12:03:529 → Amended 3/3/2025 12:03:529 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill modifies how Utah prepares ballot titles and analyses for constitutional amendments submitted by the Legislature, shifting responsibility from presiding officers to the legislative general counsel. The change affects who drafts and delivers ballot materials and when analyses must be submitted to the lieutenant governor.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from applying to all measures to specifically distinguishing between constitutional amendments submitted by the Legislature and other measures, with different analysis requirements for each.

REQUIREMENT

Changed responsibility for preparing ballot titles and analyses from presiding officers to the legislative general counsel for constitutional amendments submitted by the Legislature.

Updated voter information pamphlet requirements to distinguish between measures submitted by the Legislature and other measures, specifying different analysis sources for each type.

Added specific formatting requirements for ballot titles, including assigning letters to constitutional amendments and numbers to propositions in accordance with existing sections.

TIMELINE

Modified the deadline for submitting analysis to the lieutenant governor from 90 calendar days before the election to a specific day that falls 90 calendar days before the election.

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

Amendments

Mar 3, 2025

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

Mar 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

House/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Mar 3, 2025

Introduced

House/ floor amendment

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

House/ committee report favorable

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Committee

House/ to standing committee

lower

Feb 26, 2025

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor