SB 107 Utah Senate · 2025 General Session

Education Scholarship Amendments

SB 107 removes income-based eligibility requirements for Utah's education scholarship programs, directly affecting students and families applying for scholarships. The bill eliminates previous income thresholds that limited access to scholarships under the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship Program, making all qualifying students eligible regardless of family income. It makes technical updates to definitions in Utah Code Sections 53E-7-401 and 53E-7-402 but does not add new funding or change scholarship benefits. This change simplifies eligibility for existing scholarship programs without altering the types of educational expenses covered.

Issues: ✓ Education

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

This substitute bill removes income-based eligibility criteria from the Carson Smith Opportunity Scholarship Program, allowing scholarships to be awarded regardless of family income. It also simplifies definitions by removing references to federal poverty levels and family income, while retaining core eligibility requirements for students with disabilities and Utah residency.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include all eligible students regardless of income level, whereas the original version restricted awards based on family income thresholds.

ELIGIBILITY

Eliminated income-based criteria that previously limited scholarships to families at or below 185% of the federal poverty level or those with specific special education needs.

Changed 'primary resident of the state' to 'resident of the state' in the eligible student definition, broadening residency requirements.

DEFINITION

Deleted definitions for 'Family income' and 'Federal poverty level' that were used to determine scholarship award amounts.

FISCAL

Removed the tiered scholarship award structure that provided different funding amounts based on family income and special education status.

REQUIREMENT

Simplified the scholarship application process by removing income verification requirements and related documentation.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 11, 2025

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors