HB 272 Utah House · 2026 General Session

Tourism Taxes Amendments

HB 272 strengthens oversight of how counties spend tourism-related taxes (like transient room taxes and tourism facility taxes). It requires counties to submit detailed annual reports on tourism tax spending to the state auditor and legislative fiscal analysts, who must jointly review if funds comply with state rules. If reports are inadequate, the state auditor can block counties from accessing tourism revenue until compliance is proven. This directly affects counties collecting these taxes, ensuring they account for spending on tourism promotion, emergency services, and infrastructure tied to tourism.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Signed Mar 18, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Enrolled · 4 edits · Mar 18, 2026
MODERATE
This bill updates Utah's tourism tax reporting rules by adding specific details on search and rescue costs, clarifying the state auditor's authority to audit county reports, and changing the enforcement process to require the state auditor to independently verify non-compliance before withholding funds.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of required reporting to include detailed data on search and rescue efforts and expands the state auditor's authority to audit county expenditures and independently verify compliance before taking enforcement action.
REQUIREMENT

Added specific reporting requirements for search and rescue efforts, including effort counts, costs, recovery amounts, and visitor demographics.

Authorized the state auditor to perform audits of county expenditures to assist in analyzing compliance with tourism tax spending rules.

ENFORCEMENT

Changed the enforcement mechanism so the state auditor must make an independent finding and confirm non-compliance before prohibiting access to funds, rather than acting solely based on a consensus determination.

TECHNICAL

Corrected a grammatical error in the text regarding the consensus determination process.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 19, 2026 · House Feb 5, 2026

How they voted

260
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 29
Feb 19, 2026
D Democratic6
6 Yea
100% Yea
N Forward1
1 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican22
19 Yea 3
86% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
38
Key actions
10
Committee
7
Mar 18, 2026
Signed into law
Governor Signed
executive
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling
lower
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House
lower
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Committee
Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Introduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
House/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ comm rpt/ placed on Consent Calendar [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Consent Calendar Recommendation [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Committee
House/ to standing committee [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors