HB 433 Utah House · 2026 General Session

Professional Licensing Amendments

HB 433 modifies Utah's professional licensing oversight by clarifying what constitutes "harm" (like threats to public health, safety, or finances) and requiring the Office of Professional Licensure Review to document its evaluations of occupational regulations. It allows individuals to petition the office to recommend repealing or changing regulations, and creates a process to appeal the office's decisions or how agencies implement them. This bill directly affects professionals regulated by state licensing rules, such as healthcare workers or tradespeople, by making the review process more transparent and accessible. The changes focus on ensuring regulations are necessary and proportionate, without adding new costs or altering existing licensing requirements.
Bill status passed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Governor
Introduced Jan 30, 2026 Last action Mar 7, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Amended 3/3/2026 19:03:811 Substitute #1 · 6 edits
MODERATE
This bill updates the Professional Licensing Amendments to improve oversight of occupational regulations by clarifying definitions of 'harm' and 'regulated occupations.' It mandates that the Office of Professional Licensure Review document its reviews and respond to public inquiries, though responses to non-legislator inquiries are now subject to capacity and resource constraints. The bill also establishes specific criteria for evaluating whether new or existing regulations are necessary to protect public health, safety, and financial welfare.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of public engagement by requiring the office to respond to inquiries from persons other than legislators, while simultaneously limiting the obligation to respond to these non-legislator inquiries based on available resources.
DEFINITION

Added a specific definition for 'harm' to include physical injury, property damage, or financial harm, and renumbered subsequent definitions.

Renumbered the definition of 'License' from (6) to (7) and 'Occupation' from (9) to (10) to accommodate the new 'harm' definition.

REQUIREMENT

Requires the Office of Professional Licensure Review to document its reviews of occupational regulations.

Changed the requirement to respond to inquiries from non-legislators to be conditional on the office's capacity and resources, while still requiring notice to the legislators representing those inquirers.

Added specific criteria for reviews to assess the severity, probability, and permanence of any identified harm to the public.

Added criteria to evaluate whether regulations create barriers to service entry or impose new costs on existing practitioners.

Floor votes · House Feb 26, 2026

How they voted

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

Actions timeline

Total actions
33
Key actions
5
Committee
5
Amendments
2
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ comm rpt/ amended [Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee]
upper
Mar 3, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee]
upper
Mar 3, 2026
Introduced
Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation [Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee]
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Committee
Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee]
upper
Feb 27, 2026
Introduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
House/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ comm rpt/ substituted [House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee]
lower
Feb 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee]
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
House/ to standing committee [House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee]
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors