Housing

SB 277 expands Utah's Homes Investment Program to allow state-approved lenders to finance new housing types, including multi-family developments meeting affordability criteria, affordable rental projects, housing acquisitions, and city-run programs offering low-interest loans for home improvements to income-eligible homeowners. It removes limits on loan interest rates for developers and cities, and requires the state treasurer to conduct an economic impact study after the program ends. The bill directly affects developers, municipalities, and low-income homeowners seeking affordable housing options through expanded financing. It does not appropriate new state funds and aims to increase housing availability by broadening eligible projects under the existing program framework.

HB 183 amends Utah state laws to replace the term "gender" with "sex" in all relevant statutes and removes protections based on gender identity. It repeals existing provisions covering gender identity in housing, employment, and crime, prohibits changes to sex designations on birth certificates, and restricts student access to privacy spaces based on biological sex. The bill also requires state agencies to use "sex" instead of "gender" in rulemaking, bars certain employees in child-related roles from having face-to-face contact with children if their work presents a different sex than their biological sex, and directs courts to consider parental opposition to a child's gender identity (conflicting with biological sex) as a factor in custody decisions. These changes directly affect transgender and gender-diverse individuals, schools, healthcare providers, and courts handling custody cases. The bill contains no funding impacts and is currently in early legislative stages.

This bill simplifies property tax exemption applications for Utah veterans who are disabled or killed in action, and their surviving spouses or minor children. It requires counties to accept a single application for the exemption unless a veteran's disability rating changes or the claimant changes. Counties can no longer demand repeated proof of disability beyond the initial filing, and the exemption covers 100% of property value for eligible veterans (with 10%+ disability) or survivors of veterans killed in action. The changes apply retroactively with no new state funding required.