2025 Utah Legislature Wrap

The 2025 Legislative session in Utah ended March 7, 2025.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

March 10, 2025

2025 Legislative Priorities for AARP Utah

SUPPORT

• Eliminate Social Security Tax

In 2023, the Utah legislature voted to increase the Social Security income threshold to $45,000 for single filers and $75,000 for married couples filing jointly. Individuals and households with qualifying incomes are eligible for a tax refund.

This year, the legislature voted to increase the Social Security income threshold to $54,000 for single filers and $90,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Status: Passed both chambers - Awaiting Governor’s signature

• Adult Protective Services Amendments

This bill allows Adult Protective Services to make a substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or, exploitation of a vulnerable adult if the alleged perpetrator refuses to provide certain documents.

Status: Passed both chambers – Awaiting Governor’s signature

• Property Tax Relief Amendments

This bill would increase the income limits and credit amounts for the Circuit Breaker Homeowner’s Tax Credit and Renter’s Relief programs. 

Status: This bill is no longer moving. Instead, provisions of the bill were included in SB197.

• Secure Meals on Wheels Funding

Meals on Wheels delivers more than 2 million meals to home-based Utahns annually. Progress is still needed as there are hundreds, if not more, of older Utahns on the Meals on Wheels waitlist.

Aging and Adult Services has requested $4.5 million to help ensure all eligible older Utahns can access home-delivered meals.

Status: $3.5 million one-time funding

• Adopt the Health-Care Decisions Act Amendment

There is a movement to replace the Utah Advance Health Care Directive Act with the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. The act allows people to appoint agents to make health care decisions for them in the event they are unable to make those decisions themselves.

Status: Passed both chambers – Awaiting Governor’s signature

• Committee of Consumer Services Sunset Amendments

The Committee of Consumer Services is a 5-member layperson board that advises the Office of Consumer Services to help establish policy objectives. This bill extends the sunset date for the committee until July 1, 2035.

Status: Passed both chambers – Awaiting Governor’s signature

MONITORING

• Amendments to Election Law

This bill was significantly revised to address concerns of voter disenfranchisement. The final version changed the voter verification system when mailing in a ballot. When casting a mail-in ballot, voters must now provide the last 4 digits of their driver's license, state identification card, or Social Security number.

Status: Passed both chambers – Awaiting Governor’s signature

• Property Tax Amendments

The language of this bill has been updated, and significant changes have been proposed to the Circuit Breaker Homeowner Tax Credit Program and the property tax deferral program.

The new property tax deferral language freezes a homeowner’s property tax amount and allows for a 25-50% reduction in the property taxes paid. The amount of property tax increase that exceeds the frozen amount could then be deferred and paid when the property changes ownership.

Homeowners wishing to utilize the Circuit Breaker Homeowner Tax Credit program will now need to have been on the program in 2024 or 2025 to qualify. Effectively, the Circuit Breaker Homeowner Tax Credit program will end for those who are not currently on the program.

This bill also significantly increases the maximum credit and income eligibility for the Circuit Breaker Renter Refund. Renter’s would qualify for up to $2,000 in relief and could have a maximum income of $46,000.

Status: Passed both chambers – Awaiting Governor’s signature

OPPOSE

• Medicaid Accounts Amendments

Senator Brammer recently introduced a modified version of his 2024 Medicaid bill. This proposed legislation would define a Medicaid shortfall as a condition in which the ongoing financial stability of the Medicaid/Medicaid expansion programs is uncertain. In the event a Medicaid shortfall is projected, the following would occur:

• Suspend hiring of noncritical employees
• Suspend increasing employee wages
• Suspend increasing provider payment rates
• Suspend expanding reimbursement rates
• Cancel coverage for any optional services or populations
• Cancel or reverse all provider payment rate increases approved or implemented during the year immediately preceding the shortfall
• Close enrollment to new members

The Medicaid program in Utah is not operating at a deficit. These proposed changes would dramatically impact populations being served under Medicaid.

Status: This bill was not considered.


Want to get involved with AARP during the 2025 legislative session? Contact Joe Hirabayashi at jhirabayashi@aarp.org for more details.

This page will be updated by AARP Utah's Advocacy Director Joe Hirabayashi, throughout the legislative session to ensure you know what's happening in Utah!