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HB 95UTAHSession 2026State Billdead
Did Not Advance

Utah prohibits public employers from disciplining employees over gender-specific language choices

Original title: Public Employee Gender-specific Language Requirements

Last action · March 6, 2026: House/ filedSponsor: Nicholeen Peck

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.

What This Bill Proposed

Official description

This bill prohibits certain employment action against a public employee in relation to gender-specific language.

Why it matters

Public employees and educators gain legal protections from termination or discipline when using gender-specific language that aligns with their religious beliefs or matches an individual's biological sex under specific conditions, while public employers face new mandates to grant exemptions and provide written notice.

Background
  • State boards of education and local education agencies in Utah oversee public school operations and establish policies for administrative and instructional personnel. context

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Public employees

Public employees receive statutory protections against workplace discipline when using gender-specific language that accords with their religious or moral beliefs or occurs without knowledge of individual preferences.

Directly affected

Public employers

Public employers are restricted from disciplining employees in specified circumstances and must update policies to provide exemptions and written notices.

Directly affected

Local education agencies

Local education agencies are barred from taking disciplinary action against instructional and administrative personnel under the outlined gender-specific language conditions.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a public employer in Utah still discipline an employee for pronoun usage under this bill?
An employer may not pursue disciplinary action if the employee uses gender-specific language in good faith without knowing a preference, uses terms related to biological sex, or acts in accordance with their religious or moral beliefs in a non-disruptive way.
What must public employers do if they have policies requiring staff to use specific pronouns?
Employers must ensure their policies exempt employees who qualify under the statutory protections and must notify employees in writing of these exemptions.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.

Procedural history

15 actions
  1. Mar 6, 2026House
    House/ filed
  2. Mar 6, 2026House
    House/ strike enacting clause
  3. Mar 5, 2026House
    House/ comm rpt/ sent to Rules
  4. Mar 2, 2026House
    House Comm - Recommends Returned to Rules
  5. Feb 13, 2026HouseCommittee
    House/ to standing committee
  6. Jan 20, 2026HouseIntroduced
    House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
Show 9 earlier actions
  1. Jan 14, 2026House
    House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
  2. Jan 14, 2026House
    House/ received bill from Legislative Research
  3. Jan 13, 2026Released
    LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0095
  4. Jan 8, 2026Version Sponsor
    LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0095
  5. Dec 29, 2025Legislative Research and General Counsel
    Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed
  6. Dec 29, 2025Legislative Research and General Counsel
    Bill Numbered but not Distributed
  7. Sep 15, 2025Version Sponsor
    LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0095
  8. Sep 2, 2025Legislative Fiscal Agency
    LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0095
  9. Sep 2, 2025Legislative Fiscal Analyst
    LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0095

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Sponsors

Nicholeen PeckHouse · District 28RepublicanPrimary sponsor

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift95% confidence

New Statutory Protections for Public Employee Language Use

The bill introduces specific exemptions to workplace pronoun and gender-specific language policies, tying protections directly to religious or moral beliefs and good-faith usage.

State Board of Education

Connected Entities

Nicholeen P. Peck, State Board of Education
PersonNicholeen P. Peck“Chief Sponsor of HB 95”Map →
OrganizationState Board of Education“Prohibited from taking certain disciplinary actions against employees”Map →

Sources

Open source document

le.utah.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance20
    Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
  • Controversy80
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment10
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz50
    Current news / social attention level

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