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Read. Follow. Verify.Utah Bill Mandates Social Studies Open Educational Resources, Comparative Government Instruction, and Bible Study as Literary History
Last action · March 6, 2026: House/ filedSponsor: Tiara Auxier
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What This Bill Proposed
This bill requires the Utah State Board of Education to develop and provide free, open-source social studies and civics instructional materials for grades K-12, mandates comparative instruction on government systems including and communism beginning in the 2028-2029 school year, and permits local education agencies to accept applied crafts and technical arts for fine arts credits starting July 1, 2026.
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.
Utah public school students
Local education agencies
School districts and charter schools gain access to free open-source social studies materials and receive discretionary authority to accept technical arts courses for fine arts graduation credits.
Parents of public education students
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
What are open educational resource instructional materials under this bill?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the House.
Procedural history
11 actions- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ filed
- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ strike enacting clause
- Feb 10, 2026HouseHouse/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
- Feb 10, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0488
- Feb 6, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0488
- Feb 4, 2026HouseIntroducedHouse/ 1st reading (Introduced)
Show 5 earlier actions
- Feb 4, 2026HouseHouse/ received bill from Legislative Research
- Feb 4, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0488
- Feb 4, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0488
- Feb 4, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselNumbered Bill Publicly Distributed
- Feb 4, 2026Legislative Research and General CounselBill Numbered but not Distributed
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
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Comparative Government and Historical Texts
The legislation establishes explicit mandates for teaching comparative government systems and integrating specific historical and religious texts into core curricula starting in 2028.
Connected Entities
Sources
le.utah.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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