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Read. Follow. Verify.Utah affirms legislator autonomy and adjusts legislative general counsel correction powers
Last action · March 6, 2026: House/ filedSponsors: Matt MacPherson and 1 other
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What This Bill Proposed
Utah HB 487 establishes that every sitting legislator has the autonomy to introduce and vote on legislation according to their own judgment and conscience, effective May 6, 2026. The bill also authorizes the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel to correct erroneous statutory history, officer names, and fund names while prohibiting any technical corrections that alter the substantive meaning or effect of the law. Additionally, it bars staff services for expelled or unseated members unless approved by the Legislative Management Committee.
The measure establishes a statutory guarantee for individual lawmaker independence while setting firm boundaries on legislative attorneys' authority to edit statutory text during code revision.
- The Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel serves as a permanent staff office providing legal, research, and drafting services to the state legislature. 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.
Utah legislators
Lawmakers receive explicit statutory protection for their freedom to introduce bills and vote according to personal judgment and conscience.
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel
The office gains specific technical correction duties regarding statutory history, officer names, and fund names, while being barred from altering legal meanings or servicing expelled members without committee approval.
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 legislative staff alter the legal effect of a law during code revision?
What happens if a legislator is expelled from their chamber?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the House · on the Senate floor.
Procedural history
33 actions- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ filed
- Mar 6, 2026HouseHouse/ received from Senate
- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ to House
- Mar 6, 2026SenateSenate/ strike enacting clause
- Mar 4, 2026SenateSenate/ 2nd Reading Calendar to Rules
- Mar 2, 2026SenateSenate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar
Show 27 earlier actions
- Mar 2, 2026SenateSenate/ committee report favorable
- Mar 2, 2026SenateSenate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
- Feb 27, 2026SenateCommitteeSenate/ to standing committee
- Feb 25, 2026SenateIntroducedSenate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- Feb 25, 2026SenateSenate/ received from House
- Feb 25, 2026HouseHouse/ to Senate
- Feb 25, 2026HouseFloorHouse/ passed 3rd reading
- Feb 25, 2026HouseHouse/ 3rd reading
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ 2nd reading
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse/ comm rpt/ substituted/ Consent Calendar
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Consent Calendar Recommendation
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Favorable Recommendation
- Feb 23, 2026HouseHouse Comm - Substitute Recommendation
- Feb 21, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0487S01
- Feb 21, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0487S01
- Feb 20, 2026HouseCommitteeHouse/ to standing committee
- Feb 20, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0487S01
- Feb 20, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0487S01
- Feb 5, 2026HouseHouse/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
- Feb 5, 2026ReleasedLFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0487
- Feb 5, 2026Version SponsorLFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0487
- Feb 4, 2026HouseIntroducedHouse/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- Feb 4, 2026HouseHouse/ received bill from Legislative Research
- Feb 4, 2026Legislative Fiscal AgencyLFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0487
- Feb 4, 2026Legislative Fiscal AnalystLFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0487
- 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.
Codification of Legislator Autonomy
The bill introduces explicit statutory protections for individual lawmakers to vote and introduce bills according to conscience, subject only to legislative rules.
Connected Entities
Sources
le.utah.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 50)
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz15Current news / social attention level
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