House committee advances bill barring public-sector collective bargaining, tightening union rules

The Utah House Business and Labor Committee on Thursday adopted a first substitute to House Bill 267, Public Sector Labor Union Amendments, and voted to send the bill to the full House with a favorable recommendation by an 11–4 roll call vote.

Rep. Corey Malloy, chair of the committee, called the question after a lengthy sponsor presentation and a 30‑minute public comment period that drew dozens of teachers, school staff, firefighters, public‑employee association leaders and advocacy groups.

Rep. Kirk Tesher, the bill sponsor, told the committee the measure aims to change how public employers and employee associations interact. “This bill really does four things,” Tesher said in his presentation: it would prohibit public‑sector collective bargaining; ban certain uses of public resources for union activity (including paid “release time” for union work); stop nonpublic labor‑organization staff from participating in the Utah Retirement System for new hires; require financial reporting for unions that use payroll deduction for dues; and create an optional professional liability insurance product for teachers.

Why it matters: Tesher and…