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State Rep. Kristen Chevrier briefs Highland council on 2025 session; highlights tax reductions, data privacy and school‑district changes
Summary
Utah State Representative Kristen Chevrier summarized key outcomes of the 2025 legislative session for Highland City Council, including tax reductions, data‑privacy bills, school district restructuring and work she led on ALPR privacy protections that did not reach the Senate floor.
Kristen Chevrier, Highland's newly seated state representative, gave the Highland City Council a legislative update on March 18, outlining major bills and local impacts from the 2025 Utah legislative session.
Chevrier said the session produced about $127 million in tax reductions, including a reduced income tax rate to 4.5% and elimination of income tax on Social Security for households earning up to $90,000. She also noted steps on property‑tax transparency through HB 110 and said the legislature increased education spending and worked on transportation and water planning.
On public‑safety technology, Chevrier described the ALPR (automatic license plate reader) bill she sponsored, which she said was developed with stakeholders ranging from law enforcement to privacy advocates. "The bill... provides some safety rails around the use of ALPR data," she said, and that it passed committees but did not reach the Senate floor this session. She said she plans to bring it back in a future session.
Chevrier recounted several other session highlights for council members: a data‑privacy bill (HB 444) that builds on the state's privacy framework; a wildfire‑related bill that combined pre‑ and post‑fire funds for a more holistic approach (HB 307); firefighter cancer presumptions under the Utah Occupational Disease Act; and HB 402 (removing certain dyes and chemicals from school‑served food) and HB 403 (a SNAP soda restriction that requires a federal waiver).
She also discussed SB 337 (Land Use and Development Amendments), a bill she said she opposed and that did not move forward, noting concerns about state overreach into municipal land‑use authority. On the local school landscape, Chevrier discussed SB 188 (school district modifications), which passed and will take effect immediately, and she summarized the new central district boundaries that include Highland, American Fork and Lehi.
Chevrier invited council members to engage earlier in the interim process, and council members praised her accessibility during the session. Chevrier said she sometimes votes against measures she believes are premature; when asked about a bill that restricted cellphones in classrooms she said, "I did vote against that bill, and I might have been the only person who did," and explained her reasoning about parental contact and students learning to manage phones.
The council thanked Chevrier for the briefing and encouraged continued regular communication as bills affecting cities move through the interim and next session.
