Utah Senate advances package of bills including DUI interdiction license markings, Great Salt Lake cleanup and tax change

The Utah Senate on the floor moved and voted on a large set of bills, approving measures that include a new process to mark licenses of people under court-ordered alcohol interdiction, statutory clarifications for Great Salt Lake management, changes to where certain punitive-damage awards are deposited and a repeal of an automatic property-tax increase tied to the WPU.

The most substantive debate centered on third substitute House Bill 437, titled “Interdicted person amendments,” which would allow a judge to designate a person convicted of a DUI as “interdicted,” bar that person from buying alcohol for a court-defined period, and require issuance of a specially marked driver license indicating the interdiction. Sponsor Senator Stevenson described the intent: “This allows a person that is convicted of a DUI to be designated and interdicted and then prohibit them from buying alcohol…It'll have a red stripe or something out or be marked no alcohol sales.” The bill also included a voluntary interdiction route and training requirements for alcohol vendors; the bill’s effective date was stated as January 1, 2026. The Senate adopted an amendment to remove the language that limited ID checks to those “who appear to be 35 years of age or younger,” and then passed the bill under suspension of the rules. The chair announced the result: third substitute House Bill 437 “having received 26 yay votes, 0 nay votes, 3 being absent, passes this body and will be sent to the House.”

Other bills passed with little debate but were noted during the session: House Bill 446, described by sponsor Senator Bridal as a “cleanup bill for our Great Salt Lake Commission” clarifying berm management, mineral extraction and water procurement…