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House approves amendment to overdose-reporting bill to remove mandatory ID requirement
Summary
The Utah House on Jan. 29 adopted a substitute amendment to House Bill 11 that removes statutory language requiring bystanders to "provide personal identification" when reporting an overdose, a change sponsors said is intended to encourage more 911 calls and save lives. The measure passed the House by recorded vote and will go to the Senate.
The Utah House of Representatives on Jan. 29 adopted an amendment to House Bill 11 that removes explicit language requiring bystanders to provide personal identification when reporting an overdose, sponsors said, to encourage more calls for emergency aid.
Supporters said the amendment is narrowly targeted and intended to increase reporting of overdoses so emergency responders can save more lives. "This amendment is the deletion of five words on line 3‑19 ... We're removing the requirement, the statutory requirement in this section to provide personal identification to," Representative Green said on the floor while explaining the substitute motion to amend. "The only way that this works ... is if people, our youth, high schoolers, college students understand that they have the potential for some immunity here," he added.
Representative Moss, the bill sponsor, described the change as "cooperate[s] with" responding medical personnel rather than an obligation to provide ID. "If a person chose to give their name, they could," Moss said, emphasizing that the amendment preserves law‑enforcement authority under other statutes while removing a statutory ID requirement that might deter calls for help.
The motion to reconsider the bill was made and a substitute amendment was offered to strike the phrase "provides personal identification to" in two places in the bill, replacing it with language that begins "cooperates with." After debate and a substitute motion to amend, the House adopted the amendment by voice vote and later recorded final passage; the clerk announced House Bill 11 had received 74 yes votes and 0 no votes and will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.
Proponents invoked public‑safety interests and said the prosecutors association and emergency responders supported the change as a way to encourage callers to seek help without fear of automatic identification requirements. Critics on the floor pressed for clarity that the amendment did not eliminate officers' authority to seek identification when necessary under other statutory authority.
The House moved the bill forward to the Senate; lawmakers said the amendment is aimed at improving reporting and response to overdoses while preserving public‑safety tools available to responders.
The House adjourned at the end of the session; the bill’s next step is consideration by the Senate.
