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Utah House approves 1st substitute to HB267 limiting exclusive public-sector collective bargaining
Summary
The Utah House passed a 1st substitute to HB267 after extended debate; the bill prohibits exclusive collective bargaining for public employers, restricts use of public resources for union business, phases non-public-employee union staff off URS, and authorizes optional state-offered professional liability insurance for teachers. Vote: 42–32.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House of Representatives approved the 1st substitute to House Bill 267 on Jan. 27 after hours of debate, voting 42–32 to send the measure to the Senate.
Sponsor Representative Tesher framed the bill as a set of four reforms meant to expand which voices can negotiate for public employees and to protect taxpayer resources. Tesher said the bill "prohibits collective bargaining" as the exclusive mechanism for negotiating employment terms with public entities, while still allowing unions and other groups to meet and advocate. He also said the bill would "ensure that taxpayer money is not going to unions to actually pay for union work," citing limits on release time and equal treatment for unions and other entities in access to public property and data.
The bill would also phase out use of the Utah Retirement System (URS) by employees who are not public employees, grandfathering current members, and would permit the state to offer an optional professional liability insurance policy for teachers as an alternative to union-provided plans. Tesher said teachers could expect the optional policy to cost between about $110 and $150 a year.
Opponents warned the measure would weaken workers' ability to negotiate collectively. Representative Moss, speaking in opposition, highlighted the Utah Education Association and argued the bill risks harming teachers, firefighters and police officers who rely on union-negotiated salaries, insurance and retirement benefits. Moss said the UEA represents "18,000 active classroom teachers and educational support personnel" and that the state has "30,000 teachers" educating roughly 675,000 students — context she used to warn of potential negative impacts on recruitment and retention.
Representative Welton, identifying as the only active teacher in the chamber, said she appreciated aspects of the bill such as banning release time paid by public funds and attention to liability insurance but remained concerned the language might not ensure broad representation for all teachers in practice.
Tesher responded to several factual claims during floor debate, contesting some membership percentage calculations and reiterating that "this bill does nothing to take away the ability for unions to advocate for their members." He pointed to districts that do not use formal collective bargaining yet still meet with unions monthly as examples of continued advocacy absent an exclusive collective-bargaining structure.
A motion to end debate was adopted before the final vote. The House clerk recorded 42 yes votes and 32 no votes; roll-call names were not read into the transcript for the final tally. With passage, the 1st substitute to HB267 now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The House debate included multiple requests for clarification about which unions had been consulted; Tesher said he had met with a range of organizations including UEPA, the Utah School Employees Association, Professional Firefighters of Utah, the Utah State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT and the UEA, and that many of those groups are opposed in principle but that he continues to negotiate possible compromises.
Next steps: the bill will be transmitted to the Utah Senate for committee referral and further consideration there.
