House Judiciary Committee approves amendment to H 28 to explicitly allow ‘swear or affirm,’ sets Jan. 1, 2027 effective date

The House Judiciary Committee approved H 28 as amended on Wednesday, adding explicit language to state statutes to allow officials to offer witnesses the option to "swear or affirm" and setting an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027.

The amendment (draft 2.1) was presented by an unidentified committee member as a technical and implementation measure intended to give agencies time to update forms and statutory language. "Jen sent to us is on your desk today, a 01/01/2027 effective date," the unidentified speaker said when describing the amendment's date change and the outcome of consultations with the secretary of state's office.

Supporters and staff said the change largely formalizes what occurs in practice. John Carter of the Office of Legislative Council said, "Because of the language in Title 1, we're effectively already doing this anyway," adding that the amendment inserts explicit wording in places where statutes call for an oath or swearing.

Some committee members raised concerns from constituents that the statutory change might be used later to eliminate the option to "swear" in favor of only "affirming." Speaker 3 asked if there is any intent to remove the swearing option in future sessions; the unidentified committee member who led the amendment replied, "There's no intent, and I won't pick up a bill as long as I'm sure to do that," and said they would consider future bills to add both terms where statutes currently say only "affirm."

The committee approved amendment 2.1 by a voice vote. The panel then moved to consider H 28 as amended; a motion and second were recorded and the committee called roll. Members named during the roll call—Noah, Harvey, Malay, Oliver and Rachelsson—were recorded as voting yes. The committee chair noted another member, Tom, had agreed to the wording but would not be present for third reading.

The panel then concluded its consideration of H 28 and proceeded to the next agenda item, H 409.

What happens next: H 28 was approved by the committee as amended and will continue through the legislative process as scheduled. The committee did not record any formal changes to court rules or other operational procedures; participants flagged implementation and court-rule practice as separate issues that might require follow-up.