# Utah H.B. 329: State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments Utah H.B. 329, State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments, is a 2026 General Session House bill sponsored by Ariel Defay (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-24 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-14). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB329-2026GS - As of: 2026-10-14 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah H.B. 329 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-01-22 - Last action: 2026-03-24, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Ariel Defay (Republican) - Cosponsors: 20 - Subjects: Division of Human Resource Management, Department of Government Operations, Government Operations (State Issues), State Officers and Employees, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 6 (89 yes, 22 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 8 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - More paid leave for state employee parents: benefit, medium. Eligible Utah state employees who give birth get up to six work weeks of paid recovery leave, up from three. Recovery leave starts at childbirth unless earlier use is medically necessary; it stays continuous unless the director allows an exception. Multiple births from one pregnancy do not increase… - State employees keep benefits and job protections: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, Utah state employers cannot deduct qualified family leave from other leave balances, subject to statutory exceptions. Work benefits and payments stay at their pre-leave level; employees still pay required benefit contributions. Employees return to their old job or one with e… - Breastfeeding parents gain public pumping protections: benefit, low. The law allows a woman to breastfeed or use a breast pump in any Utah place of public accommodation. The protection explicitly covers mechanical devices used to express and collect milk, not just direct breastfeeding. - State foster parents face leave limits: cost, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, eligible Utah state employees can use no more than four work weeks of foster leave per 12 months. More child placements do not increase that cap. Employees cannot use both foster leave and parental leave for the same child. They also cannot combine foster leave and adoption… - State employees face leave notice requirements: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2026, qualified Utah state employees must give at least 30 days' notice before starting or stopping qualified leave. When events beyond their control prevent timely notice, including emergency foster placements, employees must give notice as soon as reasonably possible. Employers… - School employees gain paid family leave: mixed, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, local education agencies must provide minimum paid family-leave policies for employees who accrue paid leave. Minimums include up to three work weeks each for parental leave, postpartum recovery, and legally adopting a child younger than six. Parental leave includes becoming… - State adoptive parents get shared paid leave: mixed, medium. Eligible Utah state employees legally adopting a child younger than six get up to six work weeks of paid adoption leave. This leave follows any parental leave taken for the adoption. Two eligible employees adopting the same child share one six-week period and can divide it between them. Employees m… - State foster parents get shared paid leave: mixed, medium. Eligible Utah state foster parents get up to four work weeks of paid leave and can take it in separate periods. Leave cannot start before placement, continue more than six months after placement, or continue after the child leaves their care. Employees need a position with state retirement benefits… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Ariel Defay (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Cheryl K. Acton (Republican), House - Cosponsor: John Arthur (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Burton, J. - Cosponsor: Clancy, T. - Cosponsor: Paul A. Cutler (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Rosalba Dominguez (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Steve Eliason (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Joseph Elison (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Sahara Hayes (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Ashlee Matthews (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Michael K. McKell (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Grant Amjad Miller (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Tracy Miller (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Logan Monson (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Hoang Nguyen (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Karen M. Peterson (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Angela Romero (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: David Shallenberger (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jordan D. Teuscher (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Raymond P. Ward (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-05 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension | pass | 25 | 2 | | | 2026-03-04 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 5 | 0 | | | 2026-02-17 | House | House/ substituted | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-17 | House | House/ substitute adoption failed | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-17 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 53 | 18 | | | 2026-02-04 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 6 | 2 | | ## Actions (34) - 2026-03-24: Governor Signed - 2026-03-16: House/ to Governor (House) - 2026-03-16: House/ received enrolled bill from Printing (House) - 2026-03-11: House/ enrolled bill to Printing (House) - 2026-03-11: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-03-06: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-03-06: Bill Received from House for Enrolling - 2026-03-05: House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Senate/ Rules to 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Senate/ 2nd Reading Calendar to Rules (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Senate/ committee report favorable (Senate) - 2026-03-04: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-24: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-02-17: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-02-17: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-17: House/ substitute adoption failed (House) - 2026-02-17: House/ substituted (House) - 2026-02-17: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-05: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-02-05: House/ committee report favorable (House) - 2026-02-04: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-01-29: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-01-27: House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (House) - 2026-01-23: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-01-23: House/ received bill from Legislative Research (House) - 2026-01-22: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-11: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0329.pdf) - Substitute #3, 2026-02-16: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329S03.pdf) - Substitute #2, 2026-02-12: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329S02.pdf) - Substitute #1, 2026-02-10: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329S01.pdf) - Introduced, 2026-01-22: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329.pdf) ## Related bills - H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments (signed) - H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments (signed) - H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments (signed) - H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments (signed) - H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments (signed) - H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0329.pdf) - [Substitute #3 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329S03.pdf) - [Substitute #2 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329S02.pdf) - [Substitute #1 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329S01.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0329.pdf) ## Related - [H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB94-2026GS) - [H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB101-2026GS) - [H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB178-2026GS) - [H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB134-2026GS) - [H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB136-2026GS) - [H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB220-2026GS) - [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills) - [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB329-2026GS (as of 2026-10-14).