# Utah S.B. 25: Retirement Modifications Utah S.B. 25, Retirement Modifications, is a 2026 General Session Senate bill sponsored by Wayne A. Harper (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-18 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-14). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB25-2026GS - As of: 2026-10-14 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah S.B. 25 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: Retirement Modifications - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-12-05 - Last action: 2026-03-18, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Wayne A. Harper (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Public Retirement and Insurance, Constitutional Officer and Legislator Retirement, Judges' Retirement, Public Employees Retirement, Utah Retirement Systems (URS), Tier 2 Retirement - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 5 (107 yes, 1 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 8 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Attorney general staff gain pension choice: benefit, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, the attorney general and qualifying at-will staff can choose to leave pension coverage. Eligible staff report directly to the attorney general or to an employee who reports directly to the attorney general. They must have retirement-system service credit, and the election is… - Some public workers retire while serving: benefit, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, some members can receive a pension while continuing specified elected, part-time board, or affiliated emergency-services roles. They must meet their system's retirement requirements and be at least 55, or 50 for public safety or firefighter retirees. An elected official must… - Public workers cannot surrender retirement benefits: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, retirement-system members and retirees cannot permanently give up their benefits. The same protection applies to participants in defined-contribution retirement savings plans. - Retirement beneficiaries can decline inherited benefits: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, named beneficiaries can permanently surrender a retirement benefit through a signed, irrevocable written document. They can also disclaim beneficiary status. A disclaimed benefit goes first to an alternate named beneficiary, then as applicable under Utah wills and inheritance… - Public workers face new retirement checks: cost, high. Beginning May 6, 2026, covered public workers must prove a bona fide termination before retirement, unless a statutory exception applies. This replaces the prior test of stopping actual work for every participating employer. Workers must end employment and direct or indirect paid-service relationsh… - Judges face pension service transfer limits: cost, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, judges cannot move service credit from either judges' retirement system into either named Tier II system. The barred destinations are the public employees' Tier II system and the public safety and firefighter Tier II system. - Retirees' contract work counts as reemployment: cost, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, paid contract work for a participating employer counts as reemployment after retirement. This applies when the retiree is the named contractor or an owner, partner, or principal of the contractor. That work falls under the retirement system's reemployment rules. This provisio… - Attorney general staff gain retirement exemptions: mixed, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, qualifying at-will attorney general staff can request exemption from public retirement coverage, including Tier II. They must report directly to the attorney general or to an employee who reports directly to the attorney general. Employees must request exemption in writing, a… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Wayne A. Harper (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Cheryl K. Acton (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-02-04 | House | House/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-04 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 70 | 1 | | | 2026-01-30 | House | House/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-01-27 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 9 | 0 | | | 2026-01-20 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension | pass | 28 | 0 | | ## Actions (29) - 2026-03-18: Governor Signed - 2026-03-11: Senate/ to Governor (Senate) - 2026-03-11: Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-02-06: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-02-06: Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling - 2026-02-04: Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling (Senate) - 2026-02-04: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-02-04: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-02-04: House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate (House) - 2026-02-04: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-04: House/ uncircled (House) - 2026-01-30: House/ circled (House) - 2026-01-30: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-01-28: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-01-28: House/ committee report favorable (House) - 2026-01-27: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-01-26: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-01-21: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-01-21: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-01-20: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-01-20: Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-01-20: Senate/ 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate) - 2026-01-20: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-01-20: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-01-07: Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (Senate) - 2026-01-07: Senate/ received bill from Legislative Printing (Senate) - 2025-12-05: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-06: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0025.pdf) - Introduced, 2025-12-05: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0025.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/SB0025.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0025.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-SB25-2026GS (as of 2026-10-14).