Author: Cloe Nixon

Cloe is a Government Affairs Analyst working with the Corporate Division. Prior to joining Dorsey, Cloe worked as a public lands Research Analyst in Governor Herbert’s administration and as a Constituent Affairs Representative for Senator Orrin Hatch. These experiences provided first-hand insight into the legislative process at the state and federal level and a unique understanding of the issues that shape Utah’s political landscape.

Utah Legislature – 2026 General Session Wrap Up

Utah Legislature – 2026 General Session Wrap Up

At midnight on March 6 the Utah Legislature adjourned sine die after passing 542 total bills – approximately 53% of the 1,015 bills introduced this session. A full list of bills that passed the Legislature and were sent to the Governor may be found here. The Governor has 20 days following adjournment to take action on the bills that passed....

Utah Legislature 2026 General Session – Week 6 Update

Utah Legislature 2026 General Session – Week 6 Update

The penultimate week of the 2026 General Session was marked by budget deliberations, R&D decoupling concerns, the Statement of Economic Prosperity (the agreement between Utah Petroleum Association, association members, and the Legislature regarding the fuel tax proposal), and ongoing tort reform debate, among other issues. Utah R&D Expensing Decoupling Update Yesterday the Second Substitute of HB 587 – Income Tax...

Utah Legislature 2026 General Session – Week 5 Update

Welcome to Week 5 of the Utah Legislature’s 2026 General Session. With several of the bills of concern tabled for the remainder of the session, this week has felt a bit quieter than the preceding weeks. Too quiet… And too good to be true. On Thursday morning HB 587 – Income Tax Amendments (Rep. S. Eliason) was numbered and publicly...

Week 4 Update – Utah Legislature 2026 General Session

Week 4 Update – Utah Legislature 2026 General Session

Week 4 of the 2026 Utah General Session marks two important milestones: 1) the session is past the halfway point and policy trends are becoming clearer; and 2) the appropriations subcommittees have concluded their meetings and have shared their ranked priorities and appropriations proposals with the Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC). The EAC has the final say on who gets what...

Week 3 Update – 2026 Utah General Session

800+ bills and counting… Week 3 of Utah’s 2026 General Session was full of noteworthy updates for businesses. We’ve highlighted a few of these updates below. Possible Utah R&D Tax Deduction — Decoupling One issue we are paying particular attention to is the emerging proposal for Utah to decouple from the federal approach to expensing research and development (R&D) costs....

2026 Utah General Session Week 2 Legislative Update

The second week of Utah’s 2026 General Session remained full of hustle and bustle as bill files now total over 700, appropriations subcommittees worked to pass base budget bills (the funding bills, which fund existing and ongoing appropriations for state programs and make up around 90% of the state budget), and industry groups continue to negotiate with legislators on priority...

Utah 2026 General Session Week One Update

Welcome to the 2026 General Session of the Utah Legislature. The 45-day sprint convened on Tuesday and is off to a busy start with over 600 bills filed (and more on the way). Opening remarks from Senate President Adams, House Speaker Mike Schultz, and the State of the State Address from Governor Cox set the tone for the session and...