---
type: "Bill"
title: "Higher Education Code Amendments"
description: "Higher Education Code Amendments"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ut"
legislature: "Utah Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 279"
citation: "Utah HB 279 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Colleges and Universities", "Education", "Higher Education"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Peterson, Val L."]
version_count: 9
action_count: 58
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2026-01-16T22:47:15+00:00"
last_action: "2026-03-19T21:30:59+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b8f67dda-a156-4a63-aafa-960532c14356"
source_url: "https://le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/static/HB0279.html"
source_hash: "77d7fae19399c468431fb6c0fdfc0aa4adc62138ea8d5544081f4bc7f65d56e3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ut"]
---

# Utah HB 279 (2026) — Higher Education Code Amendments

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0279.xml)
2. **Amended 2/13/2026 11:02:472** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_HB0279S02_2026-02-13_11-00-48.pdf)
3. **Amended Excerpts 2/13/2026 11:02:472** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AP_HB0279S02_2026-02-13_11-00-48.pdf)
4. **Comparison to Original Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/CP HB0279 To HB0279S01.pdf)
5. **Comparison to Sub #1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/CP HB0279S01 To HB0279S02.pdf)
6. **House Amendment 1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/HB0279S02.Hamd.1.pdf)
7. **Substitute #1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0279S01.xml)
8. **Substitute #2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0279S02.xml)
9. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0279.xml)

## Votes

- Senate/ passed 3rd reading — **26–0** (pass) · upper
- House/ concurs with Senate amendment — **72–0** (pass) · lower
- House/ passed 3rd reading — **71–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate/ passed 2nd reading — **26–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Peterson, Val L. — primary (person)
- Millner, Ann — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-16T22:47:15+00:00** Bill Numbered but not Distributed
- **2026-01-16T22:47:15+00:00** Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed
- **2026-01-16T22:47:17+00:00** LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0279
- **2026-01-16T22:47:17+00:00** LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0279
- **2026-01-19T19:10:20+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0279
- **2026-01-19T19:10:22+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0279
- **2026-01-20T15:51:38+00:00** House/ received bill from Legislative Research `receipt`
- **2026-01-20T16:28:28+00:00** House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst `receipt`
- **2026-01-20T22:44:32+00:00** House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- **2026-01-23T19:12:37+00:00** House/ to standing committee [House Education Committee] `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-27T20:56:27+00:00** LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0279S01
- **2026-01-27T20:56:27+00:00** LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0279S01
- **2026-01-27T22:37:15+00:00** House Comm - Substitute Recommendation [House Education Committee]
- **2026-01-27T22:38:08+00:00** House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Education Committee] `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-01-28T18:47:09+00:00** House/ comm rpt/ substituted [House Education Committee]
- **2026-01-28T18:47:10+00:00** House/ 2nd reading
- **2026-01-28T21:13:33+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0279S01
- **2026-01-28T21:13:34+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0279S01
- **2026-02-05T20:08:03+00:00** LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0279S02
- **2026-02-05T20:08:03+00:00** LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0279S02
- **2026-02-05T21:53:58+00:00** House/ 3rd reading
- **2026-02-05T21:54:57+00:00** House/ substituted
- **2026-02-05T21:57:58+00:00** House/ passed 3rd reading `passage`
- **2026-02-05T21:58:00+00:00** House/ to Senate
- **2026-02-06T00:35:44+00:00** Senate/ received from House `receipt`
- **2026-02-06T17:24:38+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0279S02
- **2026-02-06T17:24:39+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0279S02
- **2026-02-06T18:21:45+00:00** Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- **2026-02-09T22:32:04+00:00** Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Education Committee] `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-12T15:12:33+00:00** Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation [Senate Education Committee] `amendment-introduction`
- **2026-02-12T15:15:34+00:00** Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Education Committee] `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-17T17:38:25+00:00** Senate/ comm rpt/ amended [Senate Education Committee] `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-17T17:38:26+00:00** Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar
- **2026-02-18T21:48:22+00:00** Senate/ 2nd reading
- **2026-02-18T21:48:38+00:00** Senate/ circled
- **2026-02-18T21:51:26+00:00** Senate/ uncircled
- **2026-02-18T21:53:58+00:00** Senate/ passed 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2026-02-19T17:50:55+00:00** Senate/ 3rd reading
- **2026-02-19T17:51:09+00:00** Senate/ circled
- **2026-02-19T18:24:53+00:00** Senate/ uncircled
- **2026-02-19T18:27:13+00:00** Senate/ passed 3rd reading `passage`
- **2026-02-19T18:27:14+00:00** Senate/ to House with amendments
- **2026-02-19T21:12:27+00:00** House/ received from Senate `receipt`
- **2026-02-19T21:12:28+00:00** House/ placed on Concurrence Calendar
- **2026-02-20T18:02:00+00:00** House/ concurs with Senate amendment `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-20T18:02:18+00:00** House/ to Senate
- **2026-02-23T17:12:19+00:00** Senate/ received from House `receipt`
- **2026-02-23T17:12:20+00:00** Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House `passage`
- **2026-02-23T17:12:21+00:00** Senate/ to House
- **2026-02-23T19:18:41+00:00** House/ received from Senate `receipt`
- **2026-02-23T19:18:42+00:00** House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling `passage`
- **2026-02-25T16:58:30+00:00** Bill Received from House for Enrolling
- **2026-02-25T16:58:32+00:00** Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
- **2026-02-26T14:45:34+00:00** Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate `enrolled`
- **2026-02-26T14:45:42+00:00** House/ enrolled bill to Printing
- **2026-03-03T21:26:38+00:00** House/ received enrolled bill from Printing `receipt`
- **2026-03-03T21:26:40+00:00** House/ to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-19T21:30:59+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b8f67dda-a156-4a63-aafa-960532c14356`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Utah legislature records).