This bill addresses provisions regarding homeless services.
This bill:
AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.
Utah's homeless services laws would see a range of changes under this bill, touching how shelters are funded, staffed, and expanded. The bill would create a new Homeless Services Restricted Account, funded partly by cigarette tax revenue, that counties could tap into for services like behavioral health support, mobile crisis teams, street medicine, and shelter operations, provided the county sets up a matching fund and reports progress toward agreed outcomes; a new Mitigation Fund Task Force would also be formed to study and recommend how mitigation costs and funding should be shared between cities that host shelters and those that don't. The bill would rename the current Shelter Cities and Shelter Counties Advisory Boards as "Coordinating Councils," raise the temperature threshold that triggers a "code blue" cold-weather shelter alert from 18 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and give the Office of Homeless Services new authority to issue advance monthly payments to service providers instead of requiring them to wait for reimbursement. It would also allow shelters to temporarily expand bed capacity up to 135% of their approved limit with municipal consent (or automatically during extreme heat in certain cities), and would let the state lease surplus state-owned property to nonprofit shelter operators, with lease payments capped at actual operating and maintenance costs and usable for maintaining the leased space.
Current version: HB0596S01 (Substitute)
Introduction
Feb 23
House Rules
House Committee
Mar 2
House Floor Vote
Mar 3
Senate Rules
Senate Committee
Senate 2nd Reading
Senate 3rd Reading
Governor
IntroductionFeb 23
House Rules
House CommitteeMar 2
House Floor VoteMar 3
Senate Rules
Senate Committee
Senate 2nd Reading
Senate 3rd Reading
Governor
This bill addresses provisions regarding homeless services.
This bill:
AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.
Utah's homeless services laws would see a range of changes under this bill, touching how shelters are funded, staffed, and expanded. The bill would create a new Homeless Services Restricted Account, funded partly by cigarette tax revenue, that counties could tap into for services like behavioral health support, mobile crisis teams, street medicine, and shelter operations, provided the county sets up a matching fund and reports progress toward agreed outcomes; a new Mitigation Fund Task Force would also be formed to study and recommend how mitigation costs and funding should be shared between cities that host shelters and those that don't. The bill would rename the current Shelter Cities and Shelter Counties Advisory Boards as "Coordinating Councils," raise the temperature threshold that triggers a "code blue" cold-weather shelter alert from 18 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and give the Office of Homeless Services new authority to issue advance monthly payments to service providers instead of requiring them to wait for reimbursement. It would also allow shelters to temporarily expand bed capacity up to 135% of their approved limit with municipal consent (or automatically during extreme heat in certain cities), and would let the state lease surplus state-owned property to nonprofit shelter operators, with lease payments capped at actual operating and maintenance costs and usable for maintaining the leased space.
Motion: Favorable Recommendation
House/ filed
House file for bills not passed
House/ strike enacting clause
Clerk of the House
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0596S02
Released
LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0596S02
Version Sponsor
LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0596S02
Legislative Fiscal Agency
Last updated Aug 29, 2026, 5:26 PM