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Wednesday, November 4, 2026

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Utah bill tracker

H.B. 298: School Design Amendments

2026 General Session · Originating chamber: House

Saved official records and Ledger coverage. The outcome below is from the Legislature’s own step list.

What the bill does

Did not pass both chambers; the bill was filed on March 6, 2026.

This bill requires the State Board of Education (state board) to establish a library of school building designs.

  • Establishes a school building design library maintained by the state board
  • Requires the state board to develop standard designs for elementary, middle, high, and multi-level schools
  • Requires school districts to own and submit building designs developed using public funds
  • Authorizes school districts and charter schools to select designs from the library
  • Establishes periodic review and update requirements for the design library
  • Requires competitive bidding for architectural and engineering design fees
  • Mandates life-cycle cost analysis in building designs
  • Establishes public cost reporting and transparency requirements for school construction projects
  • Authorizes design-build as an alternative project delivery method
  • Makes technical changes

The description and list come from the bill's own long title as recorded by the Legislature. Read the official bill. The Ledger takes no position on it.

Subjects: Education · K-12 Education · State Board of Education · Local Education Agencies (LEAs) · School Facilities

How it moved

  1. · House1st reading (Introduced)Rules Committee
  2. · Houseto standing committeeEducation Committee
  3. · HouseHouse Comm - Amendment RecommendationEducation Committee
  4. · HouseHouse Comm - Motion to Recommend FailedEducation Committee
  5. · HouseHouse Comm - Recommends Returned to RulesEducation Committee
  6. · Housefiledfile for bills not passed

Steps as the Legislature recorded them; clerical and fiscal-staff entries are left out. Numbers such as 54-14-7 are yeas, nays and absent.

Fiscal note

From the Legislative Fiscal Analyst's note on H.B. 298, dated January 25, 2026. A fiscal note estimates direct costs and revenue; it is not an appropriation.

  • State revenue: Enactment of this legislation likely will not materially impact state revenue.
  • State expenditures: Enactment of this legislation could cost the State Board of Education $17,200 one-time and $48,500 ongoing from the Income Tax Fund beginning in FY 2027 to establish and maintain a centralized building design library, and review Local Education Agency (LEA) building plans as outlined in the bill.
  • Local government: To the extent that a Local Education Agency (LEA) pursues their own architectural design it could cost an additional an additional 9-12% of the total project price per new design beginning in FY 2027 to obtain the intellectual property rights, amount will vary based on project size.
  • Individuals and businesses: Enactment of this legislation likely will not result in direct expenditures from tax or fee changes for Utah residents and businesses.

Bill overview

Sponsor: Kay J. Christofferson

Legislature passed-list status: Not available in the saved metadata.

Passed-list membership is not a finding that a bill was signed or took effect. A bill absent from that list is not necessarily pending or defeated.

Latest recorded action

filed
Action date:

The full step list is above. Find the bill in the official session list for status, hearings and committee records.

Recorded floor votes

No floor-vote records for this bill and session are available here. This does not mean no vote occurred; consult the official bill record.

Ledger coverage

No Ledger stories with an explicit source link to this bill and session are listed here.