Utah Legislature repeals collective bargaining ban in special session; legal debate over districting continues

In a special legislative session held on December 9, Utah Lawmakers repealed 2025’s House Bill 267, which banned public sector businesses from collective bargaining with organiza­tions like unions, and fur­thered the legal battle over 2026’s voting maps.

The special session was spurred in part by the signature drive on the HB0267 issue and in part by the ongoing legal debate over Utah’s voting district laws. Many legislators on the state level, generally Republican, contest a re­cent judicial decision to override the legislature’s proposed election map in favor of one selected by an independent anti-gerry­mandering board created by 2018s Proposition 4. The lawmakers contesting the board’s map and the judge’s decision posit the board is overstepping their advisory capacity, and the judge is overstepping the judiciary’s authority and taking away the rightful authority of elected officials.

House and Senate Demo­crats criticized the need for the special session, releas­ing a statement reading in part, “The Utah Senate and House Democrats con­demn the call for a Special Session in December over redistricting. We want to be clear, this is the Majority Caucuses’ call for session, and we continue to believe that Judge Gibson’s ruling should be respected. The Legislature’s map failed to comply with Proposition 4, and the court selected the map that did meet the law’s requirements. It is fiscally irresponsible to use taxpayer dollars to fight this legal battle, which un­dermines the will of Utah voters. Utahns deserve to know their voices matter and their representatives do not choose their voters.”

Utah Republicans re­sponded to that criticism, with Senate Majority Lead­er Kirk Cullimore stating, “I think I think the courts have necessitated that at this point. Just the nature of this litigation has required us to change the dates for the con­gressional filings … A resolution is a mes­sage that we do have concerns about the implementation of con­stitutional principles, separation of powers, and so we are stand­ing by those concerns.” In the Senate’s page on the cause for the special session, Utah Republicans wrote, “Utahns deserve a sta­ble, transparent and accountable process for redistricting, one that respects the roles of our elected branches and the voice of the people … A recent poll shows 71 percent of Utahns believe elected officials should oversee the redistricting pro­cess. The Legislature is taking action to restore order, ensure transparency and de­fend the integrity of our elections, keeping Utah’s constitutional framework strong and stable.”

Many of the election conditions outlined in this special session would apply only to the 2026 election, extend­ing signature gath­ering deadlines and boundaries. Further information is avail­able in the Senate’s summary for the meet­ing on senate.ut.gov