What BAD BILLS are & why they matter
Bad Bills, Bad Bills,
what you gonna do
Every legislative season, Utah's lawmakers produce many bills. How many bills? Too many bills! In 45 days, Utah's lawmakers introduce close to a thousand pieces of legislation. This creates a quantity-over-quality problem, resulting in an unacceptable number of BAD BILLS.
death by a thousand paper cuts
After studying lots of bills, we arrived at the conclusion that there are so many more ways to make a BAD BILL bad than to make a GOOD BILL good. As Matthew 7 says—For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction.
Bad bills have a multiplier effect, often doing greater damage than is initially realized.
Birth of the #BadBillTags©
In line with our mission to Inform & Warn the public about bad education policies, practices, programs, & pedagogies, we have developed a series of what we call Bad Bill Tags that explain the different elements of what makes a bill objectively bad.
We apply these tags to bills listed in our BAD BILL Tracker. These are just a few of the most notable BAD BILLS from the latest session. We hope our tags & tracker provide a helpful lens through which to analyze & scrutinize bills so as to protect our faith, families & freedoms against being overcome by arrogant governance and bureaucratic hubris.
#BadBillTags
Click to see copyright notice on #BadBillTags
Bad Bill Tags may not be copied, reproduced, published, transmitted, distributed, modified, have derivative works created from, sold, licensed or otherwise exploited without Higher Ground's prior written permission.
bad uTAH bills 2025
SB 178 Devices in Public Schools (R) Lincoln Fillmore
What makes Utah Sen. Lincoln Fillmore's SB 178 a bad bill?
SB178 of 2025
Mandates a statewide ban on cellphones and other personal digital devices in schools for students, which is a gross abuse of power
Workforce Pipeline Bills Bad for Homeschoolers & Student Agency — Exploiting Children for Socioeconomic Agendas
HB 247 School Swimming and Lifeguarding Programs (R) Melissa Ballard
What makes Utah Rep. Melissa Ballard's HB 247 a bad bill?
HB247 of 2025
Moves swim instructor & lifeguard training programs into schools, allowing them to monopolize these programs & potentially making it harder for kids to access these programs unless they do so through the schools—also allows State Board of Education to create water safety standards in partnership with the Red Cross
HB 447 Statewide Catalyst Campus Model (R) Mike Schultz
What makes Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz's HB 447 a bad bill?
HB447 of 2025
Creates "Catalyst Centers" in schools that push students into career pathways to fill the state's private sector partners' workforce demands, and use millions of taxpayer dollars to do it
SB 137 Course Choice Empowerment (R) Kirk Cullimore & Jefferson Moss
What makes Utah Sen. Kirk Cullimore's SB 137 a bad bill?
SB137 of 2025
Creates a new program where the state funds online courses for private school & homeschool students, even if they already receive Utah Fits Scholarship (school choice) money
SB 162 Talent Connect Bill S1 (R) Ann Millner
What makes Utah Sen. Ann Millner's SB 162 a bad bill?
SB162 of 2025
Funds partnership between higher Ed institutions & workforce industries to increase supply of students into high demand areas, which alters free markets & can lead to depressed wages
HB 42 English Learner Amendments (R) Candice Pierucci
What makes Utah Rep. Candice Pierucci's HB 42 a bad bill?
HB042 of 2025
Increases emergency funding aimed at English Language Learners in K-12 schools, but won't actually solve the many problems created by the overwhelming influx of ELLs
HB 77 Flag Display Amendments (R) Trevor Lee
HB077 of 2025
Attempts to keep politicized flags like PRIDE and BLM flags out of schools—intent is good, but the execution has a lot of red flags
HB 168 Artificial Intelligence in Education (R) Ariel Defay
What makes Utah Rep. Ariel Defay's HB 168 a bad bill?
HB168 of 2025
Creates the Artificial Intelligence in Education Task Force with duties focused on establishing AI in education, legitimizing the increased use of AI in schools
HB 281 Health Curriculum and Procedures Amendments (R) Stephanie Gricius
What makes Utah Rep. Stephanie Gricius's HB 281 a bad bill?
HB281 of 2025
Installs, for the first time ever through state statute, the explicit delivery of open-ended mental health services as a general practice into schools and also makes questionable amendments to Health Ed, Sex Ed, and other code
HB 77 Flag Display Amendments (R) Trevor Lee
Utah Rep. Trevor Lee's HB 77 Substitute 1 shows improvement
HB077 S1 of 2025
Attempts to keep politicized flags like PRIDE and BLM flags out of schools—new language gets closer to intent
