The technical cleanup bill just went public! HB455 is right HERE.
There are significant changes. Many were highly debated and discussed for several months. Stakeholders have been working together to address critical issues and pain points to ensure the decisions being made were optimal for the policy moving forward. UEFA is grateful for the opportunity to have had a seat at the table to work with Representative Pierucci and provide our feedback as the advocacy organization for families and for the Utah Fits All Program. We worked hard to defend the best possible outcomes for students and families.
Many of the changes will strengthen the program and ensure families are served well. There will no doubt be some frustrations felt about certain changes. That is understandable. We are here to help you digest all the changes, as well as understand their implications for the future of the program.
We have compiled a list of the significant changes we believe will have the most critical impact on scholarship recipients.
✅ Amends the definition of the program manager, restructures management
✅ Limits extracurricular to 20% of the scholarship amount
✅ Limits physical education to 20% of the scholarship amount
✅ Defines a list of expenses that are not included as scholarship expenses
✅ Defines Educational supplements
✅ Prohibits the program manager from charging processing fees
✅ Allows for rollover amounts of unused scholarship awards
✅ Strengthens residency requirements and the income verification process
✅ Establishes scholarship application dates going forward beginning in 2026
✅ Establishes deadlines for scholarship acceptance or denial
✅ Scholarship funds will now be distributed in two equal payments at the beginning and second half of the scholarship year
✅ The scholarship no longer grows year over year with the CPI, but a Utah Fits All Scholarship Restricted Account is being put in place
✅ Filing a homeschool affidavit is no longer required
We know you will have lots of questions. It was important for us to get the news to you that the bill is public just as soon as it happened so that you could familiarize yourself with the content and understand the proposed changes. We will dive in with more details next week. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend!