Public Assistance Amendments

17
63G-12-402
76-14-207
0
Public Assistance Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Trevor Lee
Senate Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses lawful presence for receipt of public benefits.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
removes authority for an agency or political subdivision of the state to skip verification of
lawful presence for receipt of a state or local public benefit or a federal public benefit
the state administers;
prohibits an agency or political subdivision of the state from providing state or local
public benefits to an individual who is unlawfully present in the United States, with
certain exceptions;
requires an agency or department to conduct certain audits;
provides that the Office of the Legislative Auditor General may conduct a certain audit
under certain circumstances;
provides for criminal or civil penalties under certain circumstances; and
makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63G-12-402
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, First Special Session, Chapter 9
76-14-207
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapter 173
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
63G-12-402
is amended to read:
63G-12-402
. Receipt of state, local, or federal public benefits -- Verification --
Fraudulently obtaining benefits -- Penalties -- Audit requirement -- Annual report.
(1)
(a)
Except as provided in Subsection
(3)
or when exempted by federal law, an
An

agency or political subdivision of the state shall verify the lawful presence in the
United States of an individual at least 18 years old who applies for:
(i)
(a)
a state or local public benefit as defined in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1621; or
(ii)
(b)
a federal public benefit as defined in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1611, that is administered by
an agency or political subdivision of this state.
(b)
(2)
For purpose of a license issued under Title
58, Chapter 55
, Utah Construction
Trades Licensing Act, to an applicant that is an unincorporated entity, the Department of
Commerce shall verify in accordance with this Subsection
(1)

(2)
the lawful presence
in the United States of each individual who:
(i)
(a)
owns an interest in the contractor that is an unincorporated entity; and
(ii)
(b)
engages, or will engage, in a construction trade in Utah as an owner of the
contractor described in Subsection
(1)(b)(i)
(2)(a)
.
(2)
(3)
This section shall be enforced without regard to race, religion, gender, ethnicity, or
national origin.
(3)
Verification of lawful presence under this section is not required for:
(a)
any purpose for which lawful presence in the United States is not restricted by law,
ordinance, or regulation;
(b)
assistance for health care items and services that:
(i)
are necessary for the treatment of an emergency medical condition, as defined in
42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396b(v)(3), of the individual involved; and
(ii)
are not related to an organ transplant procedure;
(c)
short-term, noncash, in-kind emergency disaster relief;
(d)
public health assistance for immunizations with respect to immunizable diseases
and for testing and treatment of symptoms of communicable diseases whether or not
the symptoms are caused by the communicable disease;
(e)
programs, services, or assistance such as soup kitchens, crisis counseling and
intervention, and short-term shelter, specified by the United States Attorney General,
in the sole and unreviewable discretion of the United States Attorney General after
consultation with appropriate federal agencies and departments, that:
(i)
deliver in-kind services at the community level, including through public or
private nonprofit agencies;
(ii)
do not condition the provision of assistance, the amount of assistance provided,
or the cost of assistance provided on the income or resources of the individual
recipient; and
(iii)
are necessary for the protection of life or safety;
(f)
the exemption for paying the nonresident portion of total tuition as set forth in
Section
53H-11-203
;
(g)
an applicant for a license under Section
61-1-4
, if the applicant:
(i)
is registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority; and
(ii)
files an application with the state Division of Securities through the Central
Registration Depository;
(h)
a state public benefit to be given to an individual under Title
49, Utah State
Retirement and Insurance Benefit Act
;
(i)
a home loan that will be insured, guaranteed, or purchased by:
(i)
the Federal Housing Administration, the Veterans Administration, or any other
federal agency; or
(ii)
an enterprise as defined in 12 U.S.C. Sec. 4502;
(j)
a subordinate loan or a grant that will be made to an applicant in connection with a
home loan that does not require verification under Subsection
(3)(i)
;
(k)
an applicant for a license issued by the Department of Commerce or individual
described in Subsection
(1)(b)
, if the applicant or individual provides the Department
of Commerce:
(i)
certification, under penalty of perjury, that the applicant or individual is:
(A)
a United States citizen;
(B)
a qualified alien as defined in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1641; or
(C)
lawfully present in the United States; and
(ii)
(A)
the number assigned to a driver license or identification card issued under
Title
53, Chapter 3
, Uniform Driver License Act; or
(B)
the number assigned to a driver license or identification card issued by a state
other than Utah if, as part of issuing the driver license or identification card,
the state verifies an individual's lawful presence in the United States; and
(l)
an applicant for:
(i)
an Opportunity scholarship described in Section
53H-11-402
;
(ii)
a New Century scholarship described in Section
53H-11-407
;
(iii)
a promise grant described in Section
53H-11-414
; or
(iv)
a scholarship:
(A)
for an individual who is a graduate of a high school located within Utah; and
(B)
administered by an institution of higher education as defined in Section
53H-1-101
.
(4)
(a)
An agency or political subdivision required to verify the lawful presence in the
United States of an applicant under this section shall require the applicant to certify
under penalty of perjury that:
(i)
the applicant is a United States citizen; or
(ii)
the applicant is:
(A)
a qualified alien as defined in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1641; and
(B)
lawfully present in the United States.
(b)
The certificate required under this Subsection
(4)
shall include a statement advising
the signer that providing false information subjects the signer to penalties for perjury.
(5)
An agency or political subdivision shall verify a certification required under Subsection
(4)(a)(ii)
through the federal SAVE program.
(6)
(a)
An individual who knowingly and willfully makes a false, fictitious, or fraudulent
statement or representation in a certification under Subsection
(3)(k)
or
(4)
is
subject to the criminal penalties applicable in this state for:
(i)
making a written false statement under Section
76-8-504
; and
(ii)
fraudulently obtaining:
(A)
public assistance program benefits under Section
76-8-1203.1
; or
(B)
unemployment compensation under Section
76-8-1301
,
76-8-1302
,
76-8-1303
,
or
76-8-1304
.
(b)
If the certification constitutes a false claim of United States citizenship under 18
U.S.C. Sec. 911, the agency or political subdivision shall file a complaint with the
United States Attorney General for the applicable district based upon the venue in
which the application was made.
(c)
If an agency or political subdivision receives verification that a person making an
application for a benefit, service, or license is not a qualified alien, the agency or
political subdivision shall
immediately deny the application and
provide the
information to the Office of the Attorney General unless prohibited by federal
mandate.
(7)
(a)
An agency or political subdivision may adopt variations to the requirements of
this section that:
(a)
(i)
clearly improve the efficiency of or reduce delay in the verification process; or
(b)
(ii)
provide for adjudication of unique individual circumstances where the
verification procedures in this section would impose an unusual hardship on a
legal resident of Utah.
(b)
An agency or political subdivision may not adopt variations under Subsection
(7)(a)

that expand eligibility of public benefits to individuals without lawful presence in the
United States.
(8)
(a)
Notwithstanding any other provision of state law, an agency or political
subdivision of the state may not provide a state or local public benefit that is funded
by state or local funds, including non-emergency medical health care, local- or
state-administered health care or health insurance, housing assistance, food
assistance, cash benefits, tuition assistance, or other state or locally funded public
assistance programs, to an applicant who is not a qualified alien or who is without
lawful presence in the United States.
(b)
It is unlawful for an
An
agency or a political subdivision of this state
to
may not

provide a state, local, or federal benefit, as defined in 8 U.S.C.
Sec.
Secs.
1611 and
1621, in violation of this section.
(c)
Nothing in this Subsection
(8)
prevents an agency or political subdivision from
providing emergency medical health care, mental health care crisis services, or
temporary disaster shelter to an individual in the state regardless of lawful status.
(9)
A state agency or department that administers a program of state or local public benefits
shall:
(a)
provide an annual report to the governor, the president of the Senate, and the speaker
of the House
of Representatives
regarding
its
:
(i)
the state agency's or department's
compliance with this section; and
(ii)
the number and type of the state or local public benefit for which an applicant
applied and was denied, if the agency or department denied the applicant benefits
because the applicant was not a qualified alien or lawfully present in the United
States;
(b)
(i)
monitor the federal SAVE program for application verification errors and
significant delays;
(ii)
provide an annual report on the errors and delays to ensure that the application of
the federal SAVE program is not erroneously denying a state or local benefit to a
legal resident of the state; and
(iii)
report delays and errors in the federal SAVE program to the United States
Department of Homeland Security
.
; and
(c)
beginning on January 1, 2027, conduct a quarterly audit of each public assistance
program for compliance with this section.
(10)
Subject to prioritization of the Legislative Audit Subcommittee, the Office of the
Legislative Auditor General established under Section
36-12-15
shall in any fiscal year
conduct a biennial audit of each state agency or department described in Subsection
(9)

to determine if the state agency or department is compliant with this section.
(11)
(a)
An employee of a state agency or political subdivision who, with willful or
reckless disregard for the verification requirements under this section, fails to verify
lawful presence or who fails to maintain records regarding the verification of lawful
presence, is guilty of an infraction.
(b)
The penalties in this section are in addition to existing law.
(12)
An executive director of a state agency or department who is vested with responsibility
to administer or make policy for a state agency, and who knowingly violates or allows
an employee to violate this section, may be subject to removal from office in accordance
with the state agency's or department's procedures.
Section 2. Section
76-14-207
is amended to read:
76-14-207
. Proof of immigration status required to receive public benefits.
(1)
(a)
An agency that provides state or local public benefits as defined in 8 U.S.C. Sec.
1621 shall comply with Section
63G-12-402
and shall also comply with this section
,
except:
.
(i)
as provided in Subsection 63G-12-402(3)(g) or (k); or
(ii)
when compliance is exempted by federal law or when compliance could
reasonably be expected to be grounds for the federal government to withhold
federal Medicaid funding.
(b)
The agency shall verify an individual's lawful presence in the United States by
requiring that the applicant under this section sign a certificate under penalty of
perjury, stating that the applicant:
(i)
is a United States citizen; or
(ii)
is a qualified alien as defined by 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1641.
(c)
The certificate under Subsection
(1)(b)
shall include a statement advising the signer
that providing false information subjects the signer to penalties for perjury.
(d)
The signature under this Subsection
(1)
may be executed in person or electronically.
(e)
When an applicant who is a qualified alien has executed the certificate under this
section, the applicant's eligibility for benefits shall be verified by the agency through
the federal SAVE program or an equivalent program designated by the United States
Department of Homeland Security.
(2)
An individual who knowingly and willfully makes a false, fictitious, or fraudulent
statement of representation in a certificate executed under this section is guilty of public
assistance fraud by an applicant for public assistance under Section
76-8-1203.1
.
(3)
If the certificate constitutes a false claim of United States citizenship under 18 U.S.C.
Sec. 911, the agency requiring the certificate shall file a complaint with the United
States Attorney for the applicable federal judicial district based upon the venue in which
the certificate was executed.
(4)
Agencies may, with the concurrence of the Utah Attorney General, adopt variations to
the requirements of the provisions of this section that provide for adjudication of unique
individual circumstances in which the verification procedures in this section would
impose unusual hardship on a legal resident of this state.
(5)
If an agency under Subsection
(1)
receives verification that an individual making an
application for a benefit, service, or license is not a qualified alien, the agency shall
immediately deny the application and
provide the information to the local law
enforcement agency for enforcement of public assistance fraud by an applicant for
public assistance under Section
76-8-1203.1
unless prohibited by federal mandate.
Section 3.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
2-23-26 9:43 AM