State Holiday Amendments

5
63G-1-301
0
State Holiday Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Ryan D. Wilcox
Senate Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill creates a new state holiday.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
establishes the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as a state holiday called
Election Day; and
makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63G-1-301
, as repealed and reenacted by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapter 448
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
63G-1-301
is amended to read:
63G-1-301
. Legal holidays -- Personal preference day -- Governor authorized to
declare additional legal holidays.
(1)
The following days are legal holidays in Utah:
(a)
except as provided in Subsection
(2)(a)
or
(b)
:
(i)
January 1, New Year's Day;
(ii)
July 4, Independence Day;
(iii)
July 24, Pioneer Day;
(iv)
November 11, Veterans Day;
(v)
December 25, Christmas; and
(vi)
a day designated by proclamation issued by the president of the United States or
the governor as a day of fasting or thanksgiving;
(b)
(i)
the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the spring
equinox, Easter Sunday;
(ii)
the third Monday of January, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day;
(iii)
the third Monday of February, Washington and Lincoln Day;
(iv)
the last Monday of May, Memorial Day;
(v)
the first Monday of September, Labor Day;
(vi)
the second Monday of October, Columbus Day;
(vii)
the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, Election Day;
(vii)
(viii)
the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving Day; and
(viii)
(ix)
except as provided in Subsection
(2)(c)
or
(d)
, June 19, Juneteenth
National Freedom Day; and
(c)
except as provided in Subsection
(3)
, every Sunday.
(2)
(a)
If a day described in Subsection
(1)(a)
falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is
the legal holiday.
(b)
If a day described in Subsection
(1)(a)
falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is
the legal holiday.
(c)
If June 19 falls on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the preceding
Monday is the legal holiday.
(d)
If June 19 falls on Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is the legal holiday.
(3)
For purposes of Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 16, Subsection
(1)
, regarding the
exclusion of state holidays from the 45-day legislative general session, Sunday is not
considered a state holiday.
(4)
Each employee may select one additional day, called Personal Preference Day, to be
scheduled in accordance with rules made, in accordance with Title
63G, Chapter 3
, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, by the Division of Human Resource Management,
which the employee may use to observe a state holy day, as described in Section
63G-1-1101
, or any other day the employee chooses to recognize.
(5)
(a)
If, in the governor's opinion, extraordinary conditions exist justifying the action,
the governor may:
(i)
declare, by proclamation, legal holidays in addition to those legal holidays
described in Subsections
(1)
and
(2)
; or
(ii)
limit the legal holidays described in Subsection
(5)(a)(i)
to certain classes of
business and activities to be designated by the governor.
(b)
Except as provided in Subsection
(5)(c)
, a legal holiday described in Subsection
(5)(a)
may not extend for a longer period than 60 consecutive days.
(c)
The governor may, by proclamation:
(i)
renew a legal holiday described in Subsection
(5)(a)
for one or more periods not
exceeding 30 days each as the governor determines necessary; or
(ii)
terminate a legal holiday described under Subsection
(5)(a)
or
(b)
earlier than the
time period described in a preceding proclamation.
Section 2.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
12-29-25 12:13 PM