Social Health Amendments

3
68-3-12.5
0
Social Health Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Angela Romero
Senate Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill defines social health.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines social health.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
68-3-12.5
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, First Special Session, Chapter 17
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
68-3-12.5
is amended to read:
68-3-12.5
. Definitions for Utah Code.
(1)
The definitions listed in this section apply to the Utah Code, unless:
(a)
the definition is inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Legislature or repugnant
to the context of the statute; or
(b)
a different definition is expressly provided for the respective title, chapter, part,
section, or subsection.
(2)
"Adjudicative proceeding" means:
(a)
an action by a board, commission, department, officer, or other administrative unit of
the state that determines the legal rights, duties, privileges, immunities, or other legal
interests of one or more identifiable persons, including an action to grant, deny,
revoke, suspend, modify, annul, withdraw, or amend an authority, right, or license;
and
(b)
judicial review of an action described in Subsection
(2)(a)
.
(3)
"Administrator" includes "executor" when the subject matter justifies the use.
(4)
"Advisory board," "advisory commission," and "advisory council" mean a board,
commission, committee, or council that:
(a)
is created by, and whose duties are provided by, statute or executive order;
(b)
performs its duties only under the supervision of another person as provided by
statute; and
(c)
provides advice and makes recommendations to another person that makes policy for
the benefit of the general public.
(5)
"Armed forces" means the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space
Force, and Coast Guard.
(6)
"County executive" means:
(a)
the county commission, in the county commission or expanded county commission
form of government established under Title
17, Chapter 62
, Forms of County
Government;
(b)
the county executive, in the county executive-council optional form of government
authorized by Section
17-62-203
; or
(c)
the county manager, in the council-manager optional form of government authorized
by Section
17-62-204
.
(7)
"County legislative body" means:
(a)
the county commission, in the county commission or expanded county commission
form of government established under Title
17, Chapter 62
, Forms of County
Government;
(b)
the county council, in the county executive-council optional form of government
authorized by Section
17-62-203
; and
(c)
the county council, in the council-manager optional form of government authorized
by Section
17-62-204
.
(8)
"Depose" means to make a written statement made under oath or affirmation.
(9)
(a)
"Equal" means, with respect to biological sex, of the same value.
(b)
"Equal" does not mean, with respect to biological sex:
(i)
a characteristic of being the same or identical; or
(ii)
a requirement that biological sexes be ignored or co-mingled in every
circumstance.
(10)
"Executor" includes "administrator" when the subject matter justifies the use.
(11)
"Father" means a parent who is of the male sex.
(12)
"Female" means the characteristic of an individual whose biological reproductive
system is of the general type that functions in a way that could produce ova.
(13)
"Guardian" includes a person who:
(a)
qualifies as a guardian of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to testamentary or
court appointment; or
(b)
is appointed by a court to manage the estate of a minor or incapacitated person.
(14)
"Highway" includes:
(a)
a public bridge;
(b)
a county way;
(c)
a county road;
(d)
a common road; and
(e)
a state road.
(15)
"Intellectual disability" means the same as that term is defined in the most recent
edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the
American Psychiatric Association.
(16)
"Intermediate care facility for people with an intellectual disability" means an
institution or distinct part thereof for people with an intellectual disability or related
conditions, if the institution or distinct part thereof meets the requirements described in
42 U.S.C. Secs. 1396d(d)(1) through (3).
(17)
"Land" includes:
(a)
land;
(b)
a tenement;
(c)
a hereditament;
(d)
a water right;
(e)
a possessory right; and
(f)
a claim.
(18)
"Male" means the characteristic of an individual whose biological reproductive system
is of the general type that functions to fertilize the ova of a female.
(19)
"Man" means an adult human male.
(20)
"Month" means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed.
(21)
"Mother" means a parent who is of the female sex.
(22)
"Oath" includes "affirmation."
(23)
"Person" means:
(a)
an individual;
(b)
an association;
(c)
an institution;
(d)
a corporation;
(e)
a company;
(f)
a trust;
(g)
a limited liability company;
(h)
a partnership;
(i)
a political subdivision;
(j)
a government office, department, division, bureau, or other body of government; and
(k)
any other organization or entity.
(24)
"Personal property" includes:
(a)
money;
(b)
goods;
(c)
chattels;
(d)
effects;
(e)
evidences of a right in action;
(f)
a written instrument by which a pecuniary obligation, right, or title to property is
created, acknowledged, transferred, increased, defeated, discharged, or diminished;
and
(g)
a right or interest in an item described in Subsections
(24)(a)
through
(f)
.
(25)
"Personal representative," "executor," and "administrator" include:
(a)
an executor;
(b)
an administrator;
(c)
a successor personal representative;
(d)
a special administrator; and
(e)
a person who performs substantially the same function as a person described in
Subsections
(25)(a)
through
(d)
under the law governing the person's status.
(26)
"Policy board," "policy commission," or "policy council" means a board, commission,
or council that:
(a)
is authorized to make policy for the benefit of the general public;
(b)
is created by, and whose duties are provided by, the constitution or statute; and
(c)
performs its duties according to its own rules without supervision other than under
the general control of another person as provided by statute.
(27)
"Population" is shown by the most recent state or national census, unless expressly
provided otherwise.
(28)
"Process" means a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding.
(29)
"Property" includes both real and personal property.
(30)
"Real estate" or "real property" includes:
(a)
land;
(b)
a tenement;
(c)
a hereditament;
(d)
a water right;
(e)
a possessory right; and
(f)
a claim.
(31)
"Review board," "review commission," and "review council" mean a board,
commission, committee, or council that:
(a)
is authorized to approve policy made for the benefit of the general public by another
body or person;
(b)
is created by, and whose duties are provided by, statute; and
(c)
performs its duties according to its own rules without supervision other than under
the general control of another person as provided by statute.
(32)
"Road" includes:
(a)
a public bridge;
(b)
a county way;
(c)
a county road;
(d)
a common road; and
(e)
a state road.
(33)
"Sex" means, in relation to an individual, the individual's biological sex, either male or
female, at birth, according to distinct reproductive roles as manifested by:
(a)
sex and reproductive organ anatomy;
(b)
chromosomal makeup; and
(c)
endogenous hormone profiles.
(34)
"Signature" includes a name, mark, or sign written with the intent to authenticate an
instrument or writing.
(35)
"Social health" means:
(a)
an individual's ability:
(i)
to build and maintain mutually supportive relationships within and across
communities, including the following types of communities:
(A)
family;
(B)
peers;
(C)
school;
(D)
work; and
(E)
neighborhood;
(ii)
to listen with curiosity;
(iii)
to try to understand the perspective of another individual;
(iv)
to regulate emotion especially during conflict;
(v)
to find common ground with another especially during conflict; and
(vi)
to be empathic to the needs and perspectives of others while asserting the
individual's own needs and perspectives;
(b)
considering the needs and perspective of others for any action or measure to ensure
social health of the individual or the larger community;
(c)
an individual's feelings of being valued by and listened to by others including those
who are outside of the individual's immediate family and community; and
(d)
a measurable construct that assesses an individual's perception of the individual's
own social health and the extent to which an individual helps to create:
(i)
a climate of mutually supportive relationships within and across communities
including communities that disagree with each other;
(ii)
a sense of belongingness; and
(iii)
perceived common humanity.
(35)
(36)
"State," when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state,
district, or territory of the United States.
(36)
(37)
"Swear" includes "affirm."
(37)
(38)
"Testify" means to make an oral statement under oath or affirmation.
(38)
(39)
"Uniformed services" means:
(a)
the armed forces;
(b)
the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
and
(c)
the commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service.
(39)
(40)
"United States" includes each state, district, and territory of the United States of
America.
(40)
(41)
"Utah Code" means the 1953 recodification of the Utah Code, as amended,
unless the text expressly references a portion of the 1953 recodification of the Utah
Code as it existed:
(a)
on the day on which the 1953 recodification of the Utah Code was enacted; or
(b)
(i)
after the day described in Subsection
(40)(a)
(41)(a)
; and
(ii)
before the most recent amendment to the referenced portion of the 1953
recodification of the Utah Code.
(41)
(42)
"Vessel," when used with reference to shipping, includes a steamboat, canal boat,
and every structure adapted to be navigated from place to place.
(42)
(43)
(a)
"Veteran" means an individual who:
(i)
has served in the United States Armed Forces for at least 180 days:
(A)
on active duty; or
(B)
in a reserve component, to include the National Guard; or
(ii)
has incurred an actual service-related injury or disability while in the United
States Armed Forces regardless of whether the individual completed 180 days; and
(iii)
was separated or retired under conditions characterized as honorable or general.
(b)
This definition is not intended to confer eligibility for benefits.
(43)
(44)
"Will" includes a codicil.
(44)
(45)
"Woman" means an adult human female.
(45)
(46)
"Writ" means an order or precept in writing, issued in the name of:
(a)
the state;
(b)
a court; or
(c)
a judicial officer.
(46)
(47)
"Writing" includes:
(a)
printing;
(b)
handwriting; and
(c)
information stored in an electronic or other medium if the information is retrievable
in a perceivable format.
Section 2.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
2-4-26 9:19 AM