We are currently working on the following 3 bills in the Utah Legislature:

1. S.B. 31 Office of Professional Licensure Review Amendments

https://le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/static/SB0031.html

SB 31 proposes lowering the number of hours for PAs to practice independently from 10,000 to 8,000 hours. These are the proposed changes from OPLR. After reviewing surrounding states, we have found that no PAs have a 10,000 hour requirement.

We are working on getting language added in to include surgery. Recently PAs have been getting letters from DOPL telling them they can not perform surgeries due to a Medicaid ruling. We are working to find acceptable language to include in SB 31 to ensure Utah PAs can continue performing these procedures.

SB 31 will be heard on Friday afternoon in committee. 

2. H.B. 270 Healthcare Worker Post-Employment Amendments

https://le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/static/HB0270.html

Non compete affects many PAs and their ability to provide care. For this bill, Senator Bramble testified and talked about not being able to have care from his usual doctor after a triple bypass surgery due to non-compete.

3. H.B. 171 Physician Assistant Amendments

https://le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/static/HB0171.html

This is essentially a harmonization bill to ensure that the current code reflects changes created by HB 27. They met about it yesterday and there was zero opposition and it is on fast track to get through.

The main thing is changing the language to say "has trained in a primary care physician's office and completed the physician assistant's collaboration" instead of "works with a physician."