Gov. Cox announces 2nd batch of bills he has signed into law — What you should know

Making the announcement Friday evening, Cox signed 11 more bills that covered issues dealing with state policy water, sexual extortion, and honorary designations. With these new measures, Cox has now signed a total of 23 laws during the 2025 General Session.

According to the release, the bills Cox has signed today are as follows:

• HB 13, Sexual Extortion Amendments
• HB
  14, Emergency Services Personnel Amendments
• HB 18, Petroleum Storage Tank Amendments
• HB 32, Borgstrom Brothers Memorial Highway Designation
• HB 41, State Water Policy Amendments
• HB 50, Occupational Safety and Health Amendments
• HB 59, Fireworks Modifications
• HB 97, Private Postsecondary Education Modifications
• HB 108, Fraudulent Deed Amendments
• HCR 2, Concurrent Resolution Directing PEHP Regarding Pharmaceutical Rebates
• HCR 6, Concurrent Resolution Urging Changes to Federal Homelessness Regulations

A bill worth highlighting is H.B. 32 — or Borgstrom Brothers Memorial Highway Designation — which names State Route 102 after the famous Borgstrom brothers. They were 5 brothers who served in during World War 2, and in the span of six months four of them were killed in action. The 5th brother, Boyd, was released from service after the family petitioned the Utahn congressional delegation.

State Route 102 runs as far north as Tremonton and as far south as Promontory Point. The name change is set to take effect on May 7th, 2025, while the Department of Transportation makes the necessary changes to signs for the designation.

Another bill signed was H.B. 13 — or Sexual Extortion Amendments — and is a bill that expands the definition of the state’s sexual extortion statues to include the use of counterfeit images, in particular images that are generated by artificial intelligence. Action on this bill started on the first day of the legislative session and received unanimous support in both chambers of the legislature.

The final bill to highlight is H.B. 41 — or State Water Policy Amendments — which is a bill that addresses water monitoring in the state. It includes provisions that mandate water quality testing in ground water, and water saving in conjunction with watershed councils.

At this point in the session, a total of 185 bills have passed the state legislature, which means 162 bills wait for action from Cox. At the time of this writing, no bills have been vetoed by the Governor.

For more updates on the 2025 General Session, make sure to visit Inside Utah Politics.