By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
The fate of HB267 will likely be decided by voters, as on Monday, the referendum effort to overturn the bill met its signature goal – placing it on the 2026 ballot.
The bill – which bans public employee unions like police officers, firefighters and teachers from engaging in collective bargaining – was passed in the 2025 legislative session. Despite being signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox, the Governor said in his monthly news conference that” from the beginning, I didn’t like the bill. It wasn’t something I was interested in, not something I would run.”
Utah’s referendum process is one of the strictest in the nation, requiring signatures equal to 8% of the number of active voters statewide and in 15 of the 29 Senate Districts. This amounts to 141,000 signatures. At the time of writing, the effort has garnered 146,480 verified signatures statewide and met the requirements in 15 senate districts.
The Protect Utah Workers Coalition launched the referendum effort on Saturday, March 15. With only 30 calendar days to meet the signature requirement, the group submitted over 321,000 signatures.
Signatures are still being verified, with the deadline to do so being May 7. This could result in other senate districts meeting the 8% requirement.
“I believe in building stronger, safer communities,” said Donavan Minutes, a Salt Lake City Firefighter and member of Salt Lake City Firefighters Local 81. “Because when the alarm rings, we show up, no matter the risk. When it was passed, HB267 rang an alarm. It failed public workers, but I believe Utah won’t.”
Despite this announcement, the process is far from over. Once a signature is verified, the information is added to a registry. Groups opposing the bill have 30 days to convince signees to remove their signature from the petition.
Davis County-based Utah Parents United is one of these groups. Focusing on the Wasatch Front, the organization runs a ‘Decline to Sign’ campaign to sway the public away from the effort. “This law restores financial accountability, transparency, and ensures every teacher has a voice, not just union leadership,” states the organization in a social media post. “We’re not against unions – we’re for fairness and kids first.”
This sets up a showdown at the ballot box between anti-union and pro-union groups. Roughly $3 million has been poured into the referendum effort, mainly from national teachers’ organizations. Both sides are expected to spend millions as the issue reaches the ballot.