Posted by Stephanie Gricius on 9/1/2024 to

Talking Policy at August Interim Meetings

This past month, I joined my colleagues and Utahns from every corner of the state for August interim meetings. In committee, we talked about issues impacting Utah communities and discussed legislation for the 2025 General Session.

Interim meetings are a valuable time to collaborate and discuss the impacts of Utah policy. If you would like to join our next interim meetings, I’ll be back at the Capitol on Sept. 17-18. Can’t make it to the Capitol? As always, you can watch live at le.utah.gov. Hope to see you there

Stand for Our Lands.

After decades of policy work and legal analysis, the state of Utah filed a landmark public lands lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address whether the federal government can simply hold unappropriated lands within a state indefinitely. Right now, the federal government controls nearly 70% of land in Utah. For some perspective, the federal government owns less than 1% of the land in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island.

In Utah, the Bureau of Land Management controls 18.5 million acres of “unappropriated” lands, meaning the United States simply holds the land without any designated purpose. Importantly, this lawsuit does not impact the millions of “appropriated” lands – or those designated as national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, national forests, Tribal lands, or military properties.

If the state succeeds, Utah intends to keep these public lands in public hands – actively managed by locals – and open for sustainable use and recreation.

Utah is Best in the West for Education

In government, budgets are a reflection of values and priorities. If you look at Utah’s budget, it's clear our historic investments in education are paying off.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Utah’s public education system as the second best in the nation – only behind Florida – and far ahead of our peers in the west.

Over the past two years alone, the House and Senate invested nearly $2 billion in our students and schools. We worked together to strengthen school safety, eliminate unnecessary school fees, and increase funding for classroom supplies.

American Founders and Constitution Month

The Legislature has designated September as American Founders and Constitution Month, giving us the chance to honor the many freedoms we enjoy because of those who came before us. I am deeply grateful for our country’s great constitution and the many freedoms we enjoy because of it. I hope you will join me over the next month in reflecting on the wisdom of our Founding Fathers and the values that have shaped our nation.