Supporting education means more than funding schools. It means creating an environment where students can focus on learning, teachers have the tools they need to succeed, and parents are empowered to play the most important role in their child’s education.

Over the past five years, the Legislature has increased public education funding by $1.8 billion, with nearly half of Utah’s state budget now dedicated to education. These investments have helped strengthen literacy instruction, increase parent involvement, improve school-based mental health resources, expand resources for at-risk students, provide access to full-day kindergarten, and reduce barriers to student success. We have also worked to give families greater flexibility in choosing the educational environment that best meets their child’s needs through programs like the Utah Fits All Scholarship. As we begin the new school year, our Legislature remains committed to ensuring our schools have the resources, support, and tools needed to help every student reach their full potential.

As students return to the classroom this fall, I want to recognize the incredible teachers and school staff who make a difference in the lives of Utah students every day. A quality education starts with great educators, and I believe we have a responsibility to provide them with the support and resources they need to succeed.

The Legislature has worked hard to make significant investments in Utah’s education workforce. We have increased teacher pay to be among the highest in the nation, expanded professional development and leadership opportunities, strengthened mentoring programs, and provided additional support for future educators entering the profession. We have also invested in the paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, food service employees, and other support staff who help keep our schools running each day. By supporting the dedicated individuals who serve our students, we are helping build stronger classrooms and create a brighter future for Utah families.

Utah has become a national leader in Career and Technical Education programs that equip students with valuable skills in fields that drive our economy, such as healthcare, manufacturing, construction, information technology, and skilled trades. The Legislature has worked to expand opportunities for students to earn industry-recognized credentials, explore career pathways, and gain real-world experience before they graduate high school. We have also invested in workforce development initiatives that connect education with these high-demand fields. As Utah’s economy continues to grow, workforce training programs will play an increasingly important role in connecting students with high-paying, in-demand careers.

Last month, I wrapped up another round of interim meetings at the Capitol, where legislators continued studying important issues and preparing for the upcoming General Session. We had important discussions around data centers, including current permitting checklists, tax incentives, water and energy use, and economic impact. Click here to see all the topics we discussed.

If you missed August interim meetings, you can join us online or in person at our next interim session on September 15th and 16th, or you can still view agendas, presentations, recordings, and other materials from last interim at le.utah.gov.

In 2023, Utah sued Meta because we believe protecting children should come before profits. This week, Utah secured part of a $12.2 billion settlement. Utah is guaranteed at least $212 million over the next 10 years, with additional funds if Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube agree to similar terms. The settlement also requires Meta to make significant changes to how children use its platforms, including daily time limits, nighttime restrictions, fewer notifications during school hours, stronger age verification and parental controls, and limits on features such as beauty filters and visible “like” counts.

This is an important step toward making social media safer for kids and giving parents more tools to protect their families. We will continue working to hold social media companies accountable and put the well-being of Utah children first.

The country is once again looking to Utah as the nationwide standard. For the fourth year in a row, U.S. News has named Utah the Best State in America. Utah was built on a pioneering spirit of hard work, service to our neighbors, and family values. Whether it is leading the nation in upward mobility, fostering family-friendly communities, or managing resources with long-term foresight, Utah continues to find success. As your Representative, my goal is to keep championing the policies that protect our way of life so that future generations can continue to thrive in the Beehive State.

With costs on the rise, keeping your energy bill low is a top priority. That’s why when major energy companies proposed price increases across the board, Utah pushed back, and it paid off in a big way. Instead of the originally proposed massive rate hikes, a new settlement is bringing immediate relief to Utah households.

Thanks to this agreement, there will be no general rate hikes until 2029. $2 billion has also been committed to strengthening Utah’s electric grid against outages and wildfires. This is a major win for all Utahns, ensuring that our energy remains reliable, dispatchable, and, most importantly, affordable.

Utah has once again proven itself a national leader in fiscal responsibility, ranking as one of just nine states to maintain a low SNAP payment error rate below the 6% threshold. Thanks to our state’s rigorous management and commitment to accountability, Utah taxpayers are fully protected from costly federal penalties. Under new federal legislation, states with high error rates could soon be forced to hand  over tens or even hundreds of millions of state tax dollars to cover food aid costs – funds that would otherwise have to be drawn from our public schools, law enforcement, or health services. By keeping our error rate low, Utah has secured a complete exemption from these cost-sharing requirements, ensuring our state budget remains protected while critical support continues reaching the families who truly need it.

As a parent, I understand that when it comes to budgeting for your family, every penny counts. This past session, we passed a 15% reduction on the state portion of the gas tax, saving Utah drivers an estimated $40 million. This builds on Utah’s commitment to smart tax policy: small, sustained cuts over time that add up to major savings for Utah families.

The bill also streamlined permitting for fuel pipelines and included industry commitments to increase Utah fuel production by 12.5% over five years, pairing immediate price relief with a long-term supply strategy.

Our official state legislative platform, le.utah.gov, has been named the national recipient of the 2026 NCSL Online Democracy Award! Presented annually by the National Conference of State Legislatures, this prestigious award recognizes state legislative websites that excel at making democracy open, transparent, and easy to navigate for citizens. This site allows you to track bills, view agendas, stream committee meetings, read audits, explore the state budget, and much more. Transparency in government is essential to a healthy republic. Our interim meetings will resume this month on August 18th and 19th. Le.utah.gov is great resource for you to follow along and get involved with issues you care most about.

I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July celebrating 250 years of freedom! This year’s anniversary provides a unique reminder of exactly what makes America so special: the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the belief that our rights do not come from government, but that government exists to protect them. That idea shaped the birth of our nation and remains our responsibility to preserve today.

In Utah, Pioneer Day gives us another opportunity to honor the faith, resilience, and determination of those who helped build the state we proudly call home. This year, Utahns have a new place to reflect on that story. The Museum of Utah is now open on the Capitol Complex, giving families, students, and visitors a place to explore the people, events, cultures, and ideas that shaped our state. The 17,000-square-foot museum is home to 950 items from Utah’s 30,000-artifact collection, 21 interactive displays and the Mormon Meteor III, the legendary race car that set land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The museum is free to the public and open seven days a week.

The Museum of Utah is located in the North Capitol Building at 450 N. State Street in Salt Lake City. I encourage you to visit this summer, bring your family, and take part in the many celebrations and local events happening throughout July as Utah and the nation prepare for America’s 250th anniversary.

The work of the General Session begins long before January, and June interim meetings gave us another opportunity to study the issues Utah families and communities are facing. Committee work during the interim is where ideas are tested, refined, or set aside before they ever become bills. This month, we reviewed agency reports, examined how state programs are performing, and asked questions about what is working, what is not, and where taxpayer dollars can be used more effectively.

Those discussions are essential to responsible policymaking. Whether the issue is public safety, economic growth, government efficiency, or long-term planning for Utah’s communities, the goal is the same: make sure state government is focused, accountable, and delivering real results for the people we serve.

There are no interim meetings in July, but we will be back at the Capitol August 18 and 19. I hope to see you there in person, or you can follow along with all our committees live at le.utah.gov

Utah, we need your help. Our firefighters need your help. This has been one of the driest and most volatile fire seasons our state has seen in years. Nearly 400 wildfires have already burned more acres than all of last year, and nearly 80% have been human-caused, which means many were preventable.

We also mourn the loss of three firefighters who answered the call to protect others and made the ultimate sacrifice protecting Utah’s people and lands.

Please follow local fire restrictions and use extreme caution. Visit the Utah Fire Sense website for up-to-date information on fire restrictions, current fire conditions, and prevention tips. Together, we can keep our neighborhoods and state safe.

As your Representative, setting our children up for success through quality education is one of my top priorities. That commitment is reflected in the historic policies we have passed over the last several years. As a Legislature, we’ve increased public education funding by $1.8 billion over the past five years, raised teacher pay, and invested in key programs that help prepare our students for tomorrow’s workforce. Though we’ve made significant investments to strengthen our education system, the work isn’t done. Classroom size is a real issue in our school, especially for our youngest learners. Throughout the interim, we’re exploring ways to give students more individual attention and teachers more support. This is the beginning of a collaborative effort to ensure our students have the focus and resources they need to thrive not only in our schools, but throughout their lives.

In a historic win for our public lands, Utah has permanently secured public access to more than 50,000 acres of wildlife-rich land in the rugged Book Cliffs roadless area of northern Grand County. This massive acquisition was made possible by a $50 million allocation from the Legislature and the streamlined land-transfer process established through H.B. 262 (2024). Renamed the Book Cliffs Roadless Wildlife Management Area, this permanently protects world-class hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation for Utahns. By securing these lands now, we are providing a massive boost for our state while ensuring future generations can experience one of our state’s most remarkable landscapes.

The $50 million used to purchase this land will be put directly into classrooms through Utah’s Trust Land Administration. This is a win for recreation and a win for public schools.

Interim meetings resumed last month, and I welcomed the opportunity to get back to the Capitol to continue working to study, debate, and craft policies that will benefit our community and state. Interim allows us to hear directly from industry experts and the public alike. Hearing your voices, your concerns, and your ideas on the issues that matter most is exactly what keeps our legislative process grounded and effective, and I look forward to keeping that open dialogue going throughout the rest of the year.

Our next interim meetings will take place on June 16th and 17th at the Capitol. I would love to see you there in person, or you can watch recordings, participate in livestreams, view agendas, and more at le.utah.gov.

Governor Cox has issued a Drought Executive Order declaring a statewide state of emergency due to our drought conditions. Our mountain snowpack serves as Utah’s primary water supply, and with our reservoirs drawing down quickly, aggressive water conservation is absolutely critical for all of us this season. Because our landscapes are incredibly dry, this drought also brings a significantly heightened risk of wildfires. This summer, while you’re enjoying all the beauty our state has to offer, please practice extra caution and use our fire sense whenever spending time outdoors. Let’s do our part to conserve water, prevent human-caused wildfires, and protect our communities.

Utah’s continued prosperity is rooted in the strength of our homes, and that was proven in a new national report that ranks Utah #1 in the family structure index. This ranking reflects our state’s high marriage rates and the fact that more of our children are raised in stable, two-parent households than anywhere else in the country. Our commitment to family values has led to tangible results: Utah currently holds the lowest childhood poverty rate in the nation and the lowest reliance on public assistance. When we prioritize the family unit, we see a direct correlation with our #1 rankings in volunteerism, charitable giving, and overall economic outlook. For the fourth year in a row, Utah has been named the best state in the nation, proving that strong families are not just a social priority—they are the primary engine behind the greatest success story in the American experiment.

One of my top priorities for our state is ensuring we have secure, reliable, and affordable baseload power that is always available when our families and businesses need it. In Utah, we embrace an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy that allows us to utilize every resource at our disposal to keep our power affordable and independent. In a major step forward for this vision, Utah has teamed up with Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico to launch the Mountain West Geothermal Consortium. Geothermal energy is a crucial piece of this puzzle because it provides a continuous, 24/7 supply of electricity that doesn’t rely on the weather. We are uniquely positioned to lead this industry because high-quality heat is closer to the surface here, and experts are already calling Utah the heart of this geothermal renaissance. By streamlining permitting and cutting through bureaucratic red tape, this consortium will help expand our domestic energy portfolio and ensure Utah remains a powerhouse of innovation and grid reliability.

As we gear up for America’s 250th anniversary, I find myself reflecting more than ever on the incredible legacy of freedom, ingenuity, and community that defines our nation. This milestone isn’t just about looking back at our history. It’s about coming together as neighbors to shape the next chapter of our story. There are some fantastic celebrations and community events being planned right here in our area, and I’d love for you and your family to be a part of them. Check out Utah America 250 website to find upcoming events, get involved, and join in as we honor this incredible milestone together!

With the general session behind us, our work transitions into the interim period, where the work for next year has already begun. During the interim, we meet together with our committees to dive into the issues impacting our community and plan for a future. Our first meetings of the year will kick off on May 19th and 20th, and will continue on the third Wednesday of each month for the remainder of the year (with the exception of July and December). I am honored to continue representing our district’s values on the Judiciary, Health & Human Services, and Social Services Appropriations committees.

These meetings are an opportunity for you to make your voice heard and raise concerns on the issues that impact your life. As always, all meetings are open to the public, both in person or online at le.utah.gov, where you can view agendas, watch live streams, and give public comment. I hope to see you there!

For the 19th year in a row, Utah was named the state with the best economic outlook in the nation. This achievement is no accident; it is the direct result of hardworking Utahns and an unwavering commitment to fiscal responsibility that prioritizes long-term planning over short-term fixes. While other states struggle with rising debt and stagnant growth, our state continues to thrive because we understand government works best when it remains lean and stays out of your way.

This ranking highlights the strength of our conservative policies, which have allowed us to cut taxes for six consecutive years while still maintaining a balanced budget and a AAA bond rating. By keeping our economic foundation solid, we are creating a predictable environment where businesses can grow and families can prosper. As your representative, I remain dedicated to these principles of sound money and strategic investment, ensuring that Utah remains the best place in the country to find a great job, raise a family, and build a secure future.

Last month, the U.S. Forest Service announced that Salt Lake City will now be home to the agency’s national headquarters. This move shifts leadership closer to the 193 million acres of National Forest System lands, with over 8 million in Utah. Not only will this bring high-quality federal jobs to the region, the move is also ensuring that policy decisions made about these federal lands are made by those with boots on the ground experience.

Utah is ready to help support the important work ahead and demonstrate what is possible when agencies are grounded in the regions they serve.

Over the past two decades, Utah’s air has steadily become cleaner—a result of thoughtful, commonsense policies and a focus on practical solutions. By investing in cleaner technologies, improving efficiency, and modernizing infrastructure, we’ve made meaningful progress in reducing emissions and protecting the quality of the air we breathe.

This success shows that responsible stewardship and strong economic growth can go hand in hand. When we prioritize innovation, accountability, and smart use of resources, we can preserve Utah’s natural environment while keeping our state prosperous—ensuring cleaner air and a higher quality of life for future generations.

As national inflation continues to put pressure on your household budget, my colleagues and I are taking aggressive steps to lower the cost of living for all Utahns. Over the last six years, we have steadily reduced the state income tax by 11%—moving the rate from 4.95% down to 4.45%—a change that keeps hundreds of dollars in the pockets of Utah families every year. We are also supporting parents by expanding the Child Tax Credit, broadening exemptions for young children, and incentivizing businesses to provide affordable childcare. Furthermore, we’ve eliminated the Social Security tax for those earning up to $90,000 and slashed the state gas tax by 15% to provide immediate relief at the pump. By pairing strong fiscal discipline with these common-sense cuts, we are ensuring you keep more of what you earn while maintaining the essential services our community relies on.