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Unprecedented: 2021 general session

Written by Stan Rasmussen

March 12, 2021

To suggest that the recently concluded 2021 general legislative session capped a remarkable year would be dramatic understatement. The contrast between Utah’s economy and fiscal condition today and the specter of the looming impact of the pandemic a year ago tells the tale.

Decisions made by civic leaders at all levels equipped our state to weather the prolonged COVID-19 hailstorm. Decisions made this year in unprecedented circumstances on Capitol Hill continued that pattern.

Among notable features of the very atypical recent session:

  • Several legislators contracted the coronavirus, causing them to miss at least some of the 45 days. Among the most emotional moments was the brief appearance on day 44 – via video connection with his colleagues in the House chambers – of Rep. Jon Hawkins from his ICU hospital bed, where he had been since before the session began.
  • Daily health screenings and COVID testing of all legislators and staff, beginning at 6 a.m., by members of the state Health Department.
  • Remote/virtual participation in committee hearings by many Utahns – people at work, parents at home, citizens in rural areas of the state – that in previous years would have had to travel to the Capitol or who simply would not have been able to provide input on prospective legislation.
  • The mostly vacant halls of the Capitol much of the time, and nearly empty parking lots after committee meetings wrapped up on Day 42.
  • Always professional and attentive, troopers with the Utah Highway Patrol provided heightened levels of security and assistance, including an instance during Senate floor debate when a member suddenly began experiencing a medical situation.

As the 2021 session began, Speaker of the House Brad Wilson invoked words of the late Herb Brooks, coach of America’s 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team:

My friends, despite some significant challenges – daunting challenges – this is a time of great opportunity for our state. And we, as a Legislature, have a tremendous responsibility to create an environment in which Utahns have the freedom and ability to improve their lives and for succeeding generations to partake in prosperity. We are going to work harder and smarter than we’ve ever worked; and we are going to come together like never before because the moment demands nothing less. “Great moments are born from great opportunity.”

Rising to the occasion, members of the majority and minority parties largely worked together, notwithstanding differences in political philosophy and preferences. In the process, they completed a $23 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2022 that included $100 million in targeted tax cuts. The appropriations plan provided historic funding levels for education (an additional $475 million for public education) and infrastructure/transit, created two new state parks and hundreds of new campgrounds and day-use recreation areas – and enacted policy to guide state functions and adjust programs.

For those who may wonder why the state budget continues to expand, and why so many bills are considered, the answers are straightforward.

Factors underlying the increasing state budget include:

  • Utah is among the fastest-growing states in the nation.
  • Our expanding population requires new and well-maintained infrastructure and roads – for current and future residents.
  • We have more children and students per capita than any other state.
  • Our elementary and secondary schools and higher-education institutions serve increasing numbers of students.
  • Voter-approved Medicaid expansion and greater-than-anticipated enrollment in the program requires increasing state funding.

And why are so many bills opened and considered?

  • All 29 senators and 75 representatives have constituents – citizens, community organizations, schools, businesses, etc. – you and me and our neighbors. And those constituents – we Utahns – contact our legislators via telephone, email and personal interaction to suggest ideas about and make requests for additions and/or changes to state policy, law and funding.
  • As we and our families and communities mature and change, elements of state policy and state programs must be reviewed and sometimes updated, revised or discontinued.

As Utahns, we are fortunate that the founders of our state established a part-time Legislature to anticipate and prepare for future needs and opportunities, and to evaluate how best and most appropriately to respond to the issues we look to state government to address.

The 2021 legislative session was well summarized by Senate President Stuart Adams as he and his colleagues adjourned on the final night:

If you had told me last year when we had all isolated and gone to our homes that we would be able to fund education, infrastructure, parks, and the things we’ve done this session, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. … It has happened because of the efforts of [so many]. I just want to say thank you and appreciate all that you have done.

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