• Rep. Owens calls for an incentive-based program to help Utah teachers.
• Rep. Moore believes that social safety-net programs need to be addressed if America hopes to fix its deficit.
• Rep. Maloy thinks that much of today’s political vitriol could be curbed by allowing for more state control over issues.
• Rep. Curtis wants Congress not to be afraid to be innovative in its ideas for policy solutions.

In the past two weeks, Sutherland Institute held its annual Congressional Series, hosted by the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics and sponsored by Zions Bank. Utah’s four U.S. House members participated, covering topics such as education, social safety nets, federalism and political discourse.

Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-4) kicked off the series, where he discussed Congress’ role in education with Sutherland’s education policy fellow, Christine Cooke Fairbanks.

In their discussion, Fairbanks asked Owens for his insight on specific education policy proposals being worked out in Congress. Owens highlighted the need for incentive-based programs for teachers who are going above and beyond.

“I would love to see our teaching institutions get to the point where we respect not only the institutions but also respect the educators,” he said. “How do we do that? Give educators the same thing that every other free market has: You can make as much money as you’re willing to go out there and innovatively make and earn.”

Sutherland’s vice president of strategy and communications, Nic Dunn, moderated the next installment of the series with Rep. Blake Moore (UT-1), where they discussed spending and social safety nets.

In their conversation, Dunn asked if social safety nets would see reforms that would lessen the blow of benefits cliffs for families struggling to get a leg up.

“If I had my magic wand, that’s one of the major things I would do,” Moore said. “Because it immediately reduces the amount of spending, it also gets people the help they need to get back on their feet, and then it’s no longer a deficit creator.”

In the third installment, Bill Duncan, Sutherland’s constitutional law and religious freedom fellow, discussed federalism with Rep. Celeste Maloy (UT-2).

Duncan asked Maloy if she could think of any examples where the states are outperforming the federal government in policymaking and address why the system of federalism is so important.

“I think states do most things better,” Maloy said. “A lot of the hot-button political issues, part of the reason they’re so hot is because we’re trying to solve them on the federal level when it would make more sense for states to make decisions.”

In the final installment of the series with the U.S. House delegation, Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute, moderated the discussion with Rep. John Curtis (UT-3), where they covered political discourse and being open to new ideas.

Perry began the conversation with Curtis by asking about the heated rhetoric of today’s politics and why it has become this way.

“One of the things that I regret about politics is that we do not give people an opportunity to fail,” Curtis said. “If you’re not willing to make a mistake, how are you ever going to find a different way to do things?”

For a more in-depth perspective on this article, review our 2024 Congressional Series event page here.