When the federal government shuts down, it’s not just a headline in Washington — it’s a reality in Utah homes. Parents wait for SNAP benefits that may not come on time. Child care providers worry whether subsidies will be processed. Families who rely on WIC to feed their infants watch calendars and shelves anxiously.
For Utah’s children, this isn’t politics. It’s dinner. It’s rent. It’s stability.
The recent shutdown — compounded by the Utah Legislature’s ongoing commitment to tax cuts for the state’s wealthiest residents — shows us in stark terms who we choose to protect when times get tough and who we leave waiting.
The cost of ‘success’
Utah’s leaders love to celebrate our economic rankings: first in growth, low unemployment, business friendly. But those headlines obscure a painful truth.
Over the past decade, income tax cuts enacted by the Legislature have drained more than $1.2 billion a year from our state budget — money that could have strengthened our schools, funded child care, expanded affordable housing and supported children’s mental health.
The result is a two-tiered Utah: one celebrated in glossy business magazines and another where working families struggle to afford the basics. Utah’s classrooms are overcrowded, our child care system is near collapse, and thousands of families face rising rents and food insecurity. The success we boast about has not been shared equally.
A shutdown of priorities
The federal shutdown made visible what too many families already know: Our safety net is fragile. Families living paycheck to paycheck felt the impact immediately. Federal workers were furloughed, small businesses lost customers and critical programs — especially those serving children — were thrown into uncertainty.
Even a short shutdown disrupts months of family stability. Programs like SNAP and WIC operate on thin margins and strict reimbursement schedules. A missed check doesn’t just delay groceries; it undermines trust in the idea that government will be there when families need it most.
And while Washington gridlock grabs the headlines, Utah’s state decisions have quietly mirrored the same pattern: cutting revenue, shrinking services and asking struggling families to make do with less.
A question of values
Utahns pride themselves on self-reliance, but that has never meant families should face hardship alone. Our strength has always come from community — from neighbors helping neighbors and from a government that reflects those same values of fairness, stewardship and compassion.
Yet our current fiscal choices don’t match those values. Every year, Utah gives away hundreds of millions in permanent tax cuts while schools, health clinics and child care centers plead for predictable funding. Tax breaks for those at the top are not evidence of fiscal discipline; they are symptoms of misplaced priorities.
Utah’s working families contribute every day — through taxes, caregiving and community life. What they deserve in return are policies that ensure:
- Tax fairness: Every family contributes, but those with the most should not contribute the least.
- Sustainable revenue: Cutting taxes while cutting children’s services is not fiscal responsibility — it’s moral negligence.
- Investment in children: Every dollar invested in early education, health and family stability strengthens Utah’s future workforce and communities.
The beginning of something better
The good news is that Utah’s story is still being written. We can decide that this shutdown — and the Legislature’s continued focus on tax cuts — marks not an ending but a beginning: a chance to redefine what prosperity means and to rebuild trust in the systems that keep families whole.
We can choose to make future budgets a reflection of our deepest values, not just our strongest balance sheets. We can choose to invest in children first, ensuring that every Utah child grows up safe, healthy and hopeful — no matter what happens in Washington or on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City.
This moment is a reminder that progress doesn’t pause when the government shuts down and compassion doesn’t balance a spreadsheet. Utah’s strength lies not in the size of our surplus but in the well-being of our children.
It’s time to start again — this time, with Utah’s children and families at the center.