- Utah legislative leadership said Trump in office makes a "night and day" difference for energy policy.
- State lawmakers have introduced some bills that will facilitate Trump's deportation of migrants convicted of crimes.
- A tight budget year is being used by policymakers to push for cost-savings in higher ed.
Utah kicks off its 45-day legislative session on Tuesday.
Lawmakers will introduce somewhere around 1,000 bills. More than half will likely become law.
Some of the most interesting conversations will focus on boosting energy production, enhancing immigration law enforcement, and how to deliver higher education.
One fact may color these conversations more than any other: who controls the White House.
While it is a 2,000 mile drive from Salt Lake City to Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump’s second inauguration on Monday will shape many of the debates at the Utah Capitol in coming months.
State majority leadership expects the president’s Republican administration to be more supportive of priorities on permitting reform and public safety than his predecessor.
Members of the legislative minority, on the other hand, worry that Trump’s promises of deportation and deregulation will degrade policymaking on the other side of the aisle.
Agree with Trump or not, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s newfound relationship with the president could hardly have come at a better time.
Cox braved the cold weather in the nation’s capital this weekend, where he attended inaugural events. A few weeks before, the governor sat with Trump in the warmth of his Mar-a-Lago resort talking about policies that impact Utah lands and energy.
Energy
On Monday, Trump’s inaugural address included sweeping promises to “put America first” when it comes to energy production. Trump vowed to declare a national energy emergency, fill the strategic oil reserves and export “that liquid gold” across the globe.
For Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, whose goal is to make “Utah the nuclear capital of the world,” and state House Speaker Mike Schultz, the new direction on energy coming from the Oval Office could make all the difference.
“It’s changed the conversation night and day,” Schultz, R-Hooper, told the Deseret News and KSL editorial boards last week.
The Legislature appears on board with Cox’s ambitious goal to double the state’s energy production by 2035 to keep up with population growth and the demands of artificial intelligence data centers.
On Thursday, lawmakers made public a bill that would create a nuclear energy office and energy council with new funding mechanisms to bring nuclear power to the state.
But new legislation is unlikely to lead to loaded transmission lines without overhauling the approval process. State leaders now see a slate of federal partners who are willing to do just that.
In December, Utah’s senior senator, Mike Lee, was elevated to chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he will have a key role in policy that could fast-track Utah energy projects.
Just this week, Lee led nomination hearings for Trump’s picks for Interior Secretary and Energy Secretary, who both committed to “unleash” the country’s “energy dominance.”
On Thursday, Cox called the nomination of former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior Secretary “probably the single best decision that Donald Trump has made, in his previous administration or this current one.”
Adams, R-Layton, has called increasing domestic energy production his No. 1 priority. But achieving “clean, reliable and innovative energy solutions” requires the federal government to “streamline” permitting processes, Adams told the Deseret News Friday in statement.
“We look forward to collaborating with the new administration to tackle these challenges and build a stronger, more self-reliant future for Utah and the nation,” Adams said. “Together, we can drive the reforms necessary for a prosperous, energy-independent America.”
Immigration
At his inauguration, Trump promised additional executive orders to declare a national emergency at the southern border, reinstate “Remain in Mexico” for asylum seekers, send troops to the border, designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and initiate the process of deporting “millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
The Utah Legislature is preparing to take Trump’s lead on this front as well.
Earlier this month, key Republican policymakers announced a public safety package targeting migrants who are in the country illegally and increasing penalties for migrant-related crime.
The proposals include at least two direct reversals of laws passed in the last decade that relaxed immigration law enforcement measures for undocumented employees and those who commit class A misdemeanors.
Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton, introduced a bill that would repeal a 2019 law that reduced the jail sentence for class A misdemeanors by one day to protect migrants from automatic deportation.
In conversations with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officials, Pierucci learned the law could stand as an obstacle to migrant deportations unless the sentence was increased back to 365 days.
“It’s just one day to help expedite the deportation of people who come here illegally or come here seeking temporary asylum and then commit crimes in our state,” Pierucci said.
Another bill would significantly reduce the number of employees that would trigger the need for companies to use E-Verify to determine residency status from 150 to five.
The Legislature will also consider enhancing penalties for fentanyl trafficking, gang crimes, felonies committed after unlawful reentry and driving without a license.
In response to a question from the Deseret News at an August press conference, Trump said that federal authorities will “work with locals” to apprehend migrants who have broken the law “and they’re going to bring them to us — and we’ll get them over the border.”
Over the last four years, Cox and local law enforcement have expressed frustration about the lack of cooperation from ICE officials under former President Joe Biden. This breakdown of communication contributed to ICE sometimes releasing migrants convicted of crimes back into Utah communities.
Trump’s emphasis on removing migrants who enter the country illegally and then endanger Utah communities is part of why the new administration “brings renewed hope to Utah,” Schultz told the Deseret News.
“We’re excited to have a leader who values energy independence, respects states’ rights, advocates for deregulation, and is committed to restoring public safety,” Schultz said Friday in a statement. “We look forward to a productive and collaborative four years with the Trump administration.”
Utah’s tight budget
In addition to a Trump White House, a tight budget outlook will define the 2025 legislative session in Utah.
December estimates found a $2.3 million deficit for FY2024 and nearly $24.5 million less in the general fund than anticipated in the current budget year that ends June 30, 2025.
Any new revenues on the books for the upcoming fiscal year have already been set aside for increases in government operating costs, potential tax cuts and rainy day funds.
“You’re down to zero available for additional spending, both one-time and ongoing,” Legislative fiscal analyst Jonathan Ball told appropriators.
These fiscal constraints are forcing lawmakers to get creative in their approaches to another set of priorities: higher education and homelessness.
Schultz has said the House GOP’s top priority is reevaluating higher ed programs.
He threw his weight behind a proposal that would provide the Utah Board of Higher Education with criteria on how to judge the effectiveness of university programs with the goal of identifying cost-saving measures for the state and increasing quality for students.
“If we’re not getting the right outcomes, the question has to be asked: ‘Do we still subsidize at the same level that we’ve been subsidizing at?’,” Schultz previously told the Deseret News.
Limited funds will also be felt on the complicated issue of chronic homelessness.
The state’s Homeless Coordinator and Homeless Services Board are hoping that $25 million appropriated last year is enough to cover the construction of a new low-barrier emergency shelter along the Wasatch Front.
But building and operating what is planned to be a “transformative” central campus will take tens of millions of dollars in ongoing funds — funds that will be difficult to find this year.
This is at least part of the reason why Utahns will see the Legislature focus on cracking down on inconsistent enforcement of unsanctioned camping and drug use in shelters instead of funding new programs.