- Mayor Erin Mendenhall praises the productive relationships built with state legislators over the years.
- Key legislative topics included tax reform, economic development, transportation, and homelessness.
- Mendenhall and Angela Price said many of the bills they were concerned about did not pass.
The mayor of Utah’s largest city feels good about the recently completed legislative session in the state.
“I can say without a doubt, this is one of the most productive legislative sessions that we’ve had as far as our relationship goes with state legislators,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mendenhall spoke about the recent session alongside the city’s legislative affairs director, Angela Price.
The mayor highlighted the relationships that she and the city have built with state leaders and how those relationships have taken years to foster.
“I’m confident that Salt Lakers are better today because of those relationships that we’ve forged, and I appreciate the Legislature recognizing the importance of local government in our state,” she said.
She added that there are sometimes major differences that come between Salt Lake City and the Legislature, but the city will continue to stay at the table and work with its partners on Capitol Hill.
The key topics of the session that Mendenhall and Price highlighted were tax reform, economic development, transportation, public safety and homelessness, energy, water and immigration.
Many of the bills that Mendenhall and Price expressed concerns about were ones that didn’t pass. Price shared that each year she makes a post-session report with the city’s high priority-bills, and this is the first time she’s had a list of failed bills.
“We’re grateful that leadership really focused on sound policy this year,” she said.
The Legislature introduced a record number of bills this year — 1,016 — but only 540 passed, which is fewer than the past few years. Mendenhall said she hopes this communicates to lawmakers that “that they need to be quite strategic if they want to advance a bill through the Legislature, and that not everything can stay.”
A look at Salt Lake City’s high-priority bills from this session
The city leaders discussed a number of bills they actively tracked and worked on that will have impacts on Salt Lake City. There were 53 bills that the city considered high priority.
One of these bills was SB242, a major transportation bill that will require the city to make an agreement with UDOT dealing with highway reduction strategy road projects. It will also require the city to ensure safety for all modes of transportation and adopt a critical routes capacity map.
Mendenhall said this allows them to analyze the impacts of bike lanes and other roads, and also gives the city clarity on what they can and should do.
Another bill that will impact the city is HB492, an infrastructure, housing and transportation bill from Rep. Calvin Roberts, R-Draper. The bill would appropriate $100 million for the state infrastructure fund and allow for the utilization of county sales and use tax for the convention center, among other things.
Homelessness was also a key topic that Mendenhall spoke about, specifically HB308, which will increase the amount that nonshelter cities contribute to the Homeless Shelter Cities Mitigation account. Mendenhall said that the cost of homeless services has increased for Salt Lake City.
“It’s appropriate that the formula changes. I expect all cities need to invest more, but Salt Lake City’s investment has, for a long time, been exponentially greater than others,” the mayor said.
Water was another priority highlighted, specifically HB296, which will allow water committed to the Great Salt Lake to be part of water conservation plans.
They also highlighted a few failed bills, including HB302, which would limit cities to adopting one official flag, but would allow multiple ceremonial flags. There was also SB97, which would have put a cap on property tax increases. Their list of high-priority bills also highlighted HB212, which would have provided a way for new counties to be formed.