Council’s Corner

The Passes And Fails

The 45-day 2025 Utah Legislative Session considered over 1,000 bills from legislators, with 582 being passed—none bigger than the $30.8B budget that included an income tax cut for the fourth year in a row. Lawmakers set aside $50M in teacher raises and $8M to further explore nuclear power. Bills that garnered the most media attention were those stripping public employees’ unions of their collective bargaining ability and a bill that banned pride flags from schools and government buildings. Also, a very promising bill could open the way for nuclear power. Students can no longer use cellphones during school hours, and firearm safety instruction K–12 will be taught with an opt-out provision. Homeowner complaints with their HOAs can now be heard in a new division of the Utah Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman. Cities now have more control in managing illegal overnight rentals by utilizing the listing as evidence. This year’s session was as much about bills that failed as those that passed. Several specifically attempted to take local control away in land use and economic development in favor of the state. I serve on the legislative policy committee, where we advocate for a “Partnership, not Preemption” with the state. The state demonym is officially: ‘Utahn’, NOT ‘Utahan’ or ‘Utahian’—many national news outlets were misspeaking. A bill proposing that Utah observe Mountain Standard Time year-round failed, again. Washington City has a strong presence at the Capitol and great relations with our legislators. It’s crucial because it enables us to effectively influence state-level policies that impact our community.

–Kurt Ivie, Washington City Council

WashingtonCity.org/council