Utah House of Representatives members hold meeting at Utah State University

The week before the commencement of the Utah Legislature General Session, four members of the Utah House of Representatives held a public meeting at the David B. Haight Center. Representatives Thomas Peterson, Micheal Petersen, Casey Snider and Jason Thompson were present at the Jan. 16 meeting.

The representatives went through a slideshow detailing their main priorities before taking questions from the public. First on the agenda was education.

“You’ll see us continuing to work on reducing burdens for students, teachers and parents,” Petersen said. “I know some of you are interested in higher ed. We’re trying to reinvest funding to maximize value for students and for taxpayers. We’ve got to make sure that you get the most bang for your buck.”

According to the House of Representatives website, Utah’s universities and colleges contribute more than $1 billion a year to the economy. The government’s efforts to improve the worth of higher education for taxpayers and students include trimming administrative costs, consolidating underperforming programs and reinvesting savings into high-demand programs.

“Sometimes programs hang on for a long time, and maybe they’re not as effective as they ought to be,” Petersen said. “We’re trying to streamline and align degree programs with Utah’s pressing workforce needs.”

Additionally, the government plans to increase investments in technical education, including community colleges such as Bridgerland Technical College in Logan. Thompson has been meeting with USU President Elizabeth Cantwell to talk about higher education.

“You are going to hear maybe, ‘higher education cuts.’ That’s probably the wrong word because it’s not what it is, right? It’s a reallocating of funds to make sure that we’re keeping the university moving in the right direction ­— making sure that students are getting the most for the money, where when they get out, they can go and make a contribution to our state and our country in a meaningful way,” Thompson said.

Another priority during the meeting was affordability. This included lowering taxes, affordable home ownership and economic prosperity in Utah.

“There’s several major areas. We are actively talking about another tax cut this year, looking at how to get taxes down and get more money back in our constituent’s pockets — how we can support the American dream of home ownership,” Thompson said. “We’re looking at a whole broad range of ideas on how we can help grandchildren or children — help people get into homes that they can afford.”

The state is implementing several measures to help increase home ownership in the Beehive State, including $300 million for the Utah Homes Investment Program, 88,000 new housing units in development and $50 million for a first-time home buyer program. According to the Utah Legislature website, “Government regulations account for more than 20% of the price of building a new home.”

The legislator has been working to streamline the building approval process and remove unnecessary regulations to make owning a house more affordable.

An issue on the minds of many Utahns is infrastructure: energy, water and transportation. As the state’s population continues to grow, officials are making changes to meet rising demands for these essential services.

“I know this year we have a huge focus, governor, as well as legislature, on keeping energy costs affordable for the citizens of Utah,” Peterson said. “As far as options in the state of Utah, we do plan to look heavily into what it would take to develop nuclear in your state, as well as geothermal.”

According to their website, the Utah Legislative Branch states nuclear power uses significantly less land than other clean power sources, such as solar or wind energy. State officials hope to foster an advanced nuclear industry, as it promises to meet many of the growing population’s needs.

$1.1 billion was invested in statewide transportation projects in 2024. The goal is to advance public transportation and lower the amount of personal vehicles on roads.

“With the announcement of the Olympics coming, we know that there’s some big steps we’ve taken making sure we’re ready for that as Utah grows,” Peterson said. “Transportation is always a delicate balance of balancing how we get those people from A to B.”

Investments in the State Water Plan will be essential to ensuring everyone has access to the water they need.

“We have fought really hard to make sure the water is there for Cache County when we grow,” Snider said. “If you look at the Wasatch Front there, they are ahead of us in population growth. They’re ahead of us in demands for water, and they’re running out.”

According to the Department of Public Safety, there are 1,500 documented gang members in Utah, but the actual number is predicted to be closer to 4,500.

“I am shocked at the level of gang violence and how much it’s growing, especially in our urban areas,” Thompson said. “The amount of fentanyl that’s coming into our community and coming through our state is astounding.”

To combat crime, especially relating to illegal drugs, lawmakers have increased penalties. Additionally, the Utah Legislature created a new division within the Department of Corrections in 2024 to improve inmates’s mental health and help them reintegrate into society.

Lastly, the representatives spoke about what they will do to hold the government accountable.

“As a caucus, we’re really trying to fight against government overreach. We’re trying to make sure that the agencies within our own state are held accountable,” Petersen said. “We’re working on strengthening elections.”