#OneUtah: A weekly update from the office of Gov. Spencer J. Cox. 

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Happy Thursday from #OneUtah, a weekly update from the office of Gov. Spencer J. Cox. Here’s your recap of what we did this week, what's on the horizon, and more. Reply to this email with any questions or suggestions regarding the newsletter. And thank you for subscribing! ([link removed])

NOTE: We won’t be sending a newsletter next week, but will be back Jan. 5, 2024.


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** Happy Holidays, Utah!
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! A time to spend with family and friends and a time to show compassion, to forgive and to help those in need. This holiday season, we encourage you to serve a fellow Utahn and spread holiday cheer.

We have so much to be grateful for, and so much to look forward to in 2024. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


** Highlights from 2023
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I’m grateful for the goodness of Utahns and the way we’ve been able to rally this year to strengthen our families, help each other, save water and improve our quality of life in so many ways.

I’m particularly proud of how the state of Utah has put social media companies on notice, passed groundbreaking legislation, launching a public education campaign to help parents protect their children, suing TikTok and Meta and we’re not done. This past year we also invested in things that matter including teacher bonuses, mental health services, domestic violence prevention and victims services, housing and homeless services and water infrastructure, conservation and agricultural optimization. All of this AND we cut $873 million in taxes over the past three years, by far the largest tax reduction in state history.

This is all good, but our work is not done. In 2024 we’ll work hard to build 35,000 new starter homes in the next 5 years, fund and protect our schools, improve our water storage, encourage conservation and keep filling the Great Salt Lake, fill the gaps in our existing systems to better prevent homelessness and serve our most vulnerable, and support innovation and keep our economy the best in the nation.

The way we will do this is by coming together, proposing solutions, talking through our differences and finding common ground. I’m an optimist at heart and as we enter the new year, it’s my sincere hope that in 2024 we can debate without contempt, we can explore ideas without fear and we can restore faith in our democratic institutions. In short, I hope that together we can disagree better.
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** Monthly News Conference
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Q: Air quality has been a concern along the Wasatch Front recently, especially in the winter time but in the summertime as well. Is dust mitigation on the table as a method to improve air quality?

A: It is. It’s part of the Great Salt Lake report. The commissioner of the Great Salt Lake looks very closely at those projects, what we know about it there’s going to be a need for more scientific work and more research around that, to understand where the dust is coming from, how it moves, the toxicity of the dust what can be done to mitigate the dust. The best way to mitigate the dust is to have a full lake. That’s the assumption we’re working under if we do need to fill that lake. When lake levels are lower, what can be done? Can we flood part of that area, how often does it need to have water on it to keep the dust down? We’ve seen it’s very expensive to do what California does to mitigate their drying lakes, so we do know the cheapest way to mitigate dust in Utah is to get water in the lake. As far as air quality goes, dust mitigation is very important. Less of a concern during the winter months, more so during the summer months. The Great Salt Lake report will come out in January and
we will have more answers then.

Q: Earlier this week a group filed a lawsuit against the social media regulation act in Utah? Are you surprised they would do so? If it were to be overturned by a judge, what then?

A: We’ve anticipated that these lawsuits would be coming. Sadly, once these lawsuits are filed my ability to talk about it as much as I want to is minimized. All I can say is that this was no surprise, we’ve seen lawsuits like this across the country. There’s a great article in The Atlantic from a law professor where he talks about one of these lawsuits in California and how he believes the courts got it wrong there. Ultimately the Supreme Court will have to weigh in on some of these things. We will vigorously defend these laws, we’re prepared for it. These laws haven’t gone into effect yet. We’re in the process of getting public feedback on the rules. We have another legislative session before these rules go into effect, I anticipate we will see some minor changes this legislative session. We’re not just playing defense, we’re playing offense. Our lawsuits against TikTok and Meta show that and we expect more of those to come.


** Service in our schools
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Lt. Gov. Henderson has been traveling the state this week to gather feedback on our proposed initiative to incorporate more service into Utah student’s high school experience. She is visiting with stakeholders of the education community including superintendents, principles, educators, counselors, parents and students. Several districts and a charter school will serve as hosts for a pilot program as we discover best practices and outcomes. We love Utah’s students!


** Modernizing state government
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Our administration is committed to streamlining and modernizing government, and we hit a major milestone this week. The state mainframe – a computing system which has been in use in the state since 1978 – is officially retired. This project has taken many years to complete and Utah is one of the first states to do it. Modernizing state IT systems will make it easier and faster for Utahns to access state services such as public assistance programs, child support and state Medicaid. Faster speeds will help state employees do their jobs more efficiently and the change will also improve data security.

This is great news for all Utahns as we work to improve customer service!


** Visiting with Consul General of Romania
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Lt. Gov. Henderson welcomed Lucia Sava, Consul General of Romania to Utah this week. Consul Sava has only been in her position for a few weeks and selected Utah as the first state to visit in her new capacity. We are grateful for partners willing to come to the table and discuss our potential as partners.


** Governor’s Award for Excellence Highlight
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Each week, we’re highlighting a state employee who was recently awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence. This week we are recognizing Jeremy Sommerlath with the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services.

Under Jeremy’s leadership and extraordinary embrace of innovation and customer service, DABS Compliance and Licensing division has been completely revolutionized. Jeremy has restructured and re-organized division roles and added “zoning” to better serve our customers, realize cost savings, and create time efficiencies. Part of this restructure saw the addition of a new employee dedicated to southern Utah to better serve the booming population (and hospitality businesses that have followed). Jeremy is the project lead on Open Gov, the new Online Compliance Infrastructure project. Through this project, DABS can now serve customers online and receive secure online payments. With this project, the Compliance and Licensing operations have gone from 95% paper to 95% digital. This is not only a win for DABS and their customers but for state government and the Governor’s Roadmap deliverables as well.

Thank you, Jeremy, for your dedication to the state of Utah. Keep up the great work! To read about the Governor’s Awards for Excellence, clickhere ([link removed]) .


** Rural Affairs Update
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Ensuring the success of rural Utah continues to be a priority for the Cox-Henderson administration and our weekly Rural Affairs Report reflects that commitment. Here are some highlights:
* Crude oil production in 2023 is on pace to equal or exceed production from 2022, which broke the previous state record with over 45 million barrels of oil produced statewide. This provides a tremendous economic impact on rural Utah.
* PLPCO was recognized by five and six counties at the annual awards dinner for their support of the Congressional Tour.
* DNR reported that the Division of Water Rights is working with rural water users to provide pre-filing consultation engagements as part of the Ag Water Optimization Program. This will help local agriculture producers understand the potential for saved water through the application process.

Learn more about our rural Utah priorities here ([link removed]) .


** ICYMI
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* This week we joined Wreaths Across America to honor veterans and those buried at the Fort Douglas Cemetery. Utah supports our veterans and active-duty personnel — and we’re so grateful for the selflessness of those who wear the uniform, past and present. View photo from the ceremony here ([link removed]) .


** Coming up
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* Dec. 25: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Our offices will be closed.
* Dec. 26: Happy Kwanzaa to all who celebrate!
* Jan. 1: Happy New Year, Utah! We are looking forward to a prosperous 2024. Our offices will be closed on Jan. 1, 2024.
* Jan. 5: Excited to speak to the Utah Bar.

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** Get involved!
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Looking for a new job opportunity? From great employee benefits ([link removed]) to versatile work schedules ([link removed]) , the career opportunities with the state are truly endless. Join Team Utah today ([link removed]) !

Those looking to volunteer can also consider more than 300 boards and commissions ([link removed]) . Find out which openings are available and how you can get involved here ([link removed]) !


** Get in touch!
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You can reach the Governor's Office here ([link removed]) . And you can follow us on X ([link removed]) , Facebook ([link removed]) ,Instagram ([link removed]) , and YouTube ([link removed]) for the latest news and updates.
Contact the Governor's Office ([link removed])

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