Utah's Democrats focus on renewable energy, homelessness, the judiciary as session begins

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's Democratic House members plan to focus on renewable energy, combatting homelessness, protecting higher education and protecting the state's judiciary in this legislative session, among other things.

They're also keeping a guarded eye on numerous GOP initiatives.

Specifically, Democratic leaders — who spelled out their priorities on Tuesday, the first day of the 2025 legislative session — say they oppose increasing funds for school vouchers and don't see pursuit of nuclear energy as financially viable, at least for now. Both issues are GOP priorities. The Democrats worry about potential GOP efforts taking aim at the Utah judiciary and the tone of GOP lawmakers in contending with the presence of immigrants here illegally, focus of around 10 proposed Republican bills.

"There's a lot of fear and anxiety that some of our community members are feeling, sort of going back to decades past when they felt as though they were hunted. This is not something that we want," said Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Murray, referencing the immigration debate unfolding in Utah. "Here in Utah, we know that there are many economic as well as community and social benefits to have all of our residents here. And we want to make sure that all of our residents, again, especially children, feel safe."

At a broad level, Senate Democrats say their overarching aim during the session is to help all working Utahns and others in need.

"Our caucus is committed to ensuring that every Utahn — regardless of where they live or their circumstances — has access to the prosperity and quality of life we are so proud of," Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, the Senate minority leader, said in a statement. While Utah's economy frequently gets kudos as one of the best in the country, a statement from the Senate Democratic caucus notes, "Many working families still face significant barriers to stability, such as food insecurity, unaffordable housing, child care shortages, underfunded schools and poor air quality."

Here are some of the Democratic positions on issues likely to be big focuses of attention this session, which came out of a pair of media briefings by party leaders:

Immigration: Escamilla singled out one Republican measure she's opposed to, HB178, sponsored by Rep. Neil Walter, R-St. George. The proposal would eliminate provisions in Utah law letting certain immigrant children — at least a portion of them here illegally — access health care coverage via the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. It would essentially reverse a 2023 measure sponsored by Escamilla, SB217.

Preventing attacks "on children's health care coverage will be a priority for our caucus," Escamilla said. "Children should not be targets. It's not nice."

Other GOP measures would augment the criminal penalties that immigrants here illegally would face amid calls from many in the public for tougher action to contend with the population. While not specifically saying they'd oppose such initiatives, Democratic leaders took issue with the tone they sense in equating crime and illegal immigration.

"Are we concerned about public safety as a caucus? Yes. Do we want to make sure that criminals are held responsible? Yes," said Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City. "But we don't care about what their immigration status is. If they're committing crimes, they need to be held accountable. But how far do we go to criminalize a community, because all they're doing is seeking a better opportunity for their families."

Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, senses "a tenor to the conversation that seems to insinuate that immigration and criminal behavior are the same thing, and they are not," she said. "The fact of the matter is people born in Utah commit crimes at higher rates than immigrants do."

Energy: Republican leaders are putting a big focus this session on increased energy development, more particularly, moves to develop nuclear energy in the state. Democratic leaders splashed cold water on the notion of diving headfirst into nuclear development, however.

"As we know, that's very costly. We're looking at 10 years away in order to utilize that," said Romero, referencing nuclear power. Rather, the focus should be on clean and renewable energy, she said, "and how we can utilize what we've already been able to do with solar and storage."

Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, touted what he believes to be the potential of nuclear power development in Utah in his remarks opening the session on Tuesday. Micro-nuclear reactors, Adams said, "can be constructed in a factory and transported on a truck."

Rep. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, however, said the small sort of reactors Adams touted hadn't been proven to be commercially or technologically feasible. "For the time being, it's really about proving it out," he said.

School vouchers: Republicans plan to seek more money for the state's Utah Fits All program, which provides public funding to eligible participants to cover tuition at private schools, among other things. Some 27,000 applicants sought funding via the voucher program, but only around 10,000 received funding, and Republican leaders want more to be able to access it.

Rep. Sahara Hayes, D-Millcreek, the assistant House whip for Democrats, however, said the push will face opposition from Democrats. "We do not believe that public dollars should be ever used to fund private businesses, particularly when it's a lot of money. We've put $80 million into that program so far, and there's no accountability metrics built in," Hayes said. The money spent on vouchers, she said, "could be bolstering public ed."

Utah judiciary: Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek, expressed concern about a possible push by Republican lawmakers to change the state's judiciary. He referenced the debate last year among lawmakers over a pair of proposed constitutional amendments, which Utah judges ultimately voided because they didn't meet certain requirements spelled out in law, drawing fire from some Republicans.

In light of those court rulings "we're concerned that there may be some interest in clipping the wings of our judiciary," said Owens, the caucus manager for House Democrats. "We see that as an essential component of a healthy democracy, to have a third branch of government in the judiciary that's co-equal and independent and does not get its wings clipped. We want to be a guard against that."

Kwan said there's been some talk about moving toward the election of judges rather than appointment. Such action, she said, "really interrupts that independent judiciary that we have."

The Legislature's Democratic minority started hammering home its priorities before the formal start of the 2025 session Tuesday morning. In a statement released at 9 a.m., House Democrats identified four broad areas of focus — sustainability, health and well-being, education and good governance. "The Utah House Democratic Caucus is committed to addressing issues with compassion, courage and equity for all Utahns," the Democratic lawmakers' statement says.

Here are more details of House Democrats' likely areas of focus, spelled out in a press release.

• As part of their sustainability focus, they say investing in renewable energy, reducing barriers to the installation of solar panels and protecting Utah's water, particularly the Great Salt Lake, are top concerns.
• Under health and well-being, the focus is on partnering with Utah cities to fight homelessness, increasing funding for mental health and addiction services and boosting Utah's housing supply.
• In education, Utah's House Democrats are about protecting against the loss of "vital programs and student resources" in higher education, which will be a priority as the Republican majority puts a focus on scaling back spending by the state's public universities.
• Under good governance, House Democrats plan to focus on safeguarding Utah's mail-in balloting system, which has come under fire from some conservatives, and protecting the judiciary "against dangerous reforms." Some Republican lawmakers in Utah charge some Utah judges with taking an activist role.

The 45-day legislative session ends March 7.

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