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Policy Implementation and Resources
Though several months have now passed since the end of the 2022 Utah Legislative Session, we’re still hard at work with our partners implementing the various policy changes and appropriations provided by the legislature. To aid in this, the Utah League of Cities and Towns has provided detailed training on various changes impacting local communities. Their 2022 Spring Training held various webinars to further explore changes to moderate income housing requirements, station area planning requirements, land-use, water conservation and metering, and ARPA and federal funding. You can find the Spring Training webinar recordings and materials HERE.
Also, if you’re looking to refresh your understanding of what came out of the session, you can still find our WFRC 2022 Session Wrap Up, bill tracker, and key bill summaries (including HB462 and SB140) on our Government Affairs webpage.
2022 Legislative Interim
The legislature will meet over the interim in preparation for the 2023 General Legislative Session and has recently released their schedule and study items for the remainder of the year. A few items worth noting include the Economic Development and Workforce Service Interim Committee’s study of Housing Affordability, including HB462, and the Transportation Interim Committee’s study of items like roadway and rail safety, the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), transportation funding, and UDOT and UTA capital planning (per HB322), among others.
Scheduled interim meeting dates this month will be May 17th and 18th.
Unified Economic Opportunity Commission
Also meeting during the interim is the Unified Economic Opportunity Commission (UEOC). The Commission, with leaders from the Executive and Legislative branches, representatives from local and county governments, and other community leaders have established their working groups for the year which includes a Transportation and Growth working group that WFRC will be monitoring and engaging with. Working group duties, topics of study, and dates will be determined over the coming weeks with an upcoming meeting later this month.
While separate from the legislative interim process, the topics focused on in the UEOC played a significant role in shaping the policy agenda this last legislative session, with handfuls of recommendations from the commission included in bills or appropriations. We look forward to engaging in, and seeing what the group develops this year!
Commission on Housing Affordability
The Commission on Housing Affordability held its first meeting of the interim this past Tuesday, and WFRC, along with our partners at the Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT), and Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO), and Division of Workforce Services (DWS) testified about HB 462, SB140, and other bills from the 2022 session. Co-chairs Rep. Steve Waldrip and Sen. Jake Anderegg said that they planned to spend the May meetings determining the housing affordability policy agenda for the rest of the interim. More to come there.
Conferences and Events
It was good to see many of you at the ULCT Midyear and UAC Legislative Management Conferences over the past few weeks. We appreciate our partners at UAC and ULCT for bringing us all together to discuss pressing policy issues coming out of the recent legislative session, and looking ahead to the next legislative session.
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