The 2020 legislative session starts in two weeks, where Utah’s lawmakers will create and amend laws that impact every Utahn. An upcoming event seeks to connect Park City-area residents with their legislators and learn more about the lawmaking process.
Action Utah, a non-partisan community advocacy organization, will host a legislative preview Wednesday evening. Action Utah Executive Director Andrea Himoff hopes the event empowers Utahns to engage in the state political process.
“We've invited our Park City-area legislators to come and talk with us about the issues that they see are coming up—the biggest issues for the state legislative session—as well as the bills that they’re working on and how Park City residents and area residents can participate to have a voice in those policies,” Himoff said.
District 19 Sen. Allen Christensen; District 28 Rep. Brian King; District 54 Rep. Tim Quinn; and District 53 Rep. Logan Wilde have committed to attending. The event will feature a panel discussion, with legislators presenting their bills for the session, followed by time for questions from the audience.
Although the primary purpose of Action Utah is to help people participate in the political process, Himoff says Action Utah works on a wide range of issues, focusing on the ones data show Utahns care about most.
“We’re looking a lot at the top three—the healthcare, air quality and education issues," Himoff said. "We have developed a couple of priority bills in all of those arenas that we're working with legislators on and have been all year, so we're very excited about some of the proposals that are coming up from various legislators around the state.”
Action Utah hosts forums all over the state. The organization also has different resources online for understanding the state legislative process; information about upcoming elections; and how to engage in community lobbying. Himoff says Action Utah wants to make it easy for people to get involved.
“It's always our intention to create the greatest accessibility to our resources and tools, so that more people can get civically engaged.”
The Action Utah 2020 legislative preview takes place Wednesday, Jan. 15 at the Blair Education Center at the Park City Hospital from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The event will also be livestreamed on Action Utah’s Facebook page.
