How Utah lawmakers applied federalism in legislation passed this session

SALT LAKE CITY — Over the course of Utah's 2025 legislative session, 26 bills were introduced dealing with the principle of federalism and emphasizing the powers that are given to the state.

By the end of the session, the Legislature passed 18 of these bills relating to federalism. These bills cover a variety of topics, but they all build off of the foundational idea of federalism.

When asked why federalism was such a big focus of this session Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton said, "Probably because we love the state of Utah, and we think we do things a lot better than our federal government does."

Some of these bills focused on education around federalism and enforcing Utah's state sovereignty given through the U.S. Constitution. Other bills focus on the application of federalism for specific issues such as water and public lands.

The Utah Federalism Commission recommended some of the bills, and one of the bills even makes changes to the commission.

Federalism is the balance of state and federal powers.

Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who sponsored multiple federalism-related bills and is an advocate for federalism, explained why he thinks it's such a big deal.

"Only by maintaining the balance in that state-federal relationship do people have their greatest governing voice, right? Their governing voice is at the state level," Ivory said.

He added that the government was designed so that life, liberty, property and other aspects of daily life are determined at the state level, where people can better influence policy.

"We believe that actually the state functions better and can serve the people better than the federal government can. So federalism has always been a premise of our effort," Adams said.

House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said that this focus on federalism comes after the Biden administration spent the last four years "trampling on states," and now the states are starting to push back.

Schultz said he is proud of the work being done on federalism in the Legislature and the initiatives that are being pushed on the issue.

"Honestly, I think it's one of the few areas where there's bipartisan support," Schultz said.

Ivory emphasized that federalism is about structure and not politics.

"Increasingly, we are dancing to the brink of civil war every four years with a presidential election, and we fight over blue king or queen and red king or queen, to govern everything in our nation," he said. "And that's not what our governing and constitutional system is about."

Utah Federalism Commission

The state's Federalism Commission focuses on research and promoting legislation addressing a range of issues related to federalism.

Several of the bills introduced during the session were based on recommendations made by the commission.

The group will actually be expanded by one of the bills passed this session. SB488 increases the number of members on the commission, changes how they are appointed and increases the number of committee bill files the commission can open each year.

The bill also asks Utah Valley University's Center for Constitutional Studies and Herbert Institute of Public Policy to work with the commission to hold an annual federalism conference and to coordinate federalism education efforts around the state.

These bills act as reminders of the principle of federalism

Ivory said one reason the legislation emphasizes the principle of federalism is because every two years new people join the Legislature. He added that this year, there were a lot of new members.

"Some of the resolutions and the things that are being done, we're educating a new administration. We're asking for them to work with us on restoring balance to the roles and responsibilities in the governing partnership," Ivory said.

The West Jordan representative referenced the Utah Constitution, Article I, Section 27, which calls for a frequent reminder of fundamental principles.

"We haven't had any training in the past on what those fundamental principles are. There's a Utah law journal that says that those fundamental principles are popular, sovereignty and federalism. And I've been here for a little while, and we've never had any training on those fundamental principles," Ivory said.

He added that the state agencies also don't receive training on these principles and that in order to maintain balance with the federal government, our state leaders need to know the limits of federal jurisdiction.

Bills emphasizing federalism and state sovereignty

Multiple bills passed during the session focus on emphasizing the foundational principle of federalism and how it applies to the state. These bills also highlight where the idea of federalism stems from in the U.S. Constitution.

HB380, which Ivory sponsored, highlights the Ninth and 10th amendments of the Constitution.

The 10th Amendment delegates all powers not given to the federal government to the states and to the people. The Ninth Amendment gives people power and sovereignty over things that don't need government oversight such as how people brush their teeth or what clothes they buy.

Along with highlighting the constitution, HB380 also establishes a mechanism to deal with jurisdictional conflict between the state and federal governments.

"The national government, the federal government, is a government of limited jurisdiction. It can only do the things that were specifically delegated to it. The state government is a government of general jurisdiction," Ivory said.

SJR6, sponsored by Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, also highlights the 10th Amendment. The resolution reaffirms Utah's sovereignty under this amendment and includes the Legislature pledging to safeguard that sovereignty from unconstitutional federal overreach.

HB158 and SB265 both focus on state sovereignty. HB158 would officially prevent state leaders, including state agency directors and Gov. Spencer Cox, from implementing international directives or emergency declarations.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, said that all directives and mandates have to originate from elected leaders in Utah and not by unelected international organizations, as previously reported by the Deseret News.

SB265, sponsored by Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, helps state entities in dealing with federal mandates.

The application of federalism to energy, public lands and other issues

Some of the bills passed this session focus on the application of federalism to specific entities and issues such as energy and welfare. These bills provide guidelines on how state government agencies should work with the federal government in certain cases.

HB200 makes it so that if a government shutdown happens, Utah's governor will be able to work with the federal government to keep lands that are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service open.

There are a few bills that deal with water issues as well. HB47, sponsored by Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, deals with watering rights on public lands. HCR1, also sponsored by Albrecht, specifically focuses on the Grand County Water Conservancy District and transferring more infrastructure to it that is current owned by the federal government.

SB61, sponsored by Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, sets guidelines for working with the federal government when using eminent domain for energy corridors.

Sponsored by Tyler Clancy, R-Provo, HB85, deals with environmental permits and has the Division of Air Quality set up specific guidelines and rules.

SB158 deals with the acquisition of federally managed public land. It regulates how these acquisitions by government entities can be done and requires the Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office to monitor them.

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