House Rules: Politics and Policy in Utah

In this episode of House Rules, Utah House Majority Leader Casey Snider joins Rep. Stephen Whyte to discuss his path to leadership and the principles that guide him. A conservative lawmaker, farmer, and public lands advocate from Cache County, Rep. Snider shares how his rural background and service experience shape his legislative work.He reflects on what led him to run for office, his views on servant leadership, and his work on natural resources and firefighter cancer legislation. This conversation offers insight into one of the youngest leaders ever elected to House leadership and his vision for the Utah Legislature.

In this episode of House Rules, Rep. Karen Peterson talks with Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Geoffrey Landward about House Bill 265, a new law reshaping how Utah funds its public colleges and universities.As the state asks institutions to realign resources with student demand and workforce needs, Peterson and Landward explain what the changes mean for students, how tuition is being kept in check, and why the goal is smarter investment, not cuts.They also discuss program mergers, data-driven planning, and what comes next for higher education in Utah.

In this episode of House Rules, Rep. Jeff Moss sits down with Rep. Carl Albrecht, a leading voice on energy policy in Utah, to discuss H.B. 249. This bill is designed to lay the groundwork for Utah’s energy future, including nuclear power and other emerging energy sources. Rep. Albrecht shares his insights on the state’s strategy for ensuring reliable, affordable energy, the role of research institutions, and how a new energy council will help coordinate efforts statewide. Utah is leading the charge by shaping the next generation of energy policy.

In this episode of House Rules, Majority Leader Jeff Moss sits down with Rep. Jefferson Burton to discuss his election security bill, H.B. 300. Rep. Burton aims to increase voter confidence by requiring in-person ballot drop-off with ID verification, streamlining election processes, and eliminating the need for signature verification. He highlights concerns about Utah’s mail-in voting system compared to other Republican-led states and discusses how lessons from Florida’s election system helped shape the bill.

Utah House Majority Leader Jeff Moss and Rep. Karen Peterson sit down to discuss House Bill 265, titled Higher Education Strategic Reinvestment. The bill, which is advancing through the Utah Legislature, aims to make college more affordable, accessible, and relevant for students while maximizing the return on investment for Utah taxpayers. Moss and Peterson, both leaders in the higher ed space, talk about key reforms to higher education, including reallocating funds from underperforming programs to high-demand fields, and the impact these changes will have on Utah’s workforce and economy.

In this episode of Majority Report, House Majority Leader Rep. Jeff Moss sits down with Rep. Stephen Whyte, a leading voice on housing policy in Utah and co-chair of the Commission on Housing Affordability. Representing House District 63 in Utah County, Rep. Whyte shares his journey into public service, the key factors driving Utah’s housing shortage, and how Utahns are working together to bring down the cost of homeownership.

Utah has filed a landmark public lands lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address whether the federal government can simply hold unappropriated lands within a state indefinitely. This week, we take a look at out how we got here and what it could mean for public lands access in Utah. Guests: Redge Johnson, Dan Burton, Dillon Hoyt

The Legislative Audit Subcommittee met to hear presentations from Legislative Auditors about a few reports examining: State lands The administration of Rich School District In this episode, our Legislative Auditor General Kade Minchey and his team are here to discuss the findings of these audits and what they say about the management of some of the schools in our state as well as school trust lands throughout Utah.