Highs and Lows: New Bills for Utah’s Economy and Budgeting Conundrums

Greetings from Washington—here are my highs and lows this week! My high was introducing three bipartisan bills that are important for Utah’s economy: The first supports innovation in aviation. It paves the way for Utah to be the leader of what I would call “Uber aircraft,” where you can catch an airplane like you would an Uber. The second is a no-nonsense bill that moves federal permitting to electronic systems instead of a paper system. Sounds like a no-brainer, I know. And the third strengthens internships and apprenticeship programs to help our small businesses. My low for the week, once again, is our budgeting conundrums. Uncharacteristically, Congress actually did 95% of our budgeting responsibility, and now we’re down to the last percentage that’s not funded and will shut down. So, this is very different from a normal shutdown. Most of the agencies impacted, like the TSA, are deemed essential and they’ll remain operational and it will be a little bit of time before the pressure builds up. I don’t think you’re going to feel this like you feel the other shutdowns. As soon as a deal is reached, the Senate will vote to resolve the lapse. I hope you all are well have a great weekend. Read Newsletter