The Utah Federalism Commission on Thursday received a progress report on HB 488 implementation, heard that Utah Valley University (UVU) is building a jurisdiction-focused continuing-education curriculum, and reviewed logistics for an inaugural National Federalism Initiative summit planned for September.

Representative Thompson, sponsor and lead on the initiative, said preparations are now in “crunch time” and organizers are actively recruiting delegations from other states. “We are down to crunch time to get delegations organized, informed, and to get them here,” Thompson said, and asked commissioners to help identify legislative contacts in target states.

Why it matters: Commissioners and staff described the summit as a practical forum to share state experience, develop common training modules for officials, and build a network of state-to-state contacts to coordinate jurisdictional questions raised elsewhere in the meeting.

Education and curriculum: Utah Valley University staff and partners reported they are building agency-level modules that map constitutional authority, applicable federal statutes, key preemption questions and common operational intersections (roads, wildlife, emergency response). David Connolly, associate provost at UVU, said the work fills a decades-long gap: “This is the first convening you will see like this in decades and the work that’s going to be done with the agencies with state and local officials — I’ve been around this for a very long time — that work has not been done,” he said.

Summit logistics and outreach: Commission staff reported roughly 11 states had committed delegations at the time of the meeting and organizers are targeting 50–60 attendees for a focused, working conference. Preliminary plans call for a Thursday evening event with leadership-level speakers in Salt Lake City and follow-up working sessions at Snowbird the next morning. Staff asked commissioners for help identifying state-summit excursion options and potential sponsors; public affairs staff are preparing outreach materials and a presence at the August National Conference of State Legislatures meeting.

Other items: Commissioners debated whether virtual attendance options would be available; organizers indicated the first summit is planned as an in-person working forum but annual follow-ups and remote resources are likely. Commissioners also volunteered to help recruit delegations, assist with fundraising and offer state agency contacts to populate the curriculum.

Ending: Summit organizers will circulate the delegate list and invitation materials, and the UVU team will continue curriculum development. Commissioners asked staff to provide a packet of outreach letters and state-contact lists for use in recruiting other delegations.