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Committee advances SB 230 to adopt "Utahn" as resident term; sponsor presents academic support
Summary
Senate Bill 230, which seeks to standardize the demonym for state residents as “Utahn,” was presented with testimony from a BYU political scientist citing survey and media-analysis results; the committee voted unanimously to recommend the bill and later moved it to consent.
A Senate committee voted unanimously to favorably recommend Senate Bill 230, which would standardize the state resident demonym as “Utahn,” and later voted to place the bill on the consent calendar.
Senator McKay presented SB 230 as a short, symbolic change described in the transcript as “Utah resident terminology amendments.” The senator introduced Professor Quinn Monson, who testified that his research and a 2021 statewide survey show strong preference among longtime Utah residents for the spelling “Utahn.” “Utahns of every ideology, political persuasion, religion, and other category, they all agree that this is the right spelling,” Monson said, summarizing survey results.
Monson told the committee he reviewed media usage and found very high correctness rates in local outlets (he cited the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune as 99.6% and 99.8% correct in his 2021 sampling) and lower rates in some national outlets; he said the Associated Press got it right about 62.5% of the time in his sample. He said the claim is not merely stylistic but seeks to encourage consistent usage nationwide.
Committee members asked few substantive questions. Senator Kwan moved to pass SB 230 with a favorable recommendation; the motion passed unanimously. Senator Owens then moved to place SB 230 on consent; the committee approved that motion as well. The transcript records the committee’s unanimous actions but does not contain bill text, fiscal notes or implementation details.
The sponsor said the measure is short and has broad public support, noting a graphic example from a 2023 New York Times crossword that he used in presentation to illustrate inconsistent national usage. The committee chair thanked the sponsor and moved on to other agenda items.
