UVU‑hosted federalism summit praised; commission to follow with red‑ and blue‑state briefings and training modules

Commission leadership and staff reviewed a federalism summit hosted at Utah Valley University and discussed next steps for outreach and education.

Professor David Smith (UVU) and staff summarized the summit’s goals: to explain federalism as a structural approach to decision‑making rather than a partisan project, to build bipartisan understanding, and to prepare state leaders to identify where decisions are best made. Participants and scholars who met after the summit urged the commission to avoid partisan framing, to emphasize why federalism matters to everyday governance, and to develop shared language that will attract both red and blue states.

Commissioners approved a Nov. 20 webinar, to be led in part by Sutherland Institute and State Policy Network partners, that will recap the summit for primarily red‑state audiences; commissioners also asked staff to work with Senators Kwan and Representative Dailey‑Provost to organize follow‑up sessions aimed at Democratic and blue‑state participants. Professor Smith and staff said a deeper education program is underway: UVU will deliver training modules on federalism history, constitutional lines of authority, recent case law, and model approaches for agencies. Staff described an agency mapping project that already has reached about one‑third of Utah’s executive branch agencies; those matrices will be used to inform the training and committee briefings to be scheduled before the next summit.

Commissioners said they will pursue a longer‑term plan to convene state leaders and, eventually, federal officials to seek clearer understandings of jurisdictional lines and cooperative processes.