Happy Friday from #OneUtah, a weekly update from the office of Gov. Spencer J. Cox. Here’s your recap of what we did this week, what's on the horizon, and more.

Skills-first hiring initiative

This week we announced the state’s effort to focus on skills first rather than a bachelor’s degree in its hiring practices. When recruiting for state jobs, our hiring managers and hiring committees now consider comparable experience as equal to educational qualifications at every step in the evaluation and recruiting process.

This initiative has broadened access to qualified talent and expanded employment opportunities to attract diverse candidates, rural candidates, those returning to work after an extended absence, those in apprenticeships and more.

We fully support those who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree, master’s or doctorate. It’s one way to gain competency and we’re grateful to our colleges and universities for providing world class opportunities and learning experiences. But a degree should not be the only way to get a good paying job or have a fulfilling career. 

The dangers of TikTok

We’re particularly concerned about the security issues surrounding the social media app TikTok. China and the Chinese Communist Party have access to data collected by TikTok. The FBI and the FCC both agree that TikTok presents national security risks and those risks outweigh any benefits we might get from using the app to communicate with the public.

So this week we issued an executive order prohibiting the use of TikTok on all state-owned devices. This means state employees won’t be allowed to use TikTok on their state-owned phones, laptops, tablets or other electronic devices. We must protect Utahns and make sure that the people of Utah can trust the state’s security systems.

You can see our executive order here.

Election audit: No fraud

While it was no surprise to us, the legislative audit of Utah’s election systems and controls found “no evidence of systematic problems, widespread errors, or significant fraud.”

On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson presented her response to members of the Legislative Audit Subcommittee. In Utah, our election systems are the result of careful and deliberate efforts by the Legislature over many years to ensure that voters have access to the ballot, confidence in the security of our elections, and the ability to hold election administrators accountable for their performance.

Even still, we are continually looking for ways to improve. Lt. Gov. Henderson will work with the Legislature and our 29 county clerks to ensure eligible voters have access to the ballot while strengthening election security in Utah. Watch coverage of the audit response here.

Governor's Monthly News Conference

We joined reporters from around the state at PBS Utah for our monthly news conference. Here are excerpts from our discussion:

Question: You’ve proposed a billion dollars in tax cuts. What do you say to critics who say this is just going to make inflation worse?

Answer: What I say to those critics is they don’t understand inflation and how inflation works. When the federal government was sending those checks to people that is inflationary because the federal government is printing money to do that. We don’t do that as a state. 

This money that we’ve brought in from taxpayers is going to be spent in the state of Utah. The question is whether the state of Utah spends it or whether we let families spend that money. And so there’s no inflationary impact because it’s going to be spent here. I would rather let families have that money back because they are getting hit by inflation that has been caused by the federal government’s poor spending decisions and by the war in Ukraine and by some terrible decisions by the Chinese Communist Party in the way they’ve managed COVID. All of those things are causing inflation that are impacting families. Giving families some of their money back so they can spend it on these things that are more expensive instead of the government spending it on things is not inflationary at all. In fact it’s going to help families overcome some of the inflation that’s being caused by these other issues.

Question: With regard to your free fare proposal, do you anticipate a deal or compromise needs to be struck with the Legislature?

Answer: We know we have enough money this coming year in the budget to fund that proposal. Whether or not the Legislature decides that’s something they want to move forward with, that remains to be seen. We will keep having those conversations. We think it’s just a win-win-win all the way around. We know that it will help clean up our air. We want to see what happens when we make it available for free fare, what happens to ridership, what that does to congestion on our roadways. How many cars can we take off the roads if that’s happening. We know what will happen in one month and it was extremely positive but could we extrapolate that over a year and see what it looks like. Those discussions are just starting to happen, but we look forward to a robust debate on that one.

Meet Tracy Gruber, DHHS 

Meet Tracy Gruber, executive director of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Tracy led the historic merger that created @UtahDHHS, the largest state agency in Utah. We’re lucky to have Tracy on Team Utah!

Spotlight: Governor’s Award for Excellence

We’re continuing to highlight a state employee each week who was recently awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence. This week we are recognizing Michael Jones with the Department of Financial Institutions.

Michael Jones is the Finance Director for the Department of Financial Institutions. He began his career with the department in Oct. of 1987 and quickly rose through the examiner ranks becoming a proficient Examiner in Charge. He was instrumental in convincing the FDIC and the Federal Reserve Bank that Utah examiners could lead examinations and write independent and joint examinations that would meet their standards. In 1999, he was promoted to Chief Examiner, the department’s senior staff position where he served for fifteen years until 2014, when his current position was created. For over two decades Michael has been the department’s liaison with other state agencies. Michael has an exceptional corporate memory, a thorough knowledge of financial institutions regulations, and he manages the state accounting and financial processes efficiently and effectively.

Keep up the great work, Michael! To read more about the Governor’s Awards for Excellence, click here.

Drum roll, please … BYU wins the 2022 Utah Campus Cup

Brigham Young University registered more voters in Utah than any other higher-ed institution and earned the Cougs the 2022 Utah Campus Cup – and a year’s worth of bragging rights.

Launched in 2012 by then-Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, the Utah Campus Cup is a statewide voter registration competition hosted by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. This year, BYU took first place – followed by Weber State University, Davis Technical College, and Southern Utah University.

On Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Henderson welcomed an incredible group of students from BYU to congratulate them on their hard work. In total, BYU registered 1,392 Utahns to vote, accounting for 64 percent of the registrants among all of Utah’s participating higher-ed institutions.

What it takes to groom a ski slope 

Ever wonder how powder looks so perfect on the slopes for that first morning run after a long day of people skiing? Visit Utah took a look at the work of a ski slope groomer at Snowbasin resort to learn more about how they make the snow look perfect each morning. 

Click here to learn more about how the greatest snow on earth is kept looking great.

ICYMI

• Thank you, Murray High School choirs, for bringing your talents and holiday cheer to the State Capitol! We love the hope and beauty of the holiday season. 
• We were honored to join Envision Utah as they celebrated their 25th anniversary. As Utah grows, we’re lucky to have many visionaries who are helping to guide our growth through efficient policymaking.
• Speaking of growth, we want to hear from you about our state’s future! Share your opinions and thoughts at guidingourgrowth.utah.gov.

Coming up

• Dec. 18: Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate!
• Dec. 25: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Our offices will be closed on Dec. 26. 
• Dec. 26: Happy Kwanzaa to all who celebrate!
• Jan. 1: Happy New Year, Utah! We are looking forward to a prosperous 2023. Our offices will be closed on Jan. 2, 2023.

Get involved!

Looking for a new job opportunity? From great employee benefits to versatile work schedules, the career opportunities with the state are truly endless. Join Team Utah today! 

Those looking to volunteer can also consider more than 300 boards and commissions. Find out which openings are available and how you can get involved here!

Get in touch!

You can reach the Governor's Office here. And you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and  YouTube for the latest news and updates.

Contact the Governor's Office