Gov. Spencer Cox used his monthly news conference to boost of his administration’s accomplishments in its first 500 days in office.

SALT LAKE CITY – In his regular monthly news conference on May 19, Gov. Spencer Cox continued to push the accomplishments of his administration in its first 500 days in office.

Wearing a mask again due to his recent COVID-19 diagnosis, the governor faced reporters at the PBS Utah studios in Salt Lake City.

“The past 500 days have been exhilarating – full of challenges and rewards – and we’ve worked hard to invest tax dollars wisely, expand opportunities for all Utahns, improve quality of life and plan for the future,” Cox said.

The governor led off the press conference with good news about the economy of Utah.

“By just about any metric,” he said, “Utah’s economy is stronger than ever.

“We’ve had record low unemployment since December and strong (Gross Domestic Product) growth, plus strong job growth. We’re the number one state for economic outlook and recovery.”

At a public ceremony on Wednesday marking their first year-and-a half in office, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson echoed that sentiment.

“When Gov. Cox and I took the oath of office,” she said, “we promised to work on behalf of every Utahn – in every corner of our state – to give people a fair shake at living the Utah dream.

“I am so proud of all that we have accomplished,” she added.

Within weeks after taking office, the governor released the so-called One Utah Roadmap, a set of guidelines in six areas of focus including economic development, educational innovation, rural issues, health security, opportunity for all and government efficiency.

At his news conference, Cox trumpeted accomplishments in those areas and promised more to come.

Ironically, given his recent diagnosis, Cox boasted of distributing more than 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and transitioning to a steady state phase of the pandemic.

He also praised the development of Utah’s Coordinated Action Plan for Water, which prioritizes decades of planning and infrastructure efforts into actions items with timelines, and the state’s Energy and Innovation Plan, which is focused on reliable, affordable and sustainable development of Utah’s energy resources.

In response to a question from rural Utah during the news conference, Cox said his administration is in the process of transferring 200 state jobs to rural areas of Utah and is encouraging its private sector economic partners to do the same.

We don’t need to incentivize job creation along the Wasatch Front any longer,” he reported. “We’ve got 2 percent unemployment there. It doesn’t make sense.”

Cox added that job creation programs in his office of Economic Development have been consolidated and are making a “real difference” in places like Carbon County and Price where the economies have been shrinking for several years.

Cox said that his administration will continue to build on these achievements in the next iteration of the One Utah Roadmap, which will be released in coming weeks.

The governor’s staff said that plan will include incorporating the issue of affordable housing into the state’s economic development strategy and streamlining rural economic development programs to increase access for small communities.

Cox and Henderson also thanked state employees, lawmakers and community members for their help in accomplishing the One Utah Roadmap goals.

Together, we have made record investments in education and infrastructure, fostering an economy that is the envy of the nation,” Henderson said.

“We know that trust must be earned through both competence and ethical behavior,” the governor said. “I’m extremely proud of our team for their performance in both of those areas.

“I look forward to the next 500 days continuing to serve the people of Utah with integrity.”







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