The candidates for Utah House District 18 agree on the necessity of clean energy, but one isn’t ready to fully transition away from fossil fuels.
Incumbent State Rep. Paul Cutler, a Republican, faces Democrat Steve Hartwick in vying for voters support to represent parts of Davis County
The Salt Lake Tribune submitted the same set of questions, based on top issues readers said they were watching in this election, to each candidate. The questions and their answers that appear below — with the candidates listed in alphabetical order — may have been edited slightly for length, style or grammar. The questions were sent to candidates before a Utah judge voided multiple amendments from ballots.
Utah’s largest electricity provider has canceled plans to replace its coal-fired power plants with nuclear power and has walked back comments about investing in clean energy. Should Utah be looking for more sustainable and less fossil fuel and carbon-dependent energy sources? If so, how?
Paul Cutler: Utah, along with the rest of the world, sees increasing demand for more energy. We will need more renewable energy and more clean fossil fuel energy.
Steve Hartwick: Yes. It is 2024 and time we move past our dependence on fossil fuels. Investing in clean energy R&D would create new jobs and improve air quality.
Water scarcity continues to be a challenge for the state. Recent legislation has attempted to conserve water and to get more water to the Great Salt Lake and Colorado River. Should Utah do more to subsidize homeowners’ efforts to conserve water? What other steps should be taken to deal with water scarcity?
Cutler: We should continue efforts to conserve water as homeowners. Nearly 80% of our water goes to agricultural uses; optimizing the use of agricultural water gives the biggest bang for the buck.
Hartwick: Yes. We cannot continue to use water in a desert as if it is an infinite resource. Simply implementing better and more responsible water conservation habits (and holding people accountable to those standards) would help substantially.
What policy changes would you support to address Utah’s affordable housing crisis?
Cutler: I support policies that make it easier to build single-family starter homes on small lots. We need more of all kinds of housing and should incentivize ownership and owner-occupied properties to build communities.
Hartwick: Limiting rent increases as well as working to end the corporate price-fixing on housing and rental units can go a long way toward making housing more affordable along the fast-growing Wasatch Front.
Following the Utah Supreme Court’s recent decision to keep a near-total abortion ban blocked, anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates called for additional legislative action to circumvent the court-ordered injunction. Would you support banning abortion after six weeks?
Cutler: Did not answer.
Hartwick: No.
Would you support a state constitutional amendment to ban abortion?
Cutler: Did not answer.
Hartwick: No.
Should there be other restrictions on reproductive health care — especially fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization?
Cutler: Reproductive health issues are complicated and nuanced. I need more time to explain than is available in this survey.
Hartwick: No.
Are you voting for or against the constitutional amendment that removes the requirement that income taxes be used for education and social services? Why?
Cutler: I’ll vote for Amendment A. Income tax revenue has grown at a faster rate than other sources. A vote against Amendment A means continued income tax cuts, benefiting high-income earners, and increases in sales & use taxes, hurting lower-income earners.
Hartwick: Against. We cannot afford to further defund our schools and teachers.
A Utah judge has voided Amendment D and said votes for or against it cannot be counted, but the state is appealing. Do you support changing the Utah Constitution to guarantee that the Legislature can repeal or amend ballot initiatives?
Cutler: Did not answer.
Hartwick: No.
