The Utah Senate opened its session Wednesday by recognizing individuals who had helped to make sure military veterans are given the honor and recognition they deserve for their service.
“Probably the highlight of my life was to accompany these World War II veterans, many of them 90 almost 100 years old now, and to see them going back to Normandy and to see them and experience that,” Senate President Stuart Adams said Wednesday. “Probably one of the great events, not because of anything any of us had done but because of what they had done.”
Ten minutes later, Adams and his fellow Republican senators killed a bill that would have given veterans discounted admission to Utah State Parks.
Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Salt Lake City, had worked with the Division of State Parks and the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs to set up a pilot program last year to try to measure veterans’ demand for a more permanent program. All 1,600 of those pilot passes were claimed by Utah veterans, according to the department.
The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that veteran suicides in Utah are “significantly higher than the national veteran suicide rate” and “significantly higher than the national general population suicide rate,” according to federal data from 2021.
Some studies have found that outdoor group activities like hiking and skiing have helped veterans transition from military service to civilian life and improved their mental health, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The federal government offers a “lifetime” pass providing free access to National Parks and other federal recreation areas to veterans and Gold Star families.
This year’s SB114 would have made permanent the program discounting park admissions by at least 25% for veterans. The Division of State Parks and the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs supported the legislation.
But the bill failed when 14 Republican senators voted against the program.
Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, said the state already gives disabled veterans free access to state parks, but he argued that expanding the program to all veterans would be untenable.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, in the Senate Chamber in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.
“We have given [state parks] the mandate that you need to be self-sufficient, and any time we allow a different group of people to come in and not participate financially when they access the parks something goes unattended on the other end,” he said. “But those who are attending for free are still accessing those services.”
“We have a number of people who we reverence,” Sandall said. “If we break the line here, what does that say to our police officers? What does that say to our firefighters?”
Sandall said his own father served in the military, and the senator said he doesn’t believe he would have wanted any special treatment.
The bill provided $300,000 to cover the operations of the program.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, changed her vote to “No,” which would enable her to try to revive the bill later if any of the Republican senators change their vote. Kwan said she is hoping to be able to bring the bill back later this week.
