Barely 24 hours after Utah lawmakers voted to quash a bill that sprung out of the state’s Women in the Economy Commission that would have used empty state office space for child care, the Legislature voted to kill the commission, too.
Created in 2014, the commission is meant to improve gender equality in the state — a category in which Utah has frequently placed last — by making policy recommendations for how to better help women participate in the workforce.
The decade-old commission includes some of the state’s top female leaders, and is co-chaired by House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, and Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City.
Escamilla made an attempt in the last hours of the recently completed legislative session to pull the section repealing the commission out of the bill, which makes numerous changes to the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, but her Senate colleagues rejected her request.
The commission “brought good public policy to this body, and the Legislature,” Escamilla said on the Senate floor.
In December, the commission published an 84-page “Childcare Solutions and Workplace Productivity Plan.” A report published by the advocacy group Voices for Utah Children in 2023 found that licensed child care providers meet just 36% of the statewide demand.
Lisonbee did not respond to questions about her feelings on the dissolution of the commission and was not present on the House floor for the final vote on the bill.
As the measure cleared its final hurdle before being sent to the governor’s desk, female representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties split, casting both “yea” and “nay” votes. It passed a last vote in the House 39-26 at 11:17 p.m. Friday.
While the bill still has to be signed by Gov. Spencer Cox, he will likely give his approval because of his office’s involvement in the proposal.
Under statute, the commission was previously scheduled to be repealed in 2030.
The move comes amid a larger movement to do away with efforts meant to boost historically marginalized groups. After lawmakers passed an anti-diversity, equity and inclusion law last year, resource centers for women at public universities shuttered.
While presenting the bill, sponsoring Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove, said the commission’s efforts will continue under other organizations, such as the Utah Women & Leadership Project at Utah State University and the Women’s Business Center of Utah — a nonprofit under the Salt Lake Chamber that provides support for female entrepreneurs.
In a committee hearing, Ryan Starks, head of the Governor’s Office for Economic Opportunity, said his office “is trying to position itself in a leaner, more focused way so that we can recruit companies, build industry and accomplish the goals that the office was designed to accomplish.”
