Ryan Wilcox

With just a week to go, the Legislature is looking at Utah’s election system through a microscope. There are more than 80 election-related bills this session.

The Utah State Board of Education has already requested an additional $100 million, but Republican Rep. Ryan Wilcox said he thinks it’ll be closer to $800 million.

Democrats on the Ethnic Studies Commission voted against the recommendations. The ties to Utah’s anti-DEI law raised “big red flags” for Rep. Angela Romero.

The recommendations were required as a part of a 2022 law mandating ethnic studies be incorporated into Utah’s K-12 core standards.

Earlier this year, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law a massive school security bill that only has $100 million of one-time funding. Some school district officials say it won’t be nearly enough.

The bill requires all schools to either have a school resource officer, an armed security guard, an armed and trained employee or “school guardian.”

The proposed bill would require all Utah schools to have either a school resource officer, an armed security guard or a trained and armed staff member readily available in case of a school shooting.