“First and foremost we will focus on policy to manage the pandemic and our budget needs,” he said. “We’ll be sifting through the Washington stimulus package and responding whether we will accept the stimulus money.”

The policy pillars for the House are in four different areas, said Wilson. “First we have to broaden economic success all over the state and provide tax relief. We have $80 million but we haven’t found a vehicle to distribute that yet. We also have to reengineer incentives to do business and return it to the citizens with a focus on workforce development rather than just taxes. We’ll be doing a deep dive into that in the legislature.”

Second, build a connected future, he said. “We have to make sure we’re well connected with technology, roads and recreation. Utah is one of the few states in the nation that has a surplus of one time revenue. We’ll put a lot into infrastructure. You’ll see some bonding to provide a higher quality of life and make it easier to get around the state and get to recreation areas. The state’s trails are bursting at the seams. So you’ll see a lot more investment in that space.”

Third is to extend opportunity to everyone, said Wilson. “Like healthcare to children and we’ll put a tremendous amount of money into education. We were able to provide a large bonus to teachers across the state.”

Wilson said they also want to recalibrate the homelessness crisis and govern homeless funding resources for homeless centers.

Fourth is balancing emergency power, he said. “The pandemic showed us that an emergency can last more than 30 days. It doesn’t reflect what is the role of the Governor in an emergency that lasts a long time and what are the right rules for the Governor and the legislature to manage these emergencies.”

COVID protocols have been put in place this session to keep lawmakers and staff safe, said Wilson. “They’ve built two new rooms so there is more capacity to engage in committees. We’ll be video streaming those so the public can still testify in person or remotely. We’re the first state in the nation to do this. We’ll continue to be inventive. It’s different, but it’s an important part of the process. We do better with feedback from our constituents.”

The session opened with the Capitol closed to the public due to concerns over protests on Inauguration day. “I think the (Senate) President and I will be reevaluating that,” Wilson said. “The goal is to get it open as soon as possible but public safety is always a big concern. It’s hard balancing that with civil liberties.”

Wilson said there will be ongoing work with law enforcement. “You’ll see a lot of policy trying to be more proactive so situations don’t escalate. We need to get to people with mental health issues earlier before there is conflict with law enforcement and figure out how to prevent these issues in the first place. We have great law enforcement in Utah. We want to make sure we’re digging at the roots and not just hacking at the leaves.”