KAYSVILLE—The 2026 Legislative Session is coming up in January and lawmakers from Davis County shared their thoughts at a recent Davis Chamber Women in Business luncheon on some of the issues that they will be considering. Sen. Ann Millner, Reps. Karen Peterson and Ariel Defay took part in the panel discussion. Topics centered around growth and how the public can get involved in the process.

“I ask residents ‘what do you love about your community? What do you want to preserve?’” said Peterson. “Growth is coming, if you don’t choose the things that are important to you, you could lose them.”

Be intentional, she said. “Focus on key things like infrastructure that impact your life. If you can’t get somewhere because you’re stuck in traffic that impacts your life. What do we need? What do businesses need?”

Education is part of the state’s infrastructure, Peterson said. “It should be treated that way. It’s as essential as how much water we have. We need to look at our educational system and make sure it’s meeting our needs.”

“We’re growing,” said Defay. “That’s a good problem to have in Utah. I’m a firm believer that if we’re not growing we’re dying. We should embrace it but do it intentionally looking 20-30 years in advance. We’ve done that in the past and we need to continue to do that.”

“We want to be strong economically,” said Millner. “You want your kids and your grandkids to be able to buy a house and get good paying jobs. You have to think about what it means in terms of growth and how to plan for that growth.”

To make changes in policy people need to get involved, said Defay. “We need to show up and let our voices be heard.”

“I want to hear from my constituents,” said Millner. “Whether I agree with them or not I want to know where they are on the issues. I can make a better decision when I listen to them.”

Millner said when the legislature is trying to make tax cuts they are keeping low income families in mind. “We’ve done a number of things to do that such as child tax credits, etc. We try to be sensitive to supporting families.”

People in the legislature care about families, she said. “They want them to thrive so they can live the life they want to live and keep money in their pockets.”

“I think about how things are going to impact young families or someone on a fixed income in my district,” said Peterson. “I try to think about them as individuals. It impacts them all a little differently.”

Show up in person, she said. “I love that. It’s amazing to talk to someone in person. Get to know your legislator. You have a lot of power by contacting your legislator.”