U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) joined the Sutherland Institute’s Defending Ideas podcast with host Nic Dunn for a wide-ranging conversation on federalism and Utah’s role in helping develop solutions to some of the country’s most difficult policy challenges.
During the conversation, Curtis discussed how allowing states to test different approaches can produce better policy than imposing one-size-fits-all solutions from Washington. He pointed to issues including wildfire prevention and forest management, public lands, artificial intelligence and data centers, social safety net reform, and election policy.
Curtis also emphasized the value of pilot programs that give policymakers an opportunity to test ideas, measure results, and maintain accountability before applying policies more broadly.
On finding consensus on public lands, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments:
“We were actually successful in doing this in Emery County. . . . Instead of taking it through the executive antiquities designation route, we took it through legislation. And to get through legislation, you have to have consensus.”
“We had consensus from outdoor groups, from recreation groups, from ranchers, from extraction about which land would be used for which uses, and we put that into law, meaning there is no ping-ponging back and forth.”
“Even if you win, it’s a temporary win. And we really need to put this through legislation and get to the right answers.”
On data centers:
“A data center should never go where it’s not wanted. There’s no reason to force a data center on a community, and a community should feel empowered to say no.”
On prediction markets:
“If it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. This is gambling. It’s straight up. . . . We’re a state who has decided we don’t want gambling here in our state, and the prediction markets roll right over the top of that.”
On wildfire prevention and the Fix Our Forests Act:
“Fix Our Forests, in a nutshell, dramatically changes the way we deal with our forests and manage our forests before fires, during fires, and after fires. All of those things we can do a better job of.”
“It gets there by local control working with federal agencies. So, instead of federal agencies coming in and saying, ‘Look, here’s how it’s going to roll,’ the state and the local agencies work with them to make decisions based upon what’s best for their area.”
“I heard a statistic that we burned this year alone half a million acres in Utah, and we spent over $200 million fighting that. Imagine taking that $200 million and putting that into prevention.”
On keeping elections local:
“One of the things I say to [my colleagues] is, ‘You’re telling me we should tell Utah what they can do and what they can’t do with voting?’ . . . In my opinion, that should be up to the state to decide.”
On the proper role of Washington:
“When we act, we need to keep in mind this principle that we started with at the beginning of this podcast: that we make better decisions the closer we are to the problems.”
“Our default should be: Can the states do it? Let’s let them do it.”
Listen to the full conversation here.
