Special Session Expected To Address Fund Allocations, Critical Race Theory
May 19, 2021, 2:18 PM | Updated: 2:22 pm
FILE: On the same day the Utah’s Senate unanimously passed a resolution to bring an NHL franchise to the Beehive state, the governor, Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, the House and Senate president and the sponsors of some legislation centered around the NHL were all on hand for a virtual meeting with the league’s commissioner, Gary Bettman. (Jason Olson, Deseret News Archives)
(Jason Olson, Deseret News Archives)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Lawmakers have gathered at the capitol for a special legislative session called by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to discuss federal money rolling into the Beehive State over the next two years, and how to allocate those funds.
Everything from affordable housing to mental health, the health response to the pandemic, helping small businesses, as well as masks in schools will be addressed.
House Speaker Brad Wilson said in total there were at least 20 technical bills that need to be discussed.
Also taking place, the house and senate took it upon themselves to hold what lawmakers have called an “extraordinary session” later in the day.
While they already had a full agenda, Wilson said there were a couple items that could not wait to be addressed until the next general session – critical race theory being one of them.
“We are the House of Representatives and we are charged and elected to come down to the capitol and set policy that our constituents feels need to be put in place,” he said.
The hope was to pass a resolution blocking critical race theory from being part of future school curriculum in Utah.
Educators and experts in critical race theory said it is not a subject to be taught. Instead, it’s a tool to look at what inequities exist within the system and then analyze data to better serve all children.
They said it also looks at race and institutions with a critical eye.
Even though it has not been a part of the school curriculum speaker, Wilson said steps are being made that could lead to that.
“There are important issues of race that absolutely need to be discussed in our classroom. Racism has been and is, unfortunately, part of the culture we have. Those issues should be discussed in the right way,” he said.
Wilson said they were calling on the state school board to look at the curriculum and determine what those right parameters are for those discussions to happen.
The other main issue they planned to discuss during the extraordinary session has to do with Second Amendment rights, and constitutional rights and protections, in general.
