Yong Itto, owner of Itto Sushi in Midvale, prepares sushi for order on March 25, 2020. The Utah branch of the National Federation for Independent Business last week released records of MPs voting on seven small issues - business significance taken during the Utah Legislature 2021 session -2022, which indicates that Utah could be the country that is most in favor of small businesses in the country. (Christine Murphy, Desert News)
Estimated reading time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY - Silicon Slopes provoke most fanfare and headlines, but the state of Beehive is also home to a busy small business scene spurred by pieces of law designed to support small businesses.
This idea was supported when the branch of the National Federation for Independent Business of Utah last week published the record of the vote of state deputies on seven issues of importance for small businesses that were taken during the session of the legislative body of Utah 2021-2022.
“The story that I think our voter records say is that Utah is, for the most part, a very favorable state for small businesses, and we want people to know that,” said Casey Hill, Utah’s director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
Hill said 14 senators and 36 representatives achieved perfect, 100% voting results.
“That means that out of the seven laws we included in our voting tool, 100 percent voted, seven for seven on those laws,” Hill said, adding that there were many additional politicians who were six out of seven or not. they qualify for the list of results because they could not vote.
Having a legislature made up of people who are “not professional politicians, but people who pass laws and then have to go back to their district and live with the laws they passed” is a big reason why Utah is so small - a business state. said Hill.
“When 74% (of the entire legislature) has a record of voting for small businesses of 80% or more, I believe any other state would be under heavy pressure to parry or win,” Hill said.
He added that many individuals who pass laws are either small business owners themselves, or have been involved in small businesses in some capacity and on a personal level.
“They understand the challenges small business owners face,” Hill said.
Nine more senators and 18 MPs picked up voting records in the 80th percentile, while the lowest score in the Senate was 71% and the lowest score in the House was 43%.
“Overall, our state is very supportive of small businesses and has done a lot to try to reduce taxes, reduce regulatory burdens and promote business growth in Utah,” Hill said. “You can see that it affected the economy of our country … we returned from the pandemic faster than most countries and we returned stronger than most countries.
This has led to problems that come as a result of a successful business environment and one that Utahni has been too familiar with lately: growth.
“The growth and needs that are created due to the growth through infrastructure and some of the challenges in the field of work that we are facing, are all really positive problems that we have and they reflect the legislation that has made some very good decisions in many years,” he said. Hill.
However, the growing population that is a challenge for Utah counties, cities and towns is also a challenge for small businesses.
The ever-growing population can bring other carpentry problems. For Utah, this seems like a rising cost of living and an extremely competitive housing market.
One of the challenges facing small business owners … they want to create a business and they want to grow and they want to move their business to a higher level, but to find someone who can afford to live in the area where their business is . locating can be a significant challenge, “Hill said.
Finding ways to reduce housing costs will be key to increasing the success of small businesses in Utah, he said.
“Those individuals who want to work for (small businesses), make sure they have the opportunity to afford life in our state,” Hill said.