Utah lawmaker would replace state Columbus Day with an Election Day holiday
Feb 19, 2025, 6:00 PM
FILE: A ballot is dropped off at West Valley City Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. Utah lawmakers are considering a bill that would replace the Columbus Day holiday with an Election Day holiday. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Columbus Day would no longer be a Utah state holiday under a new bill.
HB351 sponsor, Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, said he wants to replace the Columbus Day holiday with an Election Day holiday.
However, he said Columbus Day will still be recognized as a federal holiday.
“All it literally does is (say) it’s a state holiday only,” Wilcox said. “This is literally just encouraging more people to vote in person and hopefully (it would) reduce some of (those) unnecessary long lines.”
Related: Senators pump the brakes on bill to eliminate daylight saving time in Utah
Rep. Troy Shelley, R-Ephraim, was the only committee member to vote against the measure, saying he doesn’t want to replace one of the last holidays honoring someone who made this country possible.
“I don’t love the idea of getting rid of Columbus Day as a state holiday as there’s … a lot of ties to our Founding Fathers and the history of our country being tied to that holiday.”
Wilcox originally wanted to create a new state holiday, but that idea ran into funding concerns.
The bill passed favorably out of committee on Tuesday with only one person voting against it.
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