Gov. Spencer Cox vetoes 7 bills he thinks are unnecessary from recent legislative session

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox spent seven vetoes on bills passed by state lawmakers during the recent legislative session on Thursday, and allowed two bills to go into effect without his signature.

Cox vetoes bills, says they could have been phone calls

Cox told reporters he planned for vetos of “several” bills during his monthly news conference Thursday and said the Legislature has passed too many bills in recent years — after lawmakers approved a record 591 in 2024. He reiterated that in a request to legislative leaders in a veto letter he issued Thursday afternoon.

“Now, I’m not asking you to be like our dysfunctional Congress, which somehow only passed 17(!) bills last year,” he wrote. “While I would love to get back into the 300s, maybe shooting for the high 400s is a more realistic goal. And while I’m not sure the best way to get there, I do have a few vetoes this year that might be instructive.”

“Just like there are meetings that could be emails, sometimes there are bills that could be phone calls,” he continued. “We try hard to be responsive to legislative requests and I have instructed my cabinet members to do everything they can to help with issues and ideas you might have. And while we probably could have found more bills in this category, I have selected these bills for veto.”

To see which bills were vetoed, read more at KSL.com.