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SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of Utah leaders have been tapped for leadership roles with national associations of state lawmakers and lieutenant governors.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson on Friday accepted a role as a member of the National Lieutenant Governors Association Executive Committee, where she will begin service immediately as an at-large member. Longtime Utah lawmaker Wayne Harper was selected to lead a national organization of state lawmakers and legislative staff beginning next year.
Harper, a Republican senator from Taylorsville, was named president-elect of the National Conference of State Legislatures during its annual summit in Indianapolis, according to Utah Senate Deputy Chief of Staff Aundrea Peterson. The national group is a bipartisan group serving more than 7,000 lawmakers and 30,000 legislative staff members that alternates leadership between the two parties, so Harper will serve as the vice president before succeeding Rhode Island Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy, a Democrat, in 2024.
"Sen. Harper has long been considered an instrumental partner in finding lasting solutions to many of the challenges Utah has encountered," Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said in a statement Wednesday.
"I look forward to continuing the progress NCSL has made in policy and collaboration," Harper stated. "As NCSL's vice president, bipartisanship remains a top priority for me as I serve in this new role and continue to represent my constituents in Utah as well as legislators and legislative staff across the states."
Harper served in the Utah House of Representatives from 1997 to 2012 and has been in the Senate since 2013. He holds a leadership position as the Senate president pro tempore, and oversees several committees.
He has been one of the most prolific lawmakers for more than a decade, and passed more bills than any other lawmaker in the most recent legislative session.
Henderson has served as Utah's second-in-command since 2021, after representing Spanish Fork in the state Senate beginning in 2013.
"I'm honored to serve with outstanding public servants and leaders from across the country," she said. "America's best ideas come from bipartisan cooperation. Utah has a lot to give and a lot to learn."
"Lt. Gov. Henderson's peers value her as an engaged leader willing to share ideas from the Beehive State," said Julia Brossart, director of the National Lieutenant Governors Association.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox also stepped into a national leadership role last month as the new chairman of the National Governors Association, unveiling an initiative to promote healthy disagreement.
