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SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. government is on the verge of another possible shutdown unless Congress can come to either a short-term or long-term agreement before the start of the next fiscal year, set to begin on Sunday.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox last week expressed his doubt that an agreement will be reached in time, adding that he and state legislative leaders are preparing a plan to keep Utah's national parks open amid the shutdown that would be similar to what has been done in the past.
"We are all in agreement that it's worth keeping the parks open," the governor said, adding that parks are the "lifeblood" for communities close to the parks. "So we are going to step up and do that again."
As the threat of another shutdown looms, Utah Sen. Mike Lee is now looking to see that Utah is repaid if it has to use state funds to keep national parks open.
Lee introduced a bill Wednesday that he said would keep all national parks open during a shutdown. The bill would keep parks open and require the Secretary of the Interior to repay states for money they spent keeping parks open, the Deseret News reported. The outlet added that Rep. John Curtis is introducing a similar bill in the House of Representatives.
Lee's action comes a day after he penned a letter to Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, seeking repayments under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act amid any shutdown.
"In the event that the state of Utah chooses to expend state funds to keep national parks and other (park service) areas open during a government shutdown, I strongly urge you to ensure that these funds are repaid to the state promptly once the shutdown concludes," he wrote, adding that he hopes she would support any legislation to make that happen if an act of Congress is required.
Lee wrote that "most Utah (park service) units remained accessible" during a 35-day shutdown that ended in 2019 because of funds from the act, adding that the law "clearly authorizes" funds tied to park operations "both in times of regular federal operation and shutdown."
KSL NewsRadio reported that Utah ended up paying about $66,000 out of pocket that time, which wasn't reimbursed. Cox said Utah was never repaid for costs it incurred to keep parks open during a 16-day shutdown in 2013, which he said ended up "to the tune of about a million dollars."
Cox: Utah's got a plan to keep national parks open amid looming federal government shutdown
With a shutdown of the federal government appearing increasingly likely, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says the state has a plan to help keep the state's national parks open.Utah's national parks, monuments and recreation areas brought in about 13.6 million visitors last year, including about 10.5 million to the state's "Mighty 5" alone, resulting in about $2.6 billion in economic output, the National Park Service reported last month. Its annual report found that only California and North Carolina generated more economic output from the national park system than the Beehive State.
Visitation has remained strong this year. More than 7.2 million have visited Utah's "Mighty 5" park already this year, according to park visitation updated through August.
