Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Before he took office as governor of Massachusetts and years before representing Utah in the U.S. Senate, Mitt Romney was known for righting the ship of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
As Utah prepares to host another round of games in 2034, Romney on Friday reminded state leaders of the scale involved in any Olympic Games, which he described as "50 Super Bowls" taking place within a couple of weeks. Preparations to host again are already well underway, but the senator warned that the federal government's increasing debt could create unique issues for the Games in a decade.
The federal government is responsible for security during events such as the Olympics, and Romney estimates the cost for security and transportation for the 2034 Games could run as high as $3 billion or $4 billion.
"Ten years from now, our country is likely to be facing some very tough financial times," Romney said during a panel discussion hosted by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, the Hinckley Institute of Politics and Deseret News at the Thomas S. Monson Center Friday. "If Salt Lake goes to the government and says, 'Hey, we need $3 billion or $4 billion for security and transportation,' that may not be a welcome request."
Romney, who participated via a live video stream, told the panelists — including Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games CEO Fraser Bullock and a couple of state lawmakers — that the time is now for leaders in the state to begin petitioning Congress for "$200 or $300 million year after year" for the future games before the fiscal position in Washington worsens.
Los Angeles is slated to host the Summer Games in 2028, and Romney suggested Utah's congressional delegation work with their counterparts from California — a much larger state with a "lot of lift power in Washington" — to begin securing the needed funds.
The panel was the second part of a series of discussions inspired by the memoir recently published by former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, one volume of which focuses on how the solutions presented in Utah's past can help guide future policy. Leavitt took office in 1993, when the state was preparing to host the Olympics in 2002.
Leavitt said Utah benefited as a host state due to its culture of volunteering, and said further efforts by everyday Utahns will help the state succeed again. He recalled talking with foreign guests during the 2002 games who were surprised that CEOs and professors were volunteering to drive buses or clean hotel rooms.
"This is a statewide collaborative event. We can do it well because we collaborate well," he said. "What a country, that people will do that."
Romney said the Olympic Games in 2002 benefited from a lot of good luck that helped things run smoothly, but that may not be the case next time around. As such, he recommends that state lawmakers begin setting aside "rainy day funds" to help the state respond to any bumps in the road.
"Everything came off almost perfectly in 2002," he said.
