(upbeat music) - KUER's "State Street" podcast is in its ninth season, where you'll learn about the 2025 legislative session.

Co-host Saige Miller and Sean Higgins are here to tell us more.

Hi, both.

Welcome.

A lot to tell us, so let's start with you, Saige.

Talk about the first episode that's already dropped.

What did you cover with that one?

- So there's gonna be some new faces in the legislature this year, and so we brought two of them in to have a conversation together.

It was Republican Doug Fiefia and Democrat Verona Mauga, and they're both Pacific Islanders, and this year, we're gonna have three Pacific Islanders in the legislature, swimming from zero to three, and so they kind of just ask each other questions and talk about how much it means to them to have this kind of representation on Utah's Capitol Hill.

It's a really sweet conversation.

- Oh, great, great.

Okay, and for you, Sean, talk about what they're focusing on this year that you know of.

- Well, we've heard so far there's gonna be a big focus on immigration, crime, and public safety.

We already have a suite of bills that have been announced regarding that.

Some concern on the Democratic side about lumping in things like public safety and immigration, conflating the two, when they see 'em as two separate issues.

Energy will certainly be a focus again this year, a lot of talk about Utah becoming a nuclear power state.

There's a lot of historical baggage along with that as well, and also an extreme cost to investing in that new technology as well, so we'll be following those two issues in particular closely, but we don't have too many details right now, so we'll be keeping a close eye on any surprises as well.

- Oh, sure, and I think they're gonna cover also, aren't they, lower cost of housing, how they lower that?

- Yes, housing will be a big one as well.

- Okay, okay.

And I know one thing you're interested in is how the Trump administration might affect our legislature.

- We know that the Republican leadership has been pretty vocal about their support for the incoming administration, and so we'll probably see some bills that maybe align nationally with what the federal government is doing while also trying to tighten some bolts on ways that they can curtail the federal government when they can, but the thing with the legislature is that they're kind of, you never know what's really gonna happen with them, and so we're gonna be waiting for those surprises along with everybody else.

We're never really in the know before everybody else is, so they're gonna keep us on our toes, and they have ever since they've convened in a session, so some things do stay the same.

- Well, we'll be watching your coverage and all the surprises, so thanks for being here.

- Thank you.

- And if you'd like to know more about KUER's podcast at "State Street," go to kuer.org/statestreet.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching Contact.

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