- [Announcer] PBS Utah presents the Governor's Monthly News Conference, an exchange between Utah reporters and Governor Spencer Cox.

- And thank you for joining us for this edition of our monthly press conference.

I want to begin just with a little review of something that we've been dealing with over the past week, and of course, mourning as a state.

This past Monday, we laid to rest one of Utah's finest, Santanquin Police Sergeant Bill Hooser, who died tragically in the line of duty.

We gathered with his wife, Kinda, daughters Shayle and Courtney, hundreds of community members and law enforcement officers from across the state and across the country to mourn and honor both cop Bill as he was referred to, the accomplished and brave police officer, as well as Bill Bill and Dad Bill, and the dedicated husband, father, and friend.

We also thank the courageous officers who captured the man responsible for this heinous crime.

Want to pay tribute to them as well.

Trooper Dustin Griffiths, Trooper Brock Lewis, and Corporal Scott Major, all of Utah Highway Patrol, and Officer Corey Reed of the Roosevelt Police Department.

All of these officers were engaged and walked that blue line that fateful day, keeping the oath that they took to protect and serve.

We're so grateful for everyone who has supported the family.

And as we grieve as a community, I hope all Utahans will join me in showing extra support for our law enforcement officers and their families at this difficult time.

We owe a debt of gratitude for their sacrifice and service to our community.

It was impressive to see the community come together in support, and I truly believe that's what we do best, we serve.

And to those in public service who give back every day, we're grateful for you.

I do believe that that's the key, our commitment to service to one another that really sets our state apart and makes our state so successful.

We were fortunate again to see that "US News and World Report" has ranked Utah as the best state in the nation for the second year in a row.

And I believe that's because of the good people that live here and the way they work so hard to rally around one another and give back.

With that, I'm happy to take questions.

- Governor, I want to talk briefly about the implementation of the bathroom bill.

I know that that's been a big point of controversy in the state currently as we've seen the auditor kind of butt heads with the bill sponsors.

So I wanna ask, how effective do you think the enforcement mechanism of this bill has been as the auditor's office continues to report thousands of hoax reports about violations, potential violations of the bathroom ban?

- Sure, well, I think the effectiveness remains to be seen.

Obviously, you've all reported on what's happening out there.

And like with any bill, I think that there will be a time where we learn from it, see what's working, what's not working, and we'll come back and figure out ways to make it work better.

I think the important thing is that we're protecting women in women's spaces.

That was always the intent of the bill and would be the intent of any, if there are changes going forward.

- But is the current process, this tip form, is that getting in the way of the implementation of the bills?

- Well, I don't know that it's getting in the way of the implementation.

What the law says is it's illegal for people of a different biological sex to enter into a women's restroom or locker room.

And so that's the most important piece of the bill.

And obviously the reporting structure is misaligned.

And the hoaxes, again, it's no secret, it's been been well reported.

I think the auditor has expressed his frustration with that piece of it, the reporting piece.

But I do believe that the underlying piece of the law is still sound.

- What do you say to the people who are making these false reports?

- Well, obviously we would encourage people not to do that.

It's not good, it's not helpful, and it's not healthy.

That's what I would say to them, Brian.

- Auditor Dougall basically says the law doesn't really accomplish much other than really drumming up a "culture war sideshow."

And he says it's the result of "MAGA antics."

Do you agree or disagree with that?

- Well, again, I would disagree, I think, generally.

I think it is important that we protect women's spaces, women's athletics, all the things that we've talked about many times.

And I do lament the direction the culture wars have gone, for sure.

But I don't think it's one or the other.

I think there are people who are not part of maybe what he would refer to as MAGA or the culture wars who have legitimate concerns.

And I think it's important to hear those concerns as well.

Giovanni, you had a question, please.

- Could you explain Utah's decision to join the lawsuit against the Department of Education's extending protections for transgender students?

- Sure, yeah, yeah.

So look, we believe, and I've said this many times, it's very important to protect our transgender students.

We wanna make sure that everyone feels safe and protected.

But again, we also have to protect and we have to protect women.

And so that's what Title IX has historically been about.

We believe that this administration has overstepped, and again, actually undercuts the original intent of Title IX, and that the states are much better positioned to make sure that we're protecting, and protecting both.

And we believe that we can do that.

That's not what that rule does, those changes to Title IX.

And so ultimately, a court will make those decisions.

- Governor, can you address whether you plan to hold a special session at all?

I know you talked about that early.

And that you had said June, July, is that happening, and what do we need to address?

- We will be holding a special session.

We're still working through the details about what that might look like.

But I anticipate that there will be a special session coming up likely in June.

And for sure the one thing I mentioned is some changes to the energy bill.

So the question, just in case people at home couldn't hear, I know we had a microphone issue there, the question is whether we would have a special session coming up.

We did have some changes that needed to be made to the bill dealing with a phased out power plant in Millard County.

And so as I mentioned when I signed that bill, we would be working with a sponsor and others for some changes.

We're still working through, I don't have details on what exactly those will look like, but stay tuned.

There will be announcements in the coming weeks.

- Sorry, what else might go on the agenda?

- There won't be much else.

That's the real driver.

There may be a couple other little things that need to be tweaked, but again, I can't say that till we have agreement with the legislature.

- And what is the status of negotiations with IPP?

Because potentially this could wind up in litigation even if you get a special session.

- Yeah, and I think that's the case.

Again, we're trying to avoid that if possible, but we recognize that that might not be possible.

And so there is always a potential for litigation out there.

- Governor, with the water supply rebounding the way that it has this year, I wonder if you have a message for Utahans about conserving water this summer.

- Sure, and my message would be the same as last year.

And that is, keep conserving.

It's actually working.

We're really proud.

I know we've had a good water year, but we're well ahead of where we would've been otherwise because people conserved last year in what was a record water year.

I can tell you, I've said this before, but the experts were really surprised.

They expected, historically, when there's drought, people use less water, which makes sense.

And when there's more water, people use more water.

Last year was the first year that didn't happen.

It was the first year in our state's history where we had extra water, more water than normal, and consumption did not go up, which was really a surprise, which means that there has been a paradigm shift, and we need that paradigm shift to continue.

We started the year in a great place.

Again, we went into the runoff with most of our reservoirs over 80%, which was remarkable.

Now, our statewide reservoir capacity is at 90%, which is incredible.

Much higher than normal for this time of year.

And the Great Salt Lake is rising.

So we've seen a significant increase.

We crossed the, gosh, the elevation, 4,195, I think, is the threshold that we just crossed, headed toward 96, which is an important marker.

96 is kind of where we get out of kind of grave danger and into just bad, not super bad or whatever.

I don't know.

There are more technical terms for that.

But we're headed towards that.

And again, that includes opening up the south arm, which has seen a remarkable, having having both arms, excuse me, the north arm now coming up.

So we're in a much better position than we've been in historically.

But if we can do that again this year, and we have another just average year, now we can get the lake into healthy territory, which I think everybody is anxious for.

So my encouragement to people is, honestly, with the rain that we've had, most parts of the state, you don't even need to be watering yet.

And the good news is, it looks like we have more storms and cooler weather coming up early next week, which are gonna make your lawns beautiful and green and everything else.

So we're still funding programs for our farmers, which are working, and we're grateful for that.

We're also continuing to fund programs for people who want to replace their lawn with waterwise landscaping.

And we've seen so many doing that.

So again, just keep doing what you did last year and the year before.

- Governor, on that note, scientists, state officials, land, air, water managers are meeting today to talk about the great Salt Lake dust problem, 1.5 billion according to your own reports to mitigate that should the lake continue to dry up and kick up these dust storms.

Should the state be planning for eventual rescission, lake receding, going down again, should you be planning more for dust mitigation or should you, where do you wanna shift your resources?

- Yeah, obviously, the way to use our resources that will help the most is to keep the lake full.

That's the cheapest and most ecologically and environmentally positive way to help with potential dust problems.

That being said, these lakes, these types of dead seas, are drying up all over the world.

It's not just here.

It's a problem in California, it's a problem in Israel, it's a problem in lots of different places.

And so we need the best science to try to think through, if that were to happen, how could we respond?

But our first priority, we truly believe that we can save the lake and that we're doing that.

And that's where we're going to put most of our resources, Ben.

But we will work with scientists to figure out the best engineering ways if we're not able to do that for whatever reason to make sure that we don't have an ecological catastrophe with dust.

- Given the health of the lake right now and given that things are looking good and we're getting into that area from grave danger to just bad, are you planning to change any of your current executive orders or any of the directions that we're going in terms of lake response?

- No, we're going to hold firm to what we're doing and keep it going.

Again, I wanna see the lake in a much healthier status.

And I truly believe that we can get there.

So as of right now, there are no intentions of pulling back in any way.

- Mr.

Governor, you were met by some boos at the state convention and lost to your opponent, Phil Lyman.

How do you feel in retrospect about the tone of your response to delegates there at the convention?

And then as a second question, what can you say about the potential future of the caucus system as far as legislative reforms that might be coming?

- Yeah, sure.

Obviously, those are intense moments for everyone.

I went off scripts and shared kind of my thoughts in a very raw moment and tried to direct those, if you go back and look at what I said, I tried to direct those remarks at a very small group, not those who voted against me.

In fact, I specifically said, "For those who disagree with me and vote against me but are here for productive reasons, thank you."

I think that's healthy, that's important.

It really was directed at those who were trying to prevent me from actually just giving my remarks.

And I do think that's very unhelpful.

And I think it's important to call out that kind of behavior.

I think it's bad for our party.

I think it's bad for our country.

I think it's bad for our state.

And the worst part is it's not representative of the rest of the delegates, and especially not representative of the party as we've seen over and over again that the outcomes of conventions don't match the votes of the Republican Party at large in the state.

As far as any changes, again, I haven't prescribed any.

I love the caucus convention system.

I believe in the caucus convention system, I always have.

I think it's really important and unique.

I think having an alternative path to the ballot is wise.

And so I think we kind of have the best of both worlds.

But I do understand the deep frustration of those who believe that the caucus convention system is no longer representative.

And that's one of the things I brought up.

It wasn't that people were going to vote against me.

Again, it was the behavior of some, a small group, but a very loud group of people that kind of ruined the experience for so many people.

It also lasted a long time.

It was a very long day for people.

And I feel for those who stood up there.

So I don't know if there are going to be changes.

I haven't heard any proposals yet.

But we'll be paying attention.

- Would you support going to a direct primary?

- No, I would not.

- Why not?

- Again, I think for the reasons that I just stated.

I like that we have both paths to the ballot.

I think it's a great opportunity for some people who maybe don't have the resources.

Although I have to say, the money that is being spent on convention anymore, I mean, hundreds of thousands of dollars by candidates on convention, and I'm not sure that's what the convention was meant for.

Again, I support the idea of the caucus convention, and if there was a way to get it back to where there was more participation and the delegates were more representative instead of everybody just trying to stack delegates, I think that would be better.

- You said you went off script and it was a raw moment.

Do you regret what you said?

- No, look, again, I said what I said in the moment.

There may have been ways to say that that would've been a little less offensive to some of the people who were there.

But I think, again, many of the delegates there, even some who didn't support me, thanked me afterwards for those words.

We always try to do better.

And I'm glad that we were able to make it through that.

- Governor, what were you hoping to get across in your comments to delegates when you said maybe they were booing you because they, quote, or maybe you "don't hate enough"?

What were you hoping to get out of that?

- Again, I just wanna be very clear.

I was speaking to a very small group of people, and it's frustrating, and I can tell you lots of candidates are frustrated this cycle.

The lies that are being told and taking hold and in such a fractured environment, it's very difficult to respond to those.

When I have conversations with delegates and they would present me with things that just aren't true, I've been accused, I've been told, by delegates that I've been taking millions, some even believe billions of dollars from China.

And I say, "What can I do to prove that I have not taken any money from China?"

In fact, we passed some of the most anti-Chinese Communist Party legislation in the country that I've signed and championed.

And they say, "Well, we just don't believe you."

I'm like, "Can I show you my bank accounts?"

"Well, you won't show us the hidden bank accounts."

These are the types of lies and conspiracy theories that are out there that people are believing.

And so it's deeply frustrating.

We've passed some of the most conservative legislation in the country.

I believe that our state is thriving because of that.

I listed some of those as I was talking to delegates.

We're very proud of our accomplishments.

But it's less about accomplishments anymore and more about vibe, I guess, for lack of a better term.

And the vibe is that I try to listen to everyone.

I try to not be the governor just to the Republican Party or a wing of the Republican Party, but I try to be the governor of the entire state and try to be inclusive and try to be persuasive.

I still believe that there's room for persuasion, that I can convince people that our conservative vision for governing is better for our state and better for our country.

And I hope to bring some people along.

Too often, though, in today's polarized world, we are more focused on just our team and making the tent as small as possible and a purity, not, again, not just in accomplishment or policy, but in tone as well.

And I think that's very unhealthy.

I think it's unhealthy for us as individuals.

I think it's unhealthy for our communities.

And it's really bad for our country.

- Governor, what is your solution, then, if you don't support going direct to primaries and presumably you don't support a repeal of SB54, what is the solution to making the caucus system more representative of the people you say that it's not representing in the larger, moderate, more moderate electorate that votes in the primary?

- Yeah, so we again, I think we need more people to show up.

That's the important part.

I think if every Republican showed up on caucus night, then I think we would have a much more representative sample.

And yet I understand that that is part of the problem.

Not everyone can show up on caucus night.

And we've tried some things in the past to make it easier for people to vote who can't vote for someone to represent them on caucus night.

It hasn't been very successful because you kind of nominate that night.

So that makes it tough as well.

And so I understand there are some limitations there, but I don't know that it's something that can ever be fixed.

Again, I looked at the history of the caucus system and this isn't just a modern thing.

I mean, it happened to Governor Herbert, it happened to Governor Leavitt.

It happened to Governor Bangerter.

It's been happening for a long time, and that's okay.

People can express their feelings.

I don't even mind the booing as you walk up on stage or walk off of stage, but this canceling, this is something new.

We're trying to shout down speakers.

It's something that I kind of pushed against on the left when it was happening there and now we've adopted it in some wings of my party as well.

And I think that's not good for our party.

I think it's very unhealthy.

There was a question over here, please, yeah.

- So going off of what Lindsay said, we saw quite a few Trump-backed candidates have success at the state GOP convention.

So how do you feel about his seemingly growing influence within your state party as someone who's spoken out against the former president, and do you think that influence will translate to voters in the primary?

- Yeah, well, again, we'll see, Hannah.

And I wanna be clear, as the standard bearer of the party, and he is, he should have influence.

That's what it means.

I mean, he is the nominee of our party.

And even though I'd mentioned, I'd hoped, that we would find new candidates on both the Republican and the Democratic side, the system and the voters who participated in that system delivered us the same two candidates.

And so while he wasn't my choice, he is the choice of my party, and I respect that.

I would say that, I think we only had one actually endorsed candidate.

And so when you say Trump-backed candidate, there was only one, and that came out like the day before the or maybe even the morning of, the morning of the convention.

And so it will be interesting to see what kind of an impact that has.

I think Utahans have historically been pretty resilient from outside influence in that people want to make up their minds for themselves.

We're very independent, kind of this Western independence that we ascribe to.

And so I think every Utahan will make up their own mind about candidates regardless of who supports who.

I think Senator Romney endorsed in the CD3 race.

I don't think that will have that much of an impact.

And so I doubt it will have a huge amount of influence.

But look, as they say, the only poll that matters, at least in the primary, will be on June 20, or yeah, June 25th.

And then we'll know more then, Brian.

- You've said in the past repeatedly that you wish that there were other candidates.

But Trump is going to be the nominee of your party.

Do you plan to vote for him?

- Yeah, I answered this last time, Brian, you can go back and look at the tape.

- Governor, last week there was a forum on election trust at UVU and some data that was presented showed that conservatives are losing trust in elections, especially when it comes to presidential elections, even here in Utah, and wondered what your thoughts are on that, and what do you think needs to be done?

- Yeah, look, just lack in trust in general in our institutions is a problem in our country.

There's a great book that I recommend to everyone.

It's a couple years old.

It was the first book I actually made all of my team read when I became governor.

And I gave a copy to every legislator.

It's called "The Time to Build" by Yuval Levin.

And in there he talks about how this decline of trust is impacting so much of what's happening in our country.

There's something called the Edelman Trust Index that I look at every year.

It's a survey in about 50 different countries, I think, of trust in four different types of institutions.

Government is one of those.

And they look at business, nonprofits, and the media.

So you're one of those as well.

And what we're seeing is a decline in trust everywhere, but especially in the United States it's very pronounced.

And what happens is, when you lose trust in institutions, then the very fabric of our society starts to fall apart.

And elections is a bedrock institution within government.

And sadly, we've seen candidates who have used, who have tried to undermine elections when they were unsuccessful as a way to either make themselves feel better about why they lost or even worse, again, to make it impossible for people to trust and then to foment the repercussions of that.

And so I issue a grave warning to people, we're playing with fire when they do this.

I've been saying this, clear back when we were, I've shared this before, but in 2016 when I was lieutenant governor, I had to certify the votes of the electors in the 2016 presidential election.

Something that happens every four years.

And I was told by my predecessor, Greg Bell, that "You'll go into this meeting and no one will be there.

It's open to the public technically, but no one shows up.

And you just go in there 'cause it's a formality.

The electors are bound.

So you just go in there and you certify it."

I walked in there and there were dozens of angry protestors with signs screaming at us that the election had been stolen and that I shouldn't certify the votes of the electors.

And that was 2016.

Those were not Trump supporters.

Those were Hillary Clinton supporters undermining the trust in elections.

Well, of course, four years later, that got much worse.

We saw that happening.

And now we have candidates in Utah that are doing the same thing, already trying to undermine elections that haven't even happened.

And it's incredibly dangerous and people are vulnerable.

Look, if there is evidence of anything that has gone wrong, and we've seen it, we've worked to prosecute it when there has been any evidence that there has been fraud or that the county clerks have not done their job.

And so this is a time where we all need to come together.

We've also passed several pieces of legislation.

We have new audits, we have more security than ever before.

I would just encourage people to go visit your county clerk.

That's the way I've seen people change their minds, when they've actually gone and saw the process, watched them handle the ballots, show them how the ballots are counted, show how they're stored, all of those things can really make a difference in restoring trust.

- Okay, that is all the time we have for our broadcast portion.

Thank you so much for joining us for the Governor's Monthly News Conference.

- [Announcer] This has been the Governor's Monthly News Conference.

For video and more information, visit PBSutah.org/governor.