Well, Utah, your state Legislature has done it again. Lead by Republican State Senator Dan McCay (a political leftover from Gary Herbert), we have again won at oneupmanship. Yep, we have something no one else in the United States of America has had since 2021, a brand spanking new State Flag! It's so great it is already part of a lawsuit. Not only do we have a new official state flag, we still are keeping our old "historical" flag, plus 2 other variants. The historical flag must be flown higher than the new flag, if both are displayed. Additionally, the historical flag must be displayed at all state agencies on official holidays, and every day above the Utah State Capitol.
Now, I want you to know, in case you missed it on the news, that this new flag came with great deliberation and all pressing urgency. A study by KUTV 2 News found the legislature spent 3 hours debating the new flag in the 2023 legislative session. It has been a long time getting to the new flag, however; this process started in 2020.
Not on the news that night, but happening just the same, 289,000 residents of Utah didn't know where their next meal was coming from.
The study mentioned above found the cost of the legislation creating the new state flag was $483,305.85 paid to local PR consulting firms.
Think about that pile of Utah taxpayer money for a minute or two. Let the number settle in your head. Four Hundred eighty-three thousand, three hundred five dollars and eighty-five cents. Senator McCay, when asked about the attention payed to this issue when Utah has so many pressing issues, replied thusly: "It's always difficult when you look at a branding exercise, or anything else, and you're trying to figure out, is it worth it. In the long term, you have to know that it is. In the short term, there is going to be some pain to change."
Think about 289,000 Utahans without food. According to the Utah Food Bank, $483,305.85 would have purchased 2,174,876 meals for hungry Utah residents.
I ask you, Senator McCay, is it worth it?
Thank you for reading, please let me know your thoughts by commenting below.
R.M. "Bob" Hartman