Utah Gov. Spencer Cox delivered his annual State of the State address on Thursday, Jan. 23. Marking his fifth address, Cox spoke on what the state has planned for 2025 and beyond while emphasizing that “we must build.”

Opening his remarks, Cox joked about what newly elected representatives in the state legislature can expert in the position. “During this first week, you’ll wonder “how on earth did I get here?” By your second week, though, you’ll settle in and instead start to wonder, “how on earth did the rest of these people get here?” 

The governor then recounted the growth the early pioneers who first settled in Utah helped create. “Our ancestors irrigated farms, excavated minerals, built homes and neighborhoods, powered cities, and connected this continent by rail. In the face of adversity, they built. They built here. And my friends and fellow citizens, if there is one thing you take away from my remarks tonight, please let it be this simple refrain: We must build.”

He further elaborated on this point, explaining,” We stopped building infrastructure, as a tangle of overregulation, outdated permitting processes, and entrenched NIMBYism fed by special interests and bureaucracies block the projects we desperately need. We stopped building technology – ceding far too much of our manufacturing, industry, critical minerals, and energy production to our adversaries. And, worst of all, we stopped building resilient people.”

In order to reengage the people and government of Utah in this builder’s mentality, Cox proposed a five-point plan to build in key areas for the state.

The first is housing attainability,” We are reforming the regulatory regime, supporting more single-family construction, and fast-tracking approval processes. Through the Utah First Homes program, we will build 35,000 starter homes in five years. The greatest generation did this after WWII. We can do it again.”

Next was energy abundance, an item that Cox promoted during his 2024 reelection bid. “We’re laying groundwork for advanced nuclear reactors while protecting national security by building capacity to be a net energy exporter through Operation Gigawatt. Together we will unleash Utah’s immense energy resources and drive prices down, all while making our grid more secure and reliable.”

In a previous interview with Castle Country Radio, Cox spoke on the need for an all-in approach to energy within the state,” We have a huge energy shortage in our country right now, and in the state of Utah. We need to double our energy production over the next 10 years. We are an all of the above state. We’ve got our amazing coal resources, and we need to keep those going.” explained Cox,” We’ve got incredible natural gas opportunities here, and we have these renewable opportunities.”

Third is the reform of infrastructure and permitting regulations. “We recently celebrated the construction phase of a new transmission line – that the federal government took 15 years to approve. Fortunately, we finally have a federal administration willing to work with us to fix this national embarrassment. In the meantime, we will continue to lead the nation by streamlining Utah’s processes while maintaining environmental stewardship.”

The fourth area of emphasis for Cox is community safety and support. “We’re implementing public safety reforms that balance accountability with compassion. Our innovative homeless initiatives are showing results. We’re demonstrating that we can have both security and dignity, and we are not shy in declaring that is what all Utahns deserve.”

The final issue the Cox administration wants to address is family strength. Covering areas such as social security taxes, social media use among children and cellphones in schools, the wide-ranging issues seen by Cox were summed up simply,” Let’s always remember this truth: when families win, Utah wins.”

In closing, Cox again reiterated his initial point,” Utah, we must build. May God Bless us, our nation and this great state as we build together.”

A full transcript of the address can be found here.

*Photo Courtesy of the Utah State Senate