SLC's Mayor Mendenhall urges Utah's Gov. Cox to veto Pride flag ban. 

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• Benjamin Wood
• A Pride flag flies outside the Salt Lake City & County Building on Friday, March 21, 2025

WASHINGTON SQUARE—Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said Friday that city attorneys and financial analysts are still working through the unfunded mandates and new expenses imposed on the capital city by the 2025 legislative session, which concluded earlier this month.

She said departmental staff had flagged roughly 250 bills that impact Salt Lake's financial picture in one form or another. And she was not yet prepared to offer a dollar figure for what the state's actions will cost the city and its taxpayers.

"I have always presented a balanced budget to the City Council and I will always do that," Mendenhall said. "What it takes to get there, I don't know just yet."

Included in those costs is the potential for a lawsuit either challenging a new ban on Pride flags or defending the city's intentional violation of that law. On Friday—as on every day since the Legislature adjourned—a Pride flag was waving outside the Salt Lake City and County Building on Washington Square, a city-sanctioned action that is set to become unlawful in May under the terms of HB77.

The bill is currently awaiting either the signature or veto of Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. Mendenhall said that Salt Lake City is an asset to the state precisely because it values diversity and inclusion.

"My hope and my encouragement—from my lips to God's ears—is that Gov. Cox will veto HB77," Mendenhall said. "It is not reflective of the values of this community, of our capital city, and, I think, of many of the businesses who choose to locate here because of the welcoming and inclusive culture of Salt Lake City."

Cox has not yet indicated his plans on HB77, saying only that he is reviewing the bill as he does with all pieces of legislation that reach his desk. He reiterated that position in a televised press conference on Thursday, during which he was also dismissive of concerns that the flag ban could lead Salt Lake City and Utah to lose out on major events like the Sundance Film Festival, which is currently exploring whether to contract with a new host state and city.

If Sundance were to leave, Cox said that would be a loss for the state, but that it would hurt the film festival more than it hurts Utah.

"Nothing has changed on the bill, we’re still going through the review process," Cox said. "If Sundance leaves, it will be a mistake."

Mendenhall's comments Friday came during a press conference where she gave an overview of "the good, the bad and the ugly," from the 2025 Legislature. As an example of a "good" bill, she highlighted SB26—calling it "under-reported"—which finalizes the public financing of a major redevelopment of the Salt Palace convention center, planned in conjunction with an overhaul of the Delta Center, and effectively locking in the Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club as a downtown presence for decades to come.

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• Benjamin Wood
• Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall speaks to reporters at City Hall on Friday, March 21, 2025.

"This allows Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County to make major investments in our top tourism asset—the Salt Palace," Mendenhall said. "This is a major win for Salt Lake City’s downtown economy and economic stability into the future."

Among the "bad" and "ugly" bills, Mendenhall focused on a package of bills that target the capital city around law enforcement and public safety, collective bargaining and traffic calming on local city streets.

She said those and other "audacious" proposals were on track to do considerable damage to the city, but were stopped or negotiated into better shape by the city and its representatives on the Hill.

"Any time that there is legislation that runs counter to the values of our city and our residents, I will fight back. Every single time," Mendenhall said. "And it was a long 45 days for us."

Under SB195, the city is blocked from altering the bulk of its local street grid, pending creation of a new mobility plan and additional rounds of review by the Utah Department of Transportation. But Mendenhall noted that UDOT is already a partner in its local street projects—in many cases providing technical expertise and in some cases providing the cash funding that pays for the construction work—and she emphasized that those who object to the city's efforts to improve the safety and efficiency of its streets are simply wrong.

"We know unequivocally that Salt Lakers want traffic calming methods," Mendenhall said, "and we also know that our transportation team doesn’t make those decisions in a vacuum."

She pointed to the recently completed reconstruction of 200 South downtown, and the ongoing reconstruction of 2100 South in Sugar House—two massive projects with overlapping road and utility upgrades. Mendenhall acknowledged that those improvements take a long time to complete and impose real impacts on business, tourism and quality of life. But she also noted how the benefits of the finished product go beyond the city itself, and how necessary work on those same streets had been delayed for years.

"Those kinds of projects are good for the state economy. They’re great for the growth of downtown. They can be annoying at the time," Mendenhall said. "The city has deferred maintenance on one of our key arterials in the city—and I’m done deferring maintenance."

She suggested that part of the blame for lawmakers' meddling in city affairs lies with the success of the city itself. The city is taking steps to stabilize its own economy, as well as the regional economy, Mendenhall said, pointing to work on affordable housing, homelessness, air quality and walkability, among others.

"There's a lot of good happening here," Mendenhall said. "And the state wants a piece of it."