(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox told Californians fleeing to his state to “stay in California” as Utah faces housing and water shortages.
Cox made the statement in front of the White House in a joint speech with Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, both of whom were in Washington D.C. for the National Governers Association annual winter meeting.
According to Yahoo! News, Murphy and Cox—who both lead the NGA—also discussed their meeting with President Biden concerning border security, immigration, water rights and the debt ceiling.
A reporter asked Cox what Utah is doing to attract a massive increase in its residents, to which Cox said “it’s not working to attract more people.”
“This last census confirmed that Utah was the fastest-growing state over the past 10 years,” Cox said. “Our biggest problems are more growth-related. We would love for people to stay in California instead of coming as refugees to Utah.”
Utah’s population grew from 2,763,885 people in 2010 to 3,271,616 in 2020—a total increase of 18.3%, making it the fastest growing state in the country.
A report from June 2021 found that Californians are causing the large population influx in the state.
In his statement, Cox said the state “has grown so quickly,” in the midst of their ongoing housing and water crisis.
The west continues to struggle with historic drought, and Utah is no exception—all of the state’s 29 counties are designated disaster zones by the United States Department of Agriculture.
The state is also short about 31,000 homes, despite breaking building records in 2021. Dejan Eskic, a senior research fellow at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, estimated that the median monthly home payment in the state was $2,600, as of last October.
Cox recently made news for signing a law restricting “gender-affirming care,” in his state, despite being on the fence about boys participating in girl’s sports just last year.
