Even though it’s still more than a decade before Utah would host another Olympics if all goes well in the next steps of the selection process, state lawmakers are already talking about the preparations, including signing up volunteers.
Much of Tuesday’s meeting of the Legislature’s Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Coordination Commission focused on the details of Salt Lake City recently being named the preferred host for the 2034 Winter Games.
Talking about the celebrations that took place after the Nov. 29 announcement by the International Olympic Committee, bid leader Fraser Bullock told lawmakers, “You can just feel the unity that’s going to come to our community.”
Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said the financial guarantees in place from the 2023 Legislature as well as local and federal authorities were “probably one of the most important elements of our bid.”
A final vote by the full membership of the IOC is set for next July, but between now and then, Utah’s bid team will be wrapping up the extensive paperwork required and negotiating the details of the contract to host.
Bullock assured the lawmakers on the committee that they will be able to review the contract before it would be signed by Gov. Spencer Cox, triggering the state’s pledge to cover what’s now an anticipated price tag of more than $2.45 billion if revenues fall short.
The committee’s Senate chairman, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, noted that guarantee was part of last session’s legislation and important. But McKell also wanted to know how Utahns could sign up now to be volunteers in 2034.
“The public is excited and they want to help,” he said, noting the lieutenant governor’s office has already received “a bunch of phone calls” from Utahns eager to get on the list to work for free.
Bullock said the bid committee’s website, slc-ut.org, will soon be updated to allow for would-be volunteers to sign up not just for the Olympics and Paralympics, but also other Games-related activities beforehand.
“We want to have volunteers all along,” he said, noting that when Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Games, an ad describing volunteering as “long hours, hard work, no pay” attracted a response from 64,000 people for the 24,000 positions available
“That’s Utah. Love to volunteer,” Bullock said.
Also on the agenda was an update on new oversight of the tax dollars being spent on Olympic venues, including those built by the state for the 2002 Games such as the ski jumps and sliding track at the Utah Olympic Park near Park City.
Last month, the legislative leaders who serve on the Executive Appropriations Committee agreed to free up $33.5 million for projects at the state-built facilities controlled by Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation.
The funds, part of last session’s $40 million appropriation for Games venues, had not been distributed because of questions about oversight. Tuesday, the Olympic coordination committee was told by legislative staff that “performance measures” were being developed.
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake, praised the effort.
“Transparency for purposes of a state investment is critical. This is the responsible way of doing it,” Escamilla said, adding that the facilities are used by the community as well as for the Olympics but need to be kept “up to par for the worldwide event.”
The committee’s House chairman, Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove, agreed.
“These are well-loved facilities. They are public facilities that are used, that are constantly being upgraded,” Hawkins said. “Because they’re public facilities, I think it is the responsibility of the state to continue to provide some funding.”
After the meeting, Hawkins told a reporter there’s “not immediately” any plans to come up with more funding during the 2025 Legislature. “With the leeway that we have, for 10 years, I think we can address that” over several sessions.
The Legislature has already appropriated more than $94 million to operate, maintain and renovate facilities used in 2002, but that amount could add up to more than $140 million based on previous commitments.