IN THE MEDIA

Rep. Stephen Whyte presents HB207 Sexual Offense Revisions, which he is sponsoring, during a House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Standing Committee meeting in the House building in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

“Utah has an urgent need for immediate action to tackle the high rate of child sexual abuse,” Rep. Stephen L. Whyte, R-Mapleton, previously said when discussing his bill in committee.

Fillmore and Rep. Stephen Whyte, R-Mapleton co-chair the Commission on Housing Affordability and sponsored most of the bills geared at making it easier to build homes in Utah. Many of those bills were proposals from the commission, which brings together developers, local government officials and others with stake in the housing space to reach a consensus on policy changes.

Among the legislation on his list is a Fillmore bill easing garage requirements for some new homes. The bill, SB181, was part of a consensus package of bills backed by the state Coalition on Housing Affordability that’s co-chaired by Fillmore and Rep. Stephen Whyte, R-Mapleton.

This year, state Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, and Rep. Stephen Whyte, R-Mapleton, said legislators are hoping to cut straight to the root of the problem, formulating bills to remove barriers that prevent housing supply from meeting the state’s growing demand.

Housing Affordability Revisions, HB465, and Municipal Land Use Regulation Modifications, HB476, introduced by Rep. Stephen Whyte, R-Mapleton, would encourage market-based solutions to the state’s housing shortage during a tight budget year that has ruled out most attempts to address the issue through increased funding.

Since then, Steve Waldrip, Gov. Spencer Cox’s senior adviser for housing strategy and innovation, and a pair of lawmakers — Rep. Stephen Whyte and Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, who both chair the state’s Commission for Housing Affordability — have been working on crafting legislation. 

“Modular or prefabricated housing production is a promising method to mitigate persistent supply chain shortages, rising material costs and significant labor shortages,” Rep. Stephen L. Whyte, co-chair of the commission on housing affordability, texted The Tribune.

“Preserving our existing affordable housing is one of the most effective and quickest ways to impact housing affordability,” said Rep. Stephen Whyte, co-chair of the Utah Commission on Housing Affordability.

In this episode of Majority Report, House Majority Leader Rep. Jeff Moss sits down with Rep. Stephen Whyte, a leading voice on housing policy in Utah and co-chair of the Commission on Housing Affordability. 

This year, the Legislature is working to identify innovative ways to facilitate investments in the housing market and streamline processes to increase housing supply for Utahns. Joining us in the episode to discuss these plans, as well as his work on the Housing Affordability Commission, is Representative Stephen Whyte.

In this episode of House Rules, Utah House Majority Leader Casey Snider joins Rep. Stephen Whyte to discuss his path to leadership and the principles that guide him. A conservative lawmaker, farmer, and public lands advocate from Cache County, Rep. Snider shares how his rural background and service experience shape his legislative work.