Public commenter alleges Gov. Cox’s office tied pandemic aid to DEI spending and student mask mandates

A public commenter said during the meeting that Gov. Spencer Cox’s office secured nearly $1 billion in pandemic aid with conditions that 10% be used to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and that students remain masked through the end of the school year.

The commenter, identified in the record only as a public commenter, said, “the governor's office ... got nearly a billion dollars under the under the condition … 10% of it had to be used to promote DEI. So a hundred million dollars, earmarked to promote DEI.” The commenter also said the aid included a condition that “our kids remain masked through the end of the school year,” and quoted messaging to children: “You gotta wear a mask because if you don't, you're gonna kill your grandparents.”

The speaker linked that funding condition to support for a DEI initiative at the University of Utah and said some Republican legislators defended the program. Those statements were presented as the commenter’s account; the excerpt in the meeting record does not include supporting documents, specific grant names or a response from the governor’s office or university.

The meeting transcript does not show any formal action, vote or staff report that corroborates the commenter’s claims. No agency representative in the provided excerpt confirmed the dollar amounts, the stated 10% requirement, or a direct tie between the alleged conditions and mask policies in local schools.

Because the assertions in the comment were not accompanied by documents in the transcript, they are reported here as claims made at the meeting and not as independently verified facts. The transcript excerpt ends with the commenter’s remarks and does not record any follow-up by officials in the provided segment.