‘A major culture shift’ on Capitol Hill. Why Utah lawmakers think babies and floor debates should go hand in hand

For some reason, debates on the Utah House floor felt more lighthearted on Friday, Feb. 14. Negotiations appeared to settle more smoothly and legislative defeats became easier to take.

It wasn’t the Valentine’s Day treats or the thought of a long weekend. It was the 4-month-old baby lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were practically standing in line to hold.

Little Joey Matthews, son of Rep. Ashlee Matthews, D-West Jordan, had joined the lower chamber’s proceedings every day that week because of a sick babysitter.

Utah’s elected representatives seemed not to mind one bit.

One of the lawmakers most likely to be seen toting Joey while presenting a bill or lifting him high during a vote was House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City.

“It’s really helped me just manage this session,” Romero said. “And I feel like he brings us together because everyone wants to hold baby Joey.”

Kids have long been a fixture on Utah’s Capitol Hill, with hundreds passing through the rotunda every week for field trips, youth groups or legislative recognition.

But small children are becoming an increasingly common addition to the Utah House and Senate floors as younger lawmakers bring a piece of their home to the People’s House.

Lawmakers with young children by the numbers

It is also becoming a more frequent feature of state houses across the country.

In 2024, 8% of state legislators were moms with children under the age of 18, a 49% increase from 2022, according to a Vote Mama Foundation report.

The states with the highest representation from moms of minors were California, Minnesota, Virginia, Michigan and Nevada, with California coming in at 17.5%, just shy of the share of the country who are women with minor children.

The states with the lowest representation from moms of minors were West Virginia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, which had zero moms with young children in the Legislature in both 2022 and 2024.

Utah was ranked No. 23 out of 50 states with 8.6% of lawmakers being mothers with children who are minors. The number of mothers in the Utah Legislature with young kids decreased from 10 to nine over the two-year period.

The survey found that the third most cited reason for women leaving state legislative office was caregiving, family and work environment, after running for higher office and retirement.

But since the 2024 election, the trend in Utah has reversed, as a slate of millennial lawmakers entered office for the first time.

As of the 2025 legislative session, there are 11 women in the Utah House and Senate with children under 18 years old, making up 10.6% of the 104-seat Legislature.

But focusing only on the female lawmakers with young children can obscure how family-oriented the Legislature has become, according to House Education Chair Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton.

In the House, 43% of lawmakers have children under 18, including much of House leadership. The proportion increases to 58% among the freshman class of 19 lawmakers who entered office in January.

“There has been a major culture shift, I would argue, in our body … as we’ve had more young families up here and bringing their kids up here. And I think it’s for the better,” said Pierucci, who brought her son up on Thursday because he had the day off school.

The Senate, according to Pierucci, has seen a slower shift toward younger representation for the youngest state in the nation. Parents with children under 18 make up 24% of the state Senate.

What do babies bring to the Capitol Building?

Some of Sen. Mike McKell’s fondest memories of his 12 years in the Legislature are the times he brought his young children, dressed in their Sunday best, to the House floor or committee time.

Those years contrasted sharply with his very “worst year” on the Hill, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the steady traffic of children came to a stop.

“I love having kids on Capitol Hill. That’s what it’s all about,” said McKell, R-Spanish Fork.

Rocking baby Joey during floor debates and seeing colleagues go out of their way to help take care of him, reminds Rep. Matthews of “why we’re here and what we’re trying to accomplish.”

“We do a lot of really heavy, hard work on things up here, so having babies or little kids is a welcome reprieve from that,” Matthews said.

But she said it is also a reminder of the difficulties of juggling child care and a public service position that cannot be done remotely.

In recent years, lawmakers have pushed for small policy changes to help lighten the load. Starting in 2023, GOP lawmakers have transformed the caucus room into a “family room” on the last night of the session with Disney movies and coloring books.

Last session, Pierucci worked with the House chief of staff to finally put a changing table in the women’s bathroom in the capitol building. And since then, a staff mother’s lounge has been arranged in the main capitol building so employees don’t have to travel to the Senate building with their babies.

What’s next to make Utah’s Legislature the most family friendly in the nation? Pierucci recommends changing tables in the men’s bathrooms, too. Romero pitched launching a daycare operation within the Capitol.

From Matthews’ point of view, the more mothers — and babies — who are able to serve in the Legislature without child care being an obstacle the better.

“I think it’s important that those of us that are impacted by what happens at the Hill are participating in it,” Matthews said, referring to mothers like her of small children, as she was looking down at Joey, who was nodding off to sleep surrounded by the noise of the echoing Capitol rotunda.