Mayor Mendenhall on the State of the City; potty-training bill on the Hill today, plus a resolution condemning abusive coaching practices | | | The Utah Policy newsletter is your one-stop source for political and policy-minded news. We scour the news so you don't have to! Send news tips or feedback to Holly Richardson at [email protected]. | | |
Situational Analysis | Jan. 31, 2024 It's Wednesday and Backwards Day. It's been a thing since 1961. wenk ohW? Three things to watch today: HB331 School and Classroom Amendment, by Rep. Welton, would include being potty-trained as a requirement to attend kindergarten. Rep. Weltonâs bill allows for an IEP for children who are developmentally delayed. The average age for children in the U.S. to be potty-trained is 27 months. This bill will be heard in the House Education Committee at 3:40 p.m. HJR7 Joint Resolution Condemning Abusive Coaching Practices by Rep. Sahara Hayes recognizes the power imbalance between students and coaches, condemns abusive coaching practices and calls on Utah schools to provide safe and supportive environments for student athletes. This bill will also be heard in the House Education Committee. SB161 Energy Security Amendments by Sen. Derrin Owens is part of the package of energy bills being worked on this session. Before decommissioning an electrical plant, this bill would require that the Public Service Commission be notified and it creates a process for the state to purchase the facility. This bill will be heard in the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee at 3:40 p.m. On the Hill Today, Day 16 of 45 8:00 am: Business, Economic Development, and Labor Appropriations; Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations; Social Services Appropriations 8:30 am: Public Education Appropriations 11:00-11:50 am: Senate floor time 11:00-11:50 am: House floor time
2:00-3:30 pm: Senate floor time 2:00-3:30 pm: House floor time 3:40 pm: House Business and Labor; House Economic Development and Workforce Services; House Education; House Health and Human Services; Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice; Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment; Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology | | |
| | Construction Underway, Scheduled Operation: 2025 The Intermountain Power Project's transformational âIPP Renewedâ project is under construction and on track for mid-2025 start-up. The project includes new natural gas-fueled electricity generating units that will also utilize "green" hydrogen for long-term, dispatchable storage of renewable energy. There are currently 600 workers on site in Millard County, with 1200 expected during peak construction. Click here to watch construction unfold. For more information, visit www.ipprenewed.com | | |
Utah Headlines Legislative session Hereâs what a new poll says about eliminating Utahâs state income tax (Deseret News) Utahâs Gov. Cox signs anti-DEI bill, making the state the latest to limit diversity programs in education (Salt Lake Tribune) Criminal Justice Utah bill would require inmates to be housed based on sex, creates transfer request system for transgender people (Deseret News) Utah House committee votes unanimously for mandatory prison time in DUI homicides (KSL) Utah bill would allow clergy the option to report ongoing child abuse or neglect (KSL) Utah faiths say they won't oppose clergy abuse reporting bill (Fox13) Economic Development, Workforce Services Utah âreligious freedomâ bill advances to Senate (Daily Herald) Education Utah House OKs 'sensitive materials' bill governing removal of books from school libraries (KSL) Utah teachers could be criminally liable if banned books are found in their classrooms, new bill proposes (Salt Lake Tribune) Government Operations Utah legislators have proposed ten bills to limit voting access (UPR) Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Funding sought for research, turf buy back program, split season leases (Deseret News) Utah lawmaker seeks study to see if Utah Lake can help the Great Salt Lake (KSL) What does the Legislatureâs âenergy independenceâ really mean for Utah? (KUER) Tracking water bills at the legislature (Salt Lake Tribune) Other Utah News Political news 2024 state of Salt Lake City: Pioneering inclusive growth and urban innovation (Deseret News) What do Utahns, Latter-day Saints say about Biden and Trump as people of faith? (Deseret News) How Utahâs new transgender bathroom ban will be enforced and answers to your other questions (Salt Lake Tribune) Utah news Honor the âholiness of diversity,â Eboo Patel tells young adults. Eboo Patel, an interfaith leader and practicing Muslim, quoted President Russell M. Nelson while speaking at a Jan. 28 devotional (Deseret News) Utah family honoring Native roots with coat drive to help remote community (KSL TV) âHe lives in our memoriesâ: Community commemorates 10-year anniversary of Cory Wrideâs death (KSL TV) âSpecial Olympics Utah Summer Gamesâ coming to Southern Utah University (ABC4) Business/Technology More than 1,100 Utah workers are owed back wages totaling $1.4M. Are you on the list? (Deseret News) Why young Americans are looking for a âmission-ledâ workplace (Deseret News) 23andMeâs fall from $6 billion to nearly $0 (Wall Street Journal) Crime/Courts Provo woman sentenced to 6 years in prison, $6.4 million in restitution for online romance scam (KSL TV) Man charged in Midvale massage parlor killing accused of stabbing woman more than 50 times (Salt Lake Tribune) Doctor charged with sexually abusing, inappropriately touching several workers at Utah clinic (ABC4) Culture The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announces life preparation lessons for seminary (Deseret News) Education Utah needs to pay attention to waning confidence in higher education, says University of Utah president (Deseret News) Faith is for the public sphere, Harvard professor says at BYU Forum (Deseret News) US students rebound from the pandemic but some may never recover (New York Times) Health Americans are overdoing protein â and lacking on fiber (Deseret News) The US hasnât seen syphilis numbers this high since 1950. Other STD rates are down or flat. (AP) Housing A Warm Welcome: Mental health challenges and homelessness (UPR) | | |
National Headlines General Chasing the retirement dream: The uphill battle for American workers and the push for the Retirement Savings for Americans Act (Deseret News) California braces for back-to-back atmospheric river storms (Reuters) Disney trips are so complicated now that you need a class to plan one (Washington Post) Political news Rep. Burgess Owens proposes higher ed reform bill to shift costs from taxpayers (Deseret News) Meta, TikTok and other social media CEOs to testify before Senate committee on child exploitation (AP) House GOP advances impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas (NPR) Former US Sen. Jean Carnahan dies at 90 (Politico) Election news Biden wants you to buy âBidenomics.â Voters arenât sure why (Deseret News) âTraitor': After bitter primary, DeSantis may struggle to win over Trump supporters if he runs again (AP) Haley camp seeks to convince top donors that Trump would cost GOP the House (Washington Post) Nikki Haley goes after Trump and Biden in 'Grumpy Old Men' campaign (New York Times) Retired conservative judge: âTrump disqualified himselfâ from ballot (The Hill) Ukraine ðºð¦ As Ukraine seeks to replenish its depleted army, a divide grows among its civilians (NPR) Zelensky to oust Ukraineâs top general amid tension over new mobilization (Washington Post) Israel ð®ð± From the hospital to a tent in hours â what it's like giving birth in Gaza now (NPR) Israel and Hamas weigh three-stage cease-fire (Wall Street Journal) World news The logistics of war: How Washington is preparing for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan (Reuters) Iran threatens to respond to any US strikes as Biden weighs how to react to a base attack in Jordan (AP) | | |
| | Guest opinion: The âsuccess sequenceâ is a bipartisan vision for upward mobility. Policymakers should embrace it. by Nic Dunn In our polarized political environment, itâs not often that an idea garners majority support across party affiliation, ideology, and demographic differences. New Sutherland Institute polling shows that the success sequence is just such a concept with broad resonance among likely voters in Utah. Policymakers should keep these findings top of mind in the 2024 legislative session and beyond. The success sequence refers to research showing that, of young people who graduate from high school, work full-time, and marry before having children, 97% do not experience poverty in adulthood. Sutherland recently published the results of a survey, conducted by Y2 Analytics, asking likely voters in Utah about their attitudes toward each pillar of the success sequence, and whether all three together represent a compelling framework for avoiding poverty. The Sutherland/Y2 Analytics survey found that supermajorities of likely voters in Utah agree that graduating from high school (89%), getting a full-time job (86%), and getting married before having children (68%) are important steps âto secure a successful and happy life.â.... Empowering the next generation with these principles would be an important step toward reducing poverty and increasing upward mobility, and state policymakers can use the framework offered by the success sequence knowing itâs backed by solid research and broadly popular among Utahns. The success sequence has already been shown as a reliable path out of poverty and is supported by strong majorities of Utah voters across ideological and demographic lines. Policymakers should embrace this bipartisan vision of upward mobility. (Read More) News Releases Gov. Spencer Cox signs six bills in the 2024 General Legislative Session Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed six bills today. He has signed seven pieces of legislation from the 2024 General Legislative Session to date. Information on bills signed today can be found below: SB 1 Higher Education Base Budget SB 4 Business, Economic Development, and Labor Base Budget SB 6 Infrastructure and General Government Base Budget SB 7 National Guard, Veterans Affairs, and Legislature Base Budget HB 257 Sex-based Designations for Privacy, Anti-bullying, and Womenâs Opportunities HB 261 Equal Opportunity Initiatives (Read More) State Auditor updates Project KIDS with school year 2022-2023 data The Office of the State Auditor (Office) today announces that the Project KIDS interactive dashboards have been updated with data for school year 2022-23.
Project KIDS is a special, in-depth performance audit of public education that integrates financial, operational, and performance data to create interactive visualizations. This informs Utah stakeholders where the money is going in public education so those stakeholders can better determine how well that money is being spent. (Read More) Sen. Blouin advocates for competitive energy policies amidst âEnergy Weekâ This week, as the Utah legislature marks âEnergy Weekâ, Republicans are proposing a series of bills that could significantly reshape the stateâs energy landscape. Under the guise of energy independence, their proposed legislation leans heavily towards outdated technologies, risking the stateâs competitiveness in the evolving energy market. (Read More) Romney helps introduce bipartisan legislation to hold e-cigarette companies accountable for youth vaping crisis U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) joined his colleagues, led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), in reintroducing bipartisan legislation to protect children from the dangers of e-cigarettes. The Resources to Prevent Youth Vaping Act would require e-cigarette manufacturers to pay user fees to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help conduct stronger oversight of the e-cigarette industry and increase awareness for the danger of e-cigarettes. Joining Romney and Shaheen in cosponsoring this legislation are Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Susan Collins (R-ME). The bill is endorsed by the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (Read More) Maloy introduces bipartisan bill to ensure federal dollars go to verified, women-owned small business Today, Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) and Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), members of the House Committee on Small Business, introduced The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024. This bill would require the Small Business Administration (SBA) and third-party, certifying entities to take reasonable action to verify that women-owned small businesses meet the SBAâs small business size standards for receiving federal contracts. âMany women entrepreneurs call Utah home, and I want to make sure even more are able to enter the marketplace, compete and succeed. However, that requires a level playing field,â said Rep. Maloy. âThis bill will help ensure that larger, more established firms arenât able exploit federal contracts, grants, or loans at the expense of women-owned small businesses.â (Read More) | | |
Upcoming Jan. 31 â Utah County Safe Child Community Training, Cascade Elementary School, 7:00 pm, Register here Feb. 5 â Women in Leadership Executive Speaker Series: Healthcare, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, Register here Feb. 6 â Cache County Safe Child Parent and Community Training, Riverwoods Conference Center, 7:00 pm, Register here Feb. 7 â Women in Leadership Executive Series: Finance, 11:30 am-12:30 pm,Register here Feb. 8 â Women in Leadership Executive Speaker Series: Traditional Industries, 2:00-3:00 pm,Register here Feb. 21 â Women in Leadership Executive Speaker Series: Women Focused Organizations, 11:30 am-12:30 pm,Register here Feb. 22 â Understanding Utahâs Caucus-Convention System, with GOP Chair Rob Axson and Dem. Chair Diane Lewis, sponsored by Utah Women Run, 6:00-7:30 p.m., Register here Mar. 1 â Legislative session ends Mar. 5 â Caucus night Mar. 20 â Utah Foundation Annual Lunch, 11:45 am-1:30 pm; Grand America, Purchase tickets here Apr. 20 â United Utah Partyconvention Apr. 27 â State GOP and Democratic Conventions | | |
On This Day In History 1865 - House passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in America 1870 - Mary Woolley Chamberlain is born. She, along with 4 other women, was elected to the Kanab city council in 1911. 1876 - The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations. 1915 - Thomas Merton, French-American Catholic writer and Trappist monk is born in Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, France 1940 - The Social Security Administration issues the first Social Security check in the amount of $22.54 to Ida May Fuller. 1950 - President Harry Truman publicly supports development of the hydrogen bomb. 1968 - Viet Cong attack U.S. Embassy in Saigon. 1988 - Doug Williams became the first African American to start and win a Super Bowl. Playing for the Washington Redskins, he led Washington to a 42-10 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. 1990 - First McDonaldâs opens in the Soviet Union. 2000 - Alaska Airlines flight 261 MD-83 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard. 2006 - US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retires and is replaced by Samuel Alito 2017 - President Donald Trump fires Attorney General Sally Yates after she instructs Justice Department officials not to defend Trump's travel ban 2020 - United Kingdom formally withdraws from the European Union (Brexit) 2022 - Online word puzzle Wordle bought for âlow seven figure sumâ by The New York Times Quote of the Day âAs women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we'll all be better off for it.â âJustice Sandra Day O'Connor On the Punny Side I replaced my rooster with a duck. Now I wake up at the quack of dawn. | | |
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