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It was brisk in the courtyard of Harris Community Village in Tooele Wednesday, but the mood was light as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed nine pieces of legislation related to homelessness, mental health and Utah’s system of homeless services.

While lawmakers and elected officials gathered near the desk where Cox conducted a ceremonial bill signing, Kenna Morrison hung in the back taking it in.

“Those people are doing great things. It means a lot. It really does,” said Morrison, who has been staying in the village’s emergency homeless shelter for about 1 1/2 months after living in her car and homeless camps.

Morrison, who grew up in Tooele, shares a dormitory with other women in the shelter, which is a repurposed elementary school built in the 1950s. Some of Morrison’s childhood friends attended the school, she said.

Early resignations endanger House GOP majority, as Speaker Johnson’s gavel under threat

The House Republican Conference is in disarray. In the last few months, a wave of powerful GOP lawmakers have called it quits, symptomatic of a larger dysfunction. Now, an unsettling new predicament looms for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has held the role only a few months.

In conversations with the Deseret News, Utah Republican Reps. Blake Moore and Celeste Maloy didn’t back away from acknowledging the difficulties that exist in the Republican Conference, but they also projected optimism for a path forward under Johnson’s leadership.

Moore, who represents Utah’s 1st District, and is a recently elected GOP leader himself, spoke about the mood among Republican lawmakers. He also addressed the issue of lawmakers quitting Congress in the middle of their terms, instead of waiting to retire after the November election.

“We’re down to a very, very narrow majority,” he said.

Read more about what Rep. Blake Moore said.

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What Does it Mean to Dare Mighty Things?

Dare Mighty Things: (v.) the act of courageously attempting to do big and audacious things that make you uncomfortable, that stretch you, and allow you to grow, even as you experience failure and doubt along the way. Daring Mighty in little and big things is not an act but a habit toward excellence.

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