Protect the freedoms of public employees across Utah by voting NO on H.B. 285.

H.B. 285 creates big government intrusion on private matters, threatens individual agency, and takes away paycheck freedom.  It needlessly increases government red tape and places financial burdens on teachers, firefighters, nurses, police officers, and other public servants.

Utah Headlines

Legislative session

• The Utah lawmakers balancing legislative duties with baby diaper changes (Deseret News)
• Utah lawmaker is 'Kenough' in return to House floor after medical emergency (KSL)
• Funding for Cove Reservoir and Ogden water line shine light on obscure appropriations process (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Millions in requests to aid homeless Utahns not yet funded by Legislature this year (Salt Lake Tribune)

Business and Labor

• Utah Legislature approves 'milestone' bill creating Fairpark district, MLB stadium framework (KSL)
• Utah senators kill compromise bill giving tenants more notice of rent increases (KSL TV)
• ‘You better be ready for a fight’: Labor union warns Legislature not to target worker’s rights in Utah (Salt Lake Tribune)
• The Long Shot Bid for a Utah Lottery (RadioWest)

Government Operations

• Lawmakers should reject NIL secrecy (Deseret News)
• Bill changing guidelines to create new cities gets Senate OK after retroactivity provision removed (KSL)
• Truth Test: Fact-checking claims from lawmakers who voted to make their calendars secret (KSL TV)

Education

• Trained ‘guardians,’ ‘teacher-protectors’ armed with concealed weapons could respond to shootings in Utah public schools (Deseret News)

Health and Human Services

• Utah bill loosening childcare safety standards passes one day after an unlicensed daycare provider was arrested of charges of abuse (KUTV)

Judiciary

• Bill seeks to help in Utah polygamous community custody cases (Fox13) 

Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

• Sim Gill wants more prosecutors for case backlog. Legislature tells Salt Lake County D.A. to be more efficient. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Revenue and Taxation

• Another tax break approved by the Utah Legislature (Deseret News) 

Other Utah News

Political news

• What Salt Lake City's mayor included in her 2024 goals (KSL)
• Utah votes ‘red’ overall. These counties, though, are turning ‘purple.’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert reflects on his legacy (Fox13)

Election news

• Haley pitches Utah on a return to faith, family and freedom (Deseret News)
• Nikki Haley to Deseret News: Voters are ‘desperate for another choice’ (Deseret News)
• Nikki Haley to Utah Republicans: Where do you want the party to go? (KSL TV)
• Nikki Haley says states should have ‘full control’ of what national monuments — like Bears Ears — ‘go up or go down’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah Republican and Democratic caucuses are coming up. Here’s how they work (KSL Newsradio)

Utah news

• Comunidades Unidas zeroing in on issues of import to Latinos, immigrants (KSL)
• New Prison, New Problems: Inside the effort to staff Utah’s new $1 billion prison facility (KSL TV)
• Tami Pyfer recognized as an Emerson fellow, receives grant to further promote The Dignity Index (Cache Valley Daily)
• Former Gov. Herbert advisor Tami Pyfer is named an Emerson Collective fellow (AP/KUER)

Crime/Courts

• Charges filed after infant in unlicensed West Jordan daycare found with fractured skull (Fox13)

Education

• Application process for the Utah Fits All Scholarship now open (KSL Newsradio)
• Alpine School District board hears first presentation on new feasibility study of reconfiguration (Daily Herald)

Environment

• No consensus on Kane Creek mining allegations (Salt Lake Tribune)

Housing

• Utah builders have had a boom in town homes. Here’s why. (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• Humorously morose comedian Richard Lewis, who recently starred on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ dies at 76 (AP)
• What would happen without a Leap Day? More than you might think (AP)

Political news

• Mitch McConnell will step down as Senate minority leader in November (NPR)
• Sens. Lee, Romney respond to Sen. McConnell’s retirement news (Deseret News)
• Judges in Trump-related cases face unprecedented wave of threats (Reuters)
• Supreme Court to hear arguments in Trump immunity case in April (NPR)

Election news

• Biden and Trump are both at the border today, staking out ground on a key 2024 issue (NPR) 

Ukraine 🇺🇦

• Putin threatens nuclear response to NATO troops if they go to Ukraine (Washington Post) 

Israel 🇮🇱

• Palestinian deaths in Gaza pass 30,000 as witnesses say Israeli forces fire on crowd waiting for aid (AP)

Number of the Day

News Releases

First round of Governing Group endorsements announced

In its commitment to redefine Utah politics by promoting civility, respect, and solution-oriented leadership, the Governing Group PAC, under the stewardship of former Utah State Representative Becky Edwards and a distinguished leadership team, today proudly announces its first round of candidate endorsements for the upcoming elections. The 12 endorsed candidates collectively represent 12 counties across the state. 

Endorsed Candidates: 

• Brent Strate for State Board of Education District 3 
• Amanda Bollinger for State Board of Education District 9 
• Randy Boothe for State Board of Education District 13 
• Kristan Nortan for State Board of Education District 15 
• Alisa Allred Mercer for Davis School Board District 1 
• Scott Cuthbertson for State Senate District 15 
• Daniela Harding for State House District 16 
• Ray Ward for State House District 19 
• Dave Parke for State House District 30 
• Tracy Miller for State House District 45 
• Travis Hoban for State House District 61 
• Colleen Bonner for Wasatch County Council (Read More)

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Mar. 1 — Legislative session ends 
• Mar. 5 — Caucus night
• Mar. 20 — Utah Foundation Annual Lunch, 11:45 am-1:30 pm; Grand America, Purchase tickets here
• Apr. 20 — United Utah Partyconvention
• Apr. 27 — State GOP and Democratic Conventions

On This Day In History 

• 1504 - Christopher Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians.
• 1692 - Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are arrested and charged with witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. 
• 1736 - Ann Lee, the American founder of the Shakers, is born in Manchester, England. 
• 1892 - Augusta Savage is born. She was an African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She worked for equal rights for African Americans in the arts. 
• 1904 - Theodore Roosevelt, appoints 7-man Panama Canal Commission to proceed with completing a canal at the Isthmus.
• 1936 - Franklin D. Roosevelt signs 2nd Neutrality Act.
• 1940 - Hattie McDaniel becomes first Black actress to win an Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind.
• 1968 - The President’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders—known as the Kerner Commission—releases its report, condemning racism as the primary cause of the recent surge of riots. The report, which declared that “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal,” called for expanded aid to African American communities in order to prevent further racial violence and polarization.
• 1996 - Serb forces withdraw from Sarajevo, ending the siege after 1,425 days, the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.
• 2004 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising.
• 2012 - Davy Jones, English musician (The Monkees), dies from heart attack at 66.
• 2020 - US and Taliban sign deal to end 18-year war in Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar. US and NATO allies will withdraw their troops after 14 months if deal is kept.

Quote of the Day

“The world is on fire, literally. You’ve got a war in Europe. You’ve got a war in the Middle East. You’ve got North Korea testing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the U.S. You’ve got China doing cyber attacks on our infrastructure in Russia. And Russia is doing blinding satellites that will keep us from saying anything that’s coming or any cyber attacks that they do to us. This is the time when America needs a leader that has moral clarity.” 

—Nikki Haley

On the Punny Side

Why do leap years never get bored?
They always have an extra day of fun. 

– Advertise With Us –

Subscribers may receive special messages with information about new features, special offers, or public policy messages from clients and advertisers.