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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 editor@utahpolicy.com.

 

Situational Analysis | Jan. 12, 2024

It's Friday and National Curried Chicken Day. Don't mind if I do.

Also, Happy birthday to Rep. Ken Ivory! 🎉 🎂 🎈

Top of Mind Today

  • The U.S. and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on Thursday, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, U.S. officials said. Houthi rebels vow fierce retaliation for the retaliation.

Rapid Relevance 

On the Hill Today

 

Carlos Boozer is back!

Join us Jan. 31 for an exciting evening featuring Carlos Boozer. Hear his captivating story and a lively Q&A session, as well as a memorable photo opportunity. Purchase tickets today.

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Utah government in the shadows? The Utah Transparency Project shines the light for you. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Here’s what the Utah Legislature’s Republican majority wants to do during the 2024 session (Deseret News)
  • Utah lawmakers say they’re creating national model for ‘positive’ DEI alternative (Deseret News)
  • Utah bill rethinks university diversity programs, would expand offerings to all students in need (KSL)
  • Rep. Burgess Owens visits the border and has harsh criticism for President Biden (Deseret News)
  • Here’s why Utah should not have a full-time, professional Legislature (Deseret News)
  • Utah Inland Port Authority foes push for audit; organization head laments 'misinformation' (KSL)
  • Utah lawmaker introduces transgender bathroom bill with requirement for unisex facilities (KSL)
  • Bill would keep landlord honest about apartment for rent (KSL Newsradio)
  • Compromise struck on Utah bill giving tenants more notice of rent increases (KUTV)
  • ‘If you build it, they will come’: Utah lawmakers submit resolution to support MLB team (ABC4)
  • A Utah lawmaker offers an 'out of the box' idea for child care (Fox13)
  • Cox, business leaders express concern and optimism about Southern Utah economic future at ‘What’s Up Down South’ summit (St. George News)
  • Rather than sue, what if Utah lawmakers simply told Washington ‘Heck no’? (KUER)

Election news

  • Lt. Gov. Henderson, state leaders, endorse Nikki Haley for president (Deseret News)
  • An updated look inside the races to watch in Utah’s 2024 election season (Deseret News)
  • Deidre Henderson, Abby Cox: Why we want Nikki Haley for president (Deseret News)

Utah news

  • How are Utah’s women and girls faring? (Deseret News)
  • Angela Dunn, who guided Utah through early pandemic, leaving SLCo Health for CDC (Deseret News)
  • $10 million defamation lawsuit filed against small Millard County newspaper (Salt Lake Tribune)

Crime/Courts

  •  Wrongful death lawsuit filed against Granite School District (KSL Newsradio)

Education

  • Opinion: Learning about diversity is a crucial outcome for Utah students. Educators must facilitate that. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

  • Snow squalls, extreme cold wallop Utah with this latest storm (Deseret News)

Family

  • Brad Wilcox: I’m back in Utah because saving the ‘family miracle’ is more pressing than ever (Deseret News)

Health

  • Does ancient DNA explain why more northern Europeans develop MS? (Deseret News)
  • Coalition releases master plan to improve behavioral health services in Utah (KSL)

Housing

  • Volunteers needed to interview every person experiencing homelessness in Utah (ABC4)
  • What will Utah lawmakers do for housing, homelessness in 2024? (Daily Herald)
  • A Warm Welcome: Utah's five goals to reduce homelessness (UPR)
 

National Headlines

General

  • A Johns Hopkins newsletter said English-speaking, middle-class Christians enjoy unearned privilege. The definition was quickly retracted (Deseret News)
  • Housing costs, energy prices fuel rise in U.S. inflation (Deseret News)
  • Amazon’s Audible is laying off 5% of its workforce, marking another round of job cuts in tech (AP)
  • Ohio woman who miscarried at home won’t be charged with corpse abuse, grand jury decides (AP)
  • Education Dept. fast-tracks forgiveness for borrowers with smaller student loans (NPR)
  • Florida law led school district to pull 1,600 books — including dictionaries (Washington Post)

Political news

  • Editorial Board: Budget compromise is good but fiscal nightmare still looms (Deseret News)
  • Hunter Biden shows up to a House hearing about holding him in contempt of Congress (Deseret News)
  • Will families get more money from the child tax credit? Why businesses should hope so (Deseret News)
  • House Republican revolt scrambles plan to prevent government shutdown (Washington Post)

Election news

  • Donald Trump says he is ‘not going to be a dictator’ if reelected (Deseret News)
  • $300 million worth of ads have hit voters ahead of the first GOP primary contests (NPR)
  • Nikki Haley tops Ron DeSantis for the first time in Iowa poll (Washington Post)
  • Two Iowa counties an hour apart show America’s growing political divide (Washington Post)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • The UK prime minister visits Kyiv to announce more support for Ukraine in its war with Russia (AP)
  • She’s 16. The war in Ukraine wrecked her city — and her childhood. (Washington Post)

Israel 🇮🇱

  • Israel defends itself at the UN’s top court against allegations of genocide against Palestinians (AP)
  • Seeking cash, Hamas turns to allies experienced in ‘financial jihad’ (Washington Post)

World news

  • A cluster of lost cities in Ecuadorian Amazon that lasted 1,000 years has been mapped (AP)
  • Taiwan goes to the polls tomorrow. The election could reshape international affairs. (New York Times)
  • Once-peaceful Ecuador enters a new era: ‘We are in a state of war’ (Washington Post)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, Jan. 12, 2024

 

News Releases

USBE fails to repeal R277-328, Educational Equity in Schools

During its January board meeting, the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) discussed R277-328, Educational Equity in Schools. The Board received a large amount of public comment on this item from the community. The repeal of the rule — proposed by Board Member Kerry, Board Member Green, and Board Member Boggess — failed in a 7-8 vote. Further amendments and actions to R277-328, Draft 1, were considered by the Board, which was ultimately deferred to the Board’s February meeting. The original version of the rule can be found on the USBE website.


Nikki Haley unveils Utah leadership, led by Lt. Gov, First Lady, and Senate Majority Leader

As Nikki Haley’s momentum continues to surge, her campaign announced her Utah state leadership team, made up of Republican heavyweights, including First Lady Abby Cox, Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, Senate Majority Whip Ann Millner, and many others. The Utah Presidential Preference Poll is on Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Read More)


Utah Republican Party announces final qualified presidential candidates

Filing for the Utah Republican Presidential Preference Poll closed on December 15, 2023. The final list of candidates who have qualified and remain on the ballot is as follows (in alphabetical order): (Read More)

  • Ryan Binkley
  • Ron DeSantis
  • Nikki Haley
  • Asa Hutchinson
  • Vivek Ramaswamy
  • Donald Trump

Utah Senate and House Democratic leaders release statement in response to HB 261 Equal Opportunity Initiatives

Utah Senate Democratic Leader Luz Escamilla and House of Representatives Democratic Leader Angela Romero issue the following statement: “Today, H.B 261 Equal Opportunity Initiatives, was released. As we work with our legal counsel to dissect its contents–including its potential unintended consequences–we cannot overlook the ramifications this could have on the overall economic prosperity and quality of life in our state. It is crucial to recognize that this bill transcends race and ethnicity; it is about limiting opportunities for all Utahns. The impacts of this bill stretch far beyond higher education, directly affecting our public schools and all government entities. It is crucial to understand the message this bill sends to our communities, many of which have been historically marginalized and underrepresented." (Read More)


Rep. Moore, Gluesenkamp Perez introduce legislation to reform Congressional budget process

U.S. Representatives Blake Moore (R-Utah) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) introduced the Comprehensive Congressional Budget Act (CCBA) of 2024, which would reform the current federal budgeting process and establish a more inclusive, comprehensive, and efficient process that requires contributions from committees with direct spending or revenue jurisdiction to make a federal budget that works better for the American people. (Read More)


Maloy introduces bipartisan, bicameral ‘HYDRO Act’ to reduce electricity costs during drought

Today, Representative Celeste Maloy (R-UT) was joined by Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) in introducing the bipartisan, bicameral Hydropower Delivery Rate-reduction Offset (HYDRO) Act to reduce rates when certain Buruea of Reclamation hydropower facilities aren’t producing the contracted amount of electricity due to drought and low reservoir levels. (Read More)


Utah addresses need for more accessible, equitable, and aligned behavioral health services

Utah is working to address a growing behavioral health crisis. While the state is leading the nation on many behavioral health innovations, inter­­ventions, and reforms, high suicide rates, untreated anxiety and depression, serious mental illness, and drug-related deaths are all signs of the need for more accessible, equitable, aligned, and effective behavioral health services. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2024-01-12 at 7.14.05 AM

 

Upcoming

  • Jan. 12 — Utah economic outlook & public policy summit, 8:30 am - 1:30 pm, Grand America Hotel. Register here
  • Jan. 16 — Legislative session begins
  • Jan 17 — Local Officials Day on the Hill
  • Mar. 1 — Legislative session ends 
  • Mar. 5 — Caucus night
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1820 - Caroline Severance is born. She co-founded the American Woman Suffrage Association and was the first woman to register to vote in California (1911).
  • 1888 - The “Schoolchildren’s Blizzard” kills 235 people, many of them children on their way home from school across the Northwest Plains. The storm came without warning, with a temperature drop of 100 degrees in 24 hours. 
  • 1904 - Henry Ford sets a land speed record of 91.37 mph.
  • 1920 - James Farmer is born. The American civil rights activist co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality and worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
  • 1922 - Ira Hamilton Hays is born. During World War II, Hays and five other U.S. Marines raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima during the six week siege on the island. Photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the event on film and the photo would later be used to create the Marine War Memorial at Arlington, Virginia.
  • 1932 - Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D-Arkansas) is the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She becomes the first woman to chair a Senate Committee and the first to serve as the Senate’s presiding officer
  • 1964 - Jeff Bezos is born.
  • 1967 - The first person is cryogenically preserved. Upon his death, psychology professor Dr. James H. Bedford of California achieved half his dream of being placed in cryogenic suspension. It remains to be seen whether or not he will see the other half of his dream and survive to be re-animated.
  • 1986 - Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz launches into space aboard the space shuttle Columbia 7 and becomes the first Hispanic person in space.
  • 1991 - Congress gives George H. W. Bush authority to wage war against Iraq
  • 2010 - Massive earthquake strikes Haiti, killing an estimated 316,000 and displacing a million people. The country has yet to fully recover.

Quote of the Day

“Utah is ready for Nikki Haley. She’s proven to be the steady hand on the wheel who can deliver results on everything from immigration to jobs. Nikki Haley will make America Strong and proud again."

—Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson


On the Punny Side

I recently took a pole and found out that over 90% of people in the tent were angry when it collapsed.

 

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