A Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon stamp? Double committee times today. Also, Trump and Putin have a 'long talk' about Ukraine
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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 | Feb. 13, 2025

It's Thursday and Galentine's/Palentine's Day!

There are 793 bills now available 

Three things today:

  •  SB151 by Sen. Don Ipson would give Utah residents the opportunity to contribute to the Statewide Hunger Relief Fund” on their income tax filing. The funds would go to the Utah Food Bank to help alleviate hunger in Utah. This bill has passed the Senate and will be heard in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee at 8:00 a.m.
  • SB173 by Sen. Luz Escamilla would provide free breakfast and lunch to all students in a public school. It would also provide parents the opportunity to opt their children out of the program. This bill will be heard in the Senate Education Committee at 8:00 a.m.
  • HR4 is a resolution detailing some of the accomplishments of Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, including being the first female state senator elected in the United States and asks the US Postal Service to issue a commemorative stamp in her honor. This bill will be heard in the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee at 2:00 p.m.

On the Hill Today, Day 24 of 45 

 

Utah Headlines

Legislative session

  • Red Bull to bring high-flying soapbox derby to Utah Capitol grounds (KSL)
  • Could Utah’s inland ports help provide low-income housing? What a new bill would do (Deseret News)

Business and Labor

  • Labor leaders are exploring a referendum to repeal Legislature’s anti-union bill (Salt Lake Tribune)

Economic Development

  • Utah Inland Port Authority bill sent to Senate floor despite opposition (KSL)

Education

  • The viral spark behind Utah’s trans dorm bill (State Street podcast)
  • Opinion: Utah legislators’ lives demonstrate the impact of public investment in education (Deseret News)

Government Operations

  • Lawmaker wants to axe instructions to ‘favor public access’ in records cases (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Derek Monson: Election law amendments bill requires changes to reflect constitutional principle and evidence (Deseret News)

Judiciary

  • More Justices? Utah’s Supreme Court may expand under newly opened bill (ABC4)

Law Enforcement

  • Could Salt Lake City lose funding if it doesn't work with state police on crime? (KSL)
  • Utah lawmakers push for harsher penalties as gangs recruit children for violent crimes (KUTV)
  • A third of West Valley crashes involve unlicensed drivers. What will lawmakers do? (Deseret News)

Natural Resources

  • Proposed Cottonwood Canyons state parks conversion comes with $61M price tag (KUTV)

Other Utah News

Politics

  • Salt Lake County Council approves new sales tax to fund jail, transportation improvements (KSL)
  • St. George really (really) loves its paved trails. The numbers don’t lie (KUER)
  • Rep. Mike Kennedy pushes to expand work requirements for SNAP assistance (Deseret News)
  • St. George mayor gives update on water security efforts amid extreme drought (KSL)

Utah news

  • Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown announces retirement (KSL)
  • New male giraffe calf born at Utah's Hogle Zoo (KUTV)
  • A Utah agency rented apartments, bought food for refugee families. Now they’re on hold (Deseret News)

Biz/Tech

  • Phone companies are developing AI bots to curb scammers and telemarketers (Cache Valley Daily)
  • Joann is closing 500 stores nationwide, here are the 3 closing in Utah (Fox13)

Crime/Courts

  • Authorities alarmed by carfentanil’s emergence in Utah (KSL TV)
  • 20-year-old connected to FLDS religion arrested for sexual crimes, said he would ‘flee the country’ (ABC4)
  • Provo therapist pleads guilty to sexually abusing patients over the course of at least 7 years (KSL TV)

Education

  • Third grade teacher comes up with way to help student with cancer not miss class (KSL TV)
  • Granite School District to study potential East Side school closures (KUTV)
  • How students at West High School can earn money while helping kitchen staff (Fox13)

Environment

  • Residents concerned about proposed mine in southern Utah's Modena Valley (Fox13)

Health

  • Utah officials confirm bird flu cases in 3 new counties (Fox13)
  • Canned tuna recalled over botulism risk (Deseret News)

Housing

  • What resources are available for renters who need help (KSL TV)
  • Davis County warming center moves to Kaysville amid resident concerns (KSL)
  • Ogden housing among 41 metro areas with inventory levels at or above pre-pandemic levels (KSL Newsradio)
 

National Headlines

General

  • US consumer inflation increases at fastest pace in nearly 1-1/2 years in January (Reuters)

Political news

  • Tulsi Gabbard confirmed to lead U.S. intelligence agency. Sens. Lee and Curtis voted for her (Deseret News)
  • Republicans release plans to advance Trump’s agenda. It includes $4.5 trillion to extend tax cuts and lifts the debt ceiling by $4 trillion (Deseret News)
  • After executive orders, Native communities fear ‘collateral damage’ to US treaty (UPR)
  • What Marbury v. Madison means for the Supreme Court — and America (AP)
  • Elon Musk's DOGE takes aim at agency that had plans of regulating X (NPR)
  • Oil and gas industry advocate picked to lead BLM (Deseret News)
  • RFK Jr. vote will come before the weekend, and several key Republicans are shifting their views (Deseret News)

Ukraine and Russia

  • Putin invited Trump to Moscow to discuss Ukraine, Kremlin says (Reuters)
  • Trump upends US Ukraine policy and says he and Putin have agreed to begin negotiations on ending war. No word on Zelenskky involvement (AP)
  • Hegseth says Ukraine cannot expect return to old borders, NATO membership (Reuters)
  • EU warns against 'dirty deal' on Ukraine after Trump-Putin phone call (Reuters)

Israel and Gaza

  • Israel calls up reservists as fears for fragile Gaza ceasefire rise (Reuters)
  • Israel threatens ‘all hell will break loose’ on Hamas in latest Gaza ceasefire crisis (AP)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, Feb. 13, 2025

 

News Releases

UVU’s International Mother Language Day brings community together

Utah Valley University (UVU) continues to celebrate the power of language by hosting its annual International Mother Language Day event on February 19 from 12:30 to 3:00 pm in the Ragan Theater. Organized by UVU’s Department of Language & Culture and Intercultural Engagement, the event is free and open to the public. (Read More)


Utah House Democrats raise concerns on H.B. 312 Criminal Justice Amendments

The Utah House Democrats express serious concerns with the passage of H.B. 312 Criminal Justice Amendments. This legislation requires that the Salt Lake County jail resolve its overcrowding issue by transporting inmates to out-of-county jails. Many of these individuals are unsheltered, and this plan could complicate treatment plans and access to homeless resources in Salt Lake County. (Read More)


Curtis calls for streamlined approval of carbon management technologies

During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) today highlighted the promising role carbon capture technologies play in supporting affordable, reliable, and clean energy production. (Read More)


UASSP announces 2025 Secondary School Principals of the Year

The Utah Association of Secondary School Principals (UASSP), whose mission is to recognize, promote, and enhance the leadership of Utah’s secondary school administrators, has selected Utah’s high school and middle level school principals of the year for 2025. The four winners were notified and presented with their awards by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson at the UASSP Mid-Winter Conference held in January. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2025-02-13 at 7.20.38 AM
 

Upcoming

  • Feb 20 â€” BioHive Live, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm, Hale Centre Theater, Sandy, Register here
  • Mar. 7 â€” Utah legislative session ends
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1633 - Galileo arrives in Rome to face charges of heresy for promoting the theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
  • 1866 - Jesse James holds up his first bank, stealing $15,000 from the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri.
  • 1906 - Pauline Frederick is born. She became a journalist, the first woman network radio correspondent (1939) and the first woman to moderate a presidential debate (1976).
  • 1917 - Exotic dancer and courtesan Mata Hari is arrested in Paris for being a German spy. She was executed by firing squad later that year.
  • 1920 - League of Nations recognizes perpetual Swiss neutrality.
  • 1935 - Bruno Richard Hauptmann found guilty of killing the Lindbergh baby
  • 1965 - Malcolm X's home in New York City  is bombed. He and his family were not hurt and he decided to keep his speaking engagement in Detroit. One week later, he was killed.
  • 1970 - The New York Stock Exchange admits its first Black member, Joseph Searles.
  • 1974 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist and Nobel Laureate, is deported from the Soviet Union to Frankfurt, West Germany and stripped of his Soviet citizenship.
  • 1977 - “Pistol” Pete Maravich becomes first Jazz All-Star.
  • 2020 - Fire in US-run orphanage kills 15 children near Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Quote of the Day

“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn


On the Punny Side

The Beach Boys walk into a bar.

"Round?"

"Round..."

"Get a round?"

"I'll get a round..."

 

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