| Students should not be forced to undress in front of other people; and you can't make false child abuse claims without consequences .png?width=1200&upscale=true&name=Utah_Policy_Logo_Email_Full%20(1).png) | 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. 7, 2025 It's Friday and National Fettucine Alfredo Day. There are 705 bills available. Happy Super Bowl weekend, to all who celebrate! Three things today: - HB262 by Rep. Cheryl Acton would require HOA board members to complete training on relevant statutes, governing documents, fiduciary duties, ethics and more every three years.
- SB105 by Sen. Jen Plumb addresses student privacy and modesty in pubic education and would prohibit requiring any student to undress in front of another person.
- HB33 by Rep. Christine Watkins would require the Division of Child and Family Services to notify law enforcement when the division determines that a person knowingly made a false report of child abuse or neglect.
On the Hill Today, Day 18 of 45 | | |
Utah Headlines Legislative session - Gustus: Tell your state senator transparency matters. Before itâs too late. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Business and Labor - Utah lawmakers vote to ban unions from bargaining with government (Deseret News)
- Economic worries hold up effort to toughen Utahâs E-Verify law (KUER)
Economic Development and Workforce Services - Should Utah veterans get a discount at state parks? Republican senators donât think so. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Education - No more ski passes for school voucher recipients? Utah bill aims to end the allowance (Salt Lake Tribune)
Energy - Utah readies itself to expand nuclear energy generation (Deseret News)
Government Operations - Attorney General Derek Brown calls for legislative backing (Deseret News)
Health and Human Services - A plan to cure the homeless overdose epidemic (Deseret News)
- Utah lawmaker pushes a BYOB bill, but itâs not about what you may think (Salt Lake Tribune)
Judiciary - Changing court rules to ban abortion? Utah Republicans are trying it again. A bill that would limit judgesâ ability to block a state law comes amid a feud between the Legislature and the judiciary over recent rulings.(Salt Lake Tribune)
Law Enforcement - Utah bill would restrict some migrants from owning or purchasing firearms (KSL)
Natural Resources - Steve Handy: Smarter permitting will benefit energy sources in Utah and boost job creation (Deseret News)
Revenue and Taxation - Proposal to ease eviction penalties in Utah dies in Senate committee (KSL TV)
- New bill regarding specialty license plates could cost Utah Historical Society millions in future revenue (KSL Newsradio)
Other Utah News Politics - Utah DEQ Director Kim Shelley leaves post (Fox13)
- Utah's agriculture commissioner announces retirement (Fox13)
Utah news - Jeffrey S. Tolk, âfirst gentlemanâ of UVU, dies at 61 (Deseret News)
Biz/Tech - OpenAIâs $500B Stargate Project eyeing Utah as potential investment target (Deseret News)
Crime/Courts - Utah gymnastics coach pleads guilty to filming children at gym and while traveling (KSL)
- Financial advisor arrested after using client info to take out loan for himself, police searching for other victims (ABC4)
Culture - Herriman anti-immigrant demonstration spurs counterprotest to 'celebrate our diverse community' (KSL)
- Venezuelans in Utah decry Trump administration decision ending deportation protections (KSL)
Education - Teens sound off on proposed law to prohibit cellphones in classrooms (Deseret News)
- Utah State president steps down, accepts position at Washington State University (Deseret News)
Environment - Extreme drought returns to parts of Utah as dry conditions intensify statewide (KSL TV)
Family - 10th annual American Family Survey shows significant increase in economic concerns for families over the past decade (Deseret News)
- As marriage and childbearing rates decline, researchers look for ways to help families (Deseret News)
- Red and blue America: How Democrats and Republicans see marriage and family differently (Deseret News)
- Is Americaâs affection for marriage dwindling? (Deseret News)
- What we learned about American families from 10 years of surveys (Deseret News)
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National Headlines General - How Western governors are complying â or not â with Trumpâs immigration orders (Deseret News)
- Search underway along Alaskaâs western coast for plane carrying 10 people. It's the third major incident in U.S. aviation in eight days. (AP)
- Employers Added 143,000 Jobs in January, and Unemployment Edged Down to 4% (Wall Street Journal)
Political news - Elon Musk emerges as Democratsâ new boogeyman in Trump 2.0 (Deseret News)
- Trumpâs trade nominee, a BYU grad, defended the presidentâs aggressive tariff strategy at confirmation hearing (Deseret News)
- Trump admin prioritizes high-marriage-rate areas for transportation funds (New York Times)
- US judge blocks Trump buyout program as 60,000 sign up to quit (Reuters)
- Senate confirms Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to lead powerful White House budget office (AP)
- Gutting USAID threatens billions of dollars for U.S. farms, businesses (Washington Post)
- Trumpâs Power Grab Defies G.O.P. Orthodoxy on Local Control (New York Times)
Ukraine and Russia - Ukraineâs Western backers will meet for arms talks as doubts over US intentions grow (AP)
Israel and Gaza - Trumpâs Gaza Plan Complicates Hoped-for Saudi-Israeli Deal (New York Times)
Other world news - Halt in US aid cripples global efforts to relieve hunger (Reuters)
- Fighting intensifies in Sudan, leaving hundreds more dead (New York Times)
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Number of the Day 
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 | Guest opinion: Utah considers a modest step in restoring federalism â and more can be done by William C. Duncan Although federal politics usually draw the most public attention, the framers of the U.S. Constitution had a different set of priorities. In the system they designed, the people of the United States are the ultimate source of authority, and responsibility is assigned to two different levels of government â the states and the nation. Utah has an opportunity to strengthen the framersâ vision with a bill aimed at restoring some of the much-needed balance between the states and Washington. For the framers, the states were more significant than the federal government. The Bill of Rights specifies that powers not âdelegated toâ the national government or prohibited âto the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.â By contrast, the powers of the national government were to be âfew and defined.â Even after the Civil War, this division was respected even as the national government was given clear authority to protect rights and liberties when states overreached... A bill being considered in this legislative session would make a necessary first step in addressing this problem. Senate Bill 198 Federal Guidance Letter Amendments, sponsored by Sen. Keven Stratton, would require that guidance materials provided by federal agencies to state officials be made publicly available online so that legislators, other state officials, and the public could see what the government was telling the states to do. This is particularly important because while this guidance is not legally binding, states face strong pressure to comply since they are regulated (and funded) by the federal agencies providing guidance materials. There is currently no requirement that this guidance be publicly disclosed, so it is not clear how much direction is being provided or what it says. While this bill is a great first start, the federalism scorecard helps to identify other areas where Utah can strengthen its part of the line in defense of federalism. (Read More)
News Releases UVU announces new Alan C. and Karen Ashton Center for Leadership and Inspiration Thanks to a generous donation from philanthropists Alan and Karen Ashton, Utah Valley University (UVU) recently acquired the coupleâs 4.6-acre property near Sundance Mountain Resort, which includes an 18,415-square-foot lodge that will be used as a university center for learning, training, and hosting. (Read More) | | |
Tweet of the Day  | | |
Upcoming - Feb 10 â Gail Miller: Making a Difference with UWLP, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm, Register here
- Feb 11 â "Heart on the Hill" Day with the American Heart Association, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm, Copper Room in the Senate Building
- Feb 12 â Navigating the 2025 Tax Reconciliation Bill webinar with the Hatch Center, 10:00 am - 11:00 am, MST, Register here
- Feb 12 â Crossing the Divide: Making an Impact in Career and Community with UWLP, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm, Register here
- Feb 20 â BioHive Live, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm, Hale Centre Theater, Sandy, Register here
- Mar. 7 â Utah legislative session ends
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On This Day In History - 1812 - A series of earthquakes causes a âfluvial tsunamiâ in the Mississippi River, causing the river to run backwards.
- 1872 - Amy Brown Lyman is born in the tiny farming community now known as Pleasant Grove, Utah. She brought social work to Utah and worked to reduce maternal and child mortality.
- 1945 - President Truman appointed Irwin C. Mollison judge of the US Customs Court, making him the first Black federal judge in the U.S.
- 1962 - Full US-Cuba embargo announced by JFK.
- 1979 - Josef Mengele, the âAngel of Death,â dies of a stroke in Brazil. His death was not verified until 1985.
- 1992 - European Union treaty signed.
- 2001 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author, aviator and bereaved mother, dies at 94
- 2002 - President George W. Bush announces plan for faith-based initiatives
- 2020 - Dr. Li Wenliang, Ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital in China died from COVID after warning the world of a mysterious pneumonia in late December 2019.
Quote of the Day "I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable."
âAnne Morrow Lindbergh
On the Punny Side When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore. When you swim in the sea and an eel bites your knee, that's a moray. | | |
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