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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.

 

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Situational Analysis | June 14, 2024

It's Friday and Flag Day. 🇺🇸

Happy birthday tomorrow to Rep. Jason Kyle! 🎉 🎂 🎈

And Happy Father's Day on Sunday to all the dads out there!

What you need to know

  • Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy’s three House colleagues endorsed her reelection Thursday morning less than two weeks before the embattled congresswoman faces off against the Sen. Mike Lee-endorsed candidate, Colby Jenkins. “She has been a tremendous partner in our efforts to represent Utah’s interests," said Reps. John Curtis, Burgess Owens and Blake Moore in a joint statement.

Rapid relevance

On the Hill Today

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • ‘Dedicated public servant’: Utah leaders mourn passing of former state Sen. Peter Knudson (KSL)
  • Burgess Owens leads legislation to rename the Santaquin Post Office in honor of fallen officer (Deseret News)
  • Jay Evensen: How Trump would have you tipping even more (Deseret News)
  • ‘Taxpayer-funded child abuse’: What a congressional investigation found happens at youth treatment centers in Utah and across the country (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • West Valley planners get an earful about Redwood Drive-In and swap meet (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Utah changed its social media laws to avoid constitutional issues, but legal challenges persist (Daily Herald)

Election news

  • Brad Wilson appears to be pulling back in U.S. Senate race (KSL)

Utah news

  • Lt. Gov. Henderson asks for support for former US Rep. Mia Love, who's battling brain cancer (KSL)
  • Utah immigrant advocacy group aiding more and more new arrivals (KSL)
  • Utah farmers say a strong winter has led to an amazing crop season (KSL TV)

Olympic news

  • France’s 2030 Winter Olympics bid ‘on hold’ pending national elections, IOC says (Deseret News)

Business/Tech

  • Building trust in a tech-driven world: Gabb is leading the way of child-safe technology (Deseret News)
  • Artists on Instagram are leaving the platform in droves in favor of Cara (Deseret News)

Crime/Courts

  • What's the future of solitary confinement? (Deseret News)
  • Provo murder conviction overturned, appeals court rule Jerad Gourdin’s attorneys failed to vet DNA evidence (ABC4)

Culture

  • Juneteenth: What it is and how to celebrate it (Deseret News)
  • ‘Inside Out’ helped me better understand my children. ‘Inside Out 2′ helped me better understand myself (Deseret News)

Education

  • Would revoking colleges’ tax-exempt status, taxing endowments, check antisemitism? (Deseret News)
  • USU opens Advanced Nursing Education Suite on campus (Cache Valley Daily)
  • USU Researchers Assist with Research to Prepare NASA for Mars Mission (USU Today)
  • More Than 1,400 High School Students Attend 2024 USU Leadership Conference (USU Today)

Environment

  • Prescribed burn in Beaver transitioned to wildfire status (KUTV)
  • Opinion: The economic worth of water conservation in Utah (Deseret News)

Family

  • Opinion: Writing fatherhood’s missing manual (Deseret News)
  • Family of 6-year-old Utah girl paralyzed by stray bullet struggles to find new normal (ABC4)
  • New data shows the state of abortions in Utah (Fox13)
  • Men’s brains change when they become dads (Washington Post)

Health

  • Editorial Board: What we can learn from some European nations about gender-related treatment for minors (Deseret News)
  • Perspective: Ketamine, Matthew Perry and the coming wave of psychedelic medicine (Deseret News)

Housing

  • Despite homelessness spiking, Utah officials say they are moving in the right direction (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Salt Lake City residents push for smaller lot sizes to address housing shortage (KUTV)
 

National Headlines

General

  • US Navy faces its most intense combat since World War II against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels (AP)
  • An account of Jesus as a boy is decoded from an ancient papyrus scrap (Washington Post)
  • Ex-US Customs officer convicted of letting drug-filled cars enter from Mexico (Politico)
  • Swifties set off earthquake sensors again. These songs made the biggest stir. (Washington Post)

Political news

  • Abortion pill access is unchanged after the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision. (AP)
  • Justice Thomas took more trips paid for by GOP donor than he disclosed, senator says (NPR)

Election news

  • Trump turns 78, spotlighting age as central issue in 2024 race (Reuters)
  • Trump offers CEOs a cut to corporate taxes. Biden’s team touts his support for global alliances (AP)
  • Biden says he will not pardon Hunter or commute his sentence (Washington Post)
  • Trump unites fractious Capitol Hill GOP behind him as November looms (Washington Post)
  • Trump’s private demand to Johnson: Help overturn my conviction (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • A peace summit for Ukraine opens in Switzerland, but Russia won’t be taking part (AP)
  • I married the love of my life in a Ukrainian bunker - two days later, he was dead (BBC)

Israel and Gaza

  • Poll shows rise in support by Palestinians for armed struggle (Reuters)
  • Gazans search for food and water as summer’s heat arrives (Washington Post)

World news

  • UN Security Council demands halt to siege of Sudan city of 1.8 million people (Reuters)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, June 14, 2024

 

News Releases

Congressmen John Curtis, Blake Moore, and Burgess Owens endorse Celeste Maloy for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District

Utah Members of Congress John Curtis, Blake Moore, and Burgess Owens released the following statement endorsing Celeste Maloy for Utah’s Second Congressional District:

“We are proud to endorse Rep. Celeste Maloy as she fights for Utah’s values in Congress. She has been a tremendous partner in our efforts to represent Utah’s interests, prioritize constituent service, tackle the reckless Biden agenda, and facilitate our state’s rapid economic growth. From fighting to give Utahns more control over our own land and resources, to securing the border, and to upholding religious freedom and the Second Amendment, Celeste is a thoughtful, genuine champion of the people who live in the Second District. We are thankful to serve alongside such a bold, caring, and passionate Utahn who is striving to make our state and country a better place for the next generation.”


Owens honors Utah Sgt. Bill Hooser

Congressman Burgess Owens (UT-04) introduced legislation to rename the Santaquin Post Office in honor of Sergeant Bill Dean Hooser of the Santaquin City Police Department, who was killed in the line of duty on May 5, 2024. Owens is joined by original co-sponsors, Representatives John Curtis (UT-03), Blake Moore (UT-01), and Celeste Maloy (UT-01). (Read More)


Boosting Utah’s homeownership affordability

Housing affordability is historically low, but boosting it is not out of the realm of possibility. The Utah Foundation’s most recent research, “Boosting Utah’s Homeownership Affordability,” provides numerous strategies that public, private, and nonprofit policymakers can use to help Utahns obtain the dream. (Read More)


Romney, colleagues introduce bill to mandate E-Verify, eliminate key driver of illegal immigration

U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), and JD Vance (R-OH) today introduced the Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2024, legislation that would require all employers to use the federal electronic E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility of their workforce. The senators’ bill comes on the heels of President Biden’s recent attempt to restrict asylum claims, which does not affect the millions of illegal aliens who have already entered the United States since he took office and leaves in place the employment magnet that incentivizes illegal immigration. (Read More)


Utah Valley University appoints new Associate Vice President of Commercialization

Cameron Archibald, a faculty member in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University (UVU), was hired as the university’s new associate vice president of commercial and auxiliary services on June 10. His focus will be to diversify the university’s revenue sources.

Archibald has served as a Dean’s Executive in Residence at UVU’s Woodbury School of Business since 2023, overseeing the growth of the school’s real estate program. Additionally, he is the president of Teton Strategy Group, a consulting firm that provides corporate finance and strategic expertise to family offices, investment funds, and growth companies. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2024-06-14 at 6.32.01 AM
 

Upcoming

  • June 18-19 — Interim Days
  • June 25 — Primary Election Day
  • August 14 â€” Hatch Foundation "Titan of Public Service" recognizing Sen. John Thune, Grand America
  • August 20-21 — Interim Days
  • September 17-18 — Interim Days
  • October 15-16 — Interim Day
  • November 19-20 — Interim Days
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1775 - Birthday of the U.S. Army
  • 1777 - Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes
  • 1811 - Harriet Elisabeth Beecher (Stowe) is born. She went on to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
  • 1877 - The first Flag Day is observed
  • 1940 - Germany invades Paris
  • 1953 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the commencement address at Dartmouth and addressed Senator McCarthy’s push to “get rid of” books by “subversive” authors. “Don’t join the book burners,” he said. “Don’t think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book.
  • 1970 - Cheryl Adrienne Brown becomes the first Black woman to compete in the Miss America pageant after winning Miss Iowa
  • 2017 - Five people, including Rep. Steve Scalise, shot at a charity baseball game.

Quote of the Day

“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
― Abraham Lincoln


On the Punny Side

What rock group has only four members and none of them sing?

Mount Rushmore.

 

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