Situational Analysis | July 6, 2021

It's Tuesday  - welcome back to reality. Today is International Kissing Day and National Fried Chicken Day - something for everyone.

You probably knew that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within 5 hours of each other on July 4, 1826. But did you know that five years later, another US president died on July 4? Yep. James Monroe. 41 years after that, in 1872, future president Calvin Coolidge was born. 

Be in the Know

1. Governor Spencer Cox appeared on CBS's 'Face the Nation.'  He spoke about Utah's rise in COVID-19 cases, how 95% of Utah’s recent COVID-19 deaths have been among the unvaccinated and how "unfortunate it is that politics is becoming religion in our country."

2. In potentially related news, this weekend marked the first large-scale events after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, with large, in-person events occurring around the state. The Provo Freedom Festival estimates some 300,000 in attendance at the Grand Parade - one-tenth of the state.

3. Theresa Dear, a national board member of the NAACP, writes in the Deseret News that "America is not perfect, but she is certainly beautiful."

4. After 16 days, the $10,000 Utah Treasure Hunt is over. The treasure chest containing the cash was recovered at approximately 3 p.m. on Monday near Heughs Canyon Trail in Holladay by police officer and father of three, Andy Swanger of Draper. Now, they're going to Disneyland.

Utah Headlines

General

• At the Freedom Festival parade, Utahns embrace a return to normal. More than 300,000 attend parade celebrating Independence Day (Fox13)
• At 100 years old, Utah’s Candy Bomber takes to the skies once more (Deseret News)
• Andrew Stoddard: My LDS faith leads me to support the Equality Act (Salt Lake Tribune)
• For Utah swimmer Rhyan White, the Olympics wasn’t so much a question of if, but when (Deseret News)
• Becky Jacobs: I dug into Utah’s reputation as the worst state for women. Here’s what I found. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Brick by brick, American Fork duo advancing on Fox show 'LEGO Masters' (Daily Herald)
• Revolution’s daughters know the true meaning of July Fourth (St. George News)

Politics

• Why did the U.S. end up with a strong federal government? Partly because the founding fathers were dads, says a new BYU study (KUER)
• Will the Utah independent redistricting committee's maps matter? (KSL)
• Federal poverty guideline methods are outdated, but experts disagree on how to fix them. Policy wonks, academics grapple with how to define who’s really poor (Deseret News)

COVID Corner

• Utah misses July 4th goal of 70% partially vaccinated, falling about 8% short. (ABC4)
• Summit County has largely avoided the state’s COVID surge (Park Record)
• Fauci: More than 99% of people who died from COVID-19 in June were not vaccinated (The Hill)
• Utah remains hot spot for delta variant; Cox gives national interview about rising cases (KUTV)

Drought/Wildfires/Heat

• Utah prepares for water shortages in ongoing drought emergency. Outdoor watering could be cut next year if drought continues (Fox13)
• Start a fire in Utah? Be ready to pay (Deseret News)
• Wildlife, air quality at risk as Great Salt Lake nears low (Washington Post)
• Drought forces Grand Junction to dip into Colorado River (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Salt Lake City heat records are on a blistering pace (Fox13)
• Out-of-town visitors at Airbnb in LaVerkin cause blaze with fireworks, officials say (St. George News)
• How Bad Are U.S. Wildfires? Even Hawaii Is Battling a Surge. (NPR)

Elections

• Tribes say U.S. Supreme Court ruling further restricts voting access (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

• Utah group questions whether Curtis’ climate caucus is way to ease pressure on Republicans (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Recycling's dirty truth (PBS Utah)

Housing

• Mental health advocate brings lived experience with homelessness to Utah council (KUER)
• 5 takeaways from Utah’s rental market squeeze (Deseret News)
• Biden’s new dilemma: How to slash housing costs for low-income borrowers (Politico)

Local Communities

• Mayors of Utah Valley: Increased fire danger underscores Eagle Mountain’s UFA use (Daily Herald)

National Headlines

General

• Biden stresses unity in July 4 remarks: 'America is coming back together' (The Hill)
• VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' descendants deliver his 'Fourth Of July' speech (NPR)
• Poll: 62 percent of Americans approve of Biden's job on pandemic, vaccine hesitancy remains (The Hill)
• ‘Rampant issues’: Black farmers are still left out at USDA, are far behind in obtaining grants and loans. (Politico)
• At the peak of the opioid prescribing blitz, in 2012, physicians wrote 81 opioid prescriptions per 100 Americans. What if America tackled that crisis? (The Economist)
• 'Horrific': Record-breaking Pacific Northwest heat wave blamed for nearly 100 deaths in Oregon (USA Today)
• Tragic: Columbus goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, 24, died of chest trauma after being hit by an errant fireworks mortar blast (CBS)

Politics

• Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the moral failure of Republicans and the Big Lie. “If you’re scared to tell the truth to people, I understand, but you need to find a different line of work.” (New York Times)
• White House says more than half of its staffers are women (CNN)
• Just over half (53%) of Republicans say they have at least some friends who are Democrats. About a third of Democrats (32%) say they have Republican friends. (Washington Post)
• Far-right extremist finds an ally in an Arizona congressman (New York Times)
• Senate appropriations earmark requests start rolling in (Roll Call)

Courts

• US Supreme Court rebuffs appeal by florist who spurned gay couple (KSL)
• Supreme Court ruling opens door to more campaign finance challenges (The Hill)

Education

• Anti-critical race theory laws are un-American (New York Times)

Elections

• Rural voters in Georgia came out to support Trump “in numbers we had never seen, but it was at best a zero-sum game because we lost it all in the suburbs,” said GOP strategist Chip Lake. (Washington Post)
• JD Vance says he regrets past criticism of Trump (The Hill)
• In ramp-up to 2022 midterms, Republican candidates center pitches on Trump’s false election claims (Washington Post)

Energy

• Gasoline is up and GOP sees an easy target: Biden (Politico)

Environment

• An Exxon lobbyist thought he was in a job interview. Instead, it was a secretly recorded Zoom call by Greenpeace UK. (Washington Post)
• Tropical storm Elsa pounds Cuba, on track to Florida (Reuters)

Immigration

• Biden administration formally launches effort to return deported veterans to U.S., saying their removal "failed to live up to our highest values." (Washington Post)

International

• Canada hunts for survivors of a fire that destroyed a small town. The roughly 1,000 residents of Lytton had to abandon their homes with just a few minutes notice Wednesday evening after suffering the previous day under a record high of 121.2 Fahrenheit. (NPR)
• "They are going to slaughter us": Afghan interpreter speaks out as Taliban advance (CBS)
• More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers flee into Tajikistan as Taliban extends control, Tajik officials say (Washington Post)

Security

• The U.S. left the airfield near Kabul by slipping away at night without telling the new commander, Afghan military officials say. Looters ransacked the barracks. (LA Times)
• Scale, details of massive ransomware attack emerge. An affiliate of the notorious REvil gang infected thousands of victims in at least 17 countries. (Politico)

Business Headlines

• Baby Doge coin just spiked like Dogecoin (Deseret News)
• Utah AI/biotech innovator Recursion Pharmaceuticals on a roll, doubling downtown HQ (Deseret News)
• The ticking debt bomb in China’s $18.1 trillion bond market (Bloomberg)
• Bitcoin swings as Chinese regulators take action against a company that was allegedly providing cryptocurrency-related services (Bloomberg)
• Kaseya says up to 1,500 businesses compromised in massive ransomware attack (CNN)

Policy News

Curtis, Bilirakis advocate to protect underage users on social media

This week, Representatives John Curtis (R-UT), member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), House E&C Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Ranking Member, sent a strong message to Big Social Media Tech about underage users on platforms that violates terms of service. In letters addressed to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and owner of Instagram [LINK to letter]; Evan Spiegel, Snap. Inc. CEO [LINK to letter]; and Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO [LINK to letter], the lawmakers pressed to ensure underage users cannot access their sites after reports surfaced of high percentages of kids under thirteen accessing these sites and viewing potentially dangerous content. Read More

Number of the Day

Deep Dive: Say hello to the new Department of Government Operations

By Jenney Rees

One of the goals of the Cox/Henderson administration is to streamline and modernize state government. As part of this effort, the administration is consolidating state agencies that provide services to similar customers in order to remove redundancies and improve the customer experience.

Earlier this year, the legislature passed SB181, which consolidated the Departments of Administrative Services, Technology Services, and Human Resource Management into one new agency, the Department of Government Operations. This new department includes nine divisions – Archives and Records Services, Administrative Rules, Finance, Fleet Operations, Facilities Construction and Management, Human Resource Management, Purchasing and General Services, Risk Management, and Technology Services. on July 1, the consolidation became official.

These divisions all provide support services to other state agencies, enabling them to meet their stated mission. Combining these agencies into one department provides an opportunity to break down silos and find better and more efficient ways to deliver the services on which state agencies rely.

For example, currently the onboarding process for a new state employee requires reaching out separately to Human Resource Management for paperwork and training, to Facilities Construction and Management for access to buildings, and to Technology Services for computers and system access. Under the new, unified structure, will we be able to provide each agency a single point of contact who can coordinate with the various Government Operations divisions behind the scenes to make sure new employees have what they need to start on day one.

As the executive director of this new department, I look forward to working within Government Operations to improve the services we provide. As we analyze our service offerings, we will implement strategies that align with our core values – Service, Employee Engagement, Accountability, and Trust. Our employees are already identifying new ways to collaborate on innovative solutions that modernize the delivery of government services and improve customer experiences.

We are meeting with leaders from other agencies to hear their feedback so that our efforts are focused on their specific needs. In addition to the onboarding example provided above, we will be evaluating all the services we provide and structuring cross-divisional teams to look at the needs of each state agency holistically in order to offer solutions that are responsive, timely, and provided at the best value.

Our desire is to be a trusted and valued resource for state employees, elected officials, and Utah citizens. We are committed to doing our part to help maintain Utah’s status as one of the best managed states in the nation. We have a lot to accomplish over the next few years and are ready to get to work.

Jenney Rees is the executive director of the Department of Government Operations and the former mayor of Cedar Hills

Upcoming

• Preparing for a New Future: Legislative updates and trends with Rep. Brian King and Senator Todd Weiler – July 8 @ 10 am Register here
• Securing the American Dream: A conversation with Tim Scott presented by the Hatch Foundation – Aug 11 @ noon. Register here
• Utah Foundation Annual Luncheon with Shaylyn Romney Garrett – Sept 23 @ 12 pm. Register here

On This Day In History

From History.com

• 1189 - Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England, upon the death of King Henry II
• 1907 Frida Kahlo is born. The Mexican painter explored questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender and race in Mexican society in a bold, distinctive style
• 1921 - Nancy Reagan is born.
• 1931 - Singer and actor Della Reese (Touched by an Angel) is born.
• 1933 - Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game is held
• 1942 - Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in After House, Amsterdam
• 1944 - Fire engulfs a circus big top in Hartford, Connecticut, killing 167, two-thirds of them children
• 1945 - Nicaragua becomes 1st nation to ratify the Charter of the United Nations
• 1946 - George W. Bush is born.

Wise Words

"Feminism is the ability to choose what you want to do."
-Nancy Reagan

Lighter Side

Tanned, relaxed, and unshaven, I landed at the Denver airport after returning from my bucolic Caribbean vacation. As the customs agent handed my passport back to me, she cheerily welcomed me home by declaring, “Back to reality for you!” 

—Bruce Neal in the Reader's Digest

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