Rep. Celeste Maloy leads challenger by 309 votes; aquarium welcomes baby penguin; and Fire Weather Watch issued during peak firework season
View in browser

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.

 

If you're a candidate in 2024 and want to advertise on UtahPolicy.com, contact Suzanne Benitez.

 

Situational Analysis | July 2, 2024

It's Tuesday and World UFO Day! 🛸

Happy birthday to Rep. Stewart Barlow! 🎈🎂 🎉

Congrats to Sen. Todd Weiler and his wife Elizabeth on the birth of their third grandchild, a little girl.

What you need to know

  • The U.S. Supreme Court rules that presidents have immunity for "official acts" but not for "unofficial acts." Reactions from Utah politicians are mixed. Utah House minority leader Angela Romero said the decision was "jarring and a true threat to our democracy," as the court "paved the way for a president to act like a king." Sen. Todd Weiler called the decision a "pragmatic and rational framework" and Sen. Mike Lee praised it as a "big win for constitutional separation of powers." 

Rapid relevance

  • Rep. Celeste Maloy currently leads challenger Colby Jenkins by just 309 votes; Loveland Living Planet Aquarium welcomes baby penguin; and Fire Weather Watch issued in midst of Utahns' Independence Day celebrations
 

Stand for Our Land

Recently, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has significantly restricted access to Utah public lands and continues to restrict access. We need you to get involved. Learn how your access is being affected and voice your concerns to the BLM. Your input will help shape the future of Utah.

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Utah politicians react to Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity (KSL)
  • Reactions pour in following Supreme Court’s Trump immunity decision (Deseret News)
  • Latter-day Saints in the U.S. disagree about Trump vs. Biden, but enjoy worship together on Sunday (Deseret News)
  • Salt Lake City officials to discuss new entertainment district ahead of council vote (KUTV)
  • Utah’s new road rage bill went into effect July 1 (ABC4)

Election news

  • Derek Monson: Utah’s primary election results raise questions about caucus-convention system (Deseret News)

Utah news

  • Deseret News and Deseret Magazine win big at 2024 Utah SPJ awards, bringing home 24 first-place awards (Deseret News)
  • Morgan Scalley named Kyle Whittingham’s successor at Utah (Deseret News)
  • Rocky Mountain Power explains huge rate hike proposal (KSL TV)
  • Opinion: Motorized access helps veterans and people with special needs experience Utah’s landscapes. I’ve seen the impact firsthand. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Business

  • Chicken Soup for the Soul files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (NPR)

Culture

  • Krispy Kreme is celebrating ‘Free-dom’ with free doughnuts all month (Deseret News)
  • That’s bussin’: What Gen Z is saying in 2024 (Deseret News)

Education

  • For new University of Utah business school dean Kurt Dirks, it's a matter of trust (Deseret News)
  • What University of Utah students had to say at last events for the cultural centers closed under anti-DEI law (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • USU scientists join national project on heat resilience (Cache Valley Daily)
  • Brad Mortensen: Weber State is embracing change in our approach to serving students. As its leader, I welcome scrutiny. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

  • USDA investing over $1M in clean energy projects in Utah's rural reaches (KSL)
  • Heavy metals produce the dazzling colors in fireworks. But they also contribute to a spike in air pollution during the summer (ABC4)

Health

  • Why a U.S. task force says children with obesity need 26 hours of behavioral intervention (Deseret News)
  • Intermountain Health has shortest liver transplant wait times in nation, thanks to new tech (KSL Newsradio)

Housing

  • How camping bans − like the one the Supreme Court just upheld − can fit into ‘hostile design’: Strategies to push out homeless people (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Utah homeowners face double-digit increase in homeowner's insurance rates (KUTV)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Missouri church retracts ad calling on young men to join a militia (Deseret News
  • Hurricane Beryl intensifies to Category 5 after making punishing Caribbean islands (Washington Post)

Political news

  • Eboo Patel: American democracy in 2050: What could it look like? (Deseret News)
  • Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have broad immunity (AP)
  • Sotomayor’s dissent: A president should not be a ‘king above the law’ (AP)
  • Hours after ruling, Trump moves to overturn Manhattan conviction, citing immunity decision (New York Times)
  • Trump attorney argues ‘fake electors’ scheme was an ‘official act’ (The Hill)
  • Biden says Supreme Court's immunity ruling 'undermines the rule of law' (NPR)
  • The Supreme Court left some big questions unanswered this term (Deseret News)

Election news

  • Who could replace Biden? 5 Democrats who could step up (Deseret News)
  • After messy debate, voters want Biden replaced on Dem ticket (Deseret News)
  • Biden’s campaign announces a $264 million fundraising haul in 2nd quarter during post-debate anxiety (AP)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Hungarian leader and Putin ally Viktor Orban visits Ukraine (Washington Post)

Israel and Gaza

  • This Israeli hostage mother supported Netanyahu. Now she wants him gone. (Washington Post)
  • Israeli generals, low on munitions, want. truce in Gaza (New York Times)

World news

  • Gang violence in Haiti has displaced 300,000 children, the United Nations says (NPR)
  • Eritrean cyclist makes Tour de France history as first Black stage winner (Washington Post)
  • Satellite images show expansion of suspected Chinese spy bases in Cuba (Wall Street Journal)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, July 2, 2024

 

News Releases

Utah House Democratic Leader on Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity

Utah House Democratic Leader, Representative Angela Romero, issues the following statement: “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court on presidential immunity is jarring and a true threat to our democracy. Every American should be terrified of the implications of this Supreme Court ruling. 

The ruling allows past and future presidents to flout the law with impunity. On the eve of July 4th, when we celebrate America’s freedom from tyrannical rule, the Court has paved the way for a president to act like a king, ignoring the roles of the president outlined in the constitution by our country’s founders. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated, this decision “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law.”

Americans must stand against this oppressive behavior and vote in November to make their voices heard. No man is above the law, and Americans deserve better than this.”


MAGA Supreme Court grants Trump immunity, putting democracy at risk

The Utah Democratic Party today condemns the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Donald Trump immunity for “official acts” he took as President. Not only does this decision block Donald Trump from facing accountability for the January 6 insurrection that he organized, it also puts American Democracy at risk by giving the President free reign to break the law without prosecution. (Read More)


Weber State to offer on-site classes, graduate programs at Hill Air Force Base

A new partnership between Weber State University and Hill Air Force Base is expanding education opportunities for military personnel, their families and civilian employees by offering master’s degree programs on the base. Starting this fall, WSU will become the first public university in the state to be part of an airbase education program. (Read More)


Governing Group PAC’s influence shines with 10 primary wins

Governing Group PAC announced today that 10 of its endorsed candidates have advanced to the general election. This impressive outcome underscores the power of the PAC’s endorsement and the comprehensive support provided to candidates committed to civility and good governance. 

The endorsed candidates received extensive resources, including strategic coaching, campaign materials, and volunteer support, all aimed at equipping them with the tools necessary for a successful campaign. The PAC believes this robust backing played a crucial role in tipping the scales toward victory in these competitive primary races. (Read More)


Utah Gov. Spencer Cox names Laura Hanson as senior advisor

Today Gov. Spencer Cox appointed Laura Hanson to be his senior advisor of long-range planning. She will continue serving as managing director of planning coordination within the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.

Hanson joined the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget in 2021 as state planning coordinator. Prior to joining GOPB, she served as the planning director for the Utah Transit Authority and was the first executive director of the Jordan River Commission, raising over $30 million in investments in the Jordan River Parkway trail and river. She has also worked as a consultant specializing in long-range planning, strategic planning, small area/downtown revitalization projects, and environmental planning. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2024-07-02 at 6.37.40 AM
 

Upcoming

  • 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 4 — Conservative Climate Summit, 7:30 am - 3:00 pm, UVU, Register here
  • October 15-16 — Interim Day
  • November 19-20 — Interim Days
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1566 - Nostradamus [Michel de Nostre-Dam], French astrologist and prophet (Les Propheties), dies at 62
  • 1776 - The Continental Congress votes for independence from Britain
  • 1809 - Chief Tecumseh urges Native Americans to unite
  • 1862 - Lincoln signs act granting land for state agricultural colleges
  • 1881 - US President James Garfield is shot by Charles J. Guiteau a disappointed office-seeker; Garfield dies 79 days later
  • 1908 - Thurgood Marshall is born. He later became the first Black US Supreme Court Justice.
  • 1922 - Eleanor Leacock is born. A cultural anthropologist, studied the Native North Americans, and issues of gender and class, racism, and poverty
  • 1937 - Amelia Earhart disappears
  • 1962 - Sam Walton opens his first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas
  • 1964 - President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act into law. 
  • 1997 -  Jimmy Stewart, American actor (The Philadelphia Story and It's a Wonderful Life), dies of a pulmonary embolism at 89
  • 2016 - Elie Wiesel, Jewish Auschwitz survivor and author (Night), Nobel Prize winner 1986, dies at 87
  • 2019 - Germany's Ursula von der Leyen is the first woman nominated to lead the European Commission with France's Christine Lagarde the 1st woman nominated to lead the European Central Bank

    Quote of the Day

    “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”

    —Justice Sonia Sotomayor 


    On the Punny Side

    I'm currently reading a book about a couple of insects who fall in love in an Italian city.

    It's a Rome ants novel.

     

    – Advertise With Us –

    Subscribers may receive special messages with information about new features, special offers, or public policy messages from clients and advertisers.