Utah County Commission chair calls for resignation of Tom Sakievich; Cache County Clerk/Auditor David Benson resigns after months of turmoil
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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 | March 19, 2024

It's Tuesday and International Read to Me Day.

Happy birthday to Sen. John Johnson! 🎉 🎈🎂

What you need to know

  • Sen. Curt Bramble is no longer running for re-election, but will finish out his current term. “After careful consideration, having served for 24 years, it’s time to move on,” Bramble said. His withdrawal leaves 3 Republican candidates: former Sen. Dan Hemmert, Rep. Keven Stratton and former Rep. Brad Daw. The Republican nominee will face Utah Forward candidate David Hinckley in the general election.

Rapid relevance

 

Utah Business 2024 Legal Elite Nominations Now Open!

Nominate a role model from the legal community for the Legal Elite 100! Nominations are due April 1, 2024. Limit of 5 nominations per law firm.

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Navigating partisan waters: A Utah Republican and California Democrat visit the Great Salt Lake (Deseret News)
  • Former Gov. Leavitt shares lessons of the past as leaders work to tackle Utah’s future (Deseret News)
  • Here's why educational and political leaders in Utah want to modernize education (KSL)
  • Gov. Cox signs bill containing trigger to pull books from all Utah school libraries in certain cases (KSL)
  • As demand surges under a new Utah law, advocates say domestic violence services remain underfunded (Daily Herald)

Election news

  • Cache County Republicans set Meet the Candidate events prior to April 13 nominating convention (Cache Valley Daily)

Utah news

  • Utah Food Bank bucks national trend of dwindling resources, on track to gather over 1 million pounds of food (Deseret News)
  • What UTA has in mind for the future with its new 2050 'roadmap' (Deseret News)
  • What a ghost town and the endurance of Leeds says about rural Utah’s future (KUER)

Business/Tech

  • $418M payout: National Association of Realtors changes home selling landscape amid settlement (Deseret News)
  • Unilever to cut 7,500 jobs and spin off its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry’s (AP)
  • Arts and crafts giant Joann files for bankruptcy, but stores will remain open (NPR)

Crime/Court

  • Investigation shows Kouri Richins' mother possibly helped kill daughter's husband (Fox13)

Culture

  • Sonic, Oreo and other brands celebrating the upcoming solar eclipse with new menu items (Deseret News)

Education

  • Inside the interfaith, academic ‘The Chosen’ conference held at BYU (Deseret News)
  • Will a Black student’s case at BYU-Hawaii change the rules on hair at LDS Church-run schools? (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

  • ‘Let’s keep the party going’: Park City Mountain, Snowbasin Resort extend seasons (ABC4)

Family

  • What would you like to be remembered for? Study says it's not money or fame. (Deseret News)
  • Decade-long connection with Utah girl leads to forever family for teen with Down syndrome (Fox13)

Housing

  • Utah developers create shared living solutions for rising housing prices (KUTV)
 

National Headlines

General

  • The California superbloom is coming. Here’s why you should go sooner rather than later (Deseret News)
  • The U.S. bans most common form of asbestos, after decades of pushback from industry (NPR)

Political news

  • Russian disinformation is about immigration. The real aim is to undercut Ukraine aid (AP)
  • Can the government pressure Big Tech to censor speech? Supreme Court hears arguments (Deseret News)
  • Federal funding disparity: How state dependency varies across America (Deseret News)
  • Trump’s lawyers say it is impossible for him to post bond covering $454 million civil fraud judgment (AP)
  • The good, bad and ugly in a new poll on Trump's trials ans the Supreme Court (Politico)

Supreme Court

  • Supreme Court extends block on Texas law that would allow police to arrest migrants (AP)
  • Supreme Court refuses to delay prison time for Trump aide Peter Navarro (Washington Post)
  • Supreme Court likely to reject limits on White House social media contacts (Washington Post)
  • Supreme Court rejects appeal by New Mexico official ousted from office over Jan. 6 (Washington Post)
  • Justice Breyer, off the bench, sounds an alarm over the Supreme Court’s direction (New York Times)

Election news

  • Trump is making the Jan. 6 attack a cornerstone of his bid for the White House (AP)
  • New data shows it's gotten easier to vote in the U.S. since 2000 (NPR)
  • Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats hate their religion (Wall Street Journal)
  • Outside groups pledge over $1 billion to aid Biden's re-election effort (New York Times)
  • The most important Senate primary of the year is just one of today’s elections (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Drones are key to gain advantage over Russia, Ukraine army chief says (Reuters)
  • Ukraine's impossible choice: conceding territory or lives (Wall Street Journal)

Israel and Gaza

  •  U.S.'s Blinken to push for Gaza ceasefire on Middle East trip (Reuters)
  • Israel faces a tough balancing act when it comes to Russia and the West (New York Times)

World

  • Shock and confusion as Turkey seizes earthquake survivors' homes (Reuters)
  • Barren fields and empty stomachs: Afghanistan's long, punishing drought (New York Times)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, Mar. 19, 2024

 

News Releases

Sen. Curt Bramble announces his retirement

After 24 years of dedicated legislative service, Sen. Curt Bramble, Senate District 24, announced he will retire at the end of the year. Sen. Bramble helped shape policy that leveled the playing field between brick-and-mortar businesses and online shopping, eliminated regulatory burdens on businesses, made it easier for more Utahns to pursue their dreams by reforming professional licensing and stood for life by defending the unborn. (Read More)


Gov. Cox, others, to speak at Utah Foundation luncheon

The Utah Foundation is pleased to announce our celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Utah Priorities Project with a discussion about what matters most. 

The Annual Luncheon will include a conversation with Governor Spencer J. Cox about the state’s policy priorities. We will also hear from three speakers discussing some of the most important policy topics of the year: Carly Maloney, Dr. Brian Steed and Steve Waldrip. (Read More)


Utah’s resilient economy remains strong

The Salt Lake Chamber, in partnership with the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, has released the February 2024 Roadmap to Prosperity Economic Dashboard to inform business leaders’ understanding of Utah’s economy. â€œWhile national and state consumer sentiment saw a minor downturn, Utah’s consistent performance underscores the state’s economic stability and strength,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “With insights like the record-breaking retail sales, Utah’s trajectory towards robust economic growth in 2024 is actively underway.” (Read More)


UVU’s Center for Constitutional Studies hosts spring First Amendment conference

The Center for Constitutional Studies (CCS) at Utah Valley University will host its annual First Amendment conference Wednesday, March 20, beginning at 10 a.m. in Clarke Building (CB) 101C on UVU campus. Students, scholars, and the public are invited to the event entitled Some Assembly Required: Freedom of Association & the Right to Assembly. This year’s conference will examine the importance of voluntary associations in a free society and the protections afforded them in the First Amendment, including the oft- neglected Assembly Clause. (Read More)


Gov. Spencer Cox signs 72 bills in the 2024 General Legislative Session

Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed 72 bills today. He has signed 398 pieces of legislation from the 2024 General Legislative Session to date. Information on the bills signed today can be found here.

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2024-03-19 at 6.46.29 AM

 

Upcoming

  • March 20 â€” UVU First Amendment Conference, 10:00 am-5:00 pm, More information here
  • March 20 — Utah Foundation Annual Lunch, 11:45 am-1:30 pm; Grand America, Purchase tickets here
  • March 21 — Utah Women in Society – A Living Room Conversation, 12:00-1:15 pm, online, Register here
  • March 22 — YWCA Utah Legislative Recap, 5:00-7:00 pm, YWCA offices (322 East 300 South, SLC), Register here
  • March 23 — MWEG annual conference, 8:30 am-3:30 pm, UVU campus, with virtual option, Register here
  • April 20 — United Utah Partyconvention
  • April 27 — State GOP and Democratic Conventions
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1589 - William Bradford is born. He was the Governor of Plymouth colony for 30 years and is the 11th great-grandfather of Utah’s Lt. Governor, Deidre Henderson. 
  • 1875 - Margaret Foley is born. She became a labor organizer, suffragist, and social worker, and an out-spoken suffrage activist who would loudly confront anti-suffrage speakers. She made a solo balloon flight over Lawrence, Massachusetts, tossing suffrage literature from the basket.
  • 1916 - The first US air combat mission begins.
  • 1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling.
  • 1954 - Jill Abramson is born in New York City. She became the first female executive editor of the New York Times.
  • 1964 - Geraldine Mock departs from Columbus, Ohio in her single-engine Cessna 180 christened the “Spirit of Columbus” in an ambitious adventure. She earned the nickname the “Flying Housewife” and became the first woman to fly around the world solo.
  • 1968 - Students at HBCU Howard University occupy the administration building to protest the lack of African studies
  • 1979 - C-Span launches and begins broadcasting live from the US House of Representatives. Did you know it had been around that long? Neither did I.
  • 2003 - War in Iraq begins.

Quote of the Day

“All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.”

—William Bradford


On the Punny Side

You know what the first rule of passive-aggressive club is?
You know what, never mind. Forget it. It's fine. 

 

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