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Situational Analysis | Mar. 13, 2025 It's Thursday and Purim begins tonight. "And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" What you need to know - Gov. Cox thinks Utah is introducing and passing too many bills. The 2025 session had 959 bills introduced - a new record - and 582 bills passed, second only to 2024's 591. Senate President Stuart Adams says âWeâre not going to limit the number of bills.â Gov. Cox has until March 27 to sign, veto, or let bills pass into law without his signature.
Rapid Relevance | | |
Utah Headlines Political news - Sens. Mike Lee, John Curtis and Rep. Mike Kennedy introduce a bill to block âWall Streetâ control of Utah public lands (Deseret News)
- How Rep. Burgess Owens hopes to âmodernizeâ distance education funding policies at for-profit colleges (Deseret News)
- Can we trust signature petitions in Utah anymore? (Deseret News)
- Utah parents lose trust, feel ignored after legislature kills daycare bill (Fox13)
- New law aims to crack down on unlicensed life coaches practicing mental health therapy (KSL Newsradio)
Utah - Jazz fined $100K for player participation violation (Deseret News)
- Hereâs what the outgoing IOC president says about Utahâs Games â and a push to bar transgender athletes at the Olympics (Deseret News)
- Crews working âaround the clockâ to have new Salt Lake Bees Stadium ready for Opening Day (KSL TV)
- Are dramatic airport reunions returning to Salt Lake City? (Fox13)
- âAbsolutely heartbroken,â; Utah mom and travel vlogger dies in Salt Lake hospital after Mexico crash (KSL TV)
Biz/Tech - USU graduate and mechanical engineer designs a sock to keep toes warm in harsh weather (ABC4)
- Company to add more than 300 aerospace jobs in Ogden thanks to a tax incentive (ABC4)
- Raising Caneâs brings its signature taste to Saratoga Springs (Daily Herald)
Crime/Courts - Salt Lake County judge under criminal investigation (KSL)
- Communities âreelingâ after arrests of fire chief, judge (KSL TV)
- Advocates stress impact of abuse by authority figures amid Box Elder County arrests (KUTV)
- Utah A.G. charges 11 signature gatherers who helped candidates get on the ballot with fraud (Salt Lake Tribune)
Culture/Community - Gov. Cox makes first donation of the Feed Utah food drive (Deseret News)
Economy Education - K-12 - Opinion: HB100 takes a bite out of student hunger (Deseret News)
- In Utah, potential dismantling of the Education Department leaves more questions than answers (KSL)
Education - Higher - University of Utah's 10-year master plan raises funding questions among taxpayers (KUTV)
- 4 major ways University of Utah President Taylor Randall wants to transform campus in the next decade (Salt Lake Tribune)
Energy - Using PacifiCorpâs plans, advocates say renewables are still Utahâs best bet (KUER)
- Muskâs layoffs shrink workforce needed to realize Trumpâs energy agenda (Reuters)
Environment - How much of Utahâs land is owned by the federal government? Most of it (Deseret News)
- EPA moves to unwind over two dozen US air, water regulations (Reuters)
Family - Perspective: What science tells us about fatherhood, marriage and the struggles of young men (Deseret News)
- How these Jewish genealogists are repairing Nazi âdirty deedsâ. Looted Book Project aims to return stolen books to descendants of Holocaust victims (Deseret News)
- Nazis stole this Holocaust victimâs books. How his grandson unexpectedly got them back (Deseret News)
Health - Voices: Iâve seen how global health crises travel. Slashes to public health efforts will hurt Utah. (Salt Lake Tribune)
- 5 years since the pandemic started, long COVID patients are still hoping for a cure (NPR)
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National Headlines General - Universities across the U.S. freeze hiring as federal funding hangs in the balance (NPR)
- Exclusive: Wife of detained Palestinian Columbia student says she was naive to believe he was safe from arrest (Reuters)
Political news - Trump makes third term remark during event with Irish prime minister (The Hill)
- Congress reignites a bipartisan effort to ban hair discrimination (NPR)
- Judge says Trump penalties on law firm send âchills down my spineâ (Washington Post)
- Senate Democrats get jammed by Republicans in lose-lose shutdown dilemma (Deseret News)
- 'They're totally screwed': White House taunts Democrats on shutdown (Politico)
- Trump threatens further tariffs as EU, Canada retaliate for those already in place (Reuters)
- Trump says Ireland cheats the US as its leader joins him to celebrate St. Patrickâs Day (AP)
- Trump overstepped his constitutional authority in freezing Congressâ funding for USAID, judge says (AP)
- Judge finds Trump unlawfully fired head of federal employee labor board (The Hill)
- Trump is trying to remake the presidency. Here's why (NPR)
- ICE returns all migrants from Guantánamo to Stateside Facilities. A court filing described strip searches and the use of restraint chairs on some of the 290 migrants the Trump administration has cycled through the base. (New York Times)
DOGE/Musk - DOGE-mandated cuts targeted staff at a Native American college. A lawsuit fights back (NPR)
- What parents, teachers and school choice groups think of Education Department cuts (NPR)
- Federal student loan site down Wednesday, a day after layoffs gutted Education Department (AP)
- Social Security scraps far-reaching cuts to phone services after Post report (Washington Post)
- Layoff plans are due Thursday. Feds are terrified. (Politico)
- A government program made tax filing free and more efficient. Musk and DOGE may get rid of it anyway (Washington Post)
Ukraine/Russia - Russia criticises US ceasefire idea for Ukraine as Putin plays hardball (Reuters)
- Talk of ceasefire and aid spurs hope in Ukraine, anger in Russia (Washington Post)
Israel, Gaza, Syria - UN experts accuse Israel of genocidal acts and sexual violence in Gaza (Reuters)
World news - Canadians, stung by Trump's tariffs and rhetoric, balk at US travel (Reuters)
- âWe will just die in silence': US aid cuts hit Ethiopiaâs fragile Tigray region (AP)
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Number of the Day 
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 | Guest Opinion Governments are instituted to protect peopleâs rights by Deborah Gatrell People get to make their own choices, but I want to be perfectly clear: people have rights and governments are instituted to protect those rights. And yet. In this moment, we see our constitutionally-guaranteed rights under attack, whether it be religious freedom, the free press or books, there are some, including Utahâs Senate President Stuart Adams, who seem to believe some people are âmore equal than othersâ when it comes to the people and our voice in government. He isnât wrong to quote Benjamin Franklinâs response to a question about our form of government. Indeed, it is âA Republic, if you can keep it.â President Adams went so far as to have this statement engraved on the Challenge coins he presented to members of the Senate at the start of the session. His error is in his bold assertion that ONLY he and his fellow (supermajority) elected officials in the Legislature have a right to rule. The Utah Supreme Court ruled otherwise in defense of the Utah constitution, which guarantees THE PEOPLE the right to alter our form of government â this same right being proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. ...This Legislative sessionâs treatment of The People sounds much like Henry Ford stating his customers can have any color they want, âas long as itâs black.â They have forgotten it is The People who are sovereign here. (Read More)
News Releases Utah public lands
The federal government owns 64.4% of Utahâs total land area, the second highest in the nation. States and the federal government share a vital economic relationship. This data summary, the fourth in a series on state and federal economic linkages from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, presents the Utah-federal government nexus for Utah public lands. âLands under federal management include national forests, national parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, wilderness areas, and unappropriated Bureau of Land Management land,â said Eric Albers, senior natural resources analyst at the Gardner Institute. âThe federal government also owns military installations in Utah, which are not considered âpublic land.ââ (Read More)
Curtis, Merkley introduce bipartisan bill to rename TECRO as Taiwan Representative Office U.S. Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Taiwan Representative Office Act, bipartisan legislation to rename Taiwanâs de facto embassy in the United States from the âTaipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO)â to the Taiwan Representative Office (TRO). This legislation underscores the United Statesâ commitment to Taiwanâs democracy and enhances clarity in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. (Read More) | | |
Tweet of the Day 
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Upcoming - Mar 15 â Utah Women Run annual training, 8:00 am - 2:30 pm, Hinckley Institute of Politics, Register here
- Mar 22 â MWEG annual conference with plenary speaker Sharon Eubank, UVU, Register here
- Apr 7 âPillars of the Valley Elder Matthew S. and Paige Holland, with the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce, 7:00-9:00 pm, Register here
- Apr 24 â Giant in Our City with the Salt Lake Chamber, 6:00-9:00 pm, Register here
- May 1 â High school writing contest deadline with The Rostra: Applying the wisdom of the past to the problems of today. More info here
- Aug 7 â Titan of Public Service, Sen. Tom Cotton, with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, Grand America Hotel
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On This Day In History - 1884 - US adopts Standard Time
- 1861 - Jefferson Davis signs bill authorizing the use of slaves as soldiers in the Confederate Army.
- 1901 - Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States, dies at age 67
- 1905 - Mata Hari first performs her dance act in Paris.
- 1906 - Susan B. Anthony dies at age 86.
- 1925 - Tennessee passes a law prohibiting the teaching of the theory of evolution
- 1933 - Joseph Goebbels becomes Nazi Germany's Minister of Information and Propaganda.
- 1957 - John Lee becomes the first Black commissioned officer in the US Navy.
- 1964 - Kitty Genovese is murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. There were lots of witnesses (almost 40) but no one came to her aid.
- 2013 - Francis becomes the first non-European pope in over 1,250 years
- 2020 - Pres. Trump declares COVID-19 is a national emergency
Quote of the Day "It's hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help." âPope Francis
On the Punny Side I put my phone under my pillow last night. When I woke up it was gone and there was a $1 coin in its place. It was the Bluetooth Fairy! | | |
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