Situational Analysis | January 27, 2022

It's Thursday and International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. 

Be in the Know

1. Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring from the US Supreme Court, giving President Biden an opportunity to appoint a new justice. He campaigned on the promise of naming a Black woman and already has a short list of potential candidates. Senator Susan Collins says "there is no need to rush," but she is also open to working with Democrats on the process to replace Breyer. 

2. The US economy grew 1.7% in the fourth quarter, reflecting the growth in gross domestic product and up sharply from the third quarter. Overall, the economy grew 5.75% in 2021, the largest one-year jump since 1984, in spite of 2 new pandemic variants. The economic growth created a record 6.4 million jobs in 2021, but that growth also brought some challenges, including the highest inflation in 40 years and supply chain slow downs as consumer demand soared. Economists don't expect to see fallout from the omicron surge in today's data but a year that reflects blockbuster growth. 

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2022 Legislative Session

9 days down, 36 to go

General

• Utah’s Senate president says he ‘dealt with’ concerns about COVID-19 during session, wants to focus on other issues. Senate staff declined to answer a list of questions The Salt Lake Tribune submitted about health and safety protocols at the Capitol. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• How parents (and policies) can help babies and toddlers thrive (Deseret News)

Today

Appropriations subcommittees, 8 am

• Business, Economic Development, and Labor (held exclusively online), Infrastructure and General Government, Public Education, Social Services

Floor Time

• Senate - 11:00 - 11:50
• House - 11:00 - 12:00

Committee Meetings, 2 pm

• House Economic Development and Workforce Services, House Government Operations, House Political Subdivisions, House Revenue and Taxation, Senate Business and Labor, Senate Education, Senate Health and Human Services

Tomorrow

Appropriations subcommittees, 8 am

• Executive Offices and Criminal Justice, Higher Education, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality, Social Services

Floor Time

• Senate - 11:00 - 11:50
• House - 11:00 - 12:15

Education

• Teachers organization vows to kill transparency bill, being heard in committee today (KUTV)

Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

• Utah bill would ban some ‘no-knock’ warrants, require ‘best practices’ on wearing ID (KUER)

Revenue and Taxation

• Proposed tax cut would give average Utah family about $100 a year. Is it worth it or not enough? (Deseret News)
• Income tax cut passes Senate committee, bill to eliminate sales tax on food may be dead (Fox13)

Utah Headlines

General

• World marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day amid rise in antisemitism during pandemic (Fox13)
• Utah County Attorney David Leavitt makes quick exit out of Ukraine, but is now stuck in Amsterdam with COVID-19 (Salt Lake Tribune)
• New charges: BYU professor engaged in 'ecclesiastical abuse' to sexually abuse 3 students (Deseret News)
• As gymnasts visit Utah Capitol, Gov Cox calls Olympics ‘one of the only things’ uniting us (Deseret News)
• Orem school responds to threat made against cheerleaders (Fox13)

Elections

• Utah GOP Rep. Chris Stewart has a challenger in his own party. Meet Erin Rider (Deseret News)
• Phil Lyman’s opponent outraised him in 2021, financial disclosure show. Davina Smith is the first Diné (Navajo) woman to run for state public office. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Education

• "We're burning out our teachers." With teachers calling out sick among the COVID surge, schools have tapped librarians, counselors and principals to fill in. Now schools are asking businesses to allow their workers time off to substitute teach. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  
• The SAT is going digital and will be an hour shorter. What’s the impact for Utah students? (Deseret News)

COVID Corner

• 7493 new cases, 18 new deaths, 776 current hospitalizations (another new record)
• Utah officials still recommend not to get tested for COVID. Here’s why. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• The forever mask and the coming ‘cold’ war (Deseret News)
• COVID infection before or after vaccination creates ‘super immunity,’ researchers say (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

• The expanded child tax credit briefly slashed child poverty. Here's what else it did (NPR)
• Michigan settlement lets faith agencies deny LGBT adoptions (AP)
• U.S. economy grew 5.7 percent in 2021, the fastest clip since 1984, creating jobs — and inflation — during pandemic’s second year (Washington Post)

Politics

• One year after announcing a halt to any new federal oil and gas leasing, President Biden has outpaced Donald Trump in issuing drilling permits on public lands (Washington Post)
• Senator Mark Kelly pushes back on 

Courts

• Senate Democrats Plan to Move Quickly on Successor to Justice Breyer (New York Times)
• Democrats rejoice, Republicans cast any new Supreme Court nominee as radical as election-year fight begins (Washington Post)
• U professor weighs in on Biden's promise to nominate Black woman to SCOTUS (KUTV)

Ukraine and Russia

• Ukraine crisis: US rejects Russian demand to bar Ukraine from Nato (BBC)
• Russia’s Military, Once Creaky, Is Modern and Lethal (New York Times)

News Releases

Nominees announced for 6th District Court vacancy

The Sixth District Judicial Nominating Commission has selected nominees for a vacancy on the Sixth District Court.  The vacancy results from the retirement of Judge Wallace A. Lee, April 1, 2022.

The nominees for the vacancy are: Kevin Daniels, county attorney, Sanpete County Attorney’s Office; Mandy Larsen, deputy county attorney, Sevier County Attorney’s Office; Michael Mathie, attorney, Michael C. Mathie, Attorney at Law; Mark McIff, judge, Sevier County, Piute County, Fairview City, Ephraim City, Fountain Green City, Manti City, Moroni City, Spring City, Gunnison City, Mount Pleasant City, Salina City justice courts; Robert Van Dyke, county attorney, Kane County Attorney’s Office. (Read More)

Nominees announced for 3rd District Juvenile Court vacancy

The Third District Judicial Nominating Commission has selected nominees for a vacancy on the Third District Juvenile Court.  The vacancy results from the retirement of Judge Mark W. May, April 1, 2022.

The nominees for the vacancy are: Frank Call, attorney, Frank N. Call; Ricky Clark, central section director, Utah Office of the Attorney General; Dixie Jackson, private and conflict GAL coordinator, GAL attorney, Utah Office of Guardian ad Litem; David Johnson, assistant attorney general, Utah Attorney General’s Office; Meghann Mills, prosecutor, Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.  (Read More)

Chamber launching Small Business Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Training Series

The Salt Lake Chamber, Utah’s largest and longest-serving statewide business association, is accepting applications for its Small Business Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Training Series. The program was developed to provide newly designated or seasoned professionals in the field of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion access to thought leadership and program development. 

This program will set up these smaller businesses of less than 100 employees for success by providing the necessary tools, resources and training, as well as give best practices to make a significant impact on diversity and inclusion in Utah. (Read More)

Utah Inland Port Authority hosts logistics industry leaders to discuss national supply chain problems

The Utah Inland Port Authority convened local and national partners Monday to discuss nationwide supply chain challenges and Utah’s role in providing solutions. 

Panelists discussed the complicated business of logistics. While many possible fixes have been  proposed for the broken supply chain, there likely isn’t a silver bullet.  

“No one party can solve everything,” said Andrew Scott, founder of QuayChain (pronounced  “key-chain”) Technologies. “There isn’t one solution. There’s not a magic wand to all of this.”  

The Utah Inland Port Authority has existing agreements with two-dozen including the ports of  Long Beach and Oakland, Valor Victoria, and Union Pacific. The UIPA says these deals will help  create a unified system dedicated to modernizing the nation’s supply chain and making it more efficient. (Read More)

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Legislative Bootcamp with Americans for Prosperity and Libertas Institute – Jan. 29, 9 am - 1 pm. Register here.
• The Emergence of the Crypto Economy with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation and special guests – Feb. 16, 10 am MST. Register here.
• State of the Union address – Mar 1, 7 pm MST
• Utah legislative session ends – Mar 4, 2022, midnight
• Fireside chat with Justice Clarence Thomas hosted by the Hatch Foundation – Mar 11, 2022, 7 pm
• Campaign Management Training with Utah Farm Bureau – Mar 24-25, registration deadline March 1. Register here

On This Day In History

From History.com

• 1302 - Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence. 
• 1820 - Antartica is discovered by a Russian expedition
• 1825 - Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for the forced relocation of the Eastern Indian tribes via the "Trail of Tears"
• 1832 - Lewis Carroll is born.
• 1880 - Thomas Edison patents the electric incandescent lamp.
• 1888 - National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.
• 1898 - Georgia Neese Clark is born. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman nominated her to head the United States Treasury. She was the first woman to hold the position.
• 1924 - Lenin placed in the Mausoleum in Red Square.
• 1944 - Siege of Leningrad lifted by the Soviets after 880 days and more than 2 million Russians killed.
• 1945 - Auschwitz liberated by the Russian army.
• 1951 - The first atomic detonation at the Nevada test site
• 1967 - 3 astronauts die in launch pad fire.
• 1973 - Paris Peace Accords are signed, ending the war in Vietnam. 
• 1993 - Andre the Giant dies of congestive heart failure at age 49.
• 1996 - Monica Seles wins Grand Slam title after returning from a stabbing attack in April 1993.
• 2008 - Gordon B. Hinckley dies
• 2017 - Donald Trump issues executive order banning travel to the US from 7 mostly Muslim countries and suspending admission for refugees.

Wise Words

“The basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips but few in their minds.”

-Dante

Lighter Side

"Breyer said he wants to retire so he can spend more time looking like a wise shopkeeper from a Hallmark Christmas movie.”

— JIMMY FALLON

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