Utah Headlines

Deseret News

• Here's how Biden's stimulus checks would look different than the last two - Under the current plan, people who make under $50,000 would get the full $1,400.
• Gov. Spencer Cox announces who's up next to receive vaccines in Utah - Utahns 65 and older plus adults with specific medical conditions will be eligible beginning March 1.
• Flagler, for free - While metro areas in the West can hardly keep up with growth, some rural communities are doing everything they can to create it.
• Biden's China relationship: The view from Utah - Our best defense is to continuously improve our system at home that speaks to the American Dream, which still remains aspirational for many around the world - even in China.
• Is the American dream dead? An American scholar's take on reaching the top - The role of government should be more in the model of Abraham Lincoln: "To lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the path of laudable pursuit for all, to provide all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life."
• Sen. Mitt Romney proposes to send monthly cash to families - permanently - Sen. Mike Lee proposes expanding child tax credit.
• Audit says Utah schools should drop COVID-19 'soft closures' policy - Legislative auditors recommend 'Test to Stay' protocols to curb loss of so many in-person learning school days.
• 'Toxic' social media posts put young lives at risk, Utah Pride Center chairman tells State School Board - Others express concerns about 'vicious attack' against Natalie Cline.
• House removes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees in historic vote - House Republicans say standing behind Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene will keep their party united as they work to take back the House in 2022 midterms.

Salt Lake Tribune

• Two police reform bills dealing with civilian review boards and bodycam footage stall - Utah lawmakers are expected to debate dozens of police bills this session after a summer of protests against police violence.
• Utah 'troubled-teen' centers have used 'booty juice' to sedate kids, a practice outlawed in other states - New state legislation would curb the use of chemical restraints at Utah youth residential treatment centers.
• Proposed river authority would assert Utah's claims to the Colorado's dwindling water - A bill would allow the new agency - which environmentalists call "shadowy" - to close its meetings and keep its records confidential.
• More Utahns have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine than have tested positive for the virus - According to the Utah Department of Health, almost 363,000 doses have been injected into patients - that includes both first and second doses. That's about 11,400 more than the number of coronavirus cases reported in the state.
• House gives green light to allow bicycles to treat stop signs like yield signs - Critics argue that an exception for cyclists is dangerous.
• Developer drops his lawsuit over Bridal Veil Falls - Richard Losee had wanted to build a high-end rehab center atop the falls until blocked by the county in a move he believes was illegal.
• Biden, at prayer breakfast, calls out 'political extremism' - He also appealed for collective strength during such turbulent times in remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, held virtually this year.

Other

• Affordable housing crisis hits home for SLC renters (KSL-TV) - Dozens of renters in Salt Lake City found eviction notices on their doors last weekend, telling them their building had been sold and they had until the end of this month to be out.
• Eagle Mountain City Council approves Utah's first wildlife corridor overlay zone (ABC 4) - This makes it the first city in Utah to implement this type of zoning, according to city officials.
• Dozens of educators accidentally hired without full background check (FOX 13) - According to a report compiled by USBE, there were 377 "anomalies" or concerns with the data.
• Utah State Board of Education meeting dominated by board member controversy (FOX 13) - "Please to all of you, we see you and we hear you, but we have zero legal authority to do either. I repeat, we have zero legal authority to remove or retain a board member," said board member Cindy Davis.
• SLCC Black Student Union poetry slam shut down due to offensive content posted by hackers (FOX 13) - The content became so disruptive that organizers had to stop the event.

COVID Corner

• Utah will start vaccinating people over age 65, and with some health conditions, on March 1 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Transplant recipients, people with some cancers, heart and lung diseases included in the next round.
• Why are side effects after second COVID vaccine dose worse? (Miami Herald) - Health experts say these side effects are just normal signs your body is building the immune response it needs to protect you from severe disease.
• Why new coronavirus variants emerge, and what that means for you (PBS) - Three specific variants have raised alarm bells so far: one identified in the United Kingdom, one in South Africa, and one in Brazil, all of which have been detected in the U.S. Experts believe that the UK strain could be as much as "50 to 70 percent more contagious."
• This year's nonexistent flu season could prove problematic for vaccine developers (Yahoo! News) - A year without exposure to the virus could also prove problematic for the human immune system, and especially for children who have been exposed to few, if any, varieties of the flu.

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National Headlines

• Spit on for revealing her trauma - bitter, partisan reactions to AOC are proof American politics has lost its way (Deseret News) - National columnist S.E. Cupp writes This kind of unconscionable moral rot has infected America deep in its core. "It's becoming clearer with every passing day that amid all the things posing an imminent threat to our way of life - disease, climate change, war - it's truly our inability to see each other as people before politics that's going to destroy us."
• Here are the 11 House Republicans who voted to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments (CNN) - House Democrats, who control the chamber, set up the vote after first attempting to pressure Republicans to strip the Georgia Republican of her committee assignments on their own. House Republicans did not taken that action, however.
• Biden beefs up administration with Asia experts as the U.S. prepares to take on China (CNBC) - That's a move that analysts said signals renewed efforts to raise U.S. standing in a region where China's influence is growing.
• Republicans worry their big tent will mean big problems in 2022 elections (Washington Post) - House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has pinned his hopes for reclaiming the majority in 2022 on never having to choose between the contradictory factions in his own party, no matter how deep the divisions appear.Bipartisan support emerges for domestic-terror bills as experts warn threat may last '10 to 20 years' (Washington Post) - Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary of homeland security for counterterrorism during the Trump administration, warned lawmakers that there is a "high likelihood" that another domestic terrorist attack would occur in the coming months and that the problem would persist "for the next 10 to 20 years."
• Biden seeks to restore 'badly damaged' refugee resettlement program (Washington Post) - "It's going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged," Biden said during a speech at the State Department.
• Democratic lawmakers join Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in sharing Capitol riot experiences (USA Today) - AOC organized an hour aimed at "creating space for members to talk about their lived experience on January 6 and the need for accountability."
• Jen Psaki slammed for 'homophobic' tweet about Sen. Lindsey Graham (New York Post) - White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has come under fire for referring to Sen. Lindsey Graham as "Lady G" in an old tweet.

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Policy News

Sen. Lee introduces Working Families Flexibility Act
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today introduced the Working Families Flexibility Act, a bill that would give employees more flexibility on how to use their overtime benefits. Sen. Lee was joined by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), along with eleven of their colleagues.

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Romney proposes measures to support Utah and national priorities
U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today filed 11 amendments to the Senate budget resolution for fiscal year 2021 aimed at addressing the range of challenges Utah and the nation face, including providing greater financial security for American families, ensuring clean water for Utah's Navajo Nation, supporting energy leasing on federal lands, and bolstering U.S. national security.

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Rep. John Curtis on the vote to Rep. Greene's committee assignments
Today, Representative John Curtis (R-UT), released the following statement ahead of the floor vote on H. Res. 72 - Removing a certain Member from certain standing committees:

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Utah Dems want GOP congressmen to share their secret ballot votes on Liz Cheney
Wednesday night by secret ballot, House Republicans voted 145-61 to retain Liz Cheney in her position as chairwoman of the House Republican Caucus. Rep. Cheney came under fire by the Q-Anon wing of the party for her vote to impeach the president for his incitement of a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Now, the Utah Democratic Party calls upon Utah's four Republican congressmen to be forthright with their constituents: How did they vote?

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Sen. Lee introduces ARTICLE ONE to reclaim Congressional power
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) today introduced the ARTICLE ONE Act, a bill that would reclaim significant legislative powers delegated to the executive branch by the National Emergencies Act of 1976.When Congress passed this act in 1976, it gave the president of the United States the ability to exercise unilateral power like a king. Now, more than 40 years later, there are 37 ongoing national emergencies that have no congressional approval or expiration date. And just last week, the majority leader pointed out that the president "can do many, many things under the emergency powers . . . that he could do without legislation," and suggested that "[i]t might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency."

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Business Headlines

• Analysis: Bezos leaves behind a company that's created value but has also triggered a national reckoning (CNN) - With each new innovation, Bezos and Amazon have offered the promise of making life easier, more convenient and enriching for customers. But these services also became testaments to Amazon's ever-expanding power, influence and self-interest, inspiring fierce criticism from the company's opponents
• GameStop stock-trading star Keith Gill - also known as Roaring Kitty - is reportedly under investigation as regulators look at his previous financial-advisement job (Business Insider) - Keith Gill rose to fame in January for his massive bet on GameStop. Yet regulators in Massachusetts are now looking into whether Gill violated rules related to his previous job at Boston-based insurance firm MassMutual.
• Amazon's new CEO has his eyes on video games (Deseret News) - "Some businesses take off in the first year, and others take many years," he wrote, per Bloomberg. "Though we haven't consistently succeeded yet in AGS (Amazon Game Studios), I believe we will if we hang in there."

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