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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.

 

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Situational Analysis | April 17, 2024

It's Wednesday and National Banana Day! 

What you need to know

  • Utah's Senate race is getting dirty in the lead-up to the GOP convention. A shadowy political action committee bombarded state GOP delegates with negative ads over the last week. The flurry of direct mail and text messages attacked U.S. Senate candidates Rep. John Curtis and Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs with tabloid-ready headlines emphasizing disloyalty to former President Donald Trump. One state delegate said that while he's gotten used to the negative campaigning, he finds it “frustrating, annoying and inappropriate.”

Rapid relevance

On the Hill today

 
 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • What Sens. Mike Lee, Mitt Romney have to say about Mayorkas’ impeachment (Deseret News)
  • Rep. John Curtis introduces bipartisan bill to protect Utahns from PFAS cleanup costs (ABC4)

Election news

  • Election fraud ‘boogeyman’: Republicans urge Utah to resign from ERIC voter roll cleanup group. Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson says the Electronic Registration Information Center is an important tool that’s under fire because it’s a ‘favorite boogeyman of radical election deniers’ (Daily Herald)

Utah news

  • Stephen Trimble: In Utah, the Capitol really is the people's house (LA Times)
  • Jay Drew: BYU hits a home run with the hiring of Kevin Young (Deseret News)
  • BYU loses prized recruit to Kentucky as Mark Pope’s departure continues to hurt (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Girls across Utah inspired by Caitlin Clark, other female sports heroes (Fox13)

Business/Tech

  • Ryan Smith applies for revitalization partnership as Salt Lake City arena talks heat up (KSL)
  • Bonneville International recognized for its ‘Maui Strong’ fundraising efforts (KSL TV)
  • New Utah law banning flavored e-cigarettes will drive vape shops out of business, industry says (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Utah cities dominate list of best places for small businesses (KUTV)

Crime

  • Off-duty UHP trooper arrested, accused of sexually abusing teenager (KSL)
  • Guilty plea by leader of polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border is at risk of being thrown out (St. George News/AP)

Culture

  • The best role Kirby Heyborne has played yet (Deseret News)
  • What to know about the ‘Pride in Progress’ march and festival in Provo (ABC4)

Education

  • Utah teacher inspires students with her passion for the 2002 Winter Olympics (KSL TV)
  • Utah proposes ban on international students in high school sports (KSL Newsradio)
  • State school board issues timeline for guidance over new book ban law (KUTV)

Environment

  • Mountain snow, the spring runoff and what to expect (Deseret News)
  • Steve Handy: Utah must be better at planning for electricity needs (Deseret News)
  • Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in US more likely to believe in climate change (AP)

Health

  • U.S. adults — especially women — struggle to balance sleep and stress (Deseret News)
  • Exercise changes brain in ways that lower depression, heart disease risk (Deseret News)
  • New overdose task force in Utah launched, DEA claims it’s a success (KSL TV)
  • ‘Mi casa es tu casa’: This Utah clinic wants to help Latinos break mental health stigmas (KUER)
  • 7 out of 10 Americans think COVID-19 came from a lab (Deseret News)

Housing

  • New Moab development aims to put dent in workforce housing crisis (KSL TV)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Nancy French and the many meanings of 'Ghosted' (Deseret News)
  • Southern California city council gives a key approval for Disneyland expansion plan (AP)

Political news

  • Seven jurors picked in Trump’s N.Y. trial as judge presses ahead (Washington Post)
  • New York judge says Trump can’t attend Supreme Court arguments on presidential immunity (The Hill)
  • Momentum builds to oust Johnson from House speakership (Washington Post)
  • Johnson takes plunge on Ukraine aid in face of ouster threat (The Hill)
  • Sen. Menendez’s legal strategy may include blaming his wife, unsealed document says (Washington Post)

Election news

  • The GOP playbook: Ignore abortion (Deseret News)
  • Report: Trump, Kennedy camps were in VP talks as recently as last week (Deseret News)
  • Santos come-back campaign committee raised nothing in March (The Hill)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Russian attack kills at least 13 in Ukraine's Chernihiv, officials say (Reuters)
  • Ukraine's chances of pushing Russia out look increasingly grim (Wall Street Journal)

Israel and Gaza

  • Iran president warns of ‘massive’ response if Israel launches ‘tiniest invasion’ (AP)

World news

  • Coral bleaching afflicts most of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, report shows (Reuters)
  • Storm dumps heaviest rain ever recorded in the United Arab Emirates (NPR)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, April 17, 2024 (1)

 

News Releases

Romney, Reed, Moran, King unveil framework to mitigate extreme AI risks

Today, in a letter to the Senate artificial intelligence (AI) working group leaders, U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Angus King (I-ME) unveiled the first congressional framework to deal exclusively with the extreme risks posed by future developments in advanced AI models. The senators’ framework would establish federal oversight of frontier model hardware, development, and deployment to mitigate AI-enabled extreme risks from biological, chemical, cyber, and nuclear threats. (Read More)

Romney and Hassan urge Senate leaders to improve programs to respond to public health threats

U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member and Chair of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight Subcommittee respectively, urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to reauthorize the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), which improves programs to respond to public health threats. This is especially critical for supporting strong public health responses like the one to the recent human case of bird flu in the United States. (Read More)

Gardner Institute honors community leaders with “Informed Decision Maker of the Year” Award

Each year, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute recognizes individuals and entities that work, often behind the scenes and with little fanfare, to help our community prosper. We call them “Informed Decision Makers” and select them based on criteria consistent with the Institute’s committable core values: responsibility to the community, integrity and relevance, accountability, collaboration, and a positive work environment. “The Gardner Institute is pleased to honor five outstanding individuals and organizations who exemplify a genuine commitment to their community through their work,” said Gardner Institute director Natalie Gochnour. (Read More)

Rep. Brian King releases statement on Gov. Cox’s request to pause EPA air quality rule

Spencer Cox, Governor of Utah, joined 21 other Republican governors in signing onto a letter calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to pause a new rule limiting air pollution. Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Utah state representative, Brian S. King, released the following statement in response: “We need cleaner air, not only for Utah residents right now, but for future generations. Particle pollution, which this rule is positioned to address, is one of the most dangerous forms of pollution to breathe." (Read More)

Caroline Gleich, Democrat for US Senate, announces historically strong Q1 fundraising

Today, Caroline Gleich, Democratic candidate for US Senate in Utah, announced a strong Quarter 1 fundraising report, with nearly $400,000 raised from nearly 8,000 individual donors. This is the highest single-quarter fundraising total for a Democratic US Senate candidate in Utah in over 40 years, and the second-highest ever. It reflects a historically strong campaign heading into the state Democratic convention later this month and preparing to face off with the eventual Republican nominee in the November general election. Gleich’s numbers place her as the second-highest-raising candidate in the first quarter, outpacing nearly every Republican running. (Read More)

Gov. Cox launches Startup State Initiative to encourage entrepreneurship in Utah

Last week, Gov. Spencer J. Cox and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) announced the launch of the Startup State Initiative and its statewide entrepreneurship brand and business resource portal at startup.utah.gov. The first-of-its-kind state website aims to support startups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs through every step of the business journey by unifying the state’s entrepreneurial resources. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2024-04-17 at 6.57.17 AM

 

Upcoming

  • April 18 — Utahns’ Perceptions of the Challenges Facing Women and Girls, 12:00-1:15 pm, Register here
  • April 20 — United Utah Partyconvention
  • April 23 — WTC Innovation Summit, 8:30 am-12:00 pm, Register here
  • April 26 — YWCA Leader Luncheon, Grand America Hotel, 11:30 am-2:00 pm, Purchase tickets here
  • April 27 — State GOP and Democratic Conventions
  • June 6 — Bolder Way Forward 2nd Annual Summit, Zions Technology Campus, 9:00 am-2:00 pm, Register here
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1387 - Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" characters begin their pilgrimage to Canterbury (according to scholars).
  • 1790 - Benjamin Franklin dies at age 84.
  • 1913 - Dorothy Fosdick is born. She worked as a federal official from 1942 to 1953, developing the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, advised on national security and wrote speeches for Henry “Scoop” Jackson (1955-83).
  • 1916 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike is born. She became the world’s first modern female head of state when she became the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960.
  • 1961 - The Bay of Pigs invasion begins.
  • 1964 - Geraldine (Jerrie) Mock becomes the first woman to fly solo around the world.
  • 1970 - Apollo 13 returns to earth.
  • 1975 - Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge killed approximately 1.7 million people over the next 4 years (21% of the country's population). 

Quote of the Day

“I just don’t think (negative campaigning) has the same power it did 10-20 years ago.”

—Chuck Warren, political consultant

On the Punny Side

What do you get if you cross a chicken with a fox?

A fox.

 

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