| New proposed OSHA rule would get rid of volunteer search and rescue teams in Utah; Utah election process to be reviewed .png?width=1200&upscale=true&name=Utah_Policy_Logo_Email_Full%20(1).png) | 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. If you're a candidate in 2024 and want to advertise on UtahPolicy.com, contact Suzanne Benitez. | | |
Situational Analysis | Aug. 21, 2024 It's Wednesday and National Senior Citizens Day! What you need to know - Utah is suing the federal government over control of 18.5 million acres of unappropriated public lands. Utah is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the federal government has constitutional authority to maintain unappropriated public lands in the state against the stateâs wishes. The lawsuit will not impact the 18.8 million acres of federal and tribal lands that include national parks, national monuments, national forests and national wilderness areas.
Rapid relevance On the Hill Today | | |
.jpg?width=1200&upscale=true&name=12824-8_PLPCO_DesNews_Photo%20(1).jpg) | Stand for Our Land Recently, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has significantly restricted access to Utah public lands and continues to restrict access. We need you to get involved. Learn how your access is being affected and voice your concerns to the BLM. Your input will help shape the future of Utah. | | |
Utah Headlines Political news - Utah majority leaders say amendment needed so Utah doesnât become California (Deseret News)
- âItâs not a power grab,â says Utah House Speaker on special session over initiatives (KSL TV)
- Lawmakers look to overturn a unanimous Utah Supreme Court ruling and assert their ability to rewrite or repeal voter initiatives in Wednesday special session (Salt Lake Tribune)
- Utah Dems: âRepublican super-majority going to extreme lengths to seize powerâ (ABC4)
Election news - Audits incoming: Utah primary elections to receive reviews from legislative and executive auditors (Deseret News)
Utah - 990 people hit during 2023-24 school year; Utahns urged to revisit rules of the road and change bad driving behaviors (KSL TV)
Crime/Courts - Honie execution cost Utah Department of Corrections more than $280,000 (Deseret News)
Culture - Hereâs how to audition for âAmerican Idolâ from Utah (ABC4)
Education - What do states owe to religious schools? (Deseret News)
- No, college campuses are not doomed. Donât miss the reasons for hope (Deseret News)
- Is eBayâs Draper facility the solution to a need for a new tech high school? (Deseret News)
- Parents encouraged to speak to teens about dating violence ahead of new school year (KSL)
- âExcited and worriedâ: Hundreds of Salt Lake City kids begin school at new campuses after elementary closures (Salt Lake Tribune)
Environment - Nearly 1,000 fires have started in Utah this year. Hereâs how much it has cost to fight them (Deseret News)
Health - Why boredom scrolling through reels might make you more bored (Deseret News)
Housing - Why are more Americans choosing renting over buying â even things other than housing? (Deseret News)
| | |
National Headlines General - Hunter Woodhall tests positive for COVID. He's still planning on competing in the Paralympics (Deseret News)
- Disney backtracks on request to toss wrongful death suit over Disney+ agreement (NPR)
Political news - George Santos pleads guilty, blames ambition for âdecisions that were unethicalâ (Deseret News)
- Federal judge strikes down FTC rule banning noncompete agreements (Washington Post)
- House GOP hits end of Biden impeachment effort (Politico)
Election news - Why Rusty Bowers wonât vote for either Trump or Harris (Deseret News)
- Perspective: Kamala Harris and the power of fun (Deseret News)
- Why isnât Kamala Harris talking to the media? It depends on who you ask â and, perhaps more broadly, what you define as âmedia.â(Deseret News)
- 2 Obamas, 1 Latter-day Saint Republican: Highlights from Tuesday night at the DNC (Deseret News)
- Michelle Obama tells Trump the presidency just may be a 'Black job' (Reuters)
- Vance and Walz are still relatively unknown, but the governor is better liked, an AP-NORC poll finds (AP)
- Former Trump press secretary speaks at DNC, says he mocked his supporters as âbasement dwellersâ (Washington Post)
- Gaetz wins primary challenge (Washington Post)
- Trump dismisses likability as a key election issue (The Hill)
Ukraine ðºð¦ - Kursk incursion boosts Ukrainian morale after grim year (Reuters)
- U.S. veteran who fled child porn charges now flies drones for Russia (Washington Post)
Israel and Gaza - Blinken ends latest Mideast visit without a cease-fire, warning âtime is of the essenceâ (AP)
World news - Kenyan man being held over the discovery of dismembered female bodies escapes from police custody (AP)
| | |
Number of the Day 
| | |
 | News Releases Utah House Democratic Leadership Team on the upcoming special session The Utah House Democratic Leadership Team issued the following statement in response to the Special Session being less than 24 hours away, with no bill yet made public: âThe Utah Legislature is convening in a Special Session under the pretense that changing the citizen initiatives and referendum process is an âemergency.â Letâs be clear: this is not an emergencyâitâs a blatant power grab following the Utah Supreme Courtâs ruling that the Legislature overstepped. With less than 24 hours until the session begins, we still havenât seen the bill. The public deserves adequate time to read, respond, and communicate their thoughts with their elected officials. Instead, the legislative supermajority is keeping everyone in the dark, denying Utahns a fair chance to engage in the democratic process. Rather than respecting our revered checks and balances, theyâre rushing us into a special session to once again disregard the will of the people.â
Utah files landmark lawsuit challenging federal control over most BLM land Today, after decades of legal analysis, Utah filed a landmark public lands lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address whether the federal government can simply hold unappropriated lands within a State indefinitely. The âunappropriatedâ land in question is approximately 18.5 million acres in Utah controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). This lawsuit will NOT impact the millions of âappropriatedâ acres already designated as national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, national forests, Tribal lands, or military properties. (Read More)
State Auditor to conduct limited review of election process State Auditor John Dougall will conduct a limited review of certain aspects of the stateâs election process, including controls over and disclosure of voter registration information as well as the validation process associated with signature-gathering by candidates. Upon completion of the review, a report containing any findings and recommendations will be issued. Auditor Dougall will provide no additional comments on this issue until the limited review of the election process is completed.
Romney secures funding for measures to save the Great Salt Lake in Senate appropriations process The Senate Appropriations Committee recently passed two measures offered by Senator Romney (R-UT) that fund his years-long effort to save the Great Salt Lake. The first program fundedâauthorized as a part of Romneyâs Great Salt Lake Recovery Act, which was signed into law in 2022âencourages the Army Corps of Engineers to research methods to monitor and assess the hydrology of the Great Salt Lake, including providing contracts to the state of Utah. The second program fundedâauthorized as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (WRDA)âis for a feasibility study to improve ecosystem restoration and water supply in the Lake. This new federal funding would support ongoing efforts by Utah state and local leaders. (Read More) | | |
Tweet of the Day  | | |
Upcoming - August 20-21 â Interim Days
- September 17-18 â Interim Days
- October 4 â Conservative Climate Summit, 7:30 am - 3:00 pm, UVU, Register here
- October 4 â Hatch Foundation hosts Civil Dialogue Symposium with Dana Perino, 2:00 pm, USU, Register here
- October 7-9 â One Utah Summit, SUU, Register here
- October 15-16 â Interim Day
- November 15 â Women & Business Conference & ATHENA Awards Luncheon with the Salt Lake Chamber, Grand America Hotel, Register here
- November 19-20 â Interim Days
| | |
On This Day In History - 1614 - Elizabeth Báthory, the world's most prolific female serial killer, dies at 54
- 1831 - Former slave Nat Turner leads uprising against slavery.
- 1920 -Christopher Robin Milne is born.
- 1959 - Hawaii becomes the 50th state.
- 1974 - The Equal Educational Opportunities Act takes effect
- 1980 - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is founded
- 1986 - An eruption of lethal gas from Lake Nyos in Cameroon kills nearly 2,000 people and wipes out four villages.
- 2015 - First female soldiers graduate from US Army Ranger School
- 2018 - Michael Cohen, President Donald Trumpâs former personal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and other charges
Quote of the Day "Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." âChristopher Robin Milne
On the Punny Side Did you hear that Fedex and UPS were merging? They're going to be called FedUps. | | |
â Advertise With Us â Subscribers may receive special messages with information about new features, special offers, or public policy messages from clients and advertisers. |
|
