The US to accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, 3.5 million have left the country, 400,000 Ukrainians have been moved to Russia, by Russia
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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.

 

Situational Analysis | March 25, 2022

Made it to Friday. Only 9 months to go until Christmas! ðŸŽ„

It's also National Tolkien Reading Day, because March 25 is the day Sauron fell. 

Be in the Know

  1. Today, the Utah legislature is set to override Governor Cox's veto of the bill banning transgender athletes from playing high school sports and set aside $500,000 to defend against the coming lawsuits. The bill, substituted and passed at the end of the last day of the session, is designed to fail. Proponents of the bill expect the ban to be overturned, triggering a severability clause that leaves the commission part of the bill in place (assuming courts don't overturn that part as well). The commission would be triggered by a transgendered athlete telling the high school association that they want to play a gendered sport. The commission is tasked with setting a baseline range of physical characteristics including height, weight and "other" characteristics by which to judge an athlete. 

  2. The United States will admit 100,000 Ukrainian and other refugees fleeing as a result of Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression, President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday. According to the U.N. refugee agency, more than 3.5 million people have fled from Ukraine since February. Meanwhile, Ukraine says Russia has taken more than 400,000 Ukrainians and put them in the middle of Russia. Russia says they wanted to go.

 

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Utah Headlines

General

  •  â€˜We are not a welcoming community’: Utah’s economy, and reputation, could take a hit following transgender sports ban (Deseret News)
  • Analysis: Could 2023 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City be in jeopardy because of HB11? Spoiler: yes (Deseret News)
  • Dr. Ruth Zimmer: How I learned to grow from having a transgender child (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • The last Shakers. At their peak, there were 5,000 Shakers. Only two remain. (Deseret News)

Politics

  • Editorial board: Utah’s transgender athlete bill does not live up to the ‘Utah way’. The bill was passed with no public comment and despite compromise efforts that were underway. It is designed to fail, after which a more rational process would ensue (Deseret News)
  • Jacob Newman: The real ‘Utah Way’ is grabbing power and bulldozing rights (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Why Gov. Cox is worried about Utah’s transgender sports bill bankrupting the state’s high school activities association (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • What Mitt Romney says about GOP attacks on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson (Deseret News)
  • Faculty from BYU Law School say Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson should be confirmed to the Supreme Court (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Ketanji Brown Jackson is one of the most popular modern Supreme Court nominees. Jackson is tied with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as the most popular nominee since Gallup began tracking (Deseret News)
  • Utah makes Juneteenth a state holiday (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Utah’s liquor laws set to change June 1st (ABC4)

Education

  • Utah college tuitions to rise next fall amid rising labor costs. Board member and former lawmaker Aaron Osmond votes against all increases noting historic funding from Utah Legislature (Deseret News)
  • The largest 4-year university system in the U.S. is dropping the SAT and ACT (Deseret News)

Environment

  • When oozing rivers caught fire: 50 years after Clean Water Act, promises only half kept. Utah ranks among top 3 states for polluted rivers impacting aquatic life (Deseret News)

Family

  • Many Americans moved from large cities to smaller ones during the pandemic (Deseret News)
  • 21 arrested in Utah sex trafficking operation. It’s ‘not even the tip of the iceberg,’ police say (Deseret News)
  • The U.S. is welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees with a focus on reuniting families (Deseret News)

Utah/Ukraine Connection

  • 'We see these funds as sacred' Group of men delivers Utah donations to Ukraine border (KSL TV)

COVID Corner

  • 152 cases, 37 deaths
  • COVID-19 case counts increase slightly as the state reports 37 more deaths (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

  • Why the U.S. was wrong about Ukraine and the Afghan war. U.S. intelligence agencies thought the Afghan military would last longer and predicted Kyiv would fall faster, showing the difficulty of assessing fighting spirit. (New York Times)

Politics

  • Biden travels to Poland, mere miles from Ukraine and at the heart of the refugee crisis (NPR)
  • Supreme Court nominee’s ‘empathy’ is flashpoint for Senate (AP)
  • Critics of Jackson’s Child Sex Abuse Sentences Backed Judges With Similar Records (New York Times)
  • Jackson faces growing GOP opposition on Supreme Court (The Hill)
  • Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry is found guilty of lying to the FBI in illegal campaign contributions probe (NPR)
  • Donald Trump sues Hillary Clinton over 2016 Russian collusion allegations (Reuters)
  • Virginia Thomas urged White House chief to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 election, texts show (Washington Post)
  • GOP lawmakers push historic wave of nearly 200 bills targeting rights of LGBTQ teens, children and their families (Washington Post)
  • House GOP vows 'grand plan,' not obstruction, as it eyes majority (Politico)

Ukraine

  • Ukraine says Moscow is forcibly taking civilians to Russia (AP)
  • Ukraine says Russian landing ship destroyed (The Hill)
  • Under fire, out of fuel, no air support: What intercepted Russian radio chatter reveals (New York Times)
  • Ukraine reports 300 died in Russian strike on theater (AP)
  • Ukrainian forces advance east of Kyiv as Russians fall back (Reuters)
  • Inside besieged Mariupol, left in ruins after Russian bombardment (Reuters)
  • Russia could have lost as many as 15,000 troops in Ukraine war, NATO official estimates (Washington Post)
  • Leaders rebuff Zelenskyy’s latest pitch to join EU (Politico)
 

Guest opinion: Even in a world of stubborn never-Trumpers, Evan McMullin is still wrong for Utah

by Jared Whitley

This year is going to be the mother of all red waves, and the Republican candidates that wave brings to Washington are our best hope for putting American back on course. But will this wave help things here in Utah? 

In Utah, we have Evan McMullin. 

If you haven’t heard of him, McMullin ran for president in 2016 to deep-six Trump’s campaign, and this year he’s trying to do the same to Sen. Mike Lee. While McMullin has always run as an independent, he is transparently a globalist, big-government, establishment politician. He supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, and fought to keep Ben McAdams in Congress

As a former CIA operative, he is trained in the art of deception, and is trying to deceive the people of Utah that he is an independent who is conservative enough for Republicans, yet hateful of the Trump wing of the party to garner votes from Democrats. 

It might be easy to call McMullin’s “no really, I’m a conservative, you guys” act treachery, but his interest could be financial. See, McMullin’s quixotic presidential campaign left him about $600,000 in debt. Since then, he’s played a political shell-game where he started a nonprofit – Stand Up Republican Foundation, Inc – and used donations to pay himself. 

According to his own tax documents, obtained by Influence Watch and Pro Publica, the Stand Up Republic Foundation (also known as Stand Up Ideas, Inc.) raised millions and much of it went to the partnership McMullin Finn, LLC, in 2017 and 2018. The appearance of self-dealing may not be illegal, but it sure stinks and appears to be an example of a guy setting up a non-profit to become a millionaire at the expense of donors. (Read More)


News Releases

Governor signs historic funding for education

Today, Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed 78 bills and allowed one bill to become law without his signature. This brings the total number of signed, vetoed or law-without-signature pieces of legislation from the 2022 General Legislative Session to 499. 

SB 2, which sets the education budget, includes a 6% increase for the weighted pupil unit (WPU), sets the estimated basic levy rate, and appropriates new funding for a variety of public education purposes. (Read More)


Governor signs 104 bills of the 2022 General Legislative Session and allows two bills to become law without his signature

Today, Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed 104 bills and allowed two bills to become law without his signature. This brings the total number of signed pieces of legislation from the 2022 General Legislative Session to 420. (Read More)


Rep. Stewart introduces the Intelligence Community Authorities Clarification Act

Today, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) introduced the Intelligence Community Authorities Clarification Act. The Intelligence Community (IC) – including the CIA, National Security Agency, National Counterterrorism Center and more – is designed to combat foreign adversaries and threats, such as terrorist organizations. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is turning the massive powers of the IC inward, toward the American people.

This legislation will put a wall between U.S. intelligence agencies and U.S. citizens, preventing the IC from spying on Americans. (Read More)


Romney, Markey announce subcommittee hearing on the assault on freedom of expression in Asia

U.S. Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Mitt Romney (R-UT), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, released the following statement today announcing a subcommittee hearing next week.

“We are pleased to announce that the East Asia Subcommittee will hold a hearing featuring three outstanding witnesses to examine how the United States can take a greater leadership role to protect freedom of expression in the Asia Pacific region and support journalists, activists, and everyday citizens who risk their lives to exercise and maintain this basic human right,” said Senators Markey and Romney in a joint statement. â€œAcross Asia, freedom of expression is under attack as authoritarian governments, often taking their cues from China, draw from the same playbook to suppress, censor, and stifle non-violent free speech, media, assembly, and religion.” (Read More)


Sen. Lee advocates for Ukrainian orphans

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) led a bicameral letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken advocating that the State Department assist Ukrainian refugees and aid American families who have already begun the process of adopting Ukrainian orphans. The letter asks the Department of State to aid the Ukrainian government to establish a consular office in Poland to process paperwork required for adoption.  The letter further asks about current State Department efforts to aid Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees.

The letter reads in part, “We write to thank you for the work of the United States Department of State to assist the people of Ukraine during this crisis and to make you aware of a particular group of orphans amongst the many fleeing the country.  There are families already towards the very end of the process to adopt Ukrainian orphans, and they are waiting for approval from the Ukrainian government to be united with their adopted children on U.S. soil.” (Read More)


Number of the Day

 

Tweet of the Day

 

Upcoming

  • Inflection Point: US-Asia Relations with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation â€“ Mar 30, 3:00 pm ET Register here
  • Last day for a registered voter to change voter affiliation before the regular primary election â€“ Mar 31
  • United Utah Party State Convention - April 16, 10 am, West High, SLC
  • 2022 Midyear Conference, Utah League of Cities and Towns - April 20-22, St. George Register here
  • Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
  • Primary election day â€“ June 28
  • General election â€“ Nov 8
 

On This Day In History

  • 1634 - The first colonists arrive at Maryland’s western shore and establish the first settlement of St. Mary’s. In March 2021, archeologists announced that they had found the ruins of St. Mary’s.
  • 1807 - The British Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act making the slave trade illegal in the British colonies. However, trade continued in the Caribbean until 1811. Watch the 2007 movie Amazing Grace for a look at William Wilberforce’s work.
  • 1862 - George Sutherland is born. He was a Utah Senator, a U.S. Senator and the only Supreme Court Justice to come from Utah. He was a strong proponent of women’s political rights for his entire life. Conservative Utah think tank Sutherland Institute is named for George.
  • 1911 - The Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory sweatshop in New York City burns down, killing 146 workers, almost all of them women. 
  • 1919 - Woodrow Wilson's dream of a League of Nations becomes a reality after the League Covenant is adopted at the Paris Peace Conference
  • 1931 - Ida B. Wells Barnett dies of kidney failure at age 68.
  • 1949 - Lillian E. Fishburne is born. She became the first African-American female to hold the rank of Rear Admiral (RDML) in the United States Navy in 1998.
  • 1967 - Debi Thomas is born. In 1988, she became the first Black athlete to ever win a medal in the Olympic Winter Games when she won the bronze in figure skating.
  • 2019 - NASA cancels a planned historic all-female spacewalk because it doesn't have enough spacesuits to fit women

Wise Words

“To my mind the right of women to vote is as obvious as my own right.”

— George Sutherland


Lighter Side

“Yeah, it was an emergency summit, but don’t worry: NATO leaders still had time for a family photo.” 

— JIMMY FALLON

 

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