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Situational Analysis | February 13, 2023

It's Monday and National Football Hangover Day. Also, happy National Cheddar Day to all who celebrate.

What You Need to Know

Today on the Hill, HB308, School Grading Modifications, will be heard in the House Education committee. It would remove the requirement for giving a letter grade to schools. SB156, the "Sherry Black bill" expanding DNA testing options for law enforcement, is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee and SB181, Campaign Sign Amendments, is scheduled for the Senate Transportation Committee. This bill would allow a fee of $15 to be assessed for every illegally placed campaign sign that has to be removed.
On Friday, SB192, Medicaid Doula Services; SB183, which would increase teacher salaries by the same percentage that the WPU increases and the first big tax bill all passed out of their committees.

Rapid Roundup

Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl 38-35; the US military shot down three airborne objects over the weekend - one off the Alaskan coast, one in Canadian airspace and one over Lake Huron; the death toll in the Turkey/Syria earthquake passes 36,000;

2023 Legislative Session

27 days down, 18 days to go!

Today

8:00-9:50 am: House committees: Business & Labor; Education; Health & Human Services;

8:30 am: Economic Development & Workforce Services

8:00-9:50 am: Senate committees: Judiciary, Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice

8:30 am: Transportation, Public Utilities & Technology

10:00-12:00: House floor time

10:00-11:50: Senate floor time

2:00-3:50 pm: House floor time

2:00-3:50 pm: Senate floor time

4:00-6:00 pm: House committees: Public Utilities, Energy & Technology; Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice; Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment; Transportation

4:00-6:00 pm: Senate committees: Economic Development & Workforce Services; Revenue & Taxation

Tomorrow

8:00-9:50 am: House committees: Judiciary; Government Operations; Political Subdivisions; Revenue & Taxation

8:00-9:50 am: Senate committees: Business & Labor; Education; Health & Human Services

9:00 am: Senate Education

10:00-12:00 pm: House floor time

10:00-11:50 am: Senate floor time

2:00-3:50 pm: House floor time

2:00-3:50 pm: Senate floor time

4:00-6:00 pm: House committees: Business & Labor; Education; Health & Human Services; Economic Development & Workforce Services

4:00-6:00 pm: Senate committees: Judiciary, Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice; Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment; Transportation, Public Utilities & Technology

Utah Headlines

General Legislative News

Legislature’s halfway done; Maternal mental health takes the the spotlight (Deseret News)
2023 Legislative Session Week 4 (Hinckley Report)
Utah Legislature passes bill to address 'epidemic' of missing, murdered Indigenous people (KSL)
Will Utah legalize medical ‘magic mushrooms’ this year? (Deseret News)
Senate panel OKs bill to build on teachers’ $6,000 salary bump (Deseret News)
‘I hope my family’s OK': Utah lawmakers plan to provide scholarships to children of fallen officers (KSL)
Poll: Nearly half of Utahns back using tax dollars for private education options (Deseret News)
Should Halloween be celebrated on the last Friday of October? Utah Senate votes ‘boo’ (Deseret News)
Bill requiring golf courses to publish water use held in committee for second time (Great Salt Lake Collaborative)
Should Utah Olympic organizers report to lawmakers? Here’s what a new bill says (KSL)
Utahns owed millions in unclaimed property, lawmakers consider bill to return money automatically (KSL TV)
New bill could prevent HOAs from fining over yellow grass (KSL Newsradio)
Utah Senate considering a new bill surrounding “condom stealthing” (KSL Newsradio)
Why the Utah Eagle Forum is concerned about food supply in our state (ABC4)
New bill tightens rules for bars during criminal investigation (ABC4)
New Utah senator excited to dive into the job (Fox13)
School safety is the focus of several bills this legislative session (UPR)

Other political news

‘We passionately disagree and we’re best friends’: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox talks bipartisanship on ‘Meet the Press’ (Deseret News)
The IUP Panel on the State of the Union address (ABC4)
Utah Republican wants GOP to nominate a governor for president. “That's the easy call for me,” Gov. Spencer Cox said. (Politico)
Utah governor to Californians: Stay in California (Deseret News)

General Utah News

50 years later, memory still bright for pilot who flew Vietnam POWs to freedom. On Feb. 12, 1973, Provo native and veteran Air Force pilot James Marrott had the honor to fly the airplane that brought the first batch of Vietnam War POWs home to freedom (Deseret News)
‘Devastated for her’: Utah’s Grace McCallum injured at the Metroplex Challenge (Deseret News)

Business

Dirty Dough continues growing with 14 new locations in Utah; 5 in Utah County (Daily Herald)

Education

4 Orem sixth graders chosen to launch experiment with NASA (KSL)

Environment

How the level of concern over the drought has changed (Deseret News)

Family

Should a technology free Valentine’s Day be your goal? Technology and romance don’t need to be enemies. (Deseret News)

Health

Derwin Gray: What I’ve learned about happiness. During my NFL career, I saw happiness as a shadow that was too fast to catch. Then I met someone who helped me understand how to be happy permanently (Deseret News)
Can reducing your calorie intake slow the aging process? (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

As earthquake death toll surpasses 24,000 36,000 in Turkey, contractors of the collapsed buildings are being detained (Deseret News)
Hamlin makes appearance on field at Super Bowl (AP)
All-female pilot team makes Super Bowl flyover history (The Hill)
The mystery of the disappearing vacation day (Washington Post)

Politics

Biden hosts GOP, Dem governors at White House for dinner (AP)
Hopeful freshman lawmakers run up against the reality of a divided House (Washington Post)
Trump campaign paid researchers to prove 2020 fraud but kept findings secret. An outside firm’s work was never released publicly after researchers uncovered no evidence that the election had been rigged for Joe Biden (Washington Post)
Chris Christie says House GOP jeering Biden at State of the Union was ‘big mistake’ (The Hill)
Haley makes risky bet as she prepares to take on Trump (The Hill)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

Wagner owner says war in Ukraine could drag on for years (AP)
Russia claims advances, strengthens southern front (Wall Street Journal)
‘Our losses were gigantic’: Life in a sacrificial Russian assault wave. Poorly trained Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine describe being used as cannon fodder by commanders throwing waves of bodies into an assault. (New York Times)
Russians abandon wartime Russia in historic exodus (Washington Post)

World

Earthquake in Turkey is only the latest tragedy for refugees (AP)
Grief gives way to anger over Turkey’s earthquake response (AP)
No tents, no aid, nothing: Why Syrians feel forgotten (BBC)
Turkey’s trust in government has turned to dust. The country was a construction site. It has become a cemetery. (The Atlantic)
UN aid chief: quake rescue phase 'coming to a close' (Reuters)
Moldova’s President outlines Russian ‘plan’ to topple gov’t (AP)

News Releases

Gov. Cox announces Utah Home, a new plan of priorities for Utah

At the start of the Cox-Henderson administration in 2021, Team Utah released the One Utah Roadmap, a plan for the first 500 days in office. Now entering the third year of the administration, the administration is releasing a new set of bold and impactful priorities for Utah.

This set of priorities is called Utah Home because these goals are foundational to preserving our home state as a wonderful place to live, work, and recreate. Parts of what make Utah our home include our people, growth, and good government – the three guiding pillars of Utah Home. (Read More)

Owens reintroduces school safety legislation

Today, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) re-introduced the Securing Our Students Act, legislation to redirect unused American Rescue Plan funding to help local school districts identify and implement evidence-based school safety measures. Of the $122 billion appropriated to America’s K-12 schools in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, 77% remains unspent. (Read More)

Utah Valley University announces 8 Alumni Award winners in 2023

Utah Valley University (UVU) announced its eight 2023 annual Alumni Award winners before an audience of colleagues, family, and friends today at a black-tie event in the Scott C. and Karen Keller Building on UVU’s Orem Campus.

The 2023 recipients are Christopher S. Chileshe, Andrea M. Clarke, James N. Clarke, Aaron D. Day, Lychelle L. Day, Chad W. Linebaugh, Linda J. Makin, and Steven J. Sonnenberg. (Read More)

Upcoming

Ditch Your Debt and Transform Your Net Worth with the Utah Women and Leadership Project — Feb. 28, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, Virtual, Register Here
Legislative session ends — Mar. 3, le.utah.gov
Provo Women's Day — Mar. 4, more information here.
Women in International Business Conference with World Trade Center Utah — Mar. 8, 8:30 am - 2:00 pm, Register Here
Teaching Your Child Consent with the Utah Women and Leadership Project — Mar. 16, 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm, Virtual, Register Here
Sutherland Institute Annual Gala honoring Lowry Snow & Ian Rowe — Mar. 23, 7 pm, Hyatt Regency, More Information Here
MWEG Spring Conference with keynote speaker Becky Edwards — Mar. 25, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm at UVU or virtual, Register Here

On This Day In History

1633 - Galileo arrives in Rome to face charges of heresy for promoting the theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
1689 - William and Mary are proclaimed joint sovereigns of Britain.
1693 - The College of William and Mary opens in Williamsburg, Virginia.
1866 - Jesse James holds up his first bank, stealing $15,000 from the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri.
1906 - Pauline Frederick is born. She became a journalist, the first woman network radio correspondent (1939) and the first woman to moderate a presidential debate (1976).
1917 - Exotic dancer and courtesan Mata Hari is arrested in Paris for being a German spy. She was executed by firing squad later that year.
1920 - League of Nations recognizes perpetual Swiss neutrality.
1945 - The German city of Dresden is firebombed by Allied troops, killing roughly 25,000 and reducing the city to rubble.
1965 - Malcolm X's home in New York City is bombed. He and his family were not hurt and he decided to keep his speaking engagement in Detroit. One week later, he was killed.
1970 - The New York Stock Exchange admits itss first Black member, Joseph Searles.
1974 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist and Nobel Laureate, is deported from the Soviet Union to Frankfurt, West Germany and stripped of his Soviet citizenship.
1977 - “Pistol” Pete Maravich becomes first Jazz All-Star.

Heard on the Hill

"I don't think we should trick the public on this, I think we should treat the public to a no vote."

—Sen. Curt Bramble, explaining his vote on the Halloween bill

On the Punny Side

How do vampires know if they had a successful Valentine's Day?

If it's love at first bite.