View in browser

Situational Analysis | March 1, 2023

Welcome to March! It's Women's History Month, and hopefully, the month where spring flowers begin to emerge.

What You Need to Know

Committee hearings are over for this legislative session. With just three days to go, each body will now only hear bills from the other chamber. So, if your favorite House bill didn't make it out of the House, or your favorite Senate bill didn't make it out of the Senate, well, there's always next year. Also last night, the boards were wiped, meaning all bills have been sent back to Rules and will be re-released in order of priority from the originating chamber. A caveat: nothing is truly dead until sine die on Friday night.
The bill for a new state flag generated passionate comments in a House committee hearing yesterday including references to "woke, politically correct mobs," cancel culture and Nazis. Rep. Garff Ballard said she's received anonymous messages calling supporters of the bill "traitors." Online, opponents of the change threatened supporters that they "will never be elected again." The bill, which began in the Senate, passed the House committee and now heads to the House floor.
HB451, the bill to prohibit DEI statements, was pulled back off a committee agenda and will be sent to interim for study. It joins Sen. Johnson's bill that moved from a prohibition on university DEI departments to a study.

Rapid Roundup

A terrible train crash in Greece kills at least 36, injures more than 80; Eli Lilly to cut prices of insulin drugs by 70%; US labor market shows signs of cooling; and Iran is investigating hundreds of cases of schoolgirls being poisoned.

2023 Legislative Session

42 days down, 3 days to go! All floor time, all the time

Today

9:00-12:00 pm: House floor time
9:00-11:50 am: Senate floor time
2:00 pm - as late as needed: House floor time
2:00 pm - as late as needed: Senate floor time

Tomorrow

8:00-12:00 pm: House floor time
8:00-11:50 am: Senate floor time
2:00 pm - as late as needed: House floor time
2:00 pm - as late as needed: Senate floor time

Utah Headlines

General Legislative News

Bill banning diversity, equity offices in higher education is converted into study (Deseret News)
Years in the making, Utah’s new state flag close to waving across the state. Opponents of Sen. Dan McCay’s Utah flag bill said the change was giving in to “woke, politically correct mobs.” (Salt Lake Tribune)
Bill that could lower drug costs for chronically ill Utahns stalls in House committee (Deseret News)
Return of the 'Zion Curtain?' Liquor bill requires some restaurants to build a wall (Fox13)
Resolution to nix education’s income tax earmark passes the Utah Senate (Deseret News)
Utah lawmakers roll all tax cut proposals, including food tax, into one big bill (KUTV)
Bill mandating counties to provide homeless shelters, enforce camping laws passes Utah House (KSL)
Media groups oppose bill requiring police to seek consent before identifying child homicide victims (KSL)
No deal on bill to eliminate signature gathering, bill yanked from committee (KSL Newsradio)
Economic committee hears public opinions on changing the Utah State Flag (KSL Newsradio)
New bill could lower egg prices by allowing local farmers to sell eggs to restaurants (KSL Newsradio)
A new bill surrounding water use and conservation fails to pass first hurdle (KSL Newsradio)
Utah senator sees a way to ease the property tax burden on homeowners (Salt Lake Tribune)
Push for clergy to report abuse stalls in deeply Mormon Utah (AP)
It’s go time: Utah lawmakers to push through a flurry of bills in the session’s final days (KUER)

Other political news

Women’s History Month: Latter-day Saint women pioneered efforts in voting rights (Deseret News)
Sen. Lee calls for transfer of Navy Lt. imprisoned in Japan (KUTV)

General Utah news

Rape cases involving same suspect 'wrongfully closed,' getting new look after KSL Investigation (KSL)
Only a fraction of reported sexual assaults are prosecuted in Utah. Experts say it’s time to ‘up our game.’ (KSL TV)
‘Mormon mom TikTok’ star Taylor Frankie Paul charged with domestic violence, child abuse (Salt Lake Tribune)
Juvenile suspect allegedly pulls gun on Canyon View High students in parking lot, returns to assault another (ABC4)
The Black experience in Utah: A follow-up discussion one year later (Fox13)

Education

Washington County teachers take issue with district executive's comments on sick days (Fox13)

Family

How a new service aims to help teens remove explicit internet images (Deseret News)
Did you know that talking to your teens at night might help them open up more? (Deseret News)

Health

Blake Anderson encourages people who are hurting to seek help on anniversary of son’s death (Deseret News)
Study: African American and Black adults are more likely to suffer from mental illness than white adults (KSL TV)
3 years after Utah's first COVID-19 case, COVID 'long-haulers' still suffering (Fox13)

Housing

'A big deal': How a blighted Salt Lake City lot will become 200 affordable housing units (KSL)

National Headlines

General

Sailor survives nearly a month at sea with a bottle of ketchup — now Heinz wants to buy him a new boat (Deseret News)
Long-lost ship found in Lake Huron, confirming tragic story (AP)

Politics

The first hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment since 1984 was disrupted by protesters. Here's what Sen. Mike Lee caught on camera (Deseret News)
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ousted, frontrunners face off in April (AP)
Supreme Court seems ready to reject student loan forgiveness (AP)
Trump ties GOP in knots over Medicare and Social Security (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

Ukraine official: forces may pull out of key eastern city (AP)
Soils of war: The toxic legacy for Ukraine's breadbasket (Reuters)
Putin's war rhetoric rallies Russian border towns, but nerves fray (Wall Street Journal)
Russia was routed in an epic battle of tanks, repeating earlier mistakes (New York Times)

World

French government gives a million euros to help Ukrainian athletes prepare for Paris Olympics (Deseret News)
Finland’s Parliament gives final approval for NATO bid (AP)
Shipwreck off Italy: stadium filled with coffins of migrants (AP)
Hundreds massacred in Ethiopia even as peace deal was being reached. Soldiers from neighboring Eritrea went house to house killing villagers in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, witnesses say (Washington Post)

News Releases

Utah First Lady Abby Cox to host Special Olympics Utah athletes at Utah State Capitol as part of national “Spread the Word Inclusion Week”

Utah First Lady Abby Cox’s Show Up initiative supports the growth of the Special Olympics Unified Sports program in Utah schools. To further this mission, Cox will host high-school-aged Special Olympics Utah athletes as part of a youth leadership program at the Utah State Capitol today, teaching athletes how to use their voices for positive impact and promoting inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities. (Read More)

Rural communities opportunity grant awardees

The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity recently announced that 14 communities will receive grants through the Rural Communities Opportunity Grant (RCOG). There were 29 qualified applications submitted with total funding requests of nearly $12 million. The Rural Opportunities Advisory Committee awarded the total budgeted funds of $3.95 million. The Center for Rural Development, part of the Economic Opportunity office, administers the RCOG competitive application process. (Read More)

Utah Valley University launches Utah’s first Event Management degree

Responding to accelerating job growth in the rapidly expanding area of conferences, trade shows, and meetings, Utah Valley University (UVU) has announced a new bachelor’s degree in event management. The new major, UVU’s 92^nd bachelor’s program, will be offered through the Woodbury School of Business and is the first degree of its kind in Utah. (Read More)

UVU graduates eligible for the U’s Master of Healthcare Administration fast-track admissions and scholarships

Qualified Utah Valley University (UVU) graduates with any bachelor’s degree are now eligible for fast-track admissions and annual scholarships in the University of Utah’s (the U) Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) program, thanks to a new agreement between the schools.

UVU students with bachelor’s degrees in healthcare administration will be given special consideration for admittance in this collaborative pathway. All UVU graduates admitted to the MHA program at the David Eccles School of Business will receive the UVU partnership scholarship. (Read More)

Upcoming

The American Imperative: Reclaiming Global Leadership Through Soft Power with Daniel Runde & Bonnie Glick, Breakfast and Panel — Mar 2, 7:45-9:30 am, 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
Hatch Foundation Gala with special guest Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sec. Elaine Chao — April 14, 7:00 pm, Grand America, Register Here
Mount Liberty College Spring Youth Seminar on The Virginian — May 6, 9 am - 7 pm, Register Here

On This Day In History

1642 - Georgeana (York) in Maine becomes the first incorporated American city.
1692 - Salem Witch Hunt begins
1780 - Pennsylvania becomes the first US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only).
1781 - Articles of Confederation are (finally!) ratified after nearly four years of wrangling.
1790 - First US census authorized.
1864 - Rebecca Lee becomes the first Black woman in the US to receive a medical degree.
1872 - Yellowstone Park established
1875 - A Civil Rights bill is enacted by Congress, giving Blacks the right to equal treatment in “inns, public conveyances, theaters and other places of public amusement.” It is overturned by the US Supreme Court in 1883.
1879 - The telephone makes it to Utah.
1880 - Gillette Hayden, a pioneering dentist and periodontist, is born. She founded the American Academy of Periodontology and served as its president.
1896 - 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians in Ethiopia, killing two generals and capturing General Matteo Albertone in the Battle of Adowa.
1932 - Lindbergh baby kidnapped.
1941 - Captain America created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby is first published by Timely Comics.
1954 - US explodes Castle Bravo, a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, which accidentally became the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the US.
1960 - San Antonio, Texas, becomes the first major Southern city to integrate lunch counters.
1961 - President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps
1971 - Bomb explodes in US Capitol building.
1987 - Congress passes a resolution designating March as Women’s History Month.
2020 - Turkey launches major offensive against Syrian government in northern Syria

Heard on the Hill

“Woke, politically correct mobs are erasing history across American states, in statues, names of institutions, and now flags.”

—Ryan Woods, speaking in opposition to a new Utah state flag

On the Punny Side

Apparently you can't use "beef stew" as a password.

It's not stroganoff.