Honoring Living Color

Utah Business aims to bring awareness to the changing business landscape in Utah and create a foundation upon which further recruiting efforts can be built. Are you aware of an individual who has made it their mission to attract and foster diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout the state of Utah? Make your nomination by June 16.

Utah Headlines

Political news

• Sen. Mitt Romney says he’ll vote for debt ceiling bill, praises Speaker McCarthy (Deseret News)
• Romney rips critics of debt limit deal: ‘There are people who want to make noise, and there are people who want to make law.’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Latter-day Saints update and expand policy on political neutrality and participation (Deseret News)
•  Who will replace Rep. Chris Stewart in Congress? Some possible candidates (Deseret News)
• Gov. Cox’s picks to oversee Utah higher education to be vetted by Senate committee Monday (Salt Lake Tribune)

General Utah news

• Utah's ski resorts shatter previous visitation records with help of long winter (KSL)
• 'You are welcome here': Salt Lake County event offers support to Afghanistan refugees (KSL)
• Fraudster impersonates Gov. Cox, asks for gift cards (KSL TV)
• Residents forced to relocate within 30 days from Millcreek assisted living facility (KUTV)
• Salt Lake City bat tests positive for rabies, health department warns (ABC4)

Business

• Longtime Bonneville International executive Tanya Vea to step into new leadership role (Deseret News)
• Twitter's head of trust and safety says she has resigned (Reuters)

Education

• Draper student finishes third in 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee (ABC4)
• The heartwarming thing a Utah couple did when the youngest of 11 kids graduated high school (Deseret News)
• Davis District pulls Bible from elementaries, junior highs 'due to vulgarity or violence' (KSL)
• Granite School District breaks ground on inaugural teen center at Cottonwood High School (KSL)
• Prizes literally rain down on Roy students after kids reach million-minutes reading goal (KUTV)
• Poll: Americans say teachers are underpaid, about half of Republicans oppose book bans (NPR)

Environment

• Brad Wilson: Are Utah farmers and ranchers doing their part to conserve water? (Deseret News)
• Utah’s bet on energy future is looking too risky for one small county alone (Salt Lake Tribune)

Health

• A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry. (Washington Post)

Housing

• Why Salt Lake City wants to add 10K new housing units in the next 5 years (KSL)

National Headlines

General

• How do we avoid an AI-driven extinction event? Unknown, but experts sign ‘global priority’ declaration (Deseret News)
• Don’t store money in Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, regulator says (Washington Post)

Politics

• Biden says he got ‘sandbagged’ after he tripped and fell onstage at Air Force graduation (AP)
• After harassment, Arizona county official won’t run for reelection (Washington Post)
• Trump-DeSantis feud gets ugly fast (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

• Blinken says no Ukraine cease-fire without a peace deal that includes Russia’s withdrawal (AP)
• ‘Lots of Explosions and Shooting Outside’: Giving Birth in Wartime Ukraine (New York Times)
• To liberate territory, Ukraine must smash fortified Russian defenses (Washington Post)
• Ukraine battles sky-high expectations ahead of counteroffensive (The Hill)

World

• NATO chief heading to Turkey this weekend in fresh push on Swedish membership (AP)
• Sudanese forces clash in Khartoum after talks break down (Reuters)
• More than 100,000 flee to Chad from Sudan conflict, UNHCR says (Reuters)

News Releases

Sen. Lee introduces FORMULA 3.0

Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ)—along with Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Don Beyer (D-VA), introduced the FORMULA 3.0 Act. Building upon the success of his previous bills, Sen. Lee’s latest legislation aims to permanently waive tariffs and ease trade barriers on infant formula, ensuring a stable and accessible supply for families across the United States. (Read More)

Romney, Manchin, Sullivan, King introduce legislation to expose China’s defense spending

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, joined by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Angus King (I-ME), today introduced the China Defense Spending Transparency Act, bipartisan legislation requiring the Defense Intelligence Agency to publish a comprehensive report exposing the true extent of China’s defense-industrial build up. (Read More)

Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy rebrands as Utah Global Diplomacy, grows impact

Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy will now be known as Utah Global Diplomacy. In addition to a new name, Utah Global Diplomacy is growing its impact through targeted education programs and by connecting Utahns from across the state with foreign delegations from across the globe. (Read More)

Salt Lake Chamber supports bipartisan debt deal to avoid default

Salt Lake Chamber President and CEO Derek Miller released the following statement on the recent house bill passage on the debt limit increase preventing a default scenario for our nation: “Businesses need stability and predictability. Businesses understand the importance of paying their bills and living within a budget. Businesses follow these foundational principles themselves and they expect it of the government." (Read More)

Lee to seek vote on amendment to the ‘Fiscal Responsibility Act’

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced an amendment to the “Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023” in a move to promote fiscal accountability and regulatory reform. The amendment seeks to strike Section 265 from the Act, a provision that undermines fiscal restraint in proposed regulatory rule-making. (Read More)

Utah Democratic Party adopts 2024 delegate selection plan

The Utah Democratic Party announces the adoption of its 2024 Delegate Selection Plan by the State Central Committee. The Central Committee convened this May to discuss public comments, and subsequently voted to unanimously approve the Plan. We are excited to begin Utah’s 2024 delegate selection process in advance of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Municipal election filing period — June 1-6 (unless using ranked choice voting)
• Intellectual Property Rights webinar with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation — June 1, 10:00 am, Register here
• Bolder Way Forward Launch — June 9, 9 am-1 pm, Zions Technology Campus, Register here
• Interim Days — June 13-14, Utah State Capitol, le.utah.gov
• Bellwether International Symposium on Bridging the Religious Divide with the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy — June 16, 9:00 am-3:30 pm, Little America, Register here
• Municipal election filing period for cities using ranked choice voting — August 8-15

On This Day In History

• 1731 - Martha Dandrige (Washington) is born.
• 1863 - Harriet Tubman leads 150 Black Union soldiers in the Combahee River Raid in South Carolina, liberating 750 slaves. This was the only Civil War military engagement where a woman was the commander. 
• 1924  - Congress enacts the Indian Citizenship Act, conferring citizenship on all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the country. The privileges of citizenship, however, were largely governed by state law, and the right to vote was often denied to Native Americans in the early 20th century.
• 1953 - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey.
• 1954 - Senator Joseph McCarthy charges communists are in the CIA.
• 1989 - 10,000 Chinese soldiers are blocked by 100,000 citizens in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, protecting students demonstrating for democracy
• 2004 - Ken Jennings begins his 74-game winning streak on the syndicated game show Jeopardy!
• 2015 - US Congress passes new legislation to reform National Security Agency procedures, restricting gathering of phone records
• 2022 - Queen Elizabeth II marks her Platinum Jubilee with four days of celebrations starting with a military parade at Buckingham Palace

Quote of the Day

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."

—Ronald Reagan

On the Punny Side

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