Utah Political News
Conservatives push back against seat belt law
Conservatives push back against seat belt law by Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 03:56PM MDT Conservative lawmakers resisted a bill Monday that would allow law enforcement to write a ticket to a driver not wearing a seat belt on roads where the speed limit is over 55 miles per hour. “I see this as another instance of creeping incrementalism that will go toward v ...
House votes to ban cell phone use by teen drivers
House votes to ban cell phone use by teen drivers by Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 03:27PM MDT Making a call that teenagers may not want to hear, the House voted Monday to ban motorists younger than 18 from using cell phones while driving — although adults could continue to do so legally. Rep. Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, suggested that lawmakers call it the ...
Utah citizen groups opposed to bill that makes it harder to get referendums on the ballot
Utah citizen groups opposed to bill that makes it harder to get referendums on the ballot by Cimaron Neugebauer The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 03:11PM MDT Many community organizations are arguing a bill before the Senate would make it nearly impossible to have an issue go to a vote of the people. SB66 would double or triple the number of signatures needed for a referendum to g ...
House decides not to resuscitate CPR classes
House decides not to resuscitate CPR classes The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 02:33PM MDT The House chose Monday not to resuscitate a bill to fund teaching CPR in Utah high schools. It voted 29-38 to kill HB307, which would have spent $200,000 a year to restart a program to provide training and mannequins to teach CPR in health classes. Its sponsor, Rep. Carol Moss, D-Hollad ...
Bill would delay Utah’s guest worker law by two years
Bill would delay Utah’s guest worker law by two years by David Montero The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 01:27PM MDT Sen. Curt Bramble unveiled a bill Monday that delays by two years, to July 1, 2015, the start of Utah’s controversial guest-worker law for undocumented immigrants. The Provo Republican, who is sponsoring SB225, said its intent is to give the federal government ...
House votes to allow drinking alcohol before ordering food
House votes to allow drinking alcohol before ordering food by Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 12:45PM MDT After sober debate, the Utah House voted Monday to clarify that Utah restaurant patrons may sip alcoholic beverages while looking at menus before actually ordering food. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control recently created an uproar by issuing a w ...
House panel OKs boost for math and science education
House panel OKs boost for math and science education by David Montero The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 11:44AM MDT A bill pushed by businesses to focus on math and science education among elementary school students passed a House committee unanimously Monday, just days after it had sputtered amid worries over its $15 million price tag. Rep. Val Peterson, R-Orem, told the House E ...
Federal-budget doubts lead to shrinking Utah state revenue
Federal-budget doubts lead to shrinking Utah state revenue by Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 10:52AM MDT The looming threat of automatic federal budget cuts due to kick in at the end of the week will hurt Utah’s economy and state tax revenues, forcing legislators to tighten their belts a notch or two. Legislators had anticipated having $300 million in new reven ...
Clean air, education become allies in fight for funds
Clean air, education become allies in fight for funds by Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 10:04AM MDT A battle pitting clean air vs. education saw a truce Monday where the two sides decided to quit tussling and become allies in the fight for state funding. The House Revenue and Taxation Committee earlier had defeated HB96 — which would continue tax credits set to ...
Utah’s Medicaid sheriff faces pressure to go easy on hospitals
Utah’s Medicaid sheriff faces pressure to go easy on hospitals by Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 25, 2013 01:01AM MDT A bill that would insulate Utah’s Medicaid Inspector General from interest groups angling to weaken his power won committee approval last week. But on Monday the same Health and Human Services Committee will take up another bill that could expose the ...
Youth protection
Youth protection Published Feb 24, 2013 10:46PM MDT “If you see someone being bullied, make it stop. Why is that so hard for us to do?” — Susane Colasanti, bestselling writer of teen novels and former high school science teacher. It probably is fair to say that most everyone who has attended school has either been bullied, been a bully, egged on a bully, been frightened by a bully, ...
Paul Rolly: Utah officials often tripped by trust in fellow Mormons
Paul Rolly: Utah officials often tripped by trust in fellow Mormons by Paul Rolly Tribune Columnist Published Feb 24, 2013 05:01PM MDT Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams was a state senator last year when he successfully sponsored a bill, a feat for a Democrat, that enhanced penalties for so-called affinity fraud, where scammers prey on victims whose trust is based on a shared community or ...
DC Notebook: Lee’s ad spoof: ‘So God made a chief of staff’
DC Notebook: Lee’s ad spoof: ‘So God made a chief of staff’ by Thomas Burr And Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 24, 2013 01:01AM MDT Sen. Mike Lee riffed off the now-famous Paul Harvey Super Bowl ad to praise his outgoing chief of staff, Spencer Stokes, by reading on the Senate floor a story of “So God Made a Chief of Staff.” “When God looked down on the Senate, ...
Looming federal budget cuts could hurt in Utah
Looming federal budget cuts could hurt in Utah by Thomas Burr The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 24, 2013 12:49AM MDT Washington • Once again, the federal government is approaching a fiscal disaster, and this time it could cost Utah millions in revenue, force thousands to take furloughs and possibly reverse or slow any economic recovery the state has seen in recent months. Déjà vu, in ...
Wayne LaPierre tells Utah feds want to seize guns
Wayne LaPierre tells Utah feds want to seize guns by David Montero The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 24, 2013 12:49AM MDT The National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre told a crowd of about 1,200 in Salt Lake City Saturday that the federal government wants universal background checks to generate lists of registered firearms so they’ll be easier to seize by federal officials. “It ...
Protesters decry Legacy Highway extension in Davis County
Protesters decry Legacy Highway extension in Davis County by Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 23, 2013 04:29PM MDT Layton • Lori Kalt stood atop a flatbed Saturday morning looking out over a swarm of people displaying protest signs as a blizzard swirled around them. Bundled up against the snow and wind, they ignored the foul weather and focused on Kalt, leader of Save Farmi ...
Utah gun rally precedes Wayne LaPierre speech
Utah gun rally precedes Wayne LaPierre speech The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 23, 2013 03:59PM MDT Gun supporters rallied at the Utah Capitol on Saturday as part of the “National Day of Resistance.” Later Saturday, Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, will speak at the Western Hunting & Conservation Expo at the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Pal ...
Protestors decry Legacy highway extension
Protestors decry Legacy highway extension by Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 23, 2013 03:21PM MDT Layton • Lori Kalt stood atop a flatbed Saturday morning looking out over a swarm of people displaying protest signs as a blizzard swirled around them. Bundled up against the snow and wind, they ignored the foul weather and focused on Kalt, leader of Save Farmington, a citizens ...
Early education
Early education Published Feb 23, 2013 01:01AM MDT Opponents of a bill in the Utah Senate that would pay for a few more at-risk children to attend pre-kindergarten classes are living in a world that doesn’t exist in reality. Cherilyn Eagar, an unsuccessful congressional candidate and ardent conservative, said allocating more money for Utah’s meager pre-K program for children from low-i ...
Serve one master
Serve one master Published Feb 23, 2013 01:01AM MDT The worst outcome of the scandal enveloping Utah Attorney General John Swallow would be if nobody learned anything from it. Swallow, who ought to have resigned by now, doesn’t seem to have gotten any smarter. But SB83 offers a way for the whole of state government to benefit from Swallow’s error. That’s the bill, introduced by Repub ...

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