A proposal to exempt military personnel from paying state property taxes while on active duty got broad support in a House committee Monday. House Joint Resolution 12 is sponsored by Republican Representative Stephen Sandstrom, who says the legislature should do more than simply honor servicemen and women for a day.
Pete Ashdown, founder and CEO of Utah Internet Service Provider XMission announced his second candidacy for the U.S. Senate Friday at the State Capitol, taking on Utah’s senior Senator Orrin Hatch for a second time. Ashdown, who took more than 30 percent of the vote when he challenged Hatch as the Democratic candidate in 2006, says his top priority is tackling the influence of money in government.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s inauguration speech focused on fiscal responsibility, empowering the private sector and limiting federal encroachment yesterday. KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports on what he had to say, and what state lawmakers want to see from his administration.
If House Republicans want to convince the American people they’ll do things differently than they did under the Bush Administration, putting Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz on their transition team makes sense. That’s because the relatively young lawmaker, who’s about to complete his freshman term, wasn’t in Congress during the Bush years.
A crowd of more than 250 Salt Lake City-area residents gathered to hear a debate about abolishing affirmative action in Utah last night. And those who believe there’s still a need for the Civil Rights-era policy clearly had the support of the crowd.
Salt Lake County Council Chairman Joe Hatch is an avowed liberal Democrat who’s not the least bit afraid to raise his voice. And after a decade on the council, he’s hanging up his political hat and retiring. We talked with Hatch about his years on the council and where county government is heading.
Republicans have long held supermajorities in the Utah legislature. But this election, they got even more super as a number of moderate Democrats got knocked out. And after holding a slim majority on the Salt Lake County Council for just two years, the Democrats lost the upper hand. We discussed the state of the Utah Democratic Party with Party Chairman Wayne Holland.
Although the election was well over a week ago, the two candidates for Salt Lake County Auditor won’t know which of them won for another five days. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson reports.
Democrats in the Utah House of Representatives lost five of their 22 members on Election Day, and the remaining 17 elected a new leadership team yesterday.
While there was a shake-up in the Republican leadership of the Utah House of Representatives last week, most Senators in the GOP caucus were happy with their incumbents, including Majority Leader Scott Jenkins. He’ll continue to lead the newly expanded Senate Republican team, which grew by one to 22 out of 29 seats.
