A study published in 2020 by a cohort of scientists from Brigham Young University, the University of Utah and other institutions found that air pollution shortens life-expectancy in Utah on average by two years. The study, a compilation of data on the human health and economic impacts of pollution, reported that between 2,500 and 8,000…
(KCPW News) A newly-unveiled bill to create a $75 million fund to issue loans for projects related to the Utah Inland Port Authority – and two other quasi-governmental entities – cleared a senate committee on Monday morning. Layton Republican Sen. Jerry Stevenson’s SB243 would create a bank of funds to provide loans to cities, counties or others involved…
On Friday, a bill that would create an account to fund use of the 988 suicide hotline passed its final vote in the Senate unanimously. Senate Bill 155 would create the Statewide Behavioral Health Crisis Response Account which could be funded through legislative appropriation or through private donation. The account would then be used for…
(KCPW News) On Wednesday, a bill that would align Utah higher education harassment policy with the Supreme Court’s definition of harassment passed its initial vote in the Senate. The definition of harassment used in House Bill 159 comes from the 1999 Supreme Court case Davis Vs. Monroe County Board of Education, where the high court…
(KCPW News) A resolution recognizing Utah’s clerks and election workers for their efforts during the 2020 election cleared the Utah House of Representatives on Tuesday, but not before language endorsing vote-by-mail and commemorating the security of the recent election was stripped out. House Concurrent Resolution 11, by Salt Lake Democratic Representative Joel Briscoe, sought…
(KCPW News) A bill that would extend the life of a state task force on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) easily cleared a Senate committee on Tuesday. The task force was created during the 2020 legislative session at the urging of the nonprofit group Restoring Ancestral Winds. The group pointed to data…
On Thursday, the House Education Committee voted to pass a bill that would ban transgender girls from competing in K-12 girls’ sports. Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, is sponsoring House Bill 302, which would also bar transgender girls in private schools from competing against public schools. Birkeland says that even though there are currently no transgender…
On Wednesday, the Utah House of Representatives passed a bill that would begin the process to change the name of Dixie State University. House Bill 278, which is sponsored by Rep Kelly Miles, R-Ogden, would require the Dixie State University Board of Trustees to collect public input on a new name for the school, so…
The Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee unanimously passed a bill that aims to reform youth residential treatment programs in Utah. According to Spanish Fork Republican Sen. Michael McKell, sponsor of Senate Bill 127, Utah currently houses around 5,600 hundred minors in congregate care programs, many of whom come from out of state.…
(KCPW News) A bill that would create a new board to oversee Utah’s allotment of the Colorado River has cleared a committee just days after it was unveiled. House Bill 297 aims to create a new, $9 million dollar state agency and a six-member board to control decision-making and negotiations over the state’s share of…
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