The Utah Legislature has backed off its plans to immediately implement an overhaul of Utah’s public records law. As KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, the bill was recalled at the request of the governor, who was concerned how quickly it sailed through the legislature.
State school board candidates could soon be running as Republicans or Democrats. Senate Bill 224, sponsored by Republican Senator Howard Stephenson, was approved by the Senate yesterday. It creates direct, partisan elections for the State Board of Education. Currently, a 12-person committee nominates three candidates for school board seats, and the governor chooses two names that go on the ballot.
After a lot of compromise between the Utah House and Senate, and a late-night debate Friday, three Utah immigration bills are now ready for Governor Gary Herbert’s approval. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson talks with host Eric Ray about what the bills would do, if they get his signature.
A Republican lawmaker is fuming over a guest-worker bill that cleared the Utah Legislature late Friday night, attracting national attention for allowing undocumented immigrants to get a permit to work in Utah. Now, as KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, Representative Chris Herrod says he’ll help anyone looking to sue the state over illegal immigration.
The Utah legislature may recall a controversial bill that restricts Utah’s open records law.
It’s now up to Governor Gary Herbert to decide whether the public and media will be barred from accessing text messages, voice mails, and some e-mails sent by Legislators for official business. A bill approved by the legislature late last week sparked an uproar as it raced through both chambers despite opposition from the public as well as some lawmakers who barely had time to read the bill. KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports.
With four days left in the legislative session, lawmakers will be talking numbers, finalizing a budget for 2012 that will likely have minimal cuts and leave the state’s reserve fund mostly untouched. And as KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to be on board.
A “dirty” label has been attached to Salt Lake City by Forbes magazine. The publication ranked Utah’s capital city as the ninth most toxic metro area in the country. But as KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, air quality hasn’t been a focus of Utah lawmakers during this legislative session.
Chris Bleak, President of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, talked with us about what’s at stake for charter schools up at the Utah Legislature.
After two years of delays, Tim DeChristopher was just convicted on two federal charges for disrupting an oil and gas lease auction in December, 2008. We talked with Ashley Anderson, who co-founded the group Peaceful Uprising with Dechristopher after his actions.
Additional Programming Provided by
