While most Utahns will likely remember open records or immigration as the key issues of this year’s session of the Utah legislature, a Medicaid reform bill passed by Utah lawmakers will also have a lasting impact. Republican Senator Dan Liljenquist was the sponsor of SB 180, which passed the House and Senate with unanimous support.
The spotlight has been on government transparency and open records this whole month after the legislature rapidly passed HB 477. Now, some local government leaders are saying wherever the debate goes, they plan to let the sun shine in. We talked with Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.
Ethics in the Utah Legislature became a major point of public conversation in 2008. Now, three years later, backer of an ethics initiative are still trying to get their proposal on the ballot. Utahns for Ethical Government announced a lawsuit this week against Lt. Governor Greg Bell. They claim he’s obstructing their initiative.
The debate over HB 477 isn’t over, in fact, it has hardly begun. The controversial new law bars access to all text messages, voicemails, and instant messages sent by elected officials, raises fees, and puts the burden of proof on the public to argue why a record should be made available.
Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz got the chance to put the Transportation Security Administration on the hot seat for its much-criticized full body scans and pat downs at a congressional subcommittee hearing this week. But at first, TSA officials weren’t planning to show up. Every Friday, we talk with Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune and author of Political Cornflakes, a daily, online round-up of Utah politics.
Salt Lake City was the target of a moratorium on local historic districts during the legislative session, creating a conflict between residents and lawmakers. We got Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker’s thoughts on what the legislature did this year.
Thursday night marked the end of 45 days of budget, education, and open records debates at the Utah Legislature, as Senators and Representatives held their 2011 general session. We spoke with Democratic Senator Luz Robles, Republican Representative Brad Last, and Democratic Representative Brian King.
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.
Some immigration bills in the Utah legislature this year have been incredibly divisive. Others, however, are earning broad, bipartisan support. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is backing a plan to create a migrant worker program that would be a direct collaboration with Mexico. It just passed the house of Representatives. We asked the AG how this is different from all the other immigration bills out there.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch helped Utah State University’s student newspaper get a lot of attention this week. The senator was recently quoted in the Utah Statesman calling the federal health reform law a “dumb-ass program” and “an awful piece of crap” when speaking to students. Every Friday, we speak with Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune and author of Political Cornflakes, a daily, online round-up of Utah politics.
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