State lawmakers sent a clear message to Washington in a special session Wednesday: Utah supports a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But as KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports, some lawmakers thought the discussion happened in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Republican Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz was the primary sponsor of the “Cut, Cap and Balance Act” that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night. But it wasn’t just Republicans in Utah’s delegation who backed it. Blue Dog Democrat Jim Matheson was one of only five Democrats to cross the aisle and support the legislation.
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman was back in the Beehive State Friday, hoping to gather more support for the GOP nomination against his rival, Utah favorite Mitt Romney. KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports on what he had to say about Romney, and why he says he’s not too concerned about his low poll numbers in Utah.
“Stupid” is how Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz describes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to give President Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling. But Senator Orrin Hatch isn’t so critical. The strategy would spare Republicans from having to reach a budget compromise with the President while still voicing their disapproval of raising the debt ceiling.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch convened a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee at the Utah Capitol Thursday, where the message he and others brought was loud and clear. Governor Gary Herbert joined him and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour in declaring that the states could save Medicaid if the federal government would get out of the way. Hatch, the committee’s ranking Republican, plans to take their testimonies back to Washington as he continues to fight the Democrats’ health care reform law.
The attorney handling the case of a polygamous family seeking to decriminalize plural marriage in Utah filed suit Wednesday in federal court in Salt Lake City. As KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, it’s now up to the state to defend the law.
Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee says he’s willing to support raising the debt ceiling… under three conditions. The first is mandated cuts in domestic discretionary spending for fiscal year 2012, which includes items like education, healthcare, housing and the environment, spending caps, and a balanced budget amendment. He says the Cut, Cap and Balance Act is a demonstration that Republicans are willing to address the issue.
A Utah State University student is off the hook for a 4th of July protest where he and his friends wrote on an American flag and carried it through a Hyrum city parade. A sheriff’s deputy threatened Justin Jerez with a class B misdemeanor citation under a Utah law that predates a U.S. Supreme Court decision protecting flag desecration as free speech.
Climate change. Nearby development. Native plants and animals being driven out. These are just a few of the threats to America’s national parks detailed in a recent report by the National Parks Conservation Association, called The State of America’s National Parks. We spoke with David Nimkin, Southwest Regional Director for the NPCA.
Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz continues to be a rising star in the GOP, getting more and more attention as he moves to closer to announcing a run against Utah Senator Orrin Hatch in 2012. We talked with Chaffetz about his political plans, the debt ceiling debate, Afghanistan and more.
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