Scoop: UTA to skip Utah Pride and all 2025 festivals during review
Why it matters: Utah GOP lawmakers have previously expressed concerns over UTA's participation in the state's largest annual LGBTQ+ celebration.
In 2023, text messages revealed some of them urged UTA to pull a rainbow-decorated bus that was set to appear in the parade.
State of play: UTA spokesperson Gavin Gustafson told Axios that sitting out this year's events is necessary to "conduct a comprehensive review of our fare agreements, ensuring consistency and responsible stewardship of public funds."
Gustafson said UTA board members and administrators made the decision in April and that it's centered on Ticket as Fare agreements, which allow tickets to approved events to serve as UTA passes.
Zoom in: Axios obtained an April 2 email sent to senior leadership by executive director Jay Fox calling for the immediate cancellation of "all current agreements, plans, purchases, or discussions related to any UTA festival and parade participation this year."
The email said the agency plans to provide a report in October to state lawmakers detailing the agreements and "their value."
It also included talking points and guidance for responding to questions around the directive because it "may raise questions and concerns," and it told management to expect employee disappointment over the decision.
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How Texas Democrats' walkout has launched a fight across the US over political maps
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Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
How Texas Democrats' walkout has launched a fight across the US over political maps
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A weeklong walkout by Texas House Democrats is blocking redrawn congressional maps sought by President Donald Trump and put in motion a broadening fight across the U.S. over redistricting. There is still no swift end in sight to the standoff that has scattered dozens of Texas Democrats to Illinois, New York and California, where they have been given a warm reception by blue state governors and national party leaders. As the holdout has dragged on, Texas Republicans have ratcheted up the pressure to try compelling them back. GOP state leaders have asked courts to remove absent Democratic lawmakers from office, issued civil arrest warrants and mobilized state troopers. It is a political fight that has now spanned in state legislatures across the nation — from California to Florida — as Trump seeks to gain more winnable U.S. House seats and preserve the GOP's slim majority after the 2026 midterm elections. Here's what to know. How the Texas walkout began On Aug. 3, Texas House Democrats fled to Illinois, Massachusetts and New York to stop the GOP-controlled state legislature from passing new U.S. House maps that would give Texas Republicans more winnable seats in 2026. The chamber needs at least 100 of its 150 members to do businesses. The Democratic Party has taken advantage of this by orchestrating the majority of its 62 members to remain outside the state. On Friday, there were 95 members present — five short of a quorum. Congressional maps are typically redrawn once every 10 years to coincide with population shifts captured by the census and is rare for it to occur in the middle of the decade. Democrats say the unusual mid-cycle redistricting is a partisan power grab by the Trump administration What other states are doing California Gov. Gavin Newsom is scrambling to call for a November special election to ask voters to redraw the state's maps in retaliation if Texas proceeds. Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York and JB Pritzker of Illinois have also said they would consider partisan redistricting. Republicans are considering their own countereffort, too. In Florida, the speaker of the house said the chamber will take up this issue in a special redistricting committee this fall, and Vice President JD Vance met with Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to discuss redistricting. How Texas Republicans are trying to punish Democrats Texas Democrats face fines of up to $500 each day they are absent from the chamber, a rule that was adopted after the party walked in 2021 over a bill that tightened voting restrictions. Abbott asked the state Supreme Court to vacate the office of the House Democratic leader. Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked the court to remove 13 members who walked out from office, on top of issuing civil arrest warrants. Democratic lawmakers have largely scoffed at threats of their arrests and attempts to remove them from office. The special session ends on Aug. 19. The governor has threatened to keep calling lawmakers into special sessions until Democrats return. What is at stake For Trump, gaining additional Republican-leaning districts can help him potentially avoid a repeat of the 2018 midterms, when Democrats reclaimed the U.S. House and proceeded to thwart his agenda and impeach him twice. Republicans currently hold 219 seats, and Democrats have 212. Four seats are vacant. Republicans hold 25 of Texas' 38 congressional seats and are seeking to pick up five more. ___ Lathan is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Blue-state Republicans sound alarm on redistricting tit-for-tat
Blue-state Republicans whose political futures would be at risk in retaliatory redistricting efforts by Democrats are sounding the alarm on Texas's mid-decade effort to pad the GOP House majority. President Trump's push to have Texas redraw its House maps — with a goal of picking up five seats ahead of next year — has prompted red and blue states alike to consider redrawing their maps in response. Mid-decade redistricting being considered in California alone could cancel out Republicans' wins in the Lone Star State. The redistricting tit for tat is frustrating blue state Republicans. 'I think the whole thing is pretty disgusting,' Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), whose reelection could be at risk if California Democrats pursue new maps, told The Hill of the redistricting battles across the country. Constituents don't want politicians manufacturing 'a temporary gain by — any side — manipulating lines.' Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), who also could face running in an even more competitive House in California, introduced a bill this week that would prohibit mid-decade redistricting nationwide. Kiley told The Hill that California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) plans for a special election to circumvent the state's independent redistricting commission are 'a very dangerous thing,' and 'a threat to Democracy in our state.' 'I don't like what's happening in Texas, either,' Kiley said. 'The idea that we're going to start constantly redrawing maps, and we could see this domino effect where districts or states across the country are shuffling the lines on their maps — it creates great instability. It creates chaos. It's a huge distraction.' Texas Republicans' efforts to pass their new map stalled when Democrats fled the state to stop the GOP from achieving a quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed in order to conduct business. Those maps will inevitably pass, however, given Republicans hold a majority in the state Legislature, have a GOP governor and there's a conservative majority on the Texas Supreme Court. The redistricting battle in Texas has unnerved Democratic governors, who have criticized the GOP for trying to change House lines ahead of an election year. But it's also prompted California, New York and Illinois officials to explore their own options to redraw district lines, saying they have to fight fire with fire. Caught in the crossfire are blue-state Republicans who face a conundrum: They're against seeing their own House districts drawn out even as some of them may support the GOP push happening in places like Texas. But members of the party warn it's a lose-lose situation for both parties. 'I think they're unintended consequences to all of this, and I'm not sure those unintended consequences aren't going to be felt by both sides,' said former Rep. John Faso (R-N.Y.), who advised Republicans during their last redistricting fight in New York. LaMalfa agreed with Kiley about the Texas redistricting effort: 'It's not a good look down there either.' But he is not cosponsoring Kiley's bill, skeptical it will go anywhere. Top House Republican leaders have been largely quiet about the redistricting battles, but they are well aware about the concerns from their members. Kiley said he has talked to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about his bill. While he declined to reveal the details of that conversation, he said the legislation is a chance for Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to 'show some leadership and say enough is enough.' LaMalfa said the redistricting battles were discussed on a recent conference call with House Republicans, and that members were largely opposed to the redistricting changes. The outcry from Republicans isn't limited to California. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), also situated in a competitive district, announced this week he's introducing legislation that would ban gerrymandering. 'Gerrymandering is wrong and should be banned everywhere — including in New York, Texas, California, and Illinois,' he wrote on the social platform X. 'I'm introducing legislation to ban it. I look forward to every single Democrat signing on to it.' Some at-risk Republicans, like Reps. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), are staying focused on the battles in their own state without necessarily dinging fellow Republicans in Texas for upending their maps. In written statements, Kim said overriding California's independent redistricting commission 'for partisan reasons disenfranchises voters and degrades trust in our political system,' and Calvert said 'a partisan political gerrymander is not what the voters of California want.' And the National Republican Congressional Committee, which is responsible for ensuring the GOP maintains its majority, has so far only focused on dinging Newsom for entertaining a redistricting effort, with NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella calling it a 'desperate and pathetic attempt to appeal to the radical base (who already hates him) so he can chase after his political ambitions.' The larger issue of mid-decade redistricting and gerrymandering has become a lightning rod between the parties. Democrats have criticized Texas Republicans for redrawing maps in the middle of the decade and making an already gerrymandered House map more friendly for Republicans. Republicans, however, say Democrats are being hypocritical. They point out that New York, for example, has sought to engage in mid-decade redistricting after Democrats overplayed their hand and had their maps struck down by a court in 2022. The GOP, too, says it's rich for Democrats to complain about gerrymandering when the states that Texas Democrats are traveling to, like Illinois and New York, have also been gerrymandered. Some blue-state Republicans are more at risk than others. 'They would have to pass a constitutional amendment proposal in two consecutive legislatures, which means the earliest this could be on the ballot would be in 2027,' Faso said of New York Democrats' efforts, calling it 'light-years away in political terms.' LaMalfa recognized, too, that lawmakers in Congress have little to no power to halt the redistricting wars that have the potential to anger voters and threaten members' reelections. 'We can say, 'Hey, don't do this,' and there's enough saying what we are saying — 'Hey, don't do this.' But they're going to do what they want,' LaMalfa said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
