Latest news with #MikeSchultz
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The lake is dying, and so are we: Utah's inaction is poisoning our future
Autumn Featherstone, 19, and friends wore gas masks and bright T-shirts listing their demands of how the Utah Legislature should help the Great Salt Lake as they sat the Utah House gallery in a protest on Feb. 24, 2025. They were quickly removed. (Courtesy of Autumn Featherstone) On Feb. 24, 2025, my friends and I were kicked out of the Utah House of Representatives gallery. Why? Because after House Speaker Mike Schultz ignored multiple phone calls and emails, we tried to deliver a petition to him directly. When our petition was refused once again, we donned gas masks and bright T-shirts inscribed with our demands and walked silently into the House gallery. Within minutes, we were removed by security. We wrote our petition in response to Schultz's call for a 'pause' on Great Salt Lake-related water legislation for the 2025 session, and the announcement that Utah would be hosting the 2034 Olympics. We demanded the following actions to protect and restore the Great Salt Lake by 2034: No new water diversions or developments that would further deplete the Great Salt Lake. Increase water flow to the Great Salt Lake by 1 million acre-feet per year, restoring the lake to a minimum elevation of 4,198 feet. Commit to continuous assessment of water policy, ensuring that solutions are adaptive and responsive to the evolving crisis. Nearly 250 Utahns signed this petition, but it still hasn't reached the legislator's desk. I have lived my entire life less than an hour from the Great Salt Lake. Yet, like it was for many residents of Utah, the lake was simply an afterthought. It was only when I heard about the serious risks tied to its drying up that I started to pay attention. The Great Salt Lake is a breathtaking, unique ecosystem that is a vital stopover for millions of birds during migration. It is also a thin blanket that protects millions of people from decades of buildup of toxic metals in the lakebed. Currently, over 900 square miles of lakebed are exposed, and 2.8 million Utahns breathe the pollution downwind — including me. The lake is essential to my survival and future as a young person. I am 19 years old and I want to spend the rest of my life here in this beautiful state, but if our legislators continue to ignore this ongoing crisis, I will have to leave my home behind. I am inheriting a world that has been discarded by legislators who make decisions about my future while shutting out my voice. They are silencing youth and refusing to take action on the issues that matter to us, while putting their energy towards legislation that actively harms us. Despite the massive impacts of the lake drying up, Mike Schultz placed a moratorium on major water bills, citing the need for 'a break.' But the legislature seemed to have plenty of energy for legislation that harms youth rather than helping us. This legislative session, Utah became the first state to ban pride flags in all school and government buildings, making it harder for queer youth to find safe spaces in their schools. Lawmakers also passed legislation barring transgender students from living in dorms that align with their gender identity, and approved another bill that restricts comprehensive health education in schools. They're also trying to end collective bargaining rights for the upcoming generation of public sector workers. These issues on education, workers' rights, public health, LGBTQ+ rights, and lack of adequate environmental policy all stem from the same crisis: a government that ignores science, dismisses the voices of young people and other marginalized communities, and targets the most vulnerable instead of protecting us. By spending so much time and resources actively infringing on our human rights, they are passively infringing on our right to a healthy environment. Air pollution shortens our lives by two years — queer people, educators, and unions do not. But instead of addressing existential issues head-on, legislators are 'rearranging deck chairs' on a sinking ship. They need to get their priorities straight. Utah claims to be the country's most 'family-friendly' state, yet its policies are anything but. The Utah legislature is ignoring the issues that matter most to young people while spending all their time pushing bills that disproportionately harm us. Despite the legislature's best efforts, youth are still fighting. Even though our emails, calls, text messages, and in-person requests to deliver the petition were ignored, we are not giving up. We are continuing to demand that the state take the necessary steps to protect the Great Salt Lake and our future.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No veto override session this year, Utah legislative leaders say
House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, prepare to gavel in a joint session to hear from Utah Supreme Court Justice Matthew Durrant at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) Utah's top Republican legislative leaders have announced that lawmakers will not be convening a veto override session this year after Gov. Spencer Cox stopped six bills from becoming law. 'Even when our perspectives differ, we appreciate the governor's willingness to find common ground as we build an even brighter future for our great state,' Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said in a prepared statement issued Thursday. 'After careful consideration, the Legislature has decided not to convene a veto override session,' they said. 'We will focus on constructive dialogue and thoughtful policymaking during the interim to find the best path forward that benefits all Utahns.' Among the most controversial bills Cox vetoed — and was perhaps one that could have had the best chance of a veto override — was SB296, a bill that would have given the governor and the Legislature the power to appoint the Utah Supreme Court's next chief justice every four years. Currently, the state's highest court's five justices elect their own leader. 'A broad attack': Utah's judiciary fights bills threatening its independence It was one of a handful of bills seeking changes to the state's judiciary, which has clashed with Utah lawmakers. Republicans' have expressed frustration with recent court rulings and they want to have more legislative influence over how the state's top court functions. Along with SB296, there were several other bills that legal professionals across the state decried as threatening the judiciary's 'independence and integrity.' But after Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant met with lawmakers during the 2025 session, legislative leaders announced a deal with the judiciary that they would abandon three controversial bills — including one that would give legislators a say in judicial retention elections — and instead only proceed with passing SB296. However, despite that deal, Cox decided to veto SB296, saying it went too far by requiring the state's chief justice to be reappointed every four years. He wrote in his veto letter that the decision was 'mine and mine alone,' and that no one from the judicial branch asked him for the veto. 'I admit it is very tempting to sign this bill and assure that the Chief Justice would need to stay in my good graces to retain his or her position,' Cox wrote. 'Knowing the head magistrate of our state's highest court would have to think twice before ruling against me or checking my power is difficult to reject. I also recognize that refusing power is not en vogue these days and may be seen as weakness. But just because I can, doesn't mean I should.' Cox vetoes bill that would have given governor power over appointing Utah chief justice At the time of Cox's veto, Schultz and Adams said the move 'undermines that good-faith compromise' between the Legislature and judiciary that ultimately led to lawmakers abandoning the other bills, and the Judicial Council and Utah State Bar taking a neutral position. They promised to 'work with our chambers to determine the best path forward.' Ultimately, however, they opted not to override. Another controversial bill that Cox vetoed was SB37, which would have rerouted property tax revenue for schools into the state's general fund. Education leaders opposed the bill, arguing it would be a form of 'money laundering' that could divert money away from education. Cox, at the time of his veto, said it was a matter of 'public trust,' accounting problems, legal issues and sending the wrong message to educators about Utah's commitment to public education. Then, on the last night he had to either sign or veto bills passed during the legislative session, Cox vetoed four more bills, including: SB197, a bill that would have phased out the state's Circuit Breaker property tax relief program for low-income seniors and indigent residents. Cox argued that the bill, while having 'well-intentioned goals of reforming and streamlining property tax relief programs,' would risk 'cutting off the most vulnerable of Utah's' growing senior population while saddling counties with administrative burdens. HB306, a bill that would have made Utah the first state in the country to allow vendors to receive payment in gold or silver from the state. Cox expressed concerns that the bill faced problems that made it 'operationally impracticable.' Plus, he worried that a 'specific entity offered to fund the bill, which could jeopardize the required competitive process in the bill.' Cox didn't name the entity in his veto letter, but The Salt Lake Tribune reported that in order to get the state's new transaction system up and running, about $147,000 would be paid for by private donors, and Ivory said the money would come from Kevin Freeman, who was a member of the state's gold working group and author of the 2023 book 'Pirate Money.' HB315, a bill that would have allowed breaking a tie among three or more candidates in elections for midterm vacancies in municipal offices through a 'game of chance.' Cox pointed to language in the Utah Constitution that explicitly prohibits the Legislature from authorizing 'any game of chance.' Cox said he vetoed the bill 'out of an abundance of caution to avoid creating potential legal issues.' SB106, a bill to appropriate $10,000 to create a trade commission between Utah and Ireland composed of six legislators and five appointees from the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity. Cox said he was wary of creating more boards and commissions in statute, urging lawmakers to 'not go backward' on their efforts to reduce the number of boards and commissions below 400. He also expressed concerns about creating a trade commission for a specific country when others, which are more significant trade partners for the state, don't receive the same treatment. Though legislative leaders announced they won't be convening a veto override session, there's still a likelihood that the Legislature will convene a special session in coming weeks. Utah Gov. Cox vetoes bill to reroute property tax revenue for schools into state general fund Cox has indicated that he intends to call a special session sometime in May. In his veto letter, he said he'd signed several bills 'with the understanding that they will be amended in a special session.' Those included HB263, a bill focused on election transparency that county clerks had urged Cox to veto, but the governor wrote the bill's sponsor, Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, had 'reached an agreement' with election officials to make some 'important changes.' Cox also agreed to sign HB356, a bill requiring some counties to elect district-based council members rather than at-large members, but with the expectation that lawmakers would make changes in a special session to avoid 'unintended consequences,' although he did not specify what those might be. During that special session, Cox also said he wants the Legislature to repurpose $3.5 million it had set aside as part of Utah's bid to keep the Sundance Film Festival, which opted instead to move to Colorado. 'Again, more to come soon in a special session,' Cox wrote. That special session call, however, has not yet been announced. A request for comment to the governor's office was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Do Utahns support the flag ban? A new poll shows what they think
A majority of Utahns support a new state law banning the display of most flags by public school teachers and government entities, the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found. The law, known as HB77, Flag Display Amendments, prohibits municipal or state buildings, as well as public school employees acting within their official duties, from placing a flag in a prominent location on government property unless the flag is one of a dozen exceptions. Permitted flags include unaltered official country, state, municipal, military, tribal and school flags. The restriction on all other flags does not apply to historic versions of these flags, depictions of flags — including lapel pins and signs — or flags temporarily displayed by an organization authorized to use public schools. HB77 drew plenty of debate during the 2025 legislative session, but Utah's new flag ban enjoys the approval of more than 6 in 10 registered voters in the state, according to a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll conducted by HarrisX. 'The Legislature was aligned with the overwhelming majority of Utahns on this particular bill,' said Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute, in a Deseret News interview. Of the 800 respondents surveyed, 62% said they approved, 28% said they disapproved and 9% said they didn't know when asked whether they supported or opposed a new law limiting the flags that can be publicly displayed in schools and on government property. A plurality of voters said their support for the law was enthusiastic: four in ten strongly approved of the legislation, a quarter somewhat approved and the remaining 30% was evenly divided among those who somewhat disapproved or strongly disapproved. The poll was administered online from April 9-12 with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. 'The results are clear,' House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told the Deseret News in a statement. 'A strong majority of Utahns agree that symbols displayed in classrooms and government buildings should represent unity, respect for our nation and state, and a focus on education — not political or ideological distractions." Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, agreed with Schultz that the law was needed to establish 'a consistent standard' to ensure 'that public buildings remain welcoming to all Utahns.' 'This poll shows that the majority of Utahns support this approach and believe public institutions should remain dedicated to their core duties,' Adams said in a statement. The largest disparity in support for the new law came down to partisan affiliation. The survey found that 81% of self-identified Republicans support the law. Nearly 6 out of 10 Republicans indicated that they strongly support it. A slight majority, 51%, of independents also support it, while only 22% of Democratic support. Nearly 7 out of 10 Democrats said they oppose the law, with 46% signaling strong opposition. Support for the law was shared by men and women. The poll found 67% support among men and 58% support among women. Support increased with age: 57% of those 18-34 support the law compared to 72% of those 65 and older. 'It's a hard issue that really gets to the heart of perspectives on these social issues themselves,' Perry said. 'These issues sort of touch on a theme that we have seen for the past couple of sessions, that have had support from a majority of Utahns, but that is certainly not the case with Democrats in the state.' Proponents of HB77 who testified in legislative hearings, many of them parents of school-aged children, argued that a restriction on flags is a commonsense policy to ensure classrooms remain focused on teaching, not politics. Meanwhile, many of the bill's critics, who showed up by the thousands to protest its passage, framed it as a way to target the rainbow, or pride, flag that represents LGBTQ social movements, which they said helps some Utah residents feel included. 'What matters most are, especially in classrooms, the policies and practices and school rules that ensure that every child feels welcome,' Equality Utah policy director Marina Lowe told the Deseret News. 'The reason the (pride) flag started getting hung in the first place was because there were particular populations that were feeling marginalized and unwelcome.' While the pride flag is not mentioned in the legislative text, the sponsor of HB77, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, has suggested in some social media posts that one intention behind his bill is to remove pride flags from classrooms and municipal buildings. Lee modeled his bill after a similar proposal that failed in the final hours of the 2024 session when it was brought to the floor using a procedural trick. The resurrected version received additional pushback during the 2025 session after Lee expanded its scope to include flags displayed by a state or local government entity in or on government property. Following this change, Equality Utah came out against the bill. Lowe said she wants to encourage lawmakers to reconsider portions of the bill that constrain the free speech of governments, which, she said, should be accountable to voters, not the Legislature. Corinne Johnson, president of Utah Parents United, praised the willingness of the Legislature to wade into a controversial topic because, she said, it benefits all residents to prohibit public employees from flying divisive flags. 'To parents, it makes complete sense to us,' Johnson said. 'In an effort to try and be inclusionary to one group, we have now created division in our school environments.' Supporters of the law are not opposing one group or another, according to Johnson. The goal behind the law is to return a sense of neutrality to the places that are meant to represent and educate all Utahns regardless of identity, she said. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox addressed HB77 in a March 27 letter that included explanations for six bills he vetoed this year. Cox did not veto HB77. Instead, he let it become law without his signature due to concerns that it sought a culture-war win instead of consensus. Promoting political neutrality in the classroom is an important goal, Cox said. But the new flag law fails to address the use of polarizing symbols in public schools because it only applies to flags and it extends too much control over municipal leaders who wish to reflect certain values to their voters, Cox said. Cox also took issue with the process that brought the bill to his desk which he said did not align with the state's previous efforts to balance LGBTQ inclusion with conservative values around religion and gender. '(A)s tired as Utahns are of politically divisive symbols, I think they are also tired of culture war bills that don't solve the problems they intend to fix,' Cox said. 'There are so many examples of the LGBTQ community and the conservative community coming together to find helpful and hopeful compromise. I hope we can retain this as our model and North Star.' The bill passed mostly along party lines with a veto-proof majority, meaning that if Cox had vetoed the bill, lawmakers likely could have overrode his decision. Utah appears to be the first state in the nation to enact such a ban. Idaho recently passed a proposal focusing just on schools and lawmakers in at least four other states are considering similar legislation.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utah leads the nation in economic outlook for 18th straight year, report
SALT LAKE CITY () — Utah continues to position itself as a leader in the nation when it comes to its economic outlook. For the 18th year straight, Utah ranked at the top of the nation for the economic outlook in the published by the . The study weighed 15 variables including tax rates, expenditures, minimum wage, and tax burdens, among others. Utah beat out other states such as Tennessee, Indiana, North Carolina, and North Dakota, which rounded out the Top 5 in that order. Utah State officials said Tuesday that the nearly two-decade run at the top of the study has not been by chance but by choice. A new home for jazz and dining is opening in downtown Salt Lake City 'Utah proves what's possible when people are empowered to build,' said Gov. Spencer J. Cox. 'This ranking reflects what happens when we trust Utahns to lead, solve problems, and shape their own future. By keeping government limited and focused on the essentials, we've created the freedom and opportunity for prosperity to take root and grow.' Utah lawmakers said the state has created an environment where businesses, jobs, and families can thrive. Speaker Mike Schultz said the state's continued success is a product of focus on 'the fundamentals' such as low taxes, spending, and family-friendly, business-friendly policies. Jonathan Williams, the ALEC President and co-author of Rich States, Poor States, said since 2007 when the report began, he has seen states fall behind by standing still. He said those states that don't continue to make their policy environment more competitive have not held their positions. 'This has not been the case in Utah, where leaders have continued to find improvements, and the state has remained at the top of our economic outlook rankings,' said Williams. While the forward-looking outlook has consistently ranked top of the nation, the Rich States, Poor States report is not as favorable on Utah's Economic Performance rank. The performance rank is a 'backward-looking measure,' the report explains, based on the state's performance in GDP growth, non-farm employment growth, and domestic migration. Utah still ranks third in the nation for Economic Performance, putting it just two away from the top spot. Utah leads the nation in economic outlook for 18th straight year, report Gov. Cox declares 'Declutter Day' in Utah — Here's how you can dispose of sensitive documents Jeffries: Court should hold Trump officials in contempt over wrongly deported Maryland man Open house set to begin for Kenya's first LDS Temple Colorado Democrat Yadira Caraveo launches bid for seat she narrowly lost Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Will there be any veto overrides from 2025? Here's what Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said about it
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — It's still unclear whether any of the six vetoes from the 2025 legislative session will be overridden, but Utah's House Speaker Mike Schultz is not completely closing the door on it. According to Utah's Constitution, lawmakers have until May 6 — or 60 days after the last day of the legislative session — to reconvene for an override session. It also lays out that two-thirds of the members in both chambers must agree in order to hold that session. Both the House and Senate are currently polling their members, but majority leaders won't elaborate on where those votes lie. But, House Speaker Mike Schultz joined Inside Utah Politics with Lindsay Aerts for an episode set to air Sunday, April 13. 'Well, we'll see what happens,' he said. 'We're in the process of continuing to have the dialog with our members. … We respect the governor's vetoes. Some of them I agree with, some of them I don't agree with. And so, as we go through the process, we work with the House, we work with the Senate to see where the members are at.' The Speaker was asked to clarify which vetos he disagreed with, but he wouldn't elaborate. 'You can look at the ones I voted against,' he said. The Speaker originally supported four of the six bills Cox vetoed. Those include the bill to reroute local property taxes for education funding to the state, a bill on using , , and the bill giving the Governor and Senate the power to appoint Utah's chief justice. When asked specifically about a veto of the chief justice bill, Schultz said that Cox's reasoning for the veto included some support for picking the justice despite being a power he did not want. Cox mainly took issue with the fact that the bill also required appointment and reconfirmation by the Senate every four years. 'So we'll continue to have those discussions,' Shutlz said. 'If it doesn't get overridden and worked out this year, (it's) something we'll have discussions around next year,' he said. The Governor has said that a special session to fix some bills from the 2025 session will be needed. That would be separate from the veto override session, and the Governor would set the agenda for that. So, it's possible that negotiations between Cox and legislative leaders also include adding a compromised version of appointing the chief justice, or any other veto, to stave off an override. Cox wants to fix H.B. 263 – Election Amendments, which would allow some sensitive election returns to be made public. Cox said he agrees with the transparency aspect of this bill, so he signed it, but said the sponsor and county clerks who largely opposed it had agreed to fix 'important changes.' He didn't elaborate on what those were. H.B. 356 – County Government Amendments will change how smaller county and city councils are elected. Instead of each member being elected 'at large' or by the entire county, this bill dictates that members are elected by districts. Large counties, like Salt Lake, already do this. Cox said this bill needs fixing because of some 'unintended consequences.' Cox also wants the legislature to reappropriate $3.5 million that was supposed to go to Sundance but won't now that they've decided to leave Utah for Boulder, Colorado. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
