Who funds Utah legislators’ campaigns? Special interests provide 82% of money, while voters in lawmakers’ own districts gave only 6%
This article originally appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune. Read it in its entirety here. Incoming Utah legislators collected only 6 percent of their campaign donations during the 2018 election year from voters who actually live in their districts. The lion’s share of contributions — 82.4 percent — came from special-interest groups or out-of-state donors. Another 3.6 percent came from candidates’ …
Commentary: Utah’s congressional delegation should put first things first
This originally appeared as an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune. Much of the commentary surrounding the federal shutdown in Utah has been unfailingly bipartisan, perhaps in an attempt to show our federal delegation what coming together looks like. Republicans and Democrats alike have decried federal workers going without pay, insisting that both sides …
Utah Lawmakers Aim to Derail Voter-Backed Medicaid Plan
This article originally appeared in Public News Service. Read it in its entirety here. SALT LAKE CITY – Utah voters approved a ballot measure last year to enact full Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, bringing health care to 100,000 lower-income residents. But that isn’t the last word. A bloc of conservative state lawmakers, saying there isn’t enough money to pay for the expansion, …
2 bills restricting abortion to come before Utah lawmakers
This article originally appeared in The Washington Times. Read it in its entirety here. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Republican lawmakers in Utah have proposed two bills to restrict abortions, including a ban on the procedure after 15 weeks that would be among the strictest laws in the nation. The state should bar second-trimester procedures that “shock the conscience,” said Rep. Cheryl Acton, the …
Utah lawmakers running bills to tweak how ballot initiatives get before voters (and after)
This article originally appeared in Fox 13 Salt Lake City. Read it in its entirety here. SALT LAKE CITY — A series of bills are being filed in the Utah State Legislature, tweaking how ballot initiatives get before voters and what happens after they pass. Lawmakers insist they are not tampering with citizen rights to get a referendum, but one watchdog group questioned if it …
Utah lawmaker proposes one of nation’s strictest abortion laws
This article originally appeared in the Deseret News. Read it in its entirety here. SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker is proposing what would be one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Rep. Cheryl Acton, R-West Jordan, has filed a bill to ban abortions in the state after 15 weeks gestation, with some exceptions. Acton said she decided to …
He thought he avoided criminal charges, but now a second prosecutor is looking into the San Juan County clerk after he attempted to oust a Navajo candidate
This article originally appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune. Read it in its entirety here. Should the San Juan County clerk face criminal charges for falsifying a document in a failed attempt to boot a Navajo candidate from the November ballot? An outside prosecutor said no late last month. But that won’t be the final word, as the county attorney is seeking a second review of …
A Utah lawmaker wants to ban abortions after 15 weeks. If her bill passes, it would be among the most restrictive laws in the nation.
This article originally appeared in The Salt Lake Tribune. Read it in its entirety here. A Utah representative has introduced a bill that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of gestation, a law that would be among the most restrictive in the nation. The state’s existing law allows abortions up until a fetus is viable outside the womb, or well into the second trimester. By …
