Tag: gary herbert

A Look at Gov. Herbert’s Debate Performance

I hope everyone had the opportunity to watch or listen to the gubernatorial debate on Monday night. Although maybe not as entertaining as the debate that immediately followed, the hour-long exchange between our current Governor Gary Herbert and his challenger, Mike Weinholtz, hit a variety of issues that are important to residents around our state.

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Just Another Manic Monday – September 12

Madison here – I’m back. Yes, I took last Monday off from posting because it was Labor Day and I was hard at work…hiking. Laboring, if you will. (At least laboring in my breathing.) This Manic Monday, I bring a collection of noteworthy headlines from the local, Utah level up to the national level. Gov.

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OpEd: Support Medicaid Expansion

Better UTAH board member Diane Stewart tells  Utahns why supporting Medicaid expansion is the only option that makes sense. From the beginning, the conversation surrounding Medicaid expansion was hijacked by the far right. As a result, since the announcement of Gov. Gary Herbert’s Healthy Utah plan, each successive plan has been watered down in one

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How To Talk To Your Crazy Uncle At Thanksgiving About Syrian Refugees

America is a nation of immigrants – built on a long, proud history of aiding persecuted people. The Statue of Liberty—the Mother of Exiles—welcomes millions seeking a safe haven with the comforting words, “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Over the past few years, more than 4 million

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Many steps taken toward health reform, many more to go

In 1997, in his State of the State address, then-Gov. Mike Leavitt announced the problem of health care access had been solved. “Four years ago, we agreed that health insurance should be accessible for every Utahn, and each year since then, we have taken carefully-planned steps to achieve that goal,” said Leavitt. “Our health care goals are in

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Bad case of deja vu over gun legislation

We’re experiencing a case of deja vu at the legislature.** Two years ago, former Uintah County Representative, John Mathis, proposed HB76, a bill that would allow anyone who legally owned a gun in Utah, to carry that weapon concealed. Regardless of whether or not they had a concealed carry permit. The bill was opposed by the

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Op-ed: Healthy Utah shows Utah GOP’s intraparty struggle

Two legislators are leading the effort to block Governor Herbert’s Healthy Utah Plan in what is turning out to be a showdown between Utah’s legislative and executive branches. “Led by committee co-chairs Dunnigan and Christensen, the Health Reform Task Force voted not to endorse the Healthy Utah Plan, much to the astonishment of observers, the

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New campaign to hold legislators accountable for Healthy Utah votes

Salt Lake City — Good government group Alliance for a Better UTAH is launching a campaign to hold Rep. Jim Dunnigan and Sen. Allen Christensen accountable for their roles in blocking Governor Herbert’s Healthy Utah Plan. Herbert’s plan, while still falling short of full Medicaid expansion, would allow access to affordable health insurance for thousands

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Legislature playing God in debate over healthcare

Here in Utah, the debate over Medicaid Expansion has gone back and forth for more than two years now. It was clear from the beginning that although it would be the simplest and least expensive way to cover the most people, full expansion would never win the support of our elected officials. In fact, in

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Shepherd: It’s time to act on Herbert’s Healthy Utah Plan

Poor health is often the first link in a chain of increasingly worse hardships, including job loss, bankruptcy and homelessness, but access to affordable health care can disrupt that chain of events, argued former Congresswoman and Better UTAH Board Member Karen Shepherd in a weekend op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune. Our health is the keystone to our

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