Utah Politics & News
Utah politics from The Daily Signal, reporting on state government, education reform, tech industry growth, religious freedom, and the Beehive State’s approach to conservative governance.
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Biden DOJ Targets Utah Prisons After Trans Prisoner Removes His Own Testicles
President Joe Biden’s Justice Department announced Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit accusing the state of Utah, and its Department of Corrections, of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act in failing to give a man hormones for his gender dysphoria. The prisoner, who identifies as a transgender woman, is said to have requested to…Mary Margaret Olohan -
25 Years of Healthy Marriage in Utah: State Commission Strengthens Institution
Utah just celebrated the 25th anniversary of its healthy marriages initiative, a statewide effort to help people build and maintain strong marriages. There’s a great need to strengthen marriage in the U.S., given its decades-long decline and the many consequences of family breakdown, particularly among lower-income communities. Utah’s initiative is an example other states’ leaders…Rachel Sheffield -
Utah’s Spencer Cox Signs Bill Protecting Minors From ‘Life-altering’ Transgender Surgery
Utah minors can no longer receive sex-reassignment surgeries after Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed a bill restricting transgender medical procedures on Saturday. The bill prohibits “performing sex characteristic surgical procedures on a minor for the purpose of effectuating a sex change” and allows minors to bring legal action against the person who performed sex-reassignment surgery…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
Utah School District Pulls Dozens of Books With Titles Such as ‘Gender Queer’
Utah’s largest school district has removed 52 books from its library for alleged inappropriate content and plans to investigate another 32, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Alpine School District in northern Utah County is removing the books following an internal audit sparked by parental complaints, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. The school board will formally…Reagan Reese -
Utah Republicans Fight Credit Rating Company’s ‘Political Rating System’
A major credit rating company puts too much emphasis on so-called environmental, social, and governance factors in evaluating states, 11 of Utah’s top elected officials say in a letter to the company. Calling these ESG factors “credit indicators” is an absurd attempt “to legitimize a dubious and unproven exercise in developing a political ratings system…Anthony B. Kim -
Utah Teacher’s Anti-Parent Rant Exposes Broader, Disturbing Education Agenda
On the first day of school last week in a Utah high school classroom, chemistry teacher Leah Kinyon had little to say about chemistry, but a lot to say about what she regards as the stupidity of parents. In the course of a wide-ranging political tirade caught on video by students, Kinyon said, “Most of…Kimberly Ells -
Utah Parents Push Back Against Transgender Agenda—and Win
A group of Utah parents has prompted a review of an “equity book program” in their local school district after a teacher read a book favorable to transgenderism to a class of third graders. The book, “Call Me Max,” written by transgender-identified author Kyle Lukoff, follows the story of a girl wanting to be seen…Joseph Backholm -
Utah Attorney General Credits School Safety App for Intercepting 86 ‘Credible’ Threats
Students and teachers at Utah schools have access to an app that allows users to report threats of violence and seek help from crisis counselors. The software application, designed to promote school safety and student well-being, has flagged 86 credible threats of school violence over two years, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said in a…Rachel del Guidice -
Terror Plot Foiled at Utah High School Due to Bomb Failure
Last week, a teenage student in southern Utah brought an explosive device to school. Thankfully, it failed to explode and the student was arrested. The student was then tied to a recent Islamic State-inspired act of vandalism at a nearby school. This plot was the 102nd Islamist plot or attack against the U.S. homeland since…David Inserra -
In Big Win for Utah, Trump Scales Back Federal Land Grab From Obama Administration
President Donald Trump took a big step on Monday to begin correcting abuses of the Antiquities Act. The president acted on his April 26 executive order to review national monument designations under the law since 1996, making his announcement in Utah, which has been the subject of sweeping national monument designations through the Antiquities Act….Katie Tubb -
Utah Blood Draw Incident Shows the Limits of Police Authority
On July 26, Alex Wubbels was just trying to protect her patient by following a longstanding hospital policy—one she rightly understood to reflect the protections of the Fourth Amendment. She was rewarded with handcuffs and a seat in the back of a police cruiser. Wubbels, a former Olympic athlete and current head nurse of the…Amy Swearer -
Obama’s Last-Minute Land Grab Was Bad for Utah. Trump Is Showing He Hears the People.
During the Christmas season last year, the Obama administration ignored the majority of Utahans by designating a vast tract of land in southern Utah as a national monument. Last week, the Department of the Interior took a welcome step toward reversing this executive abuse and returning to a legislative solution. President Barack Obama used the…Sen. Mike Lee -
Obama’s Last-Minute Monument Plan Is Wrong for Utah
Many of you have been fighting with me over the past six years to prevent President Barack Obama from designating additional national monuments in Utah. Now, unfortunately, we are hearing that the president is planning to follow through with the threat to designate the Bears Ears National Monument. In her confirmation hearings, Secretary of the Interior…Sen. Mike Lee -
Utah School Board Members Push to Reject Federal Money to Avoid Transgender Guidelines
Instead of following transgender student guidelines pushed by the Obama administration, some Utah district school board members have plans to create a budget that would be free from federal funding, according to reports. Brian Halladay, Wendy Hart, and Paula Hill, school board members in the Alpine School District, penned an open letter to Utah state…Leah Jessen -
Utah Plan Would Reduce How Much Land the Federal Government Controls
Lawmakers from Utah are backing a public lands bill they say will scale back roughly 660 million acres owned by the federal government to balance conservation with economic development in their state. The Utah Public Lands Initiative encompasses 18 million acres of federal land in Utah and includes provisions to expand Arches National Park, designate acreage…Natalie Johnson -
Utah Plan Would Force Out-of-State Online Retailers to Collect State Sales Tax
Utah is considering legislation that would mandate out-of-state online retailers to collect Utah sales taxes or obtain a license to continue selling their products in the state. Utah state Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, the incoming president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, supports bill, arguing that online retailers should have to collect the same…Kate Scanlon