Friday March 7, 2025

Heidi Hatch

Maura Carabello Exoro Group

Rob Axson Utah GOP Chair

A note to listeners, due to technical difficulties the podcast stopped abruptly twice during recording. The segments were restarted and edited together so there are a couple abrupt stops and restarts.

Utah's 2025 Legislative session nears end after more than 900 bills in 45 days

Collective Bargaining Referendum

SB142: Groundbreaking App Store Accountability Act

UTAH LEGISLATURE APPROVES TAX CUTS

• Income Tax: Reducing income tax rate to 4.5% from 4.55%.
• Social Security Tax: Eliminating social security tax for those earning up to $90,000 previously $75,000.
• Child Tax Credit: Expanding the child tax credit by two years up to 5 years old.

Legislature announces an agreement with Judiciary on proposed legislation

Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Amendments signed by the Governor

Food additives prohibited in Utah Schools HB 402 

Bill to keep Pride flags from classrooms clears Utah Senate HB 77

Utah’s first female State Auditor sent packing from the Capitol building

Trump Joint session of Congress address

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Take 2 Podcast

Friday Feb 28, 2025

Heidi Hatch

Maura Carabello Exoro Group

John Dougall – AG Office Admin former State Auditor

Fighting words in the oval office with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

Utah Legislative session- 1 week to go

• State leaders announce $1,500 pay raise for teachers
• Utah student cellphone ban heads to the governor for approval
• Bill removing Fluoride From water heads to the Governor’s desk
• New Bill: Speaker Schultz just dropped a bill which would change the responsibility for writing the ballot language BACK to legislative counsel. (17:00)
• Election law amendments pass the House after House and Senate negotiate a new version (21:00)
• Debate Commission overhaul Bill
• Judicial retention recommendations on ballots (35:00)
• Gun Education in schools (41:00)
• HB100 School lunch bill passes House
• Utah bill would create tax zones to fund Olympic-related infrastructure
• Bill dies trying to give force homeowners to sell to families before investors

National News

• US House Passes a budget proposal – All four Utah Reps voted in favor (March deadline looming)
• Judge finds mass firings of federal probationary workers to likely be unlawful

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Take 2 Podcast

Feb. 21, 2025

Heidi Hatch

Maura Carabello Exoro Group

John Dougall AG Administrator

SLC Mayor named her pick for Chief, 8 days after firing Chief Mike Brown

• No national search
• Brian Redd will go up for a vote March 4th
• Was appointed to DOC by Cox in May 2023

https://kutv.com/news/local/salt-lake-city-mayor-to-announce-recommendation-for-new-chief-of-police#

Concerns raised over decision to join SEC 504 lawsuit that could remove disability protections

• Last May, the Biden administration added "gender dysphoria" as a disability, and now the states are suing to find out if it was constitutional.
• Section 504 protects people with disabilities, including children who need accommodation in school. Children like Richardson’s son.

Senate panel advances major change to Utah public records law - out of committee 6-2 vote 

• SB277 proposed to disband a volunteer committee that decides disputes over access to government records.
• The revised bill would eliminate a key test for determining whether records are public or private.
• A Senate committee advanced the legislation despite strong opposition from Utahns.
• State and legislative audits found that few cases in the past few years were resolved within the 73 days the law requires and last year the average time was 156 days, he said.

https://www.deseret.com/politics/2025/02/18/utah-public-records-law-sunshine-act-grama-legislature/

Utah Legislature considers tougher rules for ballot initiative

A proposed Utah bill that would make it harder for Utahns to bring issues directly to the ballot is stirring up debate in the Legislature.

Senate Bill 73, sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, would require sponsors of initiative petitions to publish the full text of their proposed initiative in newspapers across the state for two months leading up to the election. If sponsors failed to do so, the initiative would become invalid — meaning that votes cast for or against the initiative would not be counted, and the proposed law would not be presented to voters.

https://www.upr.org/utah-news/2025-02-20/utah-legislature-considers-tougher-rules-for-ballot-initiatives

Clock runs out on bill that would eliminate Daylight Saving Time in Utah (we will Spring forward 3/9)

A legislative panel on Wednesday voted to "table" HB 120, signaling state senators' lack of desire to spend more time talking about time--and effectively killing time for this session.

DOGE cuts continue

• Utah cuts at Federal parks
• Federal employees cut at IRS
• Congressman Mike Kennedy suggests Utah fill positions if the cut is too deep at our National Parks

DEA DHS ICE arrest 13 people for deportation, 4 are members of Tren De Aragua

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Utah’s newest Congressman, Dr. Mike Kennedy sat down with Heidi Hatch to discuss his first weeks in Washington, Trump’s fast-moving Executive orders and getting a budget before the next looming March deadline.

• -Adjusting to voting and acting in Congress
• -IRS and Federal layoffs including here in Utah
• -Congressional Budget
• -DOGE CUTS
• -Ukraine Negotiations
• -Border and immigration issues
• -Federal Lands
• -Senate Confirmations
• -UT may need to fill void in National Parks with cuts

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Heidi Hatch

Maura Carabello Exoro Group

Rob Axson Utah GOP chair

Utah Legislature

• FUN FACT: Utah’s population reached 3,506,838 on July 1, 2024, where is the growth happening
• SLCPD Chief will step down at the end of the month and retire, Mayor today saying she fired Chief Mike Brown
• Rep. Casey Snider says HB465 Allows DPS to step in where there are safety concerns alluding to SLC
• Salt Lake County Council approves new sales tax to fund jail, transportation improvements
• Utah House votes to streamline deportations of immigrants convicted of crimes HB 226
• Utah lawmakers halt 2 housing bills aimed at allowing smaller homes
• School cellphone, smartwatch ban clears Utah Senate SB 178

National headlines

• Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr sworn in
• Trump called Putin – Rubio on his way to negotiate with Ukraine
• Nearly a dozen lawsuits currently holding up Trump action

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Heidi Hatch

Maura Carabello: Exoro Group

Dave Alvord: Former SoJo Mayor/SL County Council District 2

TRUMP WEEK 3

• USAID: Your taxpayer dollars
• Trump Floats the US rebuilding GAZA strip – Impeachment articles file because of it
• Trump signs Executive Order banning trans athletes from Women’s and girls’ sports. NCAA agrees to comply.
• Federal judge puts hold on Federal employee buyouts, hearing on Monday – funding not in place

UTAH LEGISLATVIE SESSION

• HB81: Fluoride In Utah’s water, keep it or kill it
• HB 288, Health Care Malpractice Amendments on statute of limitations in malpractice
• HB 267: Utah bill to end collective bargaining for public workers passes heads to Cox
• HB267 prohibits collective bargaining across all government organizations, including public schools, law enforcement and fire
• HB 312: Lisonbee's "Jail must not release" bill. “Salt Lake County jail is releasing ~4000 inmates per year due to overcrowding??! That’s over 10 per day. We are the only county in Utah that overcrowd releases (OCR) from our jail. This is NOT okay.”
• HB300: Voter ID bill

The Sutherland Institute’s poll after 2024 election: Released Jan 15, 2025

• 74% of Utah voters prefer to have the person overseeing elections be elected by voters, rather than appointed by elected officials.
• 87% of Utah voters are confident that ballots in Utah are counted accurately, while 69% are confident that ballots in the United States as a whole are counted accurately.

HB 120, Daylight Saving is back again

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