The Utah legislature is made up of part-timers whose day jobs shape their approach to law making according to a report by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Salt Lake City Weekly. Can lawmakers’ professional interest create conflicts of interest? 40% of House members and 51% of senators are involved in real estate, but don’t list it as their primary occupation. Utah lawmakers are required to fill out financial and conflict of interest disclosure forms. But a Utah Investigative Journalism Project review of lawmakers’ 2024 disclosure forms found that many use vague language to describe their employment or business ventures, making it difficult to identify possible conflicts.
For example, the form asks lawmakers to report individuals or entities from which they received at least $5,000 in income. Many lawmakers did not include their employers or businesses in that category or left it blank. Other lawmakers disclosed that they provide consulting but did not specify to what businesses or industries, according to the report.
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Salt Lake City leaders are excited for the MLB to come to Utah but worried about the expenses of the project. “While we are excited about and supportive of the possibility of bringing Major League Baseball to Salt Lake City,” Andrew Wittenberg, spokesperson for Mayor Erin Mendenhall, said in a statement on behalf of the mayor and City Council to The Tribune, “this bill creates immediate concerns about the apparent diversion of tax revenue and land use away from city services, regardless of whether we ever see [an] MLB team in Utah.”
Council member Alejandro Puy said that the bill proposed for the Ballpark is “concerning” and “disappointing”. “It feels like a slap in the face to so many interactions,” he said, “so many promises from the Miller group that this bill was going to be done right.”
- Winter Ends Today: How is our mountain snowpack?
Winter technically ends today, but how is our mountain snowpack? According to skiutah.com the storm has wrapped and with significant snow and liquid levels. The next storm coming Monday is expected to be quite strong. Brighton got 12 inches or more in 24 hours. Snowbasin Resort had 11 inches in 24 hours as well as Solitude. All of the other popular resorts also received many inches of snow. Is the groundhog wrong? And are we still going to have snow in April like last year? Only time will tell.
A rare occurrence in southern Utah has happened for the second time in back-to-back years. The waterfalls at Gunlock State Park have returned according to Fox News. Video and photos shared by Utah’s Weather Authority Elise Lipinski showed stunning views, with water spilling over the Gunlock Reservoir and crashing into the red rocks below. With even more storms expected to bring rainy weather across Utah, hopefully these stunning and rare views of Gunlock Falls will continue!
Utah lawmakers have officially introduced this year’s omnibus liquor bill. The bill would increase the cost of liquor, wine and beer according to KPCW. Utah has a large bill every year to amend alcohol laws.
The state markup on alcohol would increase by half a percent. Liquor and wine would be marked up 88.5% and heavy beer would be marked up 67%. It’s unclear how much more revenue these markups would provide the state or how noticeable they will be to consumers.
The bill would also allow for wider alcohol consumption at airports. Right now, only airlines can get public service permits allowing people to walk around the area with alcohol, basically airport lounges. The change would allow other entities to operate hospitality rooms where people can move around with beverages.The legislation would also increase the number of liquor licenses the state can issue.
*Content for this article curated from other sources.
