Page 2 - Jeffrey Stenquist News Today

With just over a week left in the general legislative session, a Republican lawmaker has filed a bill to prohibit discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in some Utah classrooms.

A bill similar to Floridas so-called \

A Utah lawmaker wants to allow pregnant women to legally drive in the carpool lane. New Utah legislation could allow unborn children to count as another person. Pregnant people could be allowed to use the HOV lane in Utah.

Rep. Stephanie Gricius knows what its like to have to pull over to the side of the road because of pregnancy sickness.\u00a0

Stunning. Startling. Amazing. Those are some of the words some Utah lawmakers used to describe the experience of flying over the Great Salt Lake on Tuesday to see for themselves just how much lake levels have declined amid the West’s megadrought. Another group will take the tour Wednesday or Thursday.

The Utah Air National Guard dropped three Blackhawk helicopters on Capitol Hill to pick up lawmakers, taking them on an aerial tour of the shrinking Great Salt Lake.

Deseret News Share this story Spenser Heaps, Deseret News SALT LAKE CITY — Attempts to prohibit some nicknames from going on election ballots had some in the Utah Senate questioning whether the motive was personal or if it violated free speech. “I think the ballot should not be a tool for campaigning. I think that there is integrity to the ballot,” said the floor sponsor of HB152, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork. HB152 would limit candidates to their given name or a nickname that they’...

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah representatives debated Friday whether it is the states responsibility to intervene in a local deadlock between cities and counties when it comes to election processes. "Its just come to the point where we need to say OK, we need to step in and and intervene and remove this loggerhead, resolve this impasse, so this (state) pilot project can move forward," said HB75 sponsor, Rep. Jeffrey Stenquist, R-Draper. The bill would extend the states ranked-choice voting pilot prog...

HB152, sponsored by Rep. Jeffrey Stenquist, R-Draper, faltered on a 36-34 vote, failing to reach the threshold of 38 votes under rules that a bill must surpass half of the Utah House of Representatives body of 75. Stenquist sought to limit nicknames from becoming campaign tools. His bill would only allow the candidates given name or abbreviated version of it, middle name, surname, initials or an "acquired name" they can prove they are "generally known by" in the community for at least five year...

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News SALT LAKE CITY — Week two of the 2021 Utah Legislature began with news that one Utah lawmaker is hospitalized with COVID-19 and two others tested positive for the disease. Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove, has been hospitalized with the novel coronavirus after becoming ill before the session started Jan. 19. On Monday, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, and Senate Budget Vice Chairman Don Ipson, R-St. George, both tested positive during rapid testing that is availa...