What will lawmakers spend your tax dollars on? The first decisions on next year’s budget are coming later this week.
Legislators are sifting through hundreds of millions of dollars of appropriations requests.
(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) Members of the House of Representatives recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the Utah Capitol in this Jan. 19, 2021, file photo.
| Feb. 10, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
The midpoint of the 2021 Utah Legislature is later this week, which means lawmakers are finalizing their priority spending lists for your tax dollars before the final budget is approved in the coming weeks.
Legislative leaders will vote on the appropriation requests later this week.
| Updated: 4:44 p.m.
Sen. Mitt Romney said Sunday that he agrees with the calls from both Republicans and Democrats for “unity” following the inauguration of President Joe Biden, but he stressed the only way to get there is to hold former President Donald Trump and others accountable for the attempted insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“If we’re going to have unity in our country, I think it’s important to recognize the need for accountability, for truth and justice,” said Romney, who made the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows, appearing as a guest on CNN’s State of the Union and Fox News Sunday.
| Updated: 1:50 a.m.
A House committee on Friday advanced a bill that would allow Utahns to carry concealed weapons in public without a permit.
Current Gov. Spencer Cox, though, says he’s supportive of the concept and Brooks is confident he’ll sign the bill if it passes. Cox’s spokesperson confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday he still backs the legislation.
Brooks says the requirement for a permit is, in his opinion, nonsensical at best, given all the other places you’re able to carry a weapon without restriction.
“In Utah, you can carry a concealed weapon in your home. You can carry on your property. You can carry in your vehicle. You can carry a weapon in the open. But if you put your jacket over that weapon in public, you’re now breaking the law,” he said.