Deseret News
Lawmakers are grappling with tax cuts, emergency powers and a host of other issues.
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The Utah flag waves in the wind at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. Frank Pignanelli and LaVarr Webb review a few major upcoming issues from the Utah Legislature, including emergency powers, a budget surplus, infrastructure and tax cuts.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The Legislature will adjourn “sine die” in one week. Many of the major issues are now distilling toward resolution or facing further study. (The technical phrase is “kicking the can down the road”). But Utahns can feel proud that lawmakers accomplished much during a pandemic and in uncertain economic times. We review a few major issues.
1. Rep. Marie Poulson reflects on 12 years of health reform
A member of the state’s Health Care Reform Task Force since its inception 12 years ago, Rep. Marie Poulson (Cottonwood Heights) has had a front row seat to the evolution of Utah health care since. As she nears retirement in 2021, Poulson spoke with reporter Eli Kirshbaum about the long fight for Medicaid expansion, her criticisms of the Herbert administration and expectations for the Cox administration, and her concerns as Utah begins distributing COVID vaccines.
“I know during my twelve years serving as a legislator, with the rancor coming down from our current administration, a lot of more ‘in-your-face’ partisanship, I have seen it filter down to the states in the last few years … I really am pretty positive, in spite of the fact that we have this huge supermajority in the state, that most people will rise to the occasion, knowing what a terrible economic toll the pandemic has taken on people and that