SALT LAKE CITY When a young Black woman from Utah County told a Senate committee of getting pencils thrown in my hair to see if they would stick, she was trying to shed light on a form of discrimination that may not be widely known about in the Beehive State.
And while discussion of SB80 to amend Utah s anti-discrimination laws did raise awareness of how hairstyles can lead to racial discrimination, it also brought questions of whether it is really a problem and prompted an apology from one state lawmaker accused of insensitivity for how he addressed women testifying as well as for telling a story of befriending Black children in a store.
Utah lawmakers meeting in Salt Lake City debate more than doubling subsidies for films that shoot in the Beehive State, raising questions about whether the entertainment industry deserves special incentives.
KUER
A bill moving through Utah’s House would make it illegal to protest at the residences of both public officials and private citizens. This story and more in the Wednesday morning news brief.
Wednesday morning, February 10, 2021
State
Committee Approves Police Reform Bills
A Utah House committee unanimously approved four bills Tuesday aimed at gathering more data about police use of force and strengthening disciplinary processes for law enforcement. The state Legislature is considering around a dozen police reform bills this session in the wake of last summer’s protests against police brutality. Under a bill sponsored by Sen. Jani Iwamoto, D-Salt Lake City, law enforcement agencies must provide information about an open investigation into an officer’s conduct to another law enforcement agency that requests it during the hiring process. Law enforcement officers would have to file a report every time they point a gun or a taser at someone under a bill from Rep. Angela Rom