SALT LAKE CITY Utah state legislators from both sides of the aisle fielded questions Thursday about education policy and how to create equal opportunities for all Utahns in the wake of a pandemic that s had a disproportionate impact on already-struggling communities.
The United Way of Salt Lake hosted the hourlong Q&A session featuring prerecorded responses from legislative leaders and prominent members of both parties. One of the things we need to do, I think, the most, is to be able to fund education, said Senate President Stuart Adams in response to a question about how to get Utah students back on track.
ST. GEORGE Utah Sen. Don Ipson can t think of anyone he knew that had been infected by COVID-19 during the summertime.
That changed in the months between then and now. Ipson, R-St. George, said he now knows several people who have contracted it, been hospitalized, and even a few who have died from complications caused by it. Then, just weeks ago, he toured Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, with some of his legislator colleagues and witnessed firsthand the issues the hospital staff has to deal with to match the needs of COVID-19 patients.
The tour was eye-opening, he said. Reflecting on it Tuesday, he called it humbling and scary. For him, it hit close to home because two of his granddaughters work in health care just like the staff he watched hard at work.