Stay updated with breaking news from Jay mcfarland. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
| Updated: Feb. 23, 2021, 12:40 a.m. The annual attempt by Utah lawmakers to bypass the signature-gathering path for candidates to get on the primary ballot is headed to the Senate floor. A Senate committee gave the thumbs up to SB205 on Monday, to give political parties several options for determining how candidates qualify for the primary ballot. “We have about $2.5 million being spent on the signature-gathering process over the last six years,” says bill sponsor Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton. He added that “99.3% of elections during that time were won by candidates that qualified for the ballot through the convention process.” McCay’s bill creates four categories of political parties, with various paths for candidates to win the nomination, including one that would allow the party to send the top two vote-getters at convention to the primary unless one secured two-thirds support from delegates and clinched the nomination. ....
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 available to lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff. Ipson tested negative Jan. 22 and remained in Salt Lake City over the weekend, but after testing positive on Monday, he returned to St. George. ....