Happy Thursday and Happy Purim to those celebrating tonight and tomorrow. (Purim is the Jewish holiday that celebrates the actions of Queen Esther in saving her people.)
Yesterday on Utah’s Capitol Hill, the proposal to ban transgender athletes, another to prevent the sale of DIY rape kits and one that would toughen Utah’s laws on texting while driving didn’t make it out of committee and a billboard bill died on the Senate floor, Meanwhile, a bill to expand security for public officials, one to make online impersonation illegal and one that would ban releasing mug shots until conviction were among the bills moving forward.
If you only have time for one thing today: Listen to this podcast by Boyd Matheson who interviewed social scientist Robert Putnam and Utahn Shaylyn Romney Garrett on their new book, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again. Social capital is in decline, political divisions run deep, communities are crumbling, and the country appears to be more narcissistic and fragmented than ever before. What’s the solution? We are. (If the podcast seems too long, even on double speed, you can read Boyd’s most recent op-ed on the topic instead. Or in addition to.)
Countdown
8 days to the end of the 2021 Utah Legislature (3/5/21)
48 days until the end of the Cox/Henderson administration’s first 100 days (04/14/2021)
64 days until the Biden/Harris administration’s first 100 days are up (04/30/2021)
