skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Are We Done Yet? UT Lawmakers Ponder Bill to End Pandemic

play audio
Play

Friday, March 5, 2021   

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah legislators are working on a bill that would allow them to decide when the COVID-19 pandemic is officially over - or at least, what the state needs to do when the novel coronavirus is no longer a crisis.

House members approved House Bill 294 - the so-called "Endgame Bill" - along party lines this week after a different measure failed that would have immediately ended the state's mask mandate.

Instead, they approved a bill that essentially instructs state agencies when to "stand down" from the current crisis.

Chase Thomas with the Alliance for a Better Utah said he's not so sure making it a law is the best way to go.

"We believe it's a bad idea to put this into statute," said Thomas. "And to have lawmakers - who are going to be out of session in only a day-and-a-half - setting this hard criteria, when that would be better left to the executive branch and the health department."

The bill faces an uphill battle. Senate leaders aren't enthusiastic about it, and Gov. Spencer Cox has not signaled that he would sign the bill if it lands on his desk.

Today is also the last day of the regular session, so time is running out.

HB 294 would declare Utah's pandemic and its restrictions over, either when the state hits a list of benchmarks or before July 1, whichever comes first.

At that time, state agencies would end the enforcement of policies put in place during the pandemic. Chase said, while everyone is ready for the crisis to be over, you can't just tell it to stop.

"I think people are anxious about it, and some of the lawmakers up on the hill - I mean, they've been anxious this entire time, and we all want to see an end to it," said Thomas. "It's just it's going to take a little time, and we have to be patient."

If the bill is signed, the mask mandate would end first. Other benchmarks include declaring an end to the pandemic if the state reaches a 14-day case rate of fewer than 191 per 100,000 people, the seven-day average of Intensive Care Unit bed utilization falls below 15%, or when the state has been allocated at least 1.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021