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The Week Ahead
With the Legislature starting in just seven days, this week will be dedicated to raising money and preparing for legislative action. Four legislative fundraising events are scheduled this week (see calendar), starting this morning.
Utah Blogs
Blogging on public policy and news media issues is definitely becoming more popular in Utah. I have found seven blogs that are worth perusing periodically. I believe most of them feature RSS feeds so you can have new content delivered right to your desktop. This newsletter, Utah Policy Daily, is written a lot like a Web log, but instead of appearing on a blog web site, it is delivered to your e-mail in-box. Some time in the near future we will turn the content of the newsletter into a real blog at www.utahpolicy.com, but we will also continue to send it out as a newsletter.
If you are aware of any other good public policy blogs, please e-mail info@utahpolicy.com me. I will post the blog addresses on the Political Portal at www.utahpolicy.com, so you can find them any time. Here are the seven blogs:
Newspaper Editorial Goals
The two Salt Lake daily newspapers have outlined their editorial goals for the year. They will be publishing editorials and op-ed pieces throughout the year to promote these goals. Click here for a full description of the Deseret Morning News editorial goals and here for the Salt Lake Tribune goals. Here is a quick synopsis:
The Morning News has four goals for 2005. The newspaper will focus on reducing methamphetamine use in Utah, promoting responsible immigration reform (Mexican President Vicente Fox is scheduled to visit Utah in April), promoting responsible tax reform to build upon former Gov. Olene Walker’s proposal, and reducing the incidence of domestic violence.
The Tribune has chosen five public policy issues deemed to deserve special attention over the coming year. They are education (support the Jones-Mascaro bill and kill tuition tax credits); environment (keep out high-level spent reactor fuel rods, ban B&C waste at Envirocare, conserve water and resolve the wilderness debate); transportation (rebuild I-15 in Utah County, build the Legacy Parkway, build mass transit, raise the gas tax and vehicle registration fees and don’t divert general fund money to transportation); livable cities (deal with urban sprawl and encourage proper land use, preserve quality of life) and health care (encourage improvements to keep health insurance and Medicaid affordable, resolve the malpractice insurance crisis).
Reader Response
Here’s a nice message from Rep. Steve Urquhart, whose blog we have featured in the last few newsletter editions:
“Congratulations Utah Policy on a successful 2004! I'm glad to hear you're adding some sponsorship to your site. I know how much time it must take to pull it all together, and I am concerned that it be worth your while -- because it sure is worth my while to read it. As a matter of fact, that is how I start every weekday. Of course, I'm a political junkie and appreciate your insights on that score, but I'm also a news junkie -- and you cut down my workload considerably every morning with your handy-dandy links. Who gets up so early to post them? In any event, thank you! Here's wishing you a wonderful 2005!”
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