legislature

(Rick Bowmer | AP) Republican Rep. Mike Schultz at the Utah State Capitol in February 2020. A special session is planned for May 2021 to distribute additional taxpayer revenues.

Utah’s budget surplus is set to grow. What will lawmakers do with extra cash?

By Bryan Schott | April 16, 2021, 2:10 p.m.

(Evan Vucci | AP file photo) President Joe Biden is shown speaking during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in this March 25, 2021, file photo.

Biden’s call for ‘red flag’ laws falls on deaf ears in the Utah Legislature

By Bryan Schott | April 8, 2021, 10:02 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) Melanie Lewis, left, and Connie Peterson, both members of The Well-Armed Woman of Utah, Jordan Valley chapter gather at The Gun Vault shooting range in South Jordan for shooting practice in this March 23, 2018, file photo.

Utah lawmakers ended a requirement for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Has anything really changed?

By Bryan Schott | April 7, 2021, 7:13 p.m.

(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) Jonathan Pimble, AEMT, administers a Covid-19 vaccination to Jerome Little, during a resource fair on Rio Grande Street, on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

New Utah law blocks vaccine passports if you’re on a college campus or at a state government building

By Bryan Schott | April 6, 2021, 7:59 p.m.

(Brian Maffly | Tribune file photo) Since 2014, the Price River Terminal in Wellington has been loading oil from trucks to rail cars, opening a new path for Uinta Basin crude to reach out-of-state markets. Utah lawmakers have changed the law directing that state proceeds from oil an gas mining royalties on federal lands be used to mitigate the impacts of that resource restriction in nearby communities.

Environmental groups say a new state law on mineral revenues is a win for fossil fuels, a blow for rural Utah

By Bethany Rodgers | March 30, 2021, 6:12 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of the House of Representatives are partitioned by Plexiglas as the Utah Legislature opens the 2021 legislative session at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.

Lawmakers make it easier for Utahns to search court cases online, as one change to public records laws this session

By Becky Jacobs | March 29, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

FILE - This Monday, April 6, 2020 file photo shows an arrangement of hydroxychloroquine pills in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Exclusive: Utah’s power brokers helped Draper pharmacist with customs holdup on drug import

By Bethany Rodgers | March 29, 2021, 7:22 p.m.

(Steve Griffin | Tribune file photo) This 2017 file photo shows Utah legislators meeting in a committee hearing at the state Capitol.

Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, right, as explains SB0185S during the House Judiciary Standing Committee meeting at the State Captiol in Salt Lake City Friday March 3, 2017. SB0185S deals with cause of action for minors injured by pornography.

‘Utah Politics’ podcast: Free speech and social media

By Bryan Schott | March 26, 2021, 12:08 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) Gov. Spencer Cox speaks at a news conference in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.

Utah’s statewide mask mandate will end April 10 after Gov. Spencer Cox signed pandemic ‘endgame’ bill

By Bethany Rodgers | March 25, 2021, 2:13 a.m.

(Photo courtesy of Oakdell Egg Farms) Hens are free to perch inside Oakdell Egg Farms' cage-free facility in Lewiston, near the Idaho border.

Utah eggs will be cage-free by 2025. Here’s why farmers lobbied for the law and why you’ll be paying more at the store.

By Kathy Stephenson | March 24, 2021, 6:36 p.m.

(Photo illustration by Jeremy Harmon | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox has vetoed legislation that had sought to regulate social media, which conservatives claim have censored right-wing voices since former President Donald Trump was permanently banned from major platforms.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox vetoes controversial social media legislation

By Bryan Schott | March 24, 2021, 1:49 p.m.

(Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) Paris Hilton bumps elbows with Sen. Michael McKell, R-Spanish Fork, after a vote on SB127 in the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee in Salt Lake City, Feb. 8, 2021. Gov. Spencer Cox signed the bill into law on Monday.

Increased oversight is coming to Utah’s ‘troubled-teen’ industry

By Jessica Miller | March 22, 2021, 10:59 p.m.

(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) This aerial photo from June 2018 shows where the main inland port will be built, with satellite ports to be developed in rural areas of the state.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signs inland port bank bill over calls for a veto from opponents

By Taylor Stevens | March 22, 2021, 10:24 p.m.

(Carolyn Kaster | AP) In this Feb. 17, 2016, file photo an iPhone is seen in Washington. The Utah Legislature passed a bill that would require phones in the state to come with activated pornography filters.

Adult film star urges Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to veto porn-blocker bill

By Bethany Rodgers | March 22, 2021, 2:50 p.m.

(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) Camp Last Hope, which was built on abandoned railroad tracks, sits under the freeway for protection from the rain and the snow, Jan. 5, 2021. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill Wednesday that will create a full-time state coordinator who's dedicated full time to addressing homelessness in the state.

Gov. Spencer Cox signs bill addressing the ‘confusing’ system to help the homeless

By Taylor Stevens | March 18, 2021, 7:50 p.m.

(Paul Sakuma | AP file photo) In this July 19, 2006, file photo, a woman walks next to a "For Rent" sign at an apartment complex in Palo Alto, Calif. Utah has now passed a law giving renters limited protections against undisclosed rental fees.

Protection against hidden rental fees now written into Utah law

By Eric S. Peterson | March 18, 2021, 12:25 a.m.