- The Utah House minority leadership opposes the Utah Fits All voucher program and wants more funding for public education.
- The Democratic House Caucus is concerned over the majority’s proposed funding cuts to higher education.
- The lawmakers will also work on improving housing conditions and addressing the safety of unhoused people in Utah.
Utah
5 issues Utah’s House Democrats will focus on this session
As the Utah Legislature’s 2025 general session begins, Utah House Democrats plan to oppose the Utah Fits All education voucher program, as well as making sure students in higher education are getting what they need and standing up for the safety and rights of everyone in Utah.
On Tuesday’s first day of Utah’s legislative session, the House minority leadership held a press conference to announce their priorities for the session.
The minority caucus has divided their priorities into five issue areas: sustainability, health and well-being, education, good governance, and inclusion and representation. They said they will oppose funding private school scholarships,
The House Minority Caucus opposes the Utah Fits All voucher program
Rep. Sahara Hayes, D-Salt Lake City, emphasized opposing the Utah Fits All voucher program as one of the caucus’ top focuses for education during this session.
“We do not believe that public dollars should be ever used to fund private businesses, particularly when it’s a lot of money,” Hayes said. We’ve put $80 million into that program so far, and there’s no accountability metrics built in.”
She said this is especially a problem when that money could go to bolstering public education. The representative shared that she sat with a group of teachers earlier this month who were pleading for better resources.
“They do not have the tools that they need right now to support their students, and it is hard for them, and it is hard for the students, and they need an increased (weighted pupil unit) in order to do the job that they are given,” Hayes said.
The House Democrats concerns over cutting higher education funding
The legislators shared their concerns with the majority party’s plan for 10% across the board cuts to higher education funding.
Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, said there is value in looking into programs at universities to see what can be changed. But, she said, it is most important to keep students’ needs at the center.
“At the end of the day, we need to focus on what’s best for students, and the fact that higher education is a critical place for students to learn critical thinking skills to make them ready, not just for the workforce, but to take on the world in general,” Dailey-Provost said.
House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, added that while we do need to open additional seats in programs like nursing and mental health, it is important that the state still allows students to have their own academic freedom to study whatever they want for however long they want.
“So I’m just really, really, really concerned about what is the true agenda?” Romero said.
House Democrats will work on LGBTQ+ issues in Utah
When asked about the caucus’ strategy to approaching proposed restrictions to the LGBTQ+ community, Hayes said they are focused on stopping bills as they come up, but that often does not work. The next step is to talk “with the speaker, with the sponsors, trying to convey why there are problems with the bill or problematic language.”
Romero emphasized that the caucus is going to stand up and fight for the rights and protections of everyone in Utah.
“We’re not going to discriminate against somebody because of who they are,” Romero said.
House Democrats are concerned about the tone used when talking about immigration
Romero said she is concerned because from a national level and on a state level as well, immigration is being equated with public safety.
The caucus is concerned about public safety and believes in holding criminals accountable for the crimes they commit. But, Romero said, they don’t care what their immigration status is, if they’re committing crimes they need to be held accountable no matter what.
Concerns about public safety should not justify criminalizing an entire community, Romero said.
“There is a tenor to the conversation that seems to insinuate that immigration and criminal behavior is the same thing, and they are not,” Dailey-Provost said.
As a part of the caucus’ focus on health and well-being they will work in improve housing in Utah
“One of the critical ways that health and safety manifests is being safely housed and having a home,” Dailey-Provost said.
The caucus wants to make sure that all individuals and families in the state have access to housing.
To do this and to address the state’s growing homelessness crisis the caucus is working with partners to decrease building costs, increase housing supply, implementing common sense density policies and address issues with institutional investors which contribute to increasing home prices.
The representatives will also work to protect unsheltered people from being targeted by organized crime.
“By providing safe housing, mental health support and addiction services, we can reduce their vulnerability and improve their safety,” Dailey-Provost said.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
The Utah Jazz are rolling into a big offseason before they into what’s projected to be a wildly different-looking 2026-27 campaign from what they had just seen this past 22-win season.
But before that season is able to get underway, the Jazz have some priorities to address in the offseason––both in terms of constructing their roster and retaining a few key pieces from last year’s group into next year.
That makes their salary cap situation and everything around it important to be aware of in the next few months. So with that in mind, we’ve put together an offseason cap tracker for a glimpse of what the Jazz are dealing with in terms of cap space, contracts, and any of their own free agents hitting the open market.
Let’s break it down:
Maximum Possible Cap Space: $24.7M
The Jazz are currently projected at just under $25 million in cap headed into the summer. That’s without any additional moves made to the roster from how they’re entering the offseason, and without factoring in any free agents’ pending cap holds.
That number is bound to get smaller once the Jazz hash out their contract situation for Walker Kessler, but it could also see an uptick if Utah were to shed salary with some of their non-guaranteed deals, or any other player they wanted to pivot from.
As of now, it allows the Jazz to make a couple of moves around the edges in free agency, but the main focus will lean on signing Kessler to a long-term deal.
Contracts
A glimpse of the Jazz’s contract values for the 2026-27 season, and when they’re slated to hit free agency from their current deals:
– Jaren Jackson Jr.: $49.0M, ’29 PO
– Lauri Markkanen: $46.1M, ’29 UFA
– Ace Bailey: $9.5M, ’29 RFA
– Keyonte George: $6.5M, ’27 RFA
– John Konchar: $6.1M, ’27 UFA
– Cody Williams: $6.0M, ’28 RFA
– Brice Sensabaugh, $4.8M, ’27 RFA
– Svi Mykhailiuk: $3.8M*, ’28 UFA
– Kyle Filipowski: $3.0M, ’28 RFA
– Isaiah Collier: $2.7M, ’28 RFA
– Hayden Gray: $2.1M*, ’27 RFA
– Bez Mbeng: $2.1M*, ’27 RFA
– Blake Hinson (two-way), ’27 RFA
Total: $142.1M
*- non-guaranteed
The biggest chunk of the Jazz’s salary leans on their top two veterans, Markkanen and Jackson Jr., each making a combined $95 million next season alone.
However, the rest of the roster isn’t taking up much money. No one else will be making more than $10 million, and their payroll is a little less than $150 million in total.
Another noteworthy fact: the Jazz’s key roster pieces outside of George and Sensabaugh are all under contract through the next two seasons.
Both of the aforementioned names are also bound to see extension discussions take place this summer, which might lock in their future for even longer.
Free Agents
A look at who from this season’s roster is set to hit the free agent market in July:
– Kevin Love (UFA)
– Jusuf Nurkic (UFA)
– Walker Kessler (RFA)
– Oscar Tshiebwe (two-way)
– Elijah Harkless (two-way)
The biggest name of note is, of course, the Jazz’s restricted free agent big man, Walker Kessler, who Utah is bound to hand a big payday, but it remains to be seen how much that contract––or offer sheet from another team––will be.
Jusuf Nurkic and Kevin Love have also expressed their desire to return to the roster as they hit free agency. Re-signing both likely wouldn’t cost much for the Jazz financially, but instead relies on a question of whether the roster space is readily available to keep both.
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