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Utah taxpayers could help lay the groundwork for a constitutional convention

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Utah taxpayers could help lay the groundwork for a constitutional convention


Rep. Kay Christofferson is requesting up to $50,000 a year for the Phoenix Correspondence Commission; fellow lawmaker, Utah Rep. Ken Ivory, is the group’s president.

Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune
Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, speaking in 2017, is seeking $50,000 toward calling a constitutional convention.

Utah taxpayers could pay as much as $50,000 a year to an organization — led by state Rep. Ken Ivory — aimed at creating the framework for a constitutional convention to debate new amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

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On Monday evening, Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, made the pitch to legislative leaders for the funding to support the Phoenix Correspondence Commission, a loose network of lawmakers interested in building momentum for states to call a national convention of the states to debate and propose constitutional amendments.

This type of convention of the states — known in the Constitution as an Article V convention — has never been done before.

To pull it off, legislatures in 34 states would have to call for such a gathering, the delegates from the states would have to agree on language for any amendment, and it would have to be ratified by legislatures in at least 38 states.

“If we’re going to get together as states and look at issues that are important to states, there’s really no venue to do that,” Christofferson said in a recent interview. “We want to say it’s good to maintain a discussion and contact, and work on issues that we think are important to states.”

The Phoenix Correspondence Commission (PCC) first met in Arizona in 2017 to hold a simulated convention with delegates from 19 states. Ivory, R-West Jordan, and Christofferson both attended from Utah, as did Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton. The delegates voiced support for a balanced budget amendment and proposed a set of potential rules for an Article V convention — if one becomes a reality.

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Ivory was chosen as vice president of the PCC at that first convention and now is listed as the group’s president.

Since that first meeting, the PCC has been working toward having two delegates from each state — one from the House and one from the Senate — for a total of 100. They remain well short of that goal. As of Tuesday, the PCC’s website listed a total of 29 delegates, including Christofferson, who represents Utah. Three of the 29 are no longer legislators.

The group also appears to be trying to grow its financial base. Currently, according to Christofferson’s request, it has one part-time staffer, Executive Director Bruce Lee, a business coach from California. Christofferson said the organization would like to make that position full time.

“They’ve asked us to send $50,000,” Christofferson said. “Last year, we sent $5,000. I think we need to be in the game a little more than that.”

Ivory’s PCC role does not appear on his legislative conflict-of-interest disclosure — although it is unclear if it should. State law requires lawmakers to list paid leadership positions, as well as paid or unpaid positions on a group’s board of directors.

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No decision was made Monday on whether to grant Christofferson’s $50,000 request for PCC membership. Those decisions would be made in the coming days as the Legislature puts together the final state budget.

Before Monday’s meeting, Adams said he was unaware of the request for PCC funding, “but it’s something I would be supportive of.”



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Utah

Cox: Federal government failing states on immigration ‘at every turn’

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Cox: Federal government failing states on immigration ‘at every turn’


Utah Gov. Spencer Cox criticized the Biden administration for failing Americans “at every turn” on the issue of immigration law enforcement during a PBS press conference on Thursday.

Confirming previous Deseret News reporting, Cox said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement chooses not to transfer all migrants who break state law after entering the country illegally to detention centers in Nevada and instead releases some of them back into the community.

The state could hold these “lawbreakers” beyond the time prescribed by the criminal justice system, giving ICE time to initiate deportation proceedings, “but the Biden administration has put these rules in place that make it impossible for our jails to do that,” Cox said. “It’s deeply frustrating and it’s frustrating to our sheriffs.”

Does Utah hold migrants who break the law?

Migrants in the country illegally who are arrested for criminal charges are held in Utah jails and processed through the Utah justice system like any other offender, the Deseret News has reported.

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“We are detaining migrants who enter illegally and commit crimes,” Cox said.

Prior to the release of criminal offenders who are in the country illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is notified. Following their release, the migrants are turned over to ICE officers who are supposed to take them to official detention centers.

But there are no ICE detention centers in Utah largely because of onerous Biden administration requirements regarding the holding of detainees, as the Deseret News previously reported. There are Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in southern Nevada that serve ICE offices in Utah, Idaho and Montana, Cox said.

“The federal government is supposed to transport these illegal immigrants, these law breakers, back to those holding facilities where they can then be processed,” Cox said.

But that has not been happening in every case, leading the Salt Lake City Field Office to issue a quickly retracted memo that labeled Utah a sanctuary state last year — a claim that has been repeated by multiple political candidates, including Cox’ primary challenger, state Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding.

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Why isn’t there an ICE detention facility in Utah?

Utah officials have offered up multiple facilities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to rent for the purpose of properly processing migrants here illegally who break state law, Cox said.

“We would love to have a holding facility here. And we have made several offers to to make that easier so there isn’t this backlog when it comes to transportation,” Cox said. “And they’ve turned down our offers. Unfortunately, I think they like the problem and like exacerbating the problem. And that’s deeply frustrating.”

After meeting with the Department of Public Safety, the sheriff’s association, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and even reaching out directly to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Cox said, “We’re getting to a better place.”

Cox said that while the agency does need more resources to enforce U.S. immigration law, “they could do more with the resources they have.”

“The federal government, when it comes to border security, when it comes to processing illegal immigrants, when it comes to deporting those who have broken the law, they are failing this country at every turn,” Cox said. “And it’s not a Utah thing. It’s happening in every state.”

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Could the Utah Jazz Really Land LeBron James If They Draft Bronny?

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Could the Utah Jazz Really Land LeBron James If They Draft Bronny?


Bronny JamesJeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images

In an NBA draft that has reportedly been described by multiple league executives as “the worst draft they have ever seen,” eyes, posts and analysis have naturally drifted to second-round prospect Bronny James.

The son of LeBron James averaged 4.8 points and shot 36.6 percent from the field as a freshman at USC and then measured in at 6’1.5″ without shoes at the draft combine, but at least one team may be interested in picking him just after the first round.

“The [Utah] Jazz have expressed interest in bringing Bronny in for an individual workout and could be interested in him with the 32nd pick,” Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek wrote. “The franchise has been patiently rebuilding behind the leadership of Danny Ainge, and bringing in Bronny with the hopes of luring a superstar like LeBron could be the jump owner Ryan Smith is looking for to add a spark to the Jazz.”

In April, Ainge (the team’s CEO) said Utah would go “big game hunting,” and a ploy to attract LeBron would certainly qualify as that.

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But it’s fair to wonder how realistic that pursuit would be.

It’s no secret that the Jazz don’t play in one of the league’s big or glamour markets. That makes attracting any free agents (or trade demanders) tough. And if LeBron were to decline his player option or ask L.A. to move him, he’d instantly be the biggest name available, despite the fact that he turns 40 next season.

It’s easy to see why Utah would be interested. Few athletes in the history of sports attract as much as attention as LeBron. And he’s currently smashing preconceived notions about the effects of age on a star.

With 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 threes and a 41.0 three-point percentage, LeBron was arguably one of the 5-10 best players in the league this season.

Beyond drawing more eyeballs to the organization, which boasts LeBron’s former teammate Dwyane Wade as a minority owner, he and Lauri Markkanen would make for a potentially devastating one-two punch on offense. Walker Kessler has the potential to be a bona fide defensive anchor behind them, too. Keyonte George showed some potential as a combo guard.

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But does all of that add up to contention in the ultra-competitive West? Would it put James any closer to his fifth title than the Los Angeles Lakers already do? Even if it does, would the difference be meaningful enough to take LeBron out of L.A., where the TV and movie industries are and where LeBron has established roots for over half a decade?

If we’re being honest, the answer is almost certainly no.

So, back to the original report. Would Utah having Bronny on the roster trump all of the above for LeBron?

A year-and-a-half ago, he told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin: “I need to be on the floor with my boy. I got to be on the floor with Bronny.”

“Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him,” LeBron added. “I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure.”

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For months, that was interpreted as both LeBron wanting to be on the same team as his son and as a potential opportunity to lure James away from the Lakers. And that interpretation seemed pretty reasonable in the wake of this year’s elimination by the Denver Nuggets. Right after L.A. lost Game 5, The Athletic reported that the Lakers had a “willingness to draft James’ son Bronny in June.”

Of course, they don’t pick until the 50s, which opens the door for most of the league, including the Jazz, to take Bronny before L.A. can. And if he follows an up-and-down showing at the combine with some strong individual workouts with teams, more teams than Utah might talk themselves into taking a flier on him.

The height measurement raised some eyebrows (in part because he was listed at 6’4″ in college), but Bronny also had a 6’7.25″ wingspan. That’s good for a guard and even comparable to some wings. And there were only five players who topped his 40.5-inch max vertical leap.

He backed up those encouraging marks with a team-high 13 points in his second combine scrimmage.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

Bronny at the NBA Combine today 👀<br><br>13 PTS (team-high)<br>4-10 FG<br>23 MINS <a href=”https://t.co/WTstFxUe1r”>pic.twitter.com/WTstFxUe1r</a>

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Again, if that earned him some workouts and he does well in those, the Jazz might not be the only team willing to take a shot on him (and the potential of adding his dad to the roster).

But there are a lot of ifs, ands and buts throughout this text, including LeBron sort of downplaying the idea of teaming up with his son a few months after the ESPN interview (though he still maintained that it was his goal in those comments).

The biggest caveat, at least for Utah, may be the team’s prospects for getting LeBron his fifth title.

Barring some other dramatic move, a LeBron-Markkanen-led rotation probably wouldn’t leapfrog the Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks. Several others in the West should bounce back (like the Memphis Grizzlies) or are on the rise (like the Houston Rockets), too.

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We could level the same criticism at the Lakers, who just got knocked out in the first round, but they came with the all the glitz and glam of L.A.

In short, every team but the Lakers should only be thinking about drafting Bronny for Bronny. He will be his own player, and organizations should focus their interest on that player.

If he does enough during the workout phase of the pre-draft process to get selected, great. If not, there’s no reason to dangle him like a carrot for a player who’s nearing the end of his career.





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DE Shaw commissions 80MW Elektron solar project in Utah

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DE Shaw commissions 80MW Elektron solar project in Utah


The developer has two power purchase agreements (PPAs) in place with local utility Rocky Mountain Power, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, which will involve the sale of electricity generated at the project for 20 years and 25 years, respectively.

These deals were signed under Rocky Mountain Power’s Schedule 34 programme, a system by which the utility can acquire power from a range of projects with a capacity of greater than 5MW, to serve a number of customers.

These customers can aggregate their electricity demand, to enable them to acquire power en masse from utility-scale renewables projects, and includes a number of Utah institutions, including Salt Lake City and the Utah Valley University.

“Rocky Mountain Power is pleased to continue its long partnership with customers and communities in Utah to take part in our renewable energy programs including our existing renewable tariff options,” said Craig Eller, vice president for business policy and development at PacifiCorp.

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“This project represents a significant step forward in our collective efforts and we look forward to working with customers to develop additional projects and programs.”

While Utah is not a historic leader in the US solar space, its solar industry has grown rapidly in recent years. According to the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Utah had 2.7GW of solar installed at the end of 2023, the 14th-most among the 50 states, up from 32nd earlier in the year. The SEIA expects Utah to add over 4GW of new solar capacity over the next five years, the 13th-most in the US, with supportive legislation a key driver of new installations in the state.

Last August, Greenbacker Capital Management completed a US$148 million tax equity financing commitment to support the development of a 240MW project in the state, one of the first such deals to utilise the production tax credit (PTC) in the country.



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