This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, Jan. 30. In this edition:
- Utah's eighth grade reading scores dropped from 2022 to 2024, in line with national trends
- A new bill seeks to make tiered water billing to encourage conservation
- Utahraptor State Park will get its official grand opening later this year
- A bill that would prevent public unions from collective bargaining is one step closer to passing
- A Utah lawmaker seeks to criminalize fentanyl trafficking
Utah’s eighth grade reading scores took a hit in the last two years
Utah’s eighth grade reading scores had a notable decline in the last two years, according to a new report.
The Nation’s Report Card, a reading and math assessment for fourth and eighth graders, gives tests to students across the country every two years.
Utah saw no significant changes in three categories, but its eighth grade reading scores fell from 2022 to 2024, with a lower percentage of those students hitting the basic reading benchmark last year than in 1998.
Despite this, Utah remained above the national average in all categories, as it has for decades.
The report also found gaps between certain demographics. Hispanic students scored lower than white students in all areas, as did economically disadvantaged students compared to their richer peers. Male students scored lower in reading, but higher in fourth grade math.
Student performance data has caused concern nationally, with reading scores dropping over the last five years and math scores yet to recover from a historic drop from 2019 to 2022.
Utah considers tiered water rates to further conservation
A new bill aims to move Utah towards a more aggressive system of water billing.
H.B. 274, sponsored by Rep. Casey Snyder (R-Cache), was based off a study commissioned by the Utah Legislature last year that explored changing water billing in light of crises affecting the Colorado River and Great Salt Lake.
The bill would allow cities to set a tiered water rate system to make those using an excess of water pay proportionally, hopefully encouraging more conservation.
It has gained support from Brian Steed, the Great Salt Lake Commissioner, as well as the League of Cities and Towns, with lobbies for municipal governments.
The bill is one of several water bills being introduced after House Speaker Mike Schultz put a “pause” on major water legislation, arguing he wants to see what current laws will work first.
Utahraptor State Park gets its official grand opening this year
One of Utah’s newest state parks will have its official grand opening this year.
Utahraptor State Park was officially established by lawmakers in 2021, but it lacked some of the resources that make other state parks popular, making it one of the least-visited state parks last year.
Now, there are 67 modern campgrounds, wells drilled for water, and power extended to the area, along with all the outdoor recreation and prehistoric elements.
The park’s official grand opening will likely be held over the next few months.
Bill to prohibit collective bargaining for public employees advances to the Senate
After passing through the state House, a bill that would prohibit collective bargaining for public sector labor unions was advanced through a Senate committee on Wednesday.
H.B. 267 is sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher (R-South Jordan), and Sen. Kirk A. Cullimore (R-Draper). The bill only applies to public sector labor organizations and employees, which includes firefighters, municipal workers, police officers, and teachers.
Sen. David Hinkins (R-Orangeville) has introduced another bill, S.B. 168, that focuses on public employee and labor relationships with employers.
The bill establishes a Labor Relations Board, which would oversee public employee labor relations on a state level instead of on the federal level as it is currently done.
According to both Hinkins and Senate President Stuart Adams (R-Layton), H.B. 267 and S.B. 168 are essentially opposites to each other.
Bill to criminalize fentanyl trafficking passes out of committee unanimously
A bill that would criminalize fentanyl trafficking unanimously passed out of a Utah House committee Wednesday after an emotional hearing.
H.B. 87, sponsored by Rep. Matthew Gwynn (R-Farr West), would make it a first-degree felony for someone to produce, distribute, or traffic fentanyl in the state. The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approved the bill, sending it to the full House of Representatives for a vote.
Gwynn, who works as the Roy police chief and lost his own parents to opiate overdoses, told the committee that last year, over 600 Utahns came home to find a family member deceased from an opiate overdose.
According to the Utah Department of Health & Human Services, there were 606 drug overdose deaths in 2023, a 14.3% increase from the previous year. Of those, 290 involved fentanyl, making it the most common drug in overdose deaths.
After clearing its first legislative hurdle, H.B. 87 now must pass the full House and Senate before being sent to the governor's desk.