Hit: Watching the Watchers
It may be nonsensical, but good on them for trying. The lieutenant governor rejected what was to be called the "Initiative on Initiatives." The idea was simple—to stick it to the Legislature. Well, not exactly, but proponents did want the Legislature to pay attention. While the Utah Constitution gives citizens the right to make laws, that normally happens only when their representatives ignore them. Initiatives are a last-ditch effort. But every time an initiative succeeds, lawmakers rush to revise or repeal it. Last session, legislators put a question to voters in 2026 asking if anything that might require a tax increase should pass by 60% instead of a simple majority. They also passed a law requiring initiative backers to detail how they would fund the measure. Of course, lawmakers could do that easily but why not make the process even more onerous? So, the Initiative on Initiatives wanted to rewrite the laws that govern initiatives.
Miss: Operating Costs
It's not like we didn't know this was going to happen. The Leonardo is once again on tenuous financial ground—enough to threaten its existence, again. This has been going on since the museum opened in 2011, but everybody hoped and hoped, even as the Leonardo defaulted on its debts and racked up millions of dollars in liabilities. And whose fault was it? The Leonardo's administration has long been made up of science wonks, not the brightest financial whizzes. Salt Lake City, the building's owner, did maintenance and utilities while renting the old library building for $1 a month. It still wasn't enough. Now the museum has "closed for repairs," leaving tenants like bookseller Ken Sanders in the lurch, and the museum staff has been furloughed. Sure, everyone wants a cool, immersive, science and art experience. It's simply not worth the ongoing pain.
Miss: Votes For Women
We're going down again, despite Utah's longstanding renown as the first state to allow women to vote. But that was then and this is now. Utah women just seem to have a difficult time with the concept of power. And yes, voting is power—the power of one voice to make a difference. In 1992, Utah women had the highest voter turnout in the country. But there's a sad caveat. In 2020, some 300,000 eligible to vote were not registered. Now comes the latest report from the Utah Women and Leadership Project, which ranks Utah women 29th in the nation. Last year they came in higher at 24. Maybe it's not surprising that "white women, married women and women with advanced degrees are most likely to vote," the report notes. And the easy answer would be that women defer to men in a patriarchal society. But if you are poor and a minority, you should make every effort to vote and vote for your priorities, lest food and education be taken away.
