KUER

The Utah House and Senate opened the 2023 legislative session with GOP leadership outlining their priorities for the next seven weeks.

“On one hand, we are very happy to celebrate this happy time, especially with new people in a new country,” said Zulfiana Shakur Khan. “On the other hand, we feel sad that people are dying [on the frontlines back home].”

KUER reports that Congress passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill this week. Thursday, it passed the Senate on a 68-29 vote, followed by House passage of it Friday. The bill funds the federal government until next September.

The Utah State Board of Education will vote Thursday, Dec. 1 on whether to approve new social studies standards for fifth and sixth graders. This is the first time these standards have been updated in over a decade.

Even with recession fears looming nationally, a sampling of 1,900 Utah voters from the midterm election found they are confident in the job market – if the economy took a turn for the worst.

The average price for gasoline in Utah is just over four dollars a gallon. But that’s still higher than the national average. A new report from the Utah Office of Energy Development says there are two main reasons why we are paying more at the pump.

The Senate is expected to soon take an initial vote on the Respect for Marriage act. KUER’s Sean Higgins has this update on how Utah senators may vote.

KUER's Sean Higgins reports that the odds of a Utah Olympics in either 2030 or 2034 just got a little bit better.

In addition to Utah’s competitive U.S. Senate race, there are also local school board races happening across the state in this year’s midterm election. As KUER’s Martha Harris reports, school boards play a big role in the direction and functionality of a district.

If Gov. Spencer Cox has anything to say about it, a tuition freeze may be coming to Utah’s public colleges and universities next year.