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Every 10 years, the U.S. Census provides data to the states regarding the growth and population of the different areas in each state. The states use this information to redraw the state’s boundaries for house and senate districts. This year, an independent redistricting commission will make recommendations to the legislature to help them in drawing the boundaries. This week, the members of that commission were announced, and you can read about it here.

There has been a lot of discussion about the future of the Republican Party in light of recent events in Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to talk to Rod Arquette this week on this very topic. You can listen to that interview here. My promise to you, as your chairman, is to focus the Utah Republican Party and our messaging on the principles that unify us as a party.

Senate President Stuart Adams has been focused on getting Utah's kids back in the classroom as soon, and as safely as possible. He said, "This week, the Utah Office of Legislative Auditor General found that soft closures are resulting in high schools missing around 40 percent of in-person instruction days. Switching back and forth from remote to in-person learning makes it challenging for students to learn. Additionally, the CDC recently released data showing that vaccinating teachers is unnecessary to keep COVID-19 transmission levels low in schools. While the distribution of vaccines for our teachers remains a priority in Utah, schools must have consistent, uninterrupted in-person instruction. We are working to solve this problem. Utah students have already missed out on too much this past year and deserve to have their education prioritized."

This week Speaker Brad Wilson led the House in honoring Fallen Ogden Police Officer Nate Lyday. Officer Lyday lost his life in the line of duty. We can never thank our law enforcement enough for the service they render and we should never forget the sacrifices we ask them and their families.

Here are updates on key bills:

HB161, the Military Retirement Tax Amendment bill passed out of committee. Once this is a law, our military retirees will no longer have to worry about the state taxing their military retirement.

H.B. 86, the Social Security Tax Amendments passed the House this week and is now in Senate hands. This will ease the tax burden for Social Security recipients.

H.B. 217, Which will create the Office Of Regulatory Relief has also passed the House and has made its way over to the Senate. Once established, this office will exist to examine and reduce the regulatory burden on Utahns.

H.B. 60, which allows for anyone over 21 and legally able to own firearms

to carry a concealed firearm in a public area without a permit is making its way swiftly through the legislative process, but not without some contention. Much of this discontent seems to arise from people not realizing that it's already legal to carry a firearm in public without a permit. This bill simply recognizes that someone doesn't go from law-abiding to mass murderer just by putting a jacket over their firearm.

Among other measures, Congressman Chris Stewart co-sponsored bi-partisan legislation called the Safe From The Start Act. According to a press release, This bill would help improve U.S. efforts to combat gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies.

Of the need for this effort, Congressman Stewart said, “America will always defend and support the most vulnerable—at home and abroad. In times of crisis and conflict, Americans continuously step up and show compassion through leading humanitarian efforts. This bill builds on those values by ensuring children and women across the world are protected from gender-based violence.” You can read more about his recent efforts in Congress here.

Too often, the media portrays Congressman John Curtis as the lone conservative who cares about the environment. Republicans care just as much about the environment as anyone else. After all, we all live here!

Last week, Congressman Curtis participated in a bi-partisan discussion titled Responsible Innovation: Protecting our Planet with Technology where he discussed bringing conservative policies and applying common sense technological approaches to the challenge of protecting our environment.