Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Recently, I have received numerous emails with concerns regarding the governor’s state of emergency. Please know we continue to have a lot of discussions with the governor on the best path forward. The Legislature’s goal is to take a balanced approach in maintaining the public’s health and providing financial stability in Utah.

Here are some updates from the around Utah:

● On Sept. 18, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhart came to our state to transfer the ownership of two federal water facilities in Utah to local management. Read more here.

● The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense released two documents outlining the Administration’s strategy to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses to the public. Read more here.

● The Salt Lake Chamber’s Roadmap to Recovery Coalition, in partnership with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, has released a new economic tool for businesses — the Road to Recovery Dashboard — to track the state’s path to economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession. Learn more here.

● The COVID-19 Impacted Businesses Grant Program, known as Shop In Utah, supports businesses and provides consumers discounts. Participating companies must give a discount or other offer to customers of at least 50 percent of the grant amount. View the Shop In Utah offers here.

● The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, in partnership with the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah, is encouraging businesses to apply for the 2020 Utah Economic and Energy Summit Startup Pitch competition. More information here.

● As of September 24, at 1:00 p.m. Utah's private and public laboratories have administered 784,975 tests with 67,119 testing positive. There are currently 188 people hospitalized with COVID-19. There have been 444 fatalities, with an estimated 52,860 recovered. Additional information can be found here.

Kind regards,

Senator Ron Winterton

Utah Senate District 26