We are interrupting our coverage of the legislative session to do a quick mini-episode to follow up on our show with Andi Beedles about the Weber Housing Authority’s plans to open a permanent supportive housing project in Ogden. We have a special guest, George Barragan! You probably know George from 614’s social media as the brave 13-year-old who made poignant comments at the council meeting. I wanted to have him on to hear his thoughts about what made him want to speak his mind at that meeting.

On rundown today, we’ve got yet another revenge bill. This time, the revenge is aimed directly at you, the citizens, and your ability to pass laws via ballot initiative. Speaking of citizen-led power, the ability to vote by mail is under attack as legislators want to make it harder for you to vote. And, of course, the state has to make sure they take their yearly punch at the transgender community. And lastly, in what might be the biggest threat to our health and safety, we give you the bill that warns you about vaccine lettuce!

If you’ve tuned into The Community Spread podcast before, we hope you’ve found value in the voices we’ve elevated, the topics we covered, and the opinions we’ve shared. We fundamentally believe the State Legislature here in Utah is doing a poor job of representing Utahns and that if more people heard the voices of their lawmakers during these sessions and were informed of the consequences of the laws they pass, they would be even more unpopular than they already are. So, for the next 5 or 6 weeks, we plan to bring you weekly information about a few bills that are under consideration by our lawmakers. We will bring their voices from committee hearings and the voices of the public as they courageously make their way to the capitol to oppose some of the worst impulses of our representatives.

I’ve brought in our Social Media goddess here at 614 Productions, Kari Harbath, as well as political junkie Colby Petersen. We hope you have as much fun listening to the show as we did recording it. If this fills a void in your local news consumption and you like what you hear please share it with a friend.