I am sorry to announce that Hillary Jessup, co-chair of Impact Text Group 4, passed away. She was a warrior for freedom. She was involved in so many things to promote our Constitutional Republic. She got me involved with Women's State Legislative Council. She was with me right from the beginning with Utah Citizens for the Constitution. She will be greatly missed.

Hillary Jessup has passed away.

Here is the message I received from her husband George Jessup:


Jonathan, Jennifer, and I have been weighing our options for the “Celebration of Hillary’s Life With Us”

We’ve decided on:

Saturday, April 4th.  At 11:00 AM

Location:  

Central Park South Pavilion next to the Miners Hospital.  

We’d like guests to “optionally” bring finger food.  

We’ll provide punch, water, and Champaign to do a group toast to Hillary. “She’d Love That”!

We don’t want to have an organized agenda or program, just for Hillary’s good friends to mingle and chat before the “Big Toast”

2026 Legislative Session Update! SB 78 did not pass. You can read the arguments against it below. It allowed for property tax deferral for seniors.


Arguments against SB78
Risk

A small $700 increase in income could result in losing $800–$1,000 in tax relief.

⸻3. The Senior Forced to Borrow Against Their Home

Situation
• 80-year-old couple
• Mortgage is paid off
• Income is only Social Security and a small pension.

Property taxes rise due to home value increases.

Without tax credits, they choose tax deferral.

Over 15 years:
• $30,000+ deferred taxes
• plus interest

What happens

Eventually they need:
• assisted living
• or must sell the home.

Risk

The deferred taxes must be repaid before selling the home, reducing the money available for care.

⸻Why Some Advocates Are Worried

Organizations that work with seniors say the biggest risks are:

🏠 Housing instability
📈 Growing tax debt with interest
👵 Fixed-income retirees unable to keep up with rising taxes

Some warn this could push seniors toward:
• selling homes earlier
• moving in with family
• or relying on public housing programs.

⸻💡 Important context:
Supporters of the bill argue that tax deferrals still protect seniors from immediate tax foreclosure because payment can be postponed until the home is sold.

⸻
✅ If you want, I can also explain why several senior advocacy groups called SB78 one of the most controversial Utah senior bills in years (and what parts of the bill sparked the biggest backlash).

Session Update

SB 268 Passed! This is a wonderful bill. It is specific about how religion can be taught in the schools. Thank you to Sen Weiler and Rep Auxier!.

The educator may examine the fundamental role of religion on the following topics:
(a)foundational documents and speeches in United States history, including the primary
source documents described in Subsection 53E-4-205.2(3);
(b)exploration and colonization of the Americas;
(c)early settlement of the North American colonies by religious refugees, including
Puritans, Catholics, Quakers, and Jews;
(d)education and literacy, including early colleges;
(e)concepts of the consent of the governed, including covenantal concepts in the
Mayflower Compact and early New England church and civil government;
(f)the American Revolution, including the influence of the First Great Awakening and
of religious sermons and pamphlets on liberty and tyranny;

Session Update!
HB 449 sponsored by Rep Auxier was an excellent bill dealing with taxation. I was disappointed to see it didn't even get a committee hearing. There was push back against the people having to approve tax increases. This is exactly what needs to happen as the taxing in Utah is out of control. I know she is going to continue to work on it.


•requiring voters to approve an increase in state or local government revenue through
most taxes or government debt;
•limiting the amount of revenue a government entity may spend in a fiscal year unless
voters approve increased spending;
•eliminating automatic increases to taxes; and

Today has been kind of a hard day. I am getting back into my routine with the session over. I went to lunch with my best friend which is always fun. This afternoon I got a terrible headache. I am very prone to get those. This evening Scott Fletcher came over to make a video about taxation. He is running for Davis County Commissioner and I am his campaign manager. I feel like the video turned out well. It is very eye opening to see how much the citizens are being taxed. We will get that video out soon.

Congressman Mike Kennedy needs to talk to the Utah Senate! Tax dollars are to be used ONLY for citizens.

https://x.com/i/status/2031113511783567538

President Trump is such a strong leader and I applaud him for going after the cartels. They are so evil. It was eye opening to see what happened in Mexico a couple of weeks ago with the cartels. It shows what a strong hold they have. I pray they can go after this network of criminals. I was talking to one of my good friends. Her son is in Ecuador on a mission. The cartels are strong there and it is making the country very dangerous. There are no girl missionaries allowed there right now.


President Donald J. Trump announced the launch of the "America's Counter Cartel Coalition" at a summit of Western Hemisphere leaders, calling it a new military partnership to "eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region." He said representatives of 17 nations had entered the alliance and described the coalition's mission as using combined capabilities — including, he said, lethal military force — to dismantle cartel networks.



https://citizenportal.ai/articles/7625203/federal/executive/department-of-state/Not-specified/Trump-announces-Americas-Counter-Cartel-Coalition-urges-military-action-against-cartels

What I am concerned about is that Blake Moore would not sign the initiative to put Prop 4 back on the ballot and give the citizens the opportunity to overturn it or uphold it.


Rep. Blake Moore, one of the original co-chairs of the Better Boundaries redistricting commission, is now urging the group to drop its latest efforts to undermine a Republican campaign seeking to repeal the Proposition 4 anti-gerrymandering law.

https://www.deseret.com/politics/2026/02/26/blake-moore-stop-prop-4-repeal/

I was disappointed that this bill didn't pass. It would have prevented medicaid from funding abortions. Hopefully the sponsor will run it again next session.

These boys were just one game away from the championship. They worked hard and had a great season. My youngest son Sam is on the team!

Richard Henry Lee was born on January 20th, 1732 in Virginia. His family was influential and held important military positions. He began his career in politics and became a Justice of the Peace at age 25. He was elected to the house of Burgesses in Virginia in 1758 where he met Patrick Henry. He was one of the earliest advocates of American independence as well as one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery of his day. His first bill in the House of Burgesses was to end slavery, the strongest anti-slavery sentiment in written form before the 1800s. He formed the Committee of Correspondence which made the exchange of information between the King, Parliament, and all of their activities flow more quickly between all of the colonies. Lee was chosen as a delegate to the first Continental Congress and was the first to formally put forth the motion that the colonies should be made free and independent. Lee's motion put everything else that led to Independence into motion!

I am at the Women's State Legislative Council luncheon. Rep Chevrier is speaking. She said one of her disappointments was the bill that would allow people to use their own blood for transfusions or medical procedures. It passed the house and was killed in the senate committee. She also focuses on data privacy. She is now discussing SEDI (State Endorsed Digital ID). There is no tracking capability with SEDI. This was passed this session.

Another bill involved milk. Before this bill you had to have 51% ownership in a store to be able to sell your own raw milk. The 51% was removed with the bill she passed. There were 15 drafts of this bill. It passed the last day of the session. One thing she learned this session was to understand all the people involved with a particular issue. When we talk about We the People that includes many different perspectives. On the house floor there was tension when this bill came up. Rep Chevrier's bill gave less control over raw milk and another bill gave more control. The vote ended up being 48 to 20 on the floor.