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President Biden to make first visit to Utah, speak on PACT Act

President Joe Biden will arrive in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Aug. 9 as part of a three-state tour leading up to midterms.

The presidential visit will be Biden’s first to Utah. It is anticipated that he will address the public about the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act on Thursday, Aug. 10 before attending a campaign event.

The PACT Act is a comprehensive bipartisan effort to improve benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans and survivors — the most significant expansion in 30 years, according to the White House .

The act, named for Sergeant First Class and lung cancer victim Heath Robinson , will “address toxic exposures that have impacted veterans, as well as their families and caregivers, and provide them with the health care and benefits they have earned and deserve.”

The PACT Act cuts through red tape, ensuring more efficient decision-making for affected veterans. Veterans diagnosed with one of 23 specific conditions will no longer need to prove service connection to receive health care and disability compensation.

“The new process is evidence-based, transparent and allows VA to make faster policy decisions on crucial exposure issues,” the White House said.

Biden’s Aug. 10 Utah address marks the first anniversary of the act being signed.

Utah senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney cast no votes on the bill as it passed through Congress last year. 

The Salt Lake City visit is the final leg of Biden’s trip to the West. 

“President Biden is delivering for America’s veterans and their families, and demonstrating that we can — and will — come together where we agree to get big things done for our country,” according to the White House.

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Here's what happens behind the scenes during a presidential visit

SALT LAKE CITY — After twenty-four hours of being alert and on guard, the state of Utah can breathe a sigh of relief now that President Joe Biden’s visit is complete.

“It requires a lot of manpower and some detailed planning,” said Lt. Terry Buck with Utah Highway Patrol.

A presidential visit is all hands on deck with federal agents, state troopers, and local police officers looped in.

“We talk with them, they tell us certain things that we’re looking for, we try to figure out the best route, try to find the least intrusive route,” said Buck.

Buck recognizes the president’s motorcade and road closures can be a headache for many drivers.

“I try to identify all the streets and roads and possible entrances and exits that people are going to come in and out of so they don’t end up coming into the motorcade,” he said.

The logistics are a lot of work and sometimes last-minute.

Scott Howell, former state senator and senate minority leader, was alerted of the president’s visit with a week and a half to plan.

“We want to show Utah off at its very best,” he said.

He’s planned visits before with President Bill Clinton, Vice President Kamala Harris, and many other big politicians.

“I will tell you there’s a hierarchy of decision-makers and what they want to collect from the ranks below is the data,” said Howell.

Howell played a major role Wednesday and Thursday in making sure the president saw the sights and met the key players.

“It’s a fundamental thing for me to believe that all the great things we have going in the state of Utah. We need to put the icing on the cake, and this is by showing a warm welcome to the president of the United States of America,” he said.

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Opinion: In Utah, the Capitol really is the people’s house

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Many state capitol buildings feel unapproachable, tucked away downtown or barricaded behind lanes of noisy traffic. Not so in Salt Lake City. The Utah Capitol sits at the mouth of a verdant canyon, flanked by parks and neighborhoods, perched below the Wasatch Mountains and presiding over the city with authority. It’s a grand building , just over a century old, with a copper-clad dome and a neoclassical design that mirrors the U.S. Capitol.

Inside, the state Legislature convenes every January for 45 days. In deeply conservative Utah, the Republican supermajority passes one law after another that outrages progressives, educators, young people and more. Outside the walls, these marginalized groups protest these same bills.

Ten years ago, my wife and I moved a block away from this stately old building, serendipitously finding our new home an easy launchpad to attend rallies. The stack of homemade signs accumulating in our basement testifies to our proximity.

In January 2017, we joined 6,000 Utahans in the Capitol rotunda — 1,000 more than the official capacity of the space — for the existential roar of the Women’s March.

The following December, President Trump came to Utah to sign an executive order eviscerating the state’s two newest national monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. We watched his entourage arrive in ominous black SUVs, channeled into the Capitol’s underground garage by rows of sand-filled dump trucks blocking our neighborhood streets. The ceremony inside was invitation-only. Out on the Capitol grounds, we chanted with thousands of protesters.

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In the tumultuous years that followed, crowds approaching 10,000 people have gathered repeatedly on the South Lawn, at the front door of their government. Demonstrations come in all flavors. When Argentina won the 2022 men’s World Cup, where were hundreds of delighted soccer fans gathering? At the Capitol, of course.

As protesters and counter-protesters increased following the 2016 election, Capitol police — Utah Highway Patrol officers — ramped up security. Burly pickups regularly circle aggressively, flying Trump flags. Their occupants, wielding assault weapons (legally), stand at the edges of crowds. On Jan. 6, 2021, several hundred people rallied to “Stop the Steal.” A Salt Lake Tribune photographer got pepper-sprayed and taunted for wearing a mask.

At the same time, says Capt. Greg Holley, who leads the Capitol officers, you could “see people having a picnic and throwing a Frisbee for their dog.” He considers his job as “not just an assignment but a privilege.”

It’s remarkable how open the building is; there are no metal detectors most of the year. You can walk in and revel in the enormous space under the dome. Administrators do have to deny permits to wedding couples with especially creative ideas: no ziplines in the rotunda.

People visit the grounds at all hours. So do deer, moose, raccoons and coyotes. The troopers take care to avoid the nesting great horned owls that return each year and “swoop” patrolling officers if they shine lights toward their perches.

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In pre-COVID years, tourists wielding selfie sticks regularly poured out of buses as early as 7 a.m. Post-pandemic, that steady stream hasn’t returned. But later in the day, things pick up. Summer yoga classes attract hundreds, mats laid out across the South Lawn. Beaming young women pose in spectacularly vivid quinceañera dresses. Families throng an oval walkway in spring when cherry trees hit peak blossom.

The density of larger trees scattered across graceful expanses of grass dropped sharply when a tornado hit the city in 1999, taking out 90 trees; a hurricane-force windstorm toppled still more in 2020. A massive 2008 restoration project spruced things up and placed the entire building on rubber earthquake pads. When a 7.0 quake comes — as it surely will, here on the Wasatch Fault — the Capitol should be able to weather the jolt by shimmying up to two feet from side to side on those “isolators.”

The 42 acres of grounds — designed in 1909 by the stepson of Frederick Law Olmsted — host a cast of regulars. The bubble guy, who wafts huge iridescent spheres across the lawn. The skateboarding French bulldog. The nearly naked runner who wears only light running shorts and a Go-Pro, year-round. We are consistently surprised by the pageant.

One Sunday we found Corey “Thunder” Law of the Harlem Globetrotters on the Capitol’s stone terrace directly below a basketball hoop suspended from a crane. He was skyrocketing his ball over and over, trying for the Guinness World Record “highest upward basketball shot.” He got it: 50 feet, 1 inch, on Nov. 5, 2017. You can look it up .

Another time, we saw golden showers of sparks twirling like giant butterflies above the building. Mystified, we walked over to the grounds and discovered wingsuiters outfitted with pyrotechnics parachuting onto the Capitol lawn to promote the Nitro World Games. We watched, bug-eyed, with another couple who turned out to be then-Gov. Gary Herbert and his wife, Jeanette, just as amazed as we were.

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It’s a low-key state. But a complicated one. Nowhere are those complications more on display than at the Capitol.

Salt Lake City poet Nan Seymour led a Great Salt Lake vigil here during the 2024 legislative session. Every morning, volunteers circled the Capitol carrying blue and white sun-printed paper waves, pausing to face west toward the lake in prayer. Every afternoon, suited up in bird and brine shrimp costumes, the vigil-keepers danced. Were legislators listening? They have yet to act to restore the endangered Great Salt Lake.

Olivia Juarez found their voice here this year. They had attended a Capitol rally for clean air while studying at the University of Utah, finding a sense of community in this place “where people cared about the same issues that I did. As I watched and listened, I thought, I want to do that someday, at that podium.” They did just that, chanting, singing and defending the Great Salt Lake for “under-represented people like me.”

Juarez shared the podium with another fierce millennial activist, Lauren Wood. “Many view the power coming from legislators within the building, I’d argue the opposite,” Wood told me. “The Capitol really is ‘the people’s house.’ And if you want to speak to the people of Utah, you’d be hard pressed to pick a better pulpit.”

Stephen Trimble is the author of “The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin.”

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8:52 a.m. April 12, 2024: An earlier version of this piece misspelled Frederick Law Olmsted’s name; his stepson, not his sons, designed the grounds of the Utah Capitol.

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Why Governor Cox is celebrating Utah State's president Friday evening

Although it’s been nearly a year since Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell was named the 17th president of Utah State University , state leaders and the university will officially celebrate Cantwell’s new era of leadership in Logan on Friday.

Utah State will honor Cantwell during a formal investiture , a type of academic ceremony that “symbolizes the pursuit of knowledge” and recognizes a new point in history for a university, according to a USU news release . Investiture ceremonies typically take place within a new university president’s first year at the helm.

“The investiture of a new president is one of the most significant markers that shapes the history of a university,” Jacey Skinner, chair of the USU Board of Trustees, said in the news release . “We expect President Cantwell’s tenure to bring opportunity for growth, improvement and advancement for our students and the institution.”

Among those set to speak during the Friday investiture ceremony — which begins at 5 p.m. at Utah State’s Newel & Jean Daines Concert Hall — are Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Geoffrey Landward, as well as other Utah State leaders.

Cantwell came to Utah State from the University of Arizona, where she was the senior vice president of research and innovation. Prior to that, she was Arizona State University’s vice president for research development.

Since officially taking over at Utah State in August, Cantwell has crisscrossed the state to hold roundtable discussions with USU students, faculty and staff — asking the groups for their worries and insights on where USU can improve.

Cantwell has stressed her desire for the university to adapt and shift its goals toward addressing what Utahns’ future needs . She has also said the university is in need of changes, saying in February that USU was in need of a “complete reorganization” of its leadership structure.

For Cantwell, USU’s designation as a land-grant university — which USU itself describes as a type of institution that must provide “research-based programs and resources” for residents — means public service should be its main priority, whether it means serving the needs of students today or students in the future.

“How do we ensure that we are a viable land grant — meaning we are serving the state in the way we are supposed to — in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, 100 years? I actually really believe that mandate doesn’t go away,” Cantwell told The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board in February.

“We have to figure out how to serve (the public), meaning research, teaching and learning and community service.”

Utah will host a presidential debate next week — but not with the candidates you expect

By bridger beal-cvetko, ksl.com | posted - april 8, 2024 at 1:58 p.m., crews put finishing touches at kingsbury hall at the university of utah in salt lake city on oct. 6, 2020, in preparation for the vice presidential debate. three libertarian presidential candidates will debate in salt lake city on april 19, the party said. (spenser heaps, deseret news).

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — The Republican and Democratic presidential primaries have been virtually wrapped up for weeks, but three candidates still vying for the nomination of the Libertarian Party will be in Salt Lake City for a debate next week ahead of the party's national convention in Washington over Memorial Day weekend.

The candidates — former police officer Mike ter Maat, tech entrepreneur Lars Mapstead, and ear, nose and throat doctor Charles Ballay — will square off on the debate stage at the DoubleTree Hotel at the Salt Lake City International Airport at 6:30 p.m. on April 19, the Utah Libertarian Party announced Monday.

"We're excited to offer this debate to Utah," party chairman Barry Short said. "The Libertarian Party is unique in that our delegates to our national convention are not bound in advance, and instead can vote at the convention for whichever candidate they prefer. We believe other parties ought to adopt that approach, and get back to letting the people of America make a real choice."

The Libertarian Party is one of the largest political parties in the U.S. after the two major parties, with ballot access in 39 states, according to Ballotpedia .

Salt Lake City is also slated to play host to the third and final general presidential debate on Oct. 9, although whether both major party candidates will show up remains an open question.

Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have frequently accused the Commission on Presidential Debates of being biased, and the Republican National Committee cut ties with the organization in 2022. Trump also declined to participate in any of the Republican primary debates sponsored by the committee during this election cycle.

But the former president has promised on social media to debate Democratic President Joe Biden "ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE," according to CNN . Asked if he expects to debate Trump in 2024, Biden told CNN, "I don't know if he's serious."

Still, the 2024 election promises to be a narrow race, and some experts believe the opportunity to debate on a national stage will be too promising to pass up.

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Florida Senate president's husband dies after falling at Utah's Bryce Canyon park

T he husband of Florida's Senate president died after falling while the couple was hiking in Utah, according to a memo sent to senators Wednesday.

John Passidomo, 72, was a lawyer and former city councilor and vice mayor of Naples. He and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Republican, were visiting national parks on vacation less than a month after the Florida Legislature wrapped up its annual 60-day session.

“The President and First Gentleman were law school sweethearts,” Sen. Dennis Baxley said in a memo to senators. “The trip to visit several national parks in Utah was one of many great adventures they shared during five decades together. Their last few days together were marked by many special moments, beautiful scenery, and wonderful reflections on their lifetime.”

The two, who were about to celebrate their 45th anniversary, were hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park when John Passidomo fell Monday and suffered head and other injuries. The next day, the family was told he wouldn't survive, and the couple's children flew to his bedside, Baxley said.

“The President has lost the love of her life, and is absolutely devastated by this sudden and unexpected accident,” Baxley said.

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Here's a list of times U.S. presidents have visited Utah

By Herb Scribner

President Donald Trump will visit Salt Lake City on Monday, which will mark his first appearance in the state since he became president.

Trump will visit Utah to announce the reduction of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will be with the president during his time in Utah.

"I'm thrilled the president has accepted my invitation to come to Utah to discuss critical issues that matter to my constituents," Hatch said Tuesday.

Hatch spokesman Matt Whitlock said Trump will also meet with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will tour the church’s Welfare Square.

"Sen. Hatch has arranged for the president to meet with LDS Church leadership and to see the incredible work taking place at Welfare Square," Whitlock said. "In the past, Sen. Hatch has arranged similar visits for presidents and takes great pride in showcasing this iconic facility."

We’ve collected stories about past presidents who have visited the Beehive State. Take a look below.

President Ulysses S. Grant was the first U.S. president to visit Utah Territory. He made his visit in 1875 . Utah became a state in 1896.

President Rutherford B. Hayes was the last president to visit Utah before it became a state. Read his two speeches to the Beehive State.

President Theodore Roosevelt visited Utah in May 1903 to defend Utah Sen. Reed Smoot, who faced questions from voters because he was a senator and a Mormon apostle.

President William Taft visited the Salt Lake Country Club, where the avid golfer hit the links and stayed at the Knutsford Hotel and Hotel Utah.

President Woodrow Wilson gave two speeches in Utah before he suffered a stroke two days after leaving. He spoke on the rear platform of his train in Ogden and at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

President Warren G. Harding also went golfing while he was in Utah. He spoke at Liberty Park and traveled down to Zion National Park.

President Herbert Hoover visited Utah in 1932 while on his way to California. He encouraged Utahns to be optimistic about the economy.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a short informal speech at the rear train platform in Salt Lake City, praising the Utah capital.

President John F. Kennedy visited Salt Lake City in 1959. He spoke at the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Temple Square, and he ate breakfast with LDS Church President David O. McKay.

President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Utah five times while he was president. He spoke with President McKay, who had previously been invited to the White House.

President Richard Nixon visited Utah three times, once as senator, another as vice president and finally as president . He spoke at BYU while he was vice president. As president, he spoke at the Days of ‘47 Rodeo event.

President Gerald Ford had plenty of ties to Utah. His son Jack attended Utah State University, and he even invited many Utahns to be his aides once he took office.

President Jimmy Carter visited Utah in 1978. He visited the Salt Lake Tabernacle, where he offered a prayer about the importance of family.

President Ronald Reagan first traveled to the Beehive State in 1982. He met with future LDS Church Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson.

President George H.W. Bush met with Sen. Orrin Hatch when he traveled to Utah in September 1991 . Bush spoke at a rally at the Salt Lake International Airport and visited Primary Children’s Hospital.

President Bill Clinton came to Park City in 2016 to raise money for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

President George W. Bush visited Utah four times after taking office. He came to Utah in 2002 for the Winter Games and then again in 2005 to meet with LDS Church members.

President Barack Obama made a quick stop in Utah in April 2015. The 44th president spent 15 hours in the state.

Why Utah State, Gov. Cox are celebrating USU’s new president months after she started

Utah state president elizabeth cantell will be honored during an investiture ceremony friday afternoon in logan..

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah State University President Elizabeth Cantwell speaks during the Newsmaker Breakfast: The Value of Higher Education at the Thomas S. Monson Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. Cantwell will be honored at an institute celebration on Friday, April 12, 2024.

Logan • Although it’s been nearly a year since Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell was named the 17th president of Utah State University , state leaders and the university will officially celebrate Cantwell’s new era of leadership in Logan on Friday.

Utah State will honor Cantwell during a formal investiture , a type of academic ceremony that “symbolizes the pursuit of knowledge” and recognizes a new point in history for a university, according to a USU news release . Investiture ceremonies typically take place within a new university president’s first year at the helm.

“The investiture of a new president is one of the most significant markers that shapes the history of a university,” Jacey Skinner, chair of the USU Board of Trustees, said in the news release . “We expect President Cantwell’s tenure to bring opportunity for growth, improvement and advancement for our students and the institution.”

Among those set to speak during the Friday investiture ceremony — which begins at 5 p.m. at Utah State’s Newel & Jean Daines Concert Hall — are Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Geoffrey Landward, as well as other Utah State leaders.

Cantwell came to Utah State from the University of Arizona, where she was the senior vice president of research and innovation. Prior to that, she was Arizona State University’s vice president for research development.

Since officially taking over at Utah State in August, Cantwell has crisscrossed the state to hold roundtable discussions with USU students, faculty and staff — asking the groups for their worries and insights on where USU can improve.

Cantwell has stressed her desire for the university to adapt and shift its goals toward addressing what Utahns’ future needs . She has also said the university is in need of changes, saying in February that USU was in need of a “complete reorganization” of its leadership structure.

For Cantwell, USU’s designation as a land-grant university — which USU itself describes as a type of institution that must provide “research-based programs and resources” for residents — means public service should be its main priority, whether it means serving the needs of students today or students in the future.

“How do we ensure that we are a viable land grant — meaning we are serving the state in the way we are supposed to — in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, 100 years? I actually really believe that mandate doesn’t go away,” Cantwell told The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board in February.

“We have to figure out how to serve (the public), meaning research, teaching and learning and community service.”

This story will be updated after Friday’s ceremony.

Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible

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Olympic officials tour Soldier Hollow in ‘magical’ day of Utah venue visits

The International Olympic Committee visited Wasatch County Thursday, continuing its tour of Utah Olympic venues.

IOC officials stopped at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway Thursday afternoon, April 11, on its second day of site visits.

If Utah is confirmed as the host of the 2034 Winter Games, Soldier Hollow will be the venue for the biathlon, cross country skiing and Nordic combined competitions.

IOC representatives saw the newly renovated Soldier Hollow facilities, the shooting range and even gave the biathlon rifles a try.

Heber Valley Chamber executive director Dallin Koecher spoke about the chance for the venue to host another Olympics.

“We still care about the Olympics. We still care about sport. We still care about our community,” he said.

Wasatch County Councilmember Mark Nelson said the county looks forward to hosting for a number of reasons.

“As we anticipate them coming here again, in addition to the great events and the camaraderie and all of those fun things about the Olympics, there will also be opportunities to fund important infrastructure… that will be a benefit for many, many years after to the citizens, and so that’s really exciting too,” he said.

And Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of SLC-UT Committee for the Games, said he’s feeling optimistic as the committee looks ahead to the official host announcement this summer.

“The day has just been magical,” he said. “The venues and people are fantastic. And what’s nice is the members of the IOC can feel the warmth of the people, combined with the beauty and excellence of the venues, is a great formula to bring the Games back again.”

Salt Lake City has already been named the preferred host of the 2034 Games. The official host will be named July 24, Pioneer Day in Utah.