August 2026 St. George AAUW Public Policy Update
Before diving into heavier issues – not that “voting rights” is not a heavy topic – have you heard about “Suffs” – the highly-acclaimed musical about the brilliant, passionate, and funny American women who fought tirelessly for the right to vote? It’s currently touring and let’s hope it comes to Utah! Until then, it’s available for viewing on PBS.
In the meantime, we need our own AAUW “suffragettes” to move women’s issues forward. Can we count on you? I know it’s brutal out there with the heat, but the League of Women Voters is looking for help registering voters at the Farmers Market at Vernon Worthen Park on Saturdays as we prepare for the November mid-term election. Contact Jacqueline Murray (jacqueline.lwv@gmail.com) to sign up.
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Utah Women & Leadership Project
In our public policy team’s July update to members, we noted new research reports from the Utah Women & Leadership Project. In this August update we highlight this June 23, 2026 white paper which was mentioned in July’s Update: The Roots of Sexual Violence in Utah.
UWLP leader Dr. Susan Madsen hoped we would share this with our members due to its importance. We encourage AAUW members to dive into it. Here are some takeaways you may find of interest:
Despite Utah’s reputation for strong families, close‑knit communities, and deep religious commitment, the state continues to report higher‑than‑national‑average rates of rape, child sexual abuse, and other forms of gender‑based harm.
Key insights from the research include:
• Attitudes and beliefs matter. Gender inequality, patriarchal norms, rape myths, and the minimization of women’s credibility form the base of the Pyramid and shape the worldview that enables harm. Perceptions precede tangible harm.
• Normalization is powerful. When harmful behaviors are excused or dismissed as “just the way things are,” communities unintentionally create environments where more serious violations can occur, potentially increasing the possibility of harm.
• Systems shape outcomes. Social, cultural, institutional, and religious structures influence whose safety is prioritized and whose voices are believed.
• Violence escalates. Microaggressions, boundary‑testing, and coercive behaviors are not separate from sexual assault—they are part of the continuum the Pyramid depicts.
• Silence enables harm. Shame, stigma, and fear of disrupting social harmony often prevent survivors from reporting and preclude effective community responses. Thus, the harms occur systemically, from individual to community levels.
Research shows that highly religious and conservative environments—including many in Utah—can unintentionally reinforce gendered power imbalances, discourage open discussion, and limit access to adequately funded prevention and support resources.
These patterns do not arise from malice; they arise from cultural norms that prioritize harmony, forgiveness, and institutional protection over accountability. Understanding these dynamics is essential for prevention.
Ultimately, this report offers Utahns a shared language and a research‑grounded framework for understanding the root causes of sexual violence. It does not blame individuals, families, faith communities, or culture. Instead, it provides a roadmap for prevention—one that requires honesty, courage, and collective action.
Women’s progress at work is stalling
The November election will be upon us soon! Our policy team hopes that all members are giving serious thought to what this election’s results might mean for women. Here’s something to consider thoughtfully.
Education is a key policy issue for AAUW National and for our local AAUW. We have helped many young women attain their educational goals. But what does their future hold?
Women’s progress at work appears to be stalling according to this report in The Economist: “Women’s progress at work is stalling” (July 5, 2026)
This should be concerning to all of us but probably not a surprise given what’s been happening over the past two years. However, it’s not just the last two years that have seen this decline. Here are some details from The Economist information:
In 2024 a study by S&P Global, a compiler of indices, found that women’s share of executive positions in listed American companies fell for the first time in 2023 after nearly 20 years of uninterrupted growth. In 2025 women secured 38% of new board seats at companies in the S&P 500 index of large American firms, down from 42% the previous year and prolonging a retreat from their peak in 2020.
University-educated American women with young families appear to be leading the retreat. Their labour-force participation rate took a turn in 2023 after decades of improvement, and has fallen every year since. Last year marked the sharpest drop in participation by mothers with young children in four decades.
After consistently closing for years, the gender pay gap is opening up again, too. In America it widened in both 2023 and 2024, the first consecutive two-year decline in 60 years.
It also seems that women’s professional aspirations no longer match men’s. Between 2019 and 2023 the share of both men and women keen on a promotion rose from seven in ten to eight in ten. By 2025 it had risen to nearly nine in ten for men but remained flat for women.
Labour economists caution that disproportionate numbers of low-wage female workers lost their jobs during the lockdowns, artificially narrowing the gender pay gap. Still, the gap’s expansion half a decade after lockdowns ended suggests something else could be at play. Difficulty finding child care is another potential culprit.
‘Wasteful and extravagant’: Here’s what Utah auditors found digging into the first year of school voucher spending on Utah Fits All
According to an audit done on the Utah Fits All program, apparently the program has not been what was promoted in 2023 when it was quickly passed by the Utah Legislature and then additional funds added, also quickly, to encourage participation.
Utah Fits All was meant to offer an alternative to public education using taxpayer dollars through Utah’s school voucher program. During its first year, 10,000 students each received $8,000 scholarships.
How were the taxpayer dollars used? Auditors found that a lack of program guardrails during the 2024-2025 schools year found that some funds were used “for wasteful and extravagant purchases inconsistent with principles of sound fiscal responsibility” including purchases such as a $6,000 Apple MacBook Pro; a $4,800 Trek mountain bike; a $2,000 Crate & Barrel bookshelf; a $3,000 trampoline from Amazon.com; an $1,800 dumbbell and rack set; a $5,830 transaction for “volleyball club registration fees”; and, last but not least, a roughly $3,000 “DreamBox” crafting/storage station from a Lehi-based company called Create Room.
During the first year, it’s clear that scholarship money could be spent on a broad range of “educational” expenses with few limits.
In 2025, HB455 overhauled the program to better align it with the law’s “educational purpose.” No longer is there a flat scholarship amount and some expenses were capped. Total funding was increased, however, for the program to $100 million for the 2025-2026 school year.
In April 2026 Judge Laura Scott of the Third District Court ruled that the program is unconstitutional. This followed the Utah Education Association suing the state over the voucher program using tax dollars which are reserved only for public education, higher education and as defined by the Utah Constitution “to support children and to support individuals with a disability.” The judge asserted in her ruling that “The Program is not ‘open to all children of the state.’”
While the state appeals the court ruling the program will continue.
Prop 4 status
The issue of Prop 4 (gerrymandering) is still out there. This question was pulled off the 2024 ballot and won’t be on the 2026 ballot either, but…
“Currently, the next hearing in yearslong litigation over Proposition 4 is an argument before the Utah Supreme Court in September over whether the Republican Legislature’s creation of a three-judge panel to hear the gerrymandering lawsuit and other challenges to state law is unconstitutional.
It will likely take several months for the justices to issue a ruling, and, no matter how the court rules, the case would then return to the lower court.”
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2026/07/08/gerrymandering-utah-legisaltive
Banned books
Another book banned – #36: “Different Seasons” by Stephen King which contains the following novellas:
- “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Hope Springs Eternal”
- “Apt Pupil: Summer of Corruption”
- “The Body: Fall from Innocence”
- “The Breathing Method: A Winter’s Tale”
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2026/07/13/utah-banned-book-list-latest-36
Utah Legislature Interim Session activity update
No legislature interim meetings were held in July but meetings will be held in August, and our team will keep an eye out for bills that could affect women’s lives and report in our September update.
Your Public Policy Team acknowledges that our monthly updates often focus on information that deals with challenges in women’s lives. We want to end this update on a positive note of accomplishment.
In September 2025, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced its 10 newest astronauts, who were selected to be sent to new space stations, the moon, and maybe even Mars.
Of the 10 chosen, six were women. This is the first time that women have ever outnumbered men in a class of astronauts since NASA began seeking applications in 1959.
“One of these 10 could actually be one of the first Americans to put their boots on the Mars surface, which is very, very cool,” Sean Duffy, the acting NASA administrator, said during a ceremony for the new class of astronauts.
Now, that’s something to celebrate!
Lisa Rutherford
St. George AAUW Public Policy Chair