DIRECTV v. Utah State Tax Comm’n, 2015 UT 93 (Dec. 14, 2015)

Satellite companies brought constitutional challenges against a statute that created a tax credit favoring cable companies. Surveying constitutional jurisprudence, the Utah Supreme Court held the tax credit statute did not trigger strict scrutiny under the dormant Commerce Clause, where the statute did not discriminate on the basis of geographic connection, but instead on the basis of differing business models. In doing so, the Court rejected an argument that differences in “the economic footprint of competing models is sufficient” to trigger strict scrutiny.