Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 73rd day of the year. There are 292 days remaining in 2017.
Lawmakers are growing increasingly hostile toward SB54. A pro-Orrin Hatch mailer is causing some heartburn for Republicans. Trumpcare would cause 24 million people to lose their health insurance.
The clock:
- 15 days until the last day Governor Gary Herbert can sign or veto bills (3/29/2017)
- 67 days until the Utah Republican State Convention (5/20/2017)
- 95 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention at Weber State University (6/17/2017)
- 238 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
- 314 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
- 359 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
- 603 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
- 1330 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Today’s political TL;DR –
- It’s clear that the SB54 compromise, which allows candidates to gather signatures to secure a spot on the primary ballot, is in trouble in the Legislature. The law barely survived an attempt at repealing it on the final night of the 2017 session [Utah Policy].
- Some Utah Republicans are upset about a pro-Orrin Hatch mailer sent out by the state party [Utah Policy].
- Sen. Mike Lee is worried that President Donald Trump‘s protectionist trade policy could hurt companies in Utah [Utah Policy].
- To say Utah is struggling to keep teachers from leaving is an understatement. Turnover among Utah’s teachers hit 56% between 2008 and 2015 [Deseret News].
- South Salt Lake officials push back against two possible sites for a new homeless shelter in their city saying they don’t have the resources to support such a facility [Tribune, Deseret News]. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams says no decisions have been made as to where the new shelter will finally end up [Tribune].
- Garfield County Commissioners vote in favor of a resolution calling for a smaller Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument [Tribune].
- Former Gov. Jon Huntsman has a difficult assignment ahead, to say the least, now that he’s becoming the U.S. ambassador to Russia [Tribune].
- The Congressional Budget Office says the Republican health care proposal would increase the number of Americans who don’t have health insurance by 24 million, but would cut the budget by $337 million [New York Times]. The White House’s own analysis of “Trumpcare” paints an even bleaker picture [Politico]. Congressional Republicans are hammering the CBO’s assessment of the plan [Washington Post].
- Here comes another government shutdown fight, but this time it’s Democrats who may close things down to prevent President Trump from moving ahead with his border wall proposal [New York Times]. Given Trump’s pugilistic nature, the fight may be too tempting for him to pass up [Bloomberg].
- The Department of Justice is asking Congress more time to come up with proof to support President Trump’s accusation that President Obama ordered wiretaps on him during the 2016 campaign [Politico]. Meanwhile, the White House is backpedaling on the claim, saying Trump really didn’t mean “wiretapping” when he used that word [Wall Street Journal].
- An internal poll from Republican Congressman Darrel Issa shows his support for President Donald Trump is dragging down his support among voters [Los Angeles Times].
- Breitbart posts embarrassing audio of Speaker Paul Ryan on a conference call saying he would not defend Donald Trump anymore following the release of the Access Hollywood tapes where he bragged about sexually assaulting women [The Hill].
- President Donald Trump has given the CIA the authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists [Wall Street Journal].
On this day in history:
- 1743 – The first recorded town meeting in America was held, at Faneuil Hall in Boston.
- 1794 – Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin.
- 1812 – The U.S. government authorized the issue of America’s first war bonds — to pay for military equipment for use against the British.
- 1900 – Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act.
