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Morning Must Reads for Wednesday, December 7, 2016

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Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 342nd day of the year. There are 24 days remaining in 2016.

A big shake-up in House committee assignments. Donald Trump named “Person of the Year.” Utahns are wary of giving Sen. Orrin Hatch an eighth term in Washington.

The clock:

  • 12 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president (12/19/2016)
  • 44 days until Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President (1/20/2017)
  • 47 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (1/23/2017)
  • 92 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
  • 335 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
  • 699 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)

Ten talking points for Wednesday:

  1. House Speaker Greg Hughes makes some major changes in legislative committee assignments for 2017 [Utah Policy].
  2. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is reportedly no longer in the running to be Secretary of State [Utah Policy].
  3. Time Magazine names Donald Trump their “Person of the Year” for 2017 [Tribune].
  4. A new poll shows Utahns like Sen. Orrin Hatch, but balk at the idea of him running for an eighth term in office [Tribune].
  5. Gov. Gary Herbert is set to release his 2017 budget proposal on Wednesday morning. The plan includes more money for Utah’s public schools and investments in public safety [Deseret News].
  6. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump‘s pick for Attorney General, could be a major roadblock for efforts to legalize marijuana use during the next four years [Politico].
  7. With Hillary Clinton‘s popular vote lead over Donald Trump soaring to more than 2.6 million votes, Congressional Democrats are exploring ways to reform the Electoral College [Wall Street Journal].
  8. Donald Trump‘s transition team reportedly requested a security clearance for Michael Flynn, the son of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who will serve as Trump’s national security advisor [CNN]. The younger Flynn was fired from the transition team after pushing fake news stories alleging that aides to Hillary Clinton were involved in a child prostitution ring [Washington Post].
  9. Hospital groups say they could lose $165 billion if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. The repeal would also trigger “an unprecedented public health crisis” [Washington Post].
  10. The Salt Lake City Council is questioning the request for an additional $350 million to cover cost overruns in the Salt Lake City Airport reconstruction project [Tribune, Deseret News].

On this day in history:

  • 1787 – Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution.
  • 1941 – Japan launched a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, catapulting the United States into World War II.