Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 343rd day of the year. There are 23 days remaining in 2016.
Gary Herbert takes the wraps off his $16.1 billion budget proposal. Utah has struck a deal with Amazon to start collecting online sales taxes. Joe Biden backtracks and says he’s not running for president in 2020.
The clock:
- 11 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president (12/19/2016)
- 43 days until Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President (1/20/2017)
- 46 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (1/23/2017)
- 91 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
- 334 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
- 698 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
Ten talking points for Thursday:
- Gov. Gary Herbert unveils his $16.1 billion budget proposal, which is a 6.2% increase over last year [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- House speaker Greg Hughes says he’s not likely to take a job in a Donald Trump administration, but it’s still possible [Utah Policy].
- Gov. Gary Herbert says he’s struck a deal with Amazon.com to start collecting state and local sales taxes for online purchases [Deseret News].
- Donald Trump lashed out on Twitter against Chuck Jones, an Indiana labor union leader, who criticized his deal with Carrier for keeping jobs from going to Mexico. After the president-elect’s tweets, Jones started getting death threats. Said Jones, “He (Trump) needs to worry about getting his Cabinet filled and leave me the hell alone” [Washington Post].
- Joe Biden makes it clear he’s not planning on running for president in 2020 [Wall Street Journal].
- Mitt Romney is thought to be the front-runner for Donald Trump‘s secretary of state according to sources close to the incoming administration [CBS News].
- Donald Trump names Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a leading critic of the Environmental Protection Agency, to head the EPA [Bloomberg]. Trump also taps professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon to head the Small Business Administration [Wall Street Journal].
- Donald Trump has tapped three former generals for key positions in his Cabinet, leading some to worry about an undue military influence on his administration [Wall Street Journal, Washington Post].
- Donald Trump says he will personally negotiate with Boeing over the price of a new Air Force One [Wall Street Journal].
- The Utah Transit Authority spent 59% more for a consultant on “union busting” than they originally disclosed, bringing the total price tag to $74,000 [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1776 – George Washington’s retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War.
- 1941 – United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- 1980 – John Lennon was shot to death outside his apartment building in New York City. He was 40.
- 1991 – The Soviet Union ceased to exist when the republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed an agreement creating the Commonwealth of Independent States.
- 1993 – Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement.
