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Morning must reads for Wednesday, February 1, 2017

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Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City and welcome to February. Today is the 32nd day of the year. There are 333 days remaining in 2017.

The Utah House ratchets up the fight over Bears Ears. Lawmakers say they don’t have much extra money for schools this year. Trump makes his Supreme Court pick.

The clock:

  • 27 days until President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress (2/28/2017)
  • 36 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
  • 279 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
  • 644 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
  • 1371 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Ten talking points for Wednesday:

  1. The Utah House moves ahead with resolutions calling on President Trump to take action against the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments [Utah Policy, Deseret News].
  2. The Outdoor Retailers Show could leave Salt Lake City over the public lands battle. Utah Lawmakers say they hope that doesn’t happen [Utah Policy].
  3. Sen. Lincoln Fillmore wants to stop redevelopment agencies from tapping into property tax levies that are supposed to go to schools [Utah Policy].
  4. Rep. Ken Ivory wants to require that lawmakers take a class on federalism every two years [Utah Policy].
  5. Rep. Lee Perry is running two gun bills this session that are seemingly on opposite ends of the gun rights debate [Utah Policy].
  6. Utah Senate Leadership says it’s unlikely they will be able to give $190 million in new funding to schools this year, which is far below what backers of a ballot initiative to raise income taxes for schools would like to see [Tribune].
  7. President Donald Trump nominates Colorado conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court [Wall Street Journal]. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee heap praise on Trump’s pick [Tribune, Deseret News].
  8. Sen. Orrin Hatch is furious that Democrats failed to show up at a meeting to vote on President Trump’s nominees to run the Treasury and Health and Human Services departments, calling them “idiots” [The Hill].
  9. Rep. Jason Chaffetz has 43 investigations lined up as chairman of the House Oversight Committee. None of them are related to President Donald Trump [Washington Post].
  10. A new survey finds, despite a complete lack of evidence, 25% of registered voters believe President Donald Trump‘s thoroughly debunked false claims about voter fraud [Politico]. 

On this day in history:

  • 1790 The Supreme Court convened in New York City for its first session.
  • 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.
  • 1999 – Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky gave a videotaped deposition for senators weighing impeachment charges against President Bill Clinton.
  • 2003 – The space shuttle Columbia broke apart during its descent over the southwestern United States. All seven astronauts aboard were killed.
  • 2004 – Singer Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly exposed during the Super Bowl halftime show.