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Morning must reads for Friday, February 3, 2017

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Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 34th day of the year. There are 331 days remaining in 2017.

Utah Lawmakers opened an incredible number of so-called “secret” bill files this year. Attorney General Sean Reyes could take a post in the Trump administration. A Senate panel advances a resolution calling for scrapping the Bears Ears National Monument. 

The clock:

  • 25 days until President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress (2/28/2017)
  • 34 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
  • 277 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
  • 642 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
  • 1369 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Ten talking points for Friday:

  1. Lawmakers opened a record number of bill files for the 2017 session. According to our math, nearly 40% of those were so-called “secret” bill files [Utah Policy].
  2. Sources say Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes could be tapped by Donald Trump to head up the Federal Trade Commission within the next two weeks [Utah Policy].
  3. Want to understand the “what” and “why” of the last week in Utah politics? Watch our week in review [Utah Policy].
  4. Rep. Ken Ivory is sponsoring legislation that would allow Utah to invest in gold and silver in case of economic collapse [Utah Policy].
  5. Bob Bernick says it’s time for the Utah GOP to end their battle against the “Count My Vote” compromise, SB54 [Utah Policy].
  6. After a packed hearing, a Senate panel advances a resolution calling on President Donald Trump to overturn the Bears Ears National Monument [Tribune, Deseret News].
  7. A new poll shows Americans are deeply divided over President Trump’s executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. 51% favor the order, and 49% disagree [CBS News]. Meanwhile, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway fabricates out of whole cloth a terrorist attack that never happened to justify Trump’s “Muslim ban” [Vox].
  8. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Friday to scale back much of the regulatory system put in place after the financial crisis [Wall Street Journal].
  9. President Donald Trump signals he is prepared to take steps to expand religious rights, including increased protections for those acting on their faith [Wall Street Journal].
  10. Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski unveils a five-year plan to alleviate the city’s affordable housing shortage [Deseret News, Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1690 – Massachusetts Colony issued the first paper money in America.
  • 1783 – Spain recognized the independence of the United States from Great Britain.
  • 1870 – The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It decreed that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.
  • 1913 – The 16th Amendment, allowing the establishment of an income tax, became part of the U.S. Constitution after ratification by Wyoming.