Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 48th day of the year. There are 317 days remaining in 2017.
Utah lawmakers plan to tackle tax reform with a little more than three weeks left in the 2017 Legislature. The Outdoor Retailers Show is leaving Utah. President Trump rants against his opponents during a wild press conference.
The clock:
- 11 days until President Trump is scheduled to addresses a joint session of Congress (2/28/2017)
- 20 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
- 263 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
- 628 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
- 1355 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Here are the stories making news in politics this morning:
- Scoop! Utah lawmakers say they plan to tackle tax reform this year. Among the measures they want to implement: returning the state portion of sales tax back on food and lowering the income tax rate [Utah Policy].
- Want to understand what happened this week in Utah politics? Watch our week in review [Utah Policy].
- The vice-chair of the Wasatch County GOP ignites an online firestorm by saying men need to be paid more than women so women can stay at home and take care of children [Utah Policy].
- The Outdoor Retailers Show announces they’re packing their bags and leaving Utah after 20 years in the state [Washington Post, Deseret News, Tribune]. LaVarr Webb says Utah will be just fine even though the convention is moving to another host city [Utah Policy].
- President Donald Trump holds a wild press conference wherein he ranted against the media and his critics for more than an hour [Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal].
- Retired Vice Admiral Bob Harward, President Trump’s choice to become his national security adviser following Mike Flynn‘s ouster has turned down the job. His primary reason for rejecting the offer is the chaos engulfing the White House [Politico]. Flynn reportedly denied to FBI agents that he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia. Lying to the FBI is an offense, but it’s unclear whether the Justice Department under President Trump will bring charges against Flynn [Washington Post].
- President Donald Trump is planning a new executive order on immigration next week, which will replace the current order which has been blocked in court [Wall Street Journal].
- Utah lawmakers quickly end a plan to ban paid signature gatherers for ballot initiatives after they were warned the move is unconstitutional [Tribune].
- The Utah GOP asks the state’s congressional members to skip holding town hall meetings after acts of “intimidation and violence” at Rep. Jason Chaffetz‘s meeting last week [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- Gov. Gary Herbert says President Donald Trump‘s inexperience is the reason his first few weeks in office have been so erratic [Tribune].
- The bill to remove the “Zion Curtain” in bars and restaurants could debut on Utah’s Capitol Hill on Friday [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1801 – The House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, choosing Jefferson to be president.
- 1865 – Columbia, S.C., burned as the Confederates evacuated and Union forces moved in.
- 1972 – President Richard M. Nixon departed on a historic trip to China.
- 2009 – President Barack Obama signed a $757 billion economic stimulus package into law.
