- Gov. Gary Herbert gives his tacit approval to the new Count My Vote ballot initiative but stops just short of endorsing the measure [Utah Policy].
- The 4th CD race between Rep. Mia Love and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams could be a barnburner. Another national analyst has shifted their rating of the race toward McAdams, demonstrating the real threat he poses to Love’s prospects for re-election [Utah Policy].
- Sen. Orrin Hatch gets into a shouting match with Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown after Brown claimed Hatch’s tax reform bill was written to favor the wealthy at the expense of the lower and middle class. Hatch responded by calling Brown’s claim “bullcrap” [Utah Policy].
- Rep. Mia Love cautions against using recent allegations of sexual harassment by both Republicans and Democrats as a partisan political weapon [Utah Policy].
- Our “Political Insiders” say Alabama Republican Roy Moore should drop out of the U.S. Senate race amid mounting allegations of sexual misconduct [Utah Policy].
- Former U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz suggests a kind of “political death penalty” for public figures who engage in sexual misconduct. Chaffetz famously withdrew his support for President Donald Trump after the “Access Hollywood” tape surfaced, but a few weeks later said he would vote for Trump [Utah Policy].
- Rep. Jeremy Peterson wants Utah to join a group of states who will award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. The plan will only go into effect if enough states join the compact to give the presidency to the popular vote winner [Deseret News].
- Utah’s four U.S. House members say they don’t agree with a provision in the Republican tax reform proposal that would tax tuition waivers for graduate students as income, but they voted for the plan anyway [Tribune].
- The GOP tax plans currently under consideration in Congress threaten affordable housing programs that would have a big impact on Salt Lake City [Tribune].
- Congress is taking issue with a proposal that would significantly hike entrance fees at some national parks [Tribune].
- South Salt Lake promised to complete an outside audit into whether public funds were being shifted to Mayor Cherie Wood‘s re-election campaign in three weeks. That was more than four months ago [Tribune].
- The ACLU saw a 400% jump in membership in the past year following the election of Donald Trump [Fox 13].
- Utah officials are trying to contain a hepatitis A outbreak that has sickened at least 75 people since late spring [Tribune].
- Carbon County officials are rethinking two big tax hike proposals after public outcry. One plan would hike the municipal services levy by more than 700% [Deseret News].
- The number of hate crimes is on the rise in Utah [Tribune].
- Utah’s jobless rate is 3.3 percent, meaning just over 51,000 Utahns are seeking work [Deseret News].
