Utah files its brief defending Amendment 3. Urquhart’s call for an outpouring of public support on his non-discrimination bill may be backfiring. Lawmakers pass just 3 bills during the first week of the 2014 session.
Countdown:
- 37 days until the final day of the 2014 Legislature
- 140 days until Utah’s 2014 primary elections
- 273 days to the 2014 midterm elections
- 636 days to the 2015 elections
- 701 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses
- 1007 days to the 2016 presidential election
Today’s Utah political news highlights:
- Utah files its brief defending Amendment 3 with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The state’s arguments focus on the impacts of same-sex marriage on children [Tribune].
- Sen. Steve Urquhart’s call for supporters to post notes urging lawmakers to hear his non-discrimination bill may be backfiring [Tribune].
- Lawmakers say any proposed fix to Utah’s pollution problem will require action from the public, not just legislators [Deseret News].
- Legislators spent the first six days of the session focusing almost exclusively on budgetary matters [Utah Policy]. Because of that, lawmakers passed just three bills in the first week [Tribune].
- Lawmakers find nearly $70 million that will likely be shifted to meet other budgetary needs [Deseret News].
- Rep. Jerry Anderson is ditching his bill that would have killed part of Utah’s anti-polygamy laws because a federal judge has yet to rule on a case challenging that law [Tribune].
- Rep. Ryan Wilcox says a state report on alcohol use is past due, which will hurt lawmakers’ efforts to address liquor policy this year [Deseret News].
- Sen. Todd Weiler is sponsoring a bill that would refine residency guidelines for political candidates [Utah Policy].
- An offensive post on twitter roils Capitol Hill [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- The future of the Utah State Fair is in doubt [Standard-Examiner].
- Utahns praise immigration reform proposals put forward by House Speaker John Boehner [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- House Majority Leader Brad Dee is working on legislation to unify emergency communications statewide [Utah Policy, Tribune].
On this day in history:
- Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War in 1783.
- George Washington and John Adams were elected president and vice president of the United States in 1789.
- John Marshall was sworn in as chief justice of the United States in 1801.
- Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America in 1861.
- Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet at the Yalta Conference in 1945.
- Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974.
- The Massachusetts Supreme Court declared gays had the right to marry in 2004.
- The social networking site Facebook was launched in 2004.
