How to Sound Smart About Utah Politics – April 3, 2014

Herbert vetoes three bills. Rep. Richard Greenwood will not seek another term in the House. More cuts coming to the Salt Lake Tribune.

 

Countdown:

  • 22 days until the Utah State Republican and Democratic conventions
  • 82 days until Utah’s 2014 primary elections
  • 215 days to the 2014 midterm elections
  • 298 days to the start of the 2015 Utah Legislature
  • 578 days to the 2015 elections
  • 643 days until the 2016 Iowa Caucuses
  • 949 days to the 2016 presidential election

Today’s Utah political news highlights:

  • Gov. Gary Herbert vetoes three bills from the 2014 session, including one stemming from the John Swallow investigation [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune, Daily Herald].
  • Rep. Richard Greenwood will not seek another term in the legislature [Utah Policy].
  • Gov. Herbert signs a bill expanding a public/private partnership to increase preschool opportunities for at-risk children [Daily Herald].
  • The Supreme Court strikes down some campaign contribution limits for federal races [Tribune].
  • The Salt Lake Tribune is bracing for more budget cuts [Tribune, Deseret News].
  • Economists predict slowed growth for Utah [Tribune].
  • U.S. Forest Service officials report an oil leak in the Dixie National Forest [Tribune].
  • A study from the University of Utah says reducing urban sprawl can increase economic mobility [Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1860 – The Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California.
  • 1865 – Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
  • 1882 – Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Missouri.
  • 1924 – Actor Marlin Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
  • 1948 – President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan.
  • 1968 – Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “mountaintop” speech less than 24 hours before he was assassinated.
  • 1996 – Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.
  • 1998 – The Dow Jones industrial average topped 9,000 for the first time.
  • 2009 – Iowa’s Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.