Gov. Herbert says there will be no new national monument in Utah for now. Lawmakers are wary of considering any proposal to expand Medicaid before next year's legislative session. Sen. John Valentine is confirmed as the new chair of the Utah Tax Commission.
Countdown:
- Days to the 2014 midterm election – 47
- Days until the opening day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 130
- Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 175
- Days to the 2015 election – 411
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucuses (tentative) – 487
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 782
Thursday's top-10 headlines:
- Gov. Gary Herbert says he's received assurances from Interior Secretary Sally Jewell that there will be no new national monument created in Utah in the near future [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- Lawmakers are still wary of considering any sort of Medicaid expansion before the 2015 Legislature [Utah Policy].
- A proposal would require all Utah high school students pass the U.S. Citizenship Civics test in order to graduate [Utah Policy, Deseret News].
- The Utah Senate says goodbye to Sen. John Valentine as they confirm him as the new head of the Utah Tax Commission [Tribune, Deseret News, Daily Herald].
- Utah Transit Authority officials promise reforms will come out of a legislative audit critical of some of their business practices [Tribune].
- Lawmakers and the ACLU of Utah tangle over a program that gives surplus military weapons to police departments [Tribune, Deseret News].
- The Utah Supreme Court rules in favor of Draper residents who want to place a referendum about taxes on November's ballot [Deseret News].
- A new study from the Utah Foundation says Utahns should be paying more for water [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- HEAL Utah files an appeal to stop construction of a nuclear power plant near Green River [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Daily Herald political reporter Billy Hesterman accepts a position as vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association [Daily Herald].
On this day in history:
- 1793 – President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.
- 1850 – Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slaveowners to reclaim slaves who had escaped to other states.
- 1851 – The first edition of the New York Times was published.
- 1961 – United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash.
- 1975 – Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
