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Ten Things You Need to Know for Tuesday – February 3, 2015

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Utahns split on proposed gas tax hike. Legislative Republicans grappling with Medicaid expansion alternatives. Lawmakers kill an income tax hike to provide more money for schools.

Countdown:

  • Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 37
  • Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 189
  • Days to the 2015 election – 273
  • Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 349
  • Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 356
  • Days to the 2016 Utah presidential primary – 511
  • Days until the 2016 presidential election – 644

Monday's top-10 headlines:

  1. A new poll shows Utahns are split on whether they favor a hike in the state's gasoline tax to pay for roads [Utah Policy].
  2. Utah Republican lawmakers are working to come up with their own alternative to Medicaid expansion [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
  3. A legislative committee kills a proposal to raise income taxes to provide more money for schools [Tribune, Deseret News].
  4. Sen. Jim Dabakis' attempt to set a deadline on Utah's fight to control public lands within the state does not go well [Tribune].
  5. Lawmakers who are tired of their bills carrying "constitutional notes," which show where they may be open to a legal challenge, are pushing a new proposal that would require legislative attorneys to also include examples where legislation would be upheld in a legal fight [Utah Policy].
  6. The Utah Division of Air Quality is backing off a proposed ban on wood burning during the winter months [Tribune].
  7. Proposed legislation would require political candidates to disclose whether they have been convicted of a crime and other legal and financial information [Utah Policy].
  8. Sen. Steve Urquhart wants to make changes in how police execute "no-knock" warrants [Tribune].
  9. The NSA data center in Bluffdale is using more water that ever before [Tribune].
  10. Not good. Salt Lake City had near-record low snowfall totals in January [Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1913 – The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.
  • 1988 – The U.S. House of Representatives rejected President Ronald Reagan's request for more than $36 million in aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
  • 2009 – Eric Holder was sworn in as attorney general, becoming the first African-American to hold the post.