Medicaid expansion may be dead this session. Madsen unveils medical marijuana legislation. Prison move could cause political fallout.
Countdown:
- Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 14
- Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 166
- Days to the 2015 election – 250
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 326
- Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 333
- Days to the 2016 Utah presidential primary – 488
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 621
Thursday's top-10 headlines:
- The Utah Senate passes the Healthy Utah plan, but House leaders say the plan is dead [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- Sen. Majority Leader Ralph Okerlund says there's a good chance the 2015 session will end without lawmakers taking action on Medicaid expansion [Utah Policy].
- Sen. Mark Madsen unveils his proposal to legalize medical marijuana in Utah after admitting he tried cannabis on a recent trip to Colorado [Deseret News, Tribune].
- If lawmakers give the Prison Relocation Commission the final say on moving the prison, it could cause political problems for some legislators [Utah Policy].
- Conservative groups are leading the charge against a bill calling for Utah to join a Constitutional Convention [Utah Policy, Tribune].
- Real Salt Lake owner Del Loy Hansen rescinds his offer to pay for a minor-league soccer stadium at the Utah State Fairpark [Tribune, Deseret News, ABC 4, Fox 13].
- A House panel advances a measure to reduce the penalty for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit on public transit [Tribune, Deseret News].
- A proposed bill would have the ultimate effect of stripping former Attorney General John Swallow's state pension if he's convicted [Tribune].
- Former Senator Bob Bennett announces he's suffering from pancreatic cancer [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- A new report says Utah's tourism industry is bouncing back following the great recession [Deseret News, Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1919 – Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
- 1952 – Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced the United Kingdom had an atomic bomb.
- 1993 – A powerful bomb exploded in the parking garage below the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The blast killed six people and injured more than 1,000.
- 2012 – Trayvon Martin was shot to death in Florida during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who claimed he acted in self-defense.
