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Ten Things You Need to Know for Thursday – March 5, 2015

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House panel kills Healthy Utah. Legislative leaders unveil non-discrimination and religious liberty legislation. Romney blasts Utah GOP plan to hold a caucus instead of a primary in 2016.

Countdown:

  • Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 7
  • Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 159
  • Days to the 2015 election – 243
  • Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 319
  • Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 326
  • Days to the 2016 Utah presidential primary – 481
  • Days until the 2016 presidential election – 614

Thursday's top-10 headlines:

  1. A Utah House committee kills Healthy Utah while approving the more modest Medicaid plan dubbed Utah Cares [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
  2. LGBT advocates and representatives of the LDS Church are on hand for the unveiling of a combined religious liberties and non-discrimination bill [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
  3. Mitt Romney sends a letter to legislative leaders blasting the Utah GOP's plan to hold a presidential caucus instead of a primary in 2016 [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
  4. A newly released bill in the House would give the legislature and governor veto power over the prison relocation decision only if Gov. Gary Herbert calls a special session [Tribune].
  5. The Utah House and Senate appear at odds over how members of the state school board should be elected [Tribune, Deseret News].
  6. A Senate panel advances a compromise bill to prohibit drivers from talking on cell phones unless they use a hands-free device [Tribune, Deseret News].
  7. Legislators give final passage to a bill raising fees for driving privilege cards for undocumented immigrants [Tribune].
  8. Rep. Marc Roberts is sponsoring legislation that would convene a grand jury if an alleged crime involves allegations of corruption against a public official or use of deadly force by a police officer [Utah Policy].
  9. Legislators advance a bill paving the way for electric car company Tesla to open a dealership in Utah [Tribune].
  10. A House committee approves a plan to rename a section of I-15 after the late Speaker Becky Lockhart [Deseret News, Tribune].

On this day in history:

  • 1692 – The Salem village of the Massachusetts Bay colony began their infamous witch hunt. It eventually resulted in the executions of 19 men and women.
  • 1781 – The American colonies adopted the Articles of Confederation.
  • 1872 – Yellowstone National Park was established by an act of congress.
  • 1954 – Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five members of Congress.
  • 1971 – A bomb exploded in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol, causing $300,000 damage but no injuries. The Weather Underground, a leftist radical group that opposed the Vietnam War, claimed responsibility.